The culinary and hospitality programme being offered at the H Lavity Stoutt Community College received a high rating from its second-year students who said the programme significantly enhanced their professional lives.
Speaking to 284 Media during their wedding cake showcase on Friday June 4, the pair of Mia McMaster and Cinique Henry said the programme has delivered benefits beyond what they initially anticipated, prior to starting the course.
McMaster was the first of the two students to speak on how the programme has so far benefitted her.
She said, “The programme is very beneficial because for us to have a class for three weeks and be able to produce something like this, this should speak for itself on the benefits of this programme.”
“And our instructor, big up to Chef Creque, he taught us very well. We lost patience dealing with the fondant especially when the temperature caused it to get hot and soft when we were trying to keep it firm and he was just (saying) you have to make cakes with love, take a break. And we would come back and we would just get it together and sort it out,” she added.
Created a classic Hollywood style cake
McMaster also detailed the composition of her finished cake, which she said was done under a classic Hollywood theme.
“I went back to old Hollywood sort of look for my wedding cake. The colors I chose are black red and white, and each colour has a specific meaning. The black for me represents elegance; my red roses, they represent the real classical which is romance, desire and passion; and the white represents the purity and the goodness of just love,” she explained.
“Now my peacock feathers, they highlight my cake because they stand for the brilliant beauty of love and peacocks are proud to display their feathers and I am proud to display my work that I have done,” she further said.
Fondant issues among challenges
While expressing her satisfaction with the overall product, McMaster said there were a few hurdles she had to first overcome.
She said, “They were challenges and some of the challenges we encountered was we had issues with the fondant and the temperature and we had some of our pieces breaking and our fondant getting a little moist but overall, it wasn’t too bad to be honest.”
Had low hopes but was
Meanwhile, her colleague Cinique Henry said she initially did not have any high hopes for the programme, but lo and behold, she was swept off her feet with what was to come.
“When I first started, I had low hopes for it because I felt like this might be another school that teach me what I already done know, but ever since starting the programme I can say I’ve learnt a lot. I’ve gained new experiences because of this programme, it helped boost my confidence within my career and it’s very beneficial. So for anyone out there who’s thinking about joining the culinary, come and join it, you will learn a lot. It will boost your confidence and help with the exposure as to becoming a new chef or a baker,” Henry stated.
Sunrise themed wedding cake
She also took the time to explain the significance of her masterpiece, stating that she too experienced a number of issues before nailing the final product.
“Today we have a sunrise themed cake. I chose this theme because sunrise means the start of a new day, a new opportunity, a new tackle to take on and as seen as it’s a wedding cake I feel sunrise best fits this theme, because not only does the sunrise means the start of a new day, it also means the start of a new union together in life, so I feel like the sunrise best fits that description,” she stated.
“Unlike her (McMaster) I had way more challenges. Not only did I start my cake behind everyone else, I started late. The fondant was just a headache, there was many times I had to patch up the fondant here and there because it keep breaking because of the heat and temperature control, but overall I did good with the help of my teacher of course,” Henry further explained.
The programme is being taught by Chef Instructor in the Culinary and Hospitality Department Clint “Cake Boss” Creque and is overseen by the Director Mrs. Keshia Davis-Barnes.