Preparing For A Bench Test With The Executive Pastry Chef At Disneyland Resort And Kinda Freaking Out.

Business By TheNerdyBaker Updated 2 Dec 2014 , 11:25pm by TheNerdyBaker

TheNerdyBaker Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
TheNerdyBaker Posted 20 Feb 2014 , 8:54am
post #31 of 66
Quote:
Originally Posted by theresaf 
 

Good Luck!  Love the Smores idea - it appeals to children of all ages and yours sounds amped up and delish!

Theresa

 

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazy-Gray 

I know you're probably really busy practicing but good luck for tomorrow icon_smile.gif

 

Thanks guys!

 

I did a full 3 hour timed trial run yesterday, and everything went extremely well!  I was cutting it really close to the time limit though, so instead of the Mickey cream puffs, I have decided to do an Italian Almond Butter Cookie with Lemon Zest, then drizzled with dark chocolate!  Let me tell you, they are fantastic, plus this simplifies everything quite a bit.  No more chocolate cream to make, and no more choux paste to make!

 

Other than that one tiny thing, everything is shaping up to be extremely good! 

 

T- 34 hours and 7 minutes o.O

cheeseball Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
cheeseball Posted 20 Feb 2014 , 10:10pm
post #32 of 66

I dunno how I missed this thread, but all the very best to you!  We're all cheering for you!

SweetCarolines Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
SweetCarolines Posted 21 Feb 2014 , 3:23pm
post #33 of 66

You must be there right now. Good luck! I'll be thinking of you and sending you good vibes!

TheNerdyBaker Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
TheNerdyBaker Posted 22 Feb 2014 , 1:16am
post #34 of 66

I GOT THE JOB!!!

 

I'll post more details later when I am actually at my computer, but I thought you guys would like a quick update =D

MimiFix Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
MimiFix Posted 22 Feb 2014 , 1:25am
post #35 of 66

Excellent! Congratulations!!

cazza1 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
cazza1 Posted 22 Feb 2014 , 2:05am
post #36 of 66

Good work.  How's the adrenaline rush treating you at the moment?

theresaf Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
theresaf Posted 22 Feb 2014 , 2:41am
post #37 of 66

AWoohoo! Congrats!! Can't wait to hear more! T

cheeseball Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
cheeseball Posted 22 Feb 2014 , 3:01am
post #38 of 66

:party: Congratulations!  You've gotta be psyched!

SweetMelissa730 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
SweetMelissa730 Posted 22 Feb 2014 , 4:21am
post #39 of 66

ACongratulations!!!! :party:

TheNerdyBaker Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
TheNerdyBaker Posted 22 Feb 2014 , 7:02am
post #40 of 66

Thank you all for the overwhelming support you guys were sending my way!

 

Now it is story time.

 

I arrived at the bakery a little before 10 and the first thing they had me do was sit down with one of the Head Chefs and do a sit down interview.  This consisted of normal interview questions, then at the end, a dedicated baking portion (What is laminated dough?  How many oz in a qt?  Etc).  I passed this with flying colors.

 

Next was a tour of the bakery, which was HUGE.  Extremely overwhelming, let me tell ya!  I come from a small bakery with less than 3 people in the prep rooms at all times so going to a commercial bakery with that kind of capacity was jaw dropping.  

 

After the tour came the hard part, the actual baking portion.  There were snags aplenty obviously, as it was a brand new environment with brand new equipment  for me to use, but the largest hurdle was the size of the place.  My work area was tucked away in the back corner of the bakery, and the majority of the storage was a decent size walk away.  Meaning if I forgot to grab that 1/4c of brown sugar, I had to walk ALL THE WAY back to the storage area, find the bin again as I had no clue where anything was, then lug it all back to my workstation and pray I didn't forget anything else o.O

 

All my dishes were completed to the best of my ability and to the best the circumstances would allow.  The Head Chef was left speechless by the Bananas Foster Banana Bread, and said that he had absolutely no critique for it.  The Strawberry Citrus Mousse also received comments like that, with them commenting on how simple but packed with flavor it was.  The Lemon Almond Butter Cookies sent me for a loop, as I didn't have access to a mixer, so I did them by hand which caused issues with the fat warming too much.  The cookies spread and puffed way too much, but they tasted exactly as they should, and received great marks for the combination of lemon, almond and dark chocolate.  The S'mores Cake is where time really REALLY took a toll.  I was unable to complete the graham cracker crust, and the cake itself stuck in the silicone molds I baked it in so I had a bunch of pieces of cake that looked like lady fingers.  In the end it was plated decently, and they all commented on what a great idea it was and that they wished they could have seen it executed properly.  The chili cake itself was a huge hit with them though!

 

All in all it was a very good experience.  I received the job offer not even an hour later, so apparently I did something right =D

 

Thanks again guys!

howboutbake Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
howboutbake Posted 22 Feb 2014 , 10:47am
post #41 of 66

That is such great news!! Party time! :D:madhatter: 

LizzieAylett Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
LizzieAylett Posted 22 Feb 2014 , 11:27am
post #42 of 66

I've not commented on this thread before, but just wanted to add my congratulations!  How exciting :-)  Well done.

AnnieCahill Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
AnnieCahill Posted 22 Feb 2014 , 6:35pm
post #43 of 66

AAwesome! So happy for you!

Hey, want to share you banana bread recipe? :)

Crazy-Gray Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Crazy-Gray Posted 22 Feb 2014 , 6:49pm
post #44 of 66

AReally happy for you! Very well done indeed :grin:

johnson6ofus Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
johnson6ofus Posted 22 Feb 2014 , 7:15pm
post #45 of 66

CONGRATS!!!

Godot Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Godot Posted 22 Feb 2014 , 7:24pm
post #46 of 66

AWell done.

Everything sounds delicious.

Claire138 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Claire138 Posted 22 Feb 2014 , 7:50pm
post #47 of 66

Wonderful!!!

TheNerdyBaker Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
TheNerdyBaker Posted 22 Feb 2014 , 9:36pm
post #48 of 66
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnnieCahill 

Awesome! So happy for you!

Hey, want to share you banana bread recipe? icon_smile.gif

 

Thanks again for everything everyone!

 

And here it is, my Bananas Foster Banana Bread with Walnut Streusel!

 

For the Bread:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder+-
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
3 medium bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 

Combine all dry in a separate bowl and set aside.

 

Mash bananas in stand mixer, then scrape out and set aside.

 

In same mixer add oil and sugar and mix until homogenous.  Add eggs one at a time, then add bananas and the vanilla.

 

Alternatively add dry mix and milk in 3 additions.

 

I have also just thrown everything in the mixer after the bananas were mashed, and it worked fine.  This batter is very forgiving.

 

 

For the Streusel Topping:
1½ cups chopped walnuts
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter

 

Ensure butter is cold.  Combine all but walnuts, and mix by hand until it becomes the consistency of wet sand.  Mix walnuts in to the mixture. 

 

Top your batter with the streusel and bake @325 for about 40 minutes.

 

 

For the Rum Glaze:

¼ cup (4 tablespoons) butter
2 tablespoons water

¼ cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup rum (I used dark spiced rum)

 

Bring all but rum up to a simmer, and let it simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and add rum.  Set aside until needed.

 

Poke holes in your baked cake and add a small amount of glaze.  When it has been fully absorbed, add more.  Keep doing this until the glaze is gone.

AnnieCahill Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
AnnieCahill Posted 23 Feb 2014 , 12:36am
post #49 of 66

AThanks for sharing and great job!.

savannahquinn Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
savannahquinn Posted 23 Feb 2014 , 12:42am
post #50 of 66

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheNerdyBaker 
 

I GOT THE JOB!!!

 

I'll post more details later when I am actually at my computer, but I thought you guys would like a quick update =D

Congratulations!  What great news!

BeesKnees578 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
BeesKnees578 Posted 23 Feb 2014 , 6:28am
post #51 of 66

Congratulations!!

remnant3333 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
remnant3333 Posted 23 Feb 2014 , 5:26pm
post #52 of 66

Congratulations on the job!! It sounds like you were perfect for the job!!! Thanks for the Banana Foster Bread with Walnut streusal topping recipe. I put it in my favorites and will try it one day!!! Job well done!!!!

brendajarmusz Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
brendajarmusz Posted 24 Feb 2014 , 5:04am
post #53 of 66

AI just saw this post, im sure you did very well. You got a ton of awesome advice as well the best info so i cant wait to hear the results. Im sure congratulations are in order. :-)

JWinslow Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
JWinslow Posted 24 Feb 2014 , 5:20am
post #54 of 66

Congratulations! Very excited for you!

brendajarmusz Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
brendajarmusz Posted 24 Feb 2014 , 6:24am
post #55 of 66

AOk i really feel like an idiot, i didn't see the 2nd page of comments all i knew was you were going for the test so i wrote my message. I come back to look and it shows the results of how everthing went and all comments lol. Grrr well all i can say is.... CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Way to go. Such great news. Job well done!!!!

Crazy-Gray Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Crazy-Gray Posted 7 Jul 2014 , 12:16pm
post #56 of 66

AHow's the job Going NerdyBaker? Really hope you're enjoying it?! :)

TheNerdyBaker Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
TheNerdyBaker Posted 7 Jul 2014 , 4:05pm
post #57 of 66

A

Original message sent by Crazy-Gray

How's the job Going NerdyBaker? Really hope you're enjoying it?! :)

Thanks for checking in =D

I am really enjoying it so far. Hours are just now starting to ramp up because of the summer, and a bunch of new exciting things are coming down the pipe line for the bakery (holiday decorative items, special events, the gingerbread house for the Haunted Mansion Holiday!) and I have now been there long enough to finally start branching out from the entry positions and make my way in to the custom cake room or high end table service desserts.

So things are looking up.

Plus on top of all of the Disney madness, I managed to snag a lead decorator position at Sweet Arleens, a 4 time undefeated Cupcake Wars champion. So I'm excited for the future for sure XD

MimiFix Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
MimiFix Posted 7 Jul 2014 , 4:44pm
post #58 of 66

I was thinking about you, too. Thanks for your update and the best of luck to you!

johnson6ofus Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
johnson6ofus Posted 7 Jul 2014 , 6:51pm
post #59 of 66

Awesome news Nerdy! Nice to have an update on something we read about. Glad it is going so well for you!!!

MBalaska Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
MBalaska Posted 7 Jul 2014 , 9:49pm
post #60 of 66

TheNerdyBaker:  Here I was thinking that you were in Florida at the "Disneyland Resort".......but are you actually in California???

It's been decades since I've visited Cal Disneyland, but now there is a resort there also.   ( I always enjoyed Mickey Mouse Waffles....:))

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%