113 Cayuga St - Crespella

After my meeting with John Yengo I got SOOOOOOO much more information about a restaurant and what it could possible come with.  Many places just go from being one restaurant to another one, just changing the theme or colors, so it helps when it comes with so many of the supplies that are needed.  Here are some photos of the restaurant that is now not occupied.

This store has a really nice lay out and a huge kitchen, that may need a few new pieces of equipment to spruce up the place.  The only thing I find to be a negative is that it is more of a sit down restaurant, to me when it comes to a bakery you may want a smaller space because not as many people will be staying to eat.  To me a bakery should have a bigger kitchen than an eating area, because a kitchen is where the true magic comes from.

This was an awesome experience being able to be behind the scenes in see a true kitchen.  But it was really difficult to schedule things like this because I work so much and I do have other school work.  As a result I feel like I'm learning so much for the future.

Store Viewings

Today I yet up another appointment with John Yengo tomorrow to view a local on Cayuga Street. Hes going to help discuss with me, based on the size of the oven and equipment, how long it would take to get everything set up, and how long it would take to get a days worth of baked goods (hes been in the restaurant industry for a while too). Also how much money I need to make in order to be able to pay rent and make money all in one.

B&W Supply

To investigate more into how much it costs to run a bakery I went to B&W Supply to check out some prices for equipment that is commonly used in a bakery.  This week I mostly looked at the sale flyer because when investing in a huge business such as a bakery, it would be smart to cut costs everywhere possible. This week had five major items on sale that would be essential to owning a bakery.

60 Quart Mixer- $9,263 each

 Dry Curved Glass Bakery Case- $4,951 each

Dual Zone Dry/Refrigerated Combination Case- $8,260.50 each

Heated Holding & Proofing Cabinet- $1,591 each

Dual Flow Gas Convention Ovens- Single: $7,564 Double: $14,572

All of these are essential, I would need multiple mixers to become more efficient. Each bakery case would depend on what I would be making more frequently, whether it be something that needs to be refrigerated or just a display case.  Ovens would be the most important, enough of them to be able to continually work, and one that is easy to adjust the temperature due to different recipes, and with the most space.  

Home made strawberry frosting

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup frozen whole strawberries , thawed
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter , firm and slightly cold
• Pinch coarse salt
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar , sifted
• 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Directions

Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat until well combined. Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended. Do not overmix, or frosting will incorporate too much air. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream.

I made with frosting today and spread it on a plain vanilla cupcake.  For me it was a little bit sweet but the fresh strawberries I put on top were delicious. I took them up to my moms work and had everyone eat them and grade me.  Of course they all said they were perfect, but that's okay.  The thing with making your own frosting is being able to judge what ingredients should be added to fix it or how to fix the texture of it.

Buttercrean Frosting

Crusting Buttercream
1 bag powder sugar (two pounds or about eight cups)
1 cup shortening (I used original Crisco)
1 tsp vanilla extract (use clear if want white frosting)
1/2 cup – 3/4 cup milk
Cream shortening and vanilla in mixer for 2-4 minutes. Add in powder sugar, one cup at a time. If you find your mixer struggling, slowing add in milk. Use more milk for a creamy consistency, use less milk for a stiff consistency.
This recipe is SWEET.  Super sweet.  If you dont like sweet, simply use less sugar.

This is a photo from a cake made from this frosting.  My next project may need to include this because I am always have problems with the frosting staying in place!

Pit Orchestra

As Ms. Zawel is my mentor she suggested I show my artistic side and dedicate it to the pit orchestra.  So I did my favorite thing ever which is to melt down chocolate and create a design out of it.  These cupcakes were a vanilla cupcake with a vanilla frosting.  With the chocolate, you first melt it down to liquid in the microwave using little chocolate wafers.  I then processed to put the melted chocolate into a plastic piping bag and draw the design on wax paper, because once the chocolate hardens it will peal off easily. As a result:

Girl Scout Cupcakes

This week I've been asked by my Flow Fender, a member the NYPENN Girl Scout Council, to bake and design cupcakes for the Ithaca-Lansing Girl Scout Leader Appreciation Dinner on May 9th.  At first I thought it was sorta of intimidating, but yet it is another opportunity to show my skills, and possibly learn a new technique.  So first things first, what am I going to put on these cupcakes and what recipe will I use?!  I started at by looking through my old badge books, since I've been in Girl Scouts for 13 years now.  I have my badge books from Daisy to Senior Ambassador.  This is the most popular "logo" that has represent Girl Scouts for exactly 100 years now:



The thought of trying to make this by piping it with frosting or even maybe making it out of fondant could take days! It is definitely a challenge and is one of my top choices for the design.  Next I went to girlscouts.org which is the national Girl Scout website, and searched the store to see if i could find any designs that would be perfect on a cupcake.

Through my searches I also found a design similar to the top one but a bit simpler:

Another thought that I had was that a cupcake didn't have to have an elaborate design or even look pretty.  A cupcake is also about tasting yummy.  I have found a lot of recipes that include putting Girl Scout cookies in the cupcake for enhanced flavor, and a complicated recipe.  Sadly, we stopped selling cookies a month ago and I can't get any cookies...from anywhere...unless I want to drive at least 4 hours away.

Renting Space

Yesterday I met with John Yengo, with the Ithaca renting company to dicuss available locations for a cupcake bakery.  In a two hour span, John was able to give me information about the price to rent a space, what kind of spacing come with ovens and kitchens, and price per square footage.  There was deffinately a wide variety of costs!  Some time this week I will also be meeting with him to view these spaces and see what sort of conditions they are in, and what they look like. Tomorrow I will have time to write up all the information I found out.

Schedule

Monday: 3pm I will be meeting with Mr. John Yengo at Ithaca Renting Company to discuss the possible store front prices, and the average rent cost to maintain it.

Tuesday: I will be calling the different baking in Ithaca to find out about interest rates on loans I would be taking out to start a business, also what sort of paper work I would need (license, and credit score, etc)

Thursday: I know there is the kitchen store across from Papa Johns (which you think i would know the name of it since i stare at it for 30 hours a week), I will be going there to check out the prices of ovens, pans, mixers, tables, utensils, etc.  Really understanding how much money it takes to even just buy all the machines you need to do your work.