Self Reflection

(1) How do you think you are doing so far in your senior project and why?  AE, P, AP, CR, or NC
I think a P is a reasonable grade for the things I've done so far. I've not been as good on my research checks but my interviews, blogs, service learning and independent component, I've been on track on.

(2) What one thing do you think you have done well on and why?
My best component I'm working on is my service learning and the independent component. I've attended all my classes without being late. I also take pictures of what I do in class. I'm going to put a slideshow widget on the side and do a summary blog of what i did for the semester.

(3) What is one thing you would like to improve on and why? 
I really need to research more and take better notes on it. That's the only thing I need to work on and it's really not that hard. I need to be more consistent with it. 

Science Fair Proposal

1. If a Pâte à Choux is made with a high-protein flour, then it will rise 10% higher than if other types of flour are used.

2. Variables:

• Dependent: the % of rise
• Independent: the type of flour
• Control: all other ingredients & recipe procedure

3. Since my senior project is becoming a Pastry Chef, it's important for a pastry chef to know how the science in baking works. This particular dish has three of the most used ingredients in baking. This experiment will help me learn more about how I can manipulate these ingredients to creating other pastries.

4. I will be buying my own ingredients. For the flour, I will use 6 types flour. I will follow a recipe and document the the procedure. I will make different batches of the dough so I can compare them and see which ones rose the highest when baked. I can measure the volume of the cream puff by putting a small blob of dough in a cupcake tin. Then I will research why the volume of each types of dough are different. The equipments I will use are:

• Science Journal
• Camera
• Flour: Bread (unbleached all purpose flour), whole wheat flour, pastry flour, all-purpose flour , cake flour, and rice flour
• Eggs
• Butter
• Milk
• Sugar
• KitchenAid Mixer
• Measuring Cups/Spoons
• Oven
• The Recipe 

5. This project falls in the category of Chemistry

What I've Learned So Far

1. My topic is something you can learn and perfect on your own at home. It's usually self-explanatory because you're always following the directions on a recipe or from your instructor. Most of my research said that presentation par to taste is what catches the eyes of you customers that makes them want to buy your products. Being more creative and having your creations to standout from others' is what helps me the most in my ROP class.

2. This is a picture of the pastries we've done in class. The mango cream puff (top left) and the strawberry napoleon (bottom right) are the ones I plated myself. This was a bit challenging for me especially the cream puff. All of my classmates used chocolate in their plating. Then I remembered what Sebastien from the King of Pastry, a documentary, said "When the judges will have too much chocolate, you'd want to go with fruits because it's refreshing." I thought mine looked really plain because I didn't use chocolate at all. But my creativity still got me to the top 5 winners for presentation. The blueberry danish pastry (bottom left) and white chocolate chip cookie with pecans (top right) were made with my first team. It was absolutely fun and we got an A and our cookie won the bake-off.

3. I've learned the most out of is from the documentary, King of Pastry, it showed the challenges a pastry chef goes through, and their gorgeous dishes. It showed me how they interpret their inspirations into their dishes. Like what I said from before being different from the others and having your creativity stand out is what I applied on the mango cream puff. Not using chocolate on my dish got me into the top 5.

Independent Component 1 Plan Approval

(1) Write a description of what you plan on doing for your independent study component.

I can use my ROP class for my independent component. The class I'm taking now is Basic Baking which teaches the basic knowledge and procedures to making desserts and breads. The class had given me first hand experiences, not just on baking and making desserts, but how to run a kitchen. I'm also taking a Safety and Sanitation class to go further into the knowledge of being safe in the kitchen and for the people we will be serving. I plan on taking Cake Decorations next semester if they will offer the course.

(2) Describe in detail how you think your plan will meet the 30 hours work requirement.

My Basic Baking class is giving me about 150 hours. I started from the third week of September and will finish late January. The class is on Wednesdays and Fridays from 4:00pm to 9:00pm. As you can tell, a class is 5 hours long but the time really goes by easily because you're always busy in the kitchen.

(3) How does your independent study component relate to your EQ?  

My The class I'm taking now, which is my Independent Component, is one of the pre requisite for Professional  Baking class. The others are Cake Decorations, Chocolate, and Frozen Desserts. I'm not going to be able to attend all of the classes but these are all steps to gaining the skills and knowledge required for a pastry chef. In these ROP classes, I get to actually experience how to make desserts and your peers and your instructors gives you techniques how to do it.

Defining the Essential Question

(1) What is your EQ?

"What is the most important skill to have to become a successful pastry chef?"

(2) Define the words in your EQ to make sure we are on the same page regarding what your EQ means.

Skill is the ability, coming from one's knowledge, practice,aptitude, etc., to do something well.

Successful is having attained a position, honors, or the like. 

Pastry chef  is a professional cook specializing in desserts and sweet baked goods.

(3) What are some possible answers to your EQ so far? 

Being detail-oriented, organized, creative, has managing skills, and people skills.

(4) What has been your most important source and why?  Be specific.  If it is a person, name them and what they do, if it is an article, book or video, name the title and author.  

My most important resource for now is an article called "Becoming a Pastry Chef" from ReluctantGourmet.com. It has given a very clear overview of how a pastry chef works and it gave me possible answers to my EQ.

Second Interview Questions

I will be interviewing Chef Shane, the executive chef in my ROP class, for my second interview.
Here are some questions I would ask him:

1. What was you experience in the field of a pastry chef prior to teaching here at CAI?
2. How long have you been teaching here and why did you decide to teach?
3. Were there differences of working as a chef and a pastry chef?
4. Did you graduate as a major in culinary and where?
5. Right off the bat, did you know you were going to be a chef?
6. What, for you, is the most important skill to have to becoming a successful chef?
7. Do you have other culinary-related goals than just being a chef instructor?
8. I heard you are strict in the kitchen, based on your prior experiences, does it help when managing your department?
9. Do you have any recommendations that I can follow to become an A student here at CAI?
10. How many students that you had under your wings are you proud of, that you think has been successful in the field?

Presentation Reflection

1.  In what way did the first interview affect your presentation?  Please explain, be specific and use an example.

Honestly, my first interview had nothing to do with my presentation. My first choice as a topic was to show the difference between a chef and a pastry chef. But I figured that a lot of people know the distinctions of the two but not a lot know the difference of a baker and a pastry chef.

2.  What you say stood out about your presentation performance and why?

I think I did a good job on pointing out my visual. It was large enough for people to see and it really helped my presentation. My presentation overall was a little scattered and hurried. 

3.  What was the most challenging to do and why?

Being the timid, nervous girl I am, speaking in front if the class is already a challenge for me but having a time limit and keeping it within 5 minutes was quite hard.  

Senior Project Presentation (Rough Draft)

Objective: I want my audience to know the difference between a pastry chef and a baker.

Procedure:
1. I will ask the class if there even is a difference between a baker and a pastry chef while showing them my visuals.
2. I will show them the visual of a baker's product and then the pastry chef's product.
3. Explain what the baker does.
4. Explain what a pastry chef does.
5. Conclude.

Check for Understanding:
By showing them the visuals, I will ask the distinctions between the two.

Resources/ Materials:
Poster

Offbeat

Interview Check

Who are you interviewing and why? What additional questions will you ask them (in addition to the 5 we require)


I am going to have Chef Samantha Cassidy for my first interview. She is the pastry chef at the Culinary Arts Institute where I am taking ROP classes. I'm taking her baking class and her cake decoration for next semester. I want to interview Chef Sam because she is an expertise when it comes to pastries and becoming a pastry chef rather than interviewing the other chefs. I plan to ask her if she had a job as a pastry chef before she became a teacher at CAI, what challenges she had to take on in the course of studying and becoming a pastry chef, and when and how she realized she wants to become a pastry chef.


Rhythm of Love

Senior Project Topic

What is your topic?  Why? And what do you hope to accomplish after studying this topic all year?  


My senior topic is "Pastry Chef". Baking runs in my family but I love it the most. I love putting my hard work into baking and designing a cake and giving it to my relatives when i visit them. I also love making other desserts, especially Filipino desserts, and that's how I got to be the one who makes the dessert every holiday. Becoming a Pastry Chef is a career option for me but it's definitely a field that is hard to get in to but it's definitely something I want to explore. By studying this topic all year, I hope to have a firm answer of, if I really would like to go down this path and go on to college becoming a Pastry Chef or just doing it sometime in the future.




Rocketeer