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Cake Sublime

Courtesy of The French Culinary Institute

Near the end of training, just before final exams, and before pasty students leave school to go out to practice their skills in the real world, they create a wedding cake. This project represents a culmination of many techniques they have learned throughout their studies. And part of what makes the project so fun is that the lower-level class presents a theme for the graduating class to work with.

A fictitious wedding book, filled with information about the bride and groom, the wedding colors, wedding gown, bridesmaids dresses, table decorations, music, etc., is put together by the lower-level class. The soon-to-be graduating students design and create a cake that draws upon the information they have been given as if they were working with a real client.

The most recent graduating evening Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday class presented their cakes at the end of May. They were given the theme of a summer Napa Valley wedding. The bride's bouquet had orchids, calla lilies, roses, and fiddlehead fern.The colors were gold, orange, purple, and Cabernet.

Once the cakes were finished and ready for presenting, the students from the lower level were invited to view the cakes. They then had the chance to vote as a class on the cake that they thought most fits the theme.

When I walked around to look at the cakes on parade, it reminded me of something Jacques Pepin said in one of his demos, "You don't need to try to be different or unique. If a group of people were given the same assignment, it would come out differently with each person in the group, even if they tried to do it exactly the same. We are by default unique and individual." And this definitely came out in this project. Cakes varied by style, inspiration, and construction.

Many of the cakes drew on the flowers in the bridal bouquet. Some drew only from the colors or added touches to suggest the vineyard location. Viewing the students' creativity and what they had learned in just nine months was enthralling. I can't wait to see what the next graduating class has up their chef jacket sleeves.

To see still images of all the cakes, visit the FCI's Hot Plate blog.

This article is courtesy of the French Culinary Institute's Hot Plate blog. Learn more about the French Culinary Institute, and how you can take your culinary career to the next level.