On Tuesday 4/13/21, I spent the day at the restaurant Yuca Bar, baking with the pastry chef there. Jesus Herrera taught me how to make donuts (glazed and filled), churros, and a simple vanilla cake. He also taught me some tips and tricks on baking and how to make my baked goods more flavorful, have a certain texture, and just come out tasting better. I felt like a true baker in a sense, he gave me a white coat to wear and I put my hair back. We looked at a recipe online for the donuts, but for the rest, the recipes were in his head. He told me to always strain all-purpose flour because it can be dirty, he told me to always weigh my ingredients out carefully, and how to beautifully decorate a cake. He showed me where everything was in the kitchen and how to properly use a stand-mixer, and some other tools. We did everything simultaneously. While the dough was rising for the donuts we prepared the dough for the churros. While the churro dough was being mixed in the stand-mixer we prepared the vanilla cake. Then while the cake was in the oven we laid the churros out nicely, and cut out the donut shapes. Then we fried a few churros and dipped them in cinnamon sugar, then ate our creation. He showed me some great ways to decorate a cake. We put orange slices in between the two layers and made whipped cream for the frosting. Then we mixed a strawberry liquid into the whipped cream and spread it on the cake. I wrote all the recipes down on my phone in my notes and wrote down all the tips he shared with me. I felt like his apprentice, and it was truly a great learning experience. He sent me home with the cake, a couple glazed donuts, and some un-glazed donuts.

When I came home I made my own glaze for the remaining naked donuts he sent me home with. I just used what I learned from the day to make the glaze, decorate them nicely, and present them to my family. This relates to my essential question of: How can I work to improve my own baking and food understanding? Since my project is in two parts it’s not probable that one experience that I have during my project will answer both of my essential questions. All the tips and tricks Jesus taught me are stuck in my head forever now and I will never forget them. I understand now that some ingredients need to complement one another, and if a recipe is not executed exactly then you need to find the point of error. Baking is truly an art form and I look up to Jesus and am in awe of what he does. He made sure to stop and check with me if I was following along and doing okay. I am very grateful to have had this learning experience from Jesus and can’t wait to see him again at Yuca Bar next week.