Heny Sison - Gum Paste Flower Class Day 5

All the pieces coming together w/ coloring (Cuttleya, Tiger Lilly, Holly) and yes, done my me!

Bunched up flowers!

A cake made by the advanced class. It was so pretty, I had to take the photo!

Again, not my work. This is the Lambeth method...very intricate and hard to master. Although, I'm not really into the look of it, it is good to have as a background!

It was a long day, but I got over it. Even though it was a holiday, we still had to go to class. I am beat yet again.

But you know what, I'm so enjoying myself. I totally can see myself doing this as a business. What I would love to eventually do is what Heny does. Open up a studio teaching, selling and creating bakery items, selling supplies, etc. What can be better than teaching others and making money out of it. Two pluses, if you ask me. I notice this type of business increasing more and more in the Asian countries.

I think I found my new business project. After the holidays, I'm going to start the next session (3 months) at Heny Sison in January. It'll be closer to me too, in Makati. I don't have to go all the way to Quezon City. I'm tired of commuting.

Heny Sison - Gum Paste Flower Class Day 2

Wendy and Mars...my mates!

Today, was a bit easy. We did baby's breath, lily of the valley and rosebuds. I thought to myself, wow, this is a cinch. Then here comes our first orchid...the cuttleya. Her method differs from the Wilton Method in that each piece of petal and leaf is created separately then grouped together. According to her this method works best so that when it breaks, the whole flower doesn't need to be recreated.

I really had a hard time, yet again. Again, Wendy and Mar made it look so easy. I hated it yet there is something so relaxing about the process it makes it worth it.

I joked with Mar and told him I was going to pretend that his was mine. Then minutes later, he borrowed someones piping bag and wrote his name on his tray so it wouldn't get mixed up. That was hilarious! I was just kidding...well not really.

Chef Heny demonstrating for the Cake Decorating 3 class. Can't wait to take it! I'm so going to suck at it!

Heny Sison - Gum Paste Flower Class

After all the cake training I have thus far, I still feel like I needed to get extra training on actual flower making. I already had flower making training in my basic cake decorating class at NegoSkwela, but it was so quick we only went over the roses and leaves and about two other flowers. So I was still a bit lost.

Today was my first class with Heny Sison herself and let me tell ya, she is very nice and pretty funny. There were a good three people in my course, but what happens is she conducts about three different classes intertwined. She also conducts the cake decorating 3 and lambeth method. I guess she does it to inspire those who are taking quick courses to enroll in her other courses. So in total there were about 10 to 12 of us. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to do her whole series. Today as I saw the other classes, it made me want to take it because those are the things I want to learn.

Today, we've made Forget Me Not's or was it Baby's Breath?? (as usual I forgot), Filler Flowers and Buds. That took us a good 3 hours because she requests these in 6 or more to practice on. We were supposed to make three other flowers, but we didn't get to make it because we are slow as molasses. And of the 3 students, I'm the slowest and the most uncrafty person! I actually cheated and had this sweet classmate named Mars do it for me. Well, I made him do 3 pcs of it...otherwise I wouldn't have finished. I'm such a cheater, I love it!

I wonder why the hell I actually take this craft course, when I'm just so not crafty. I remember taking a pottery class in the states with my co-worker and I just couldn't work the kiln and shape at the same time. I just didn't have the upper arm strength required of it. I can't draw for the life of me and just don't have that creative side in me. Now I see artists in a different light.

By nature, I'm an analytical person. Aah to each their own. But, alas, I'm trying my best! I can so see me in a competition just to prove myself wrong! What gusto I have, huh! But all in all, as a first class, I actually enjoyed it and actually liked the fact that we had hands on. I think what I enjoyed the most was the fact that it was so relaxing and I was just so into it. It makes me forget everything and that to me is a good thing.

ISCAHM - Bread Baking Course Review

Bread baking classes are finally over at ISCAHM. It's a bit of a relief because it was a bit chaotic and tiring just attending.

So my final review?

Overall, its acceptable. ISCAHM is supposedly a good school here (not that we have many options) in the Philippines and the Chef Ernie is good at what he does. He's looks and seems pretty serious, but he actually has a cute sense of humor.

Improvements?

Sure, there's always room for improvement - a class lecture the first day to introduce what certain ingredients make a bread...be it from yeast, leavening stage, punch down, etc, would've completely helped the clueless soul like me. Secondly, they could reduce the amount of students they take in to about 20 max. See my previous posts regarding my issues with that. If you are planning to work in the hospitality industry, restaurant, pastry shop then it makes perfect sense to take this class. Otherwise, to those looking into baking as a hobby, I suggest you take other classes for it. What I enjoyed best? Well, we had a good group of nice and varied students, each with a dream and goal. I do wish the best for all of us.