   - [Voiceover] The
   following program
   is a production of
   Pioneer Public Television.
This program on Pioneer
Public Television
is funded by the Minnesota
Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund
  with money from the
  vote of the people
 of Minnesota on
 November fourth 2008.
  Additional support provided
  by Mark and Margaret
 Yackel-Juleen in honor
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 Windom in southwestern
 Minnesota.
  Shalom Hill Farm dot o-r-g.
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- Welcome to Postcards,
I'm Dana Johnson.
  Today, we get a taste of
  the culinary arts by taking
a journey through Mr.
B's Chocolates and learn
about the culinology program at
  Southwest Minnesota
  State University.
But first, we stop by Clontarf,
   Minnesota to visit
   Beth's Cakes and see what
a local cake artist does to make
her wedding cakes stand
out from the rest.
(mixer whirring)
  - [Beth] I've always
  had an interest
   in baking ever
   since I was young.
  My grandmothers, my
  great grandmothers,
it's always kind of been
a passion in the family.
  I know for Christmas
  my great grandmother
 would always give us
 a box of baked goods.
   We wouldn't get
   presents, we'd get
ginger snaps and cinnamon bread.
  My fondest childhood
  memory is of
  my grandma's sugar cookies.
Whenever we came to the
house there was a batch
   of them being made or a
   batch that was just made,
   so I've always kind of had
   a love for the baked goods
and you kind of have
to learn to make 'em if
   you want to eat 'em, so
   it all started from there.
  I went to school originally
  to be a medical laboratory
 technician and then
 I've worked for about
 seven years now in the
 hospital doing that,
 and then I found this
 passion with baking.
Baking is kind of a
science, you always have
   to be exact with your
   measuring and everything,
  and I think that my
  science background
  has helped me out with that.
  There's something
  to me about baking,
about the instant gratification.
 It's taking something
 out of nothing
   and in a matter of an hour
   you have something to eat.
 And, that when I made cakes
 for people it made them happy
  and that's something that
  I've really wanted to pursue
   since I was a little girl
   was making people happy.
  So I find that this passion
  is really driving me
 right now to make the
 cakes from scratch
 and make them pretty
 and make people happy.
  I especially love to
  bake from scratch.
   I take pride in
   using the freshest
 and local ingredients
 whenever I can.
  I try and use local farmers'
  eggs and things like that
to always bake fresh and
from scratch is my goal.
 I know that a lot of bakeries,
 even smaller bakeries
  nowadays are going to mixes
  or baking and freezing cakes
  and that's something
  that I always want
 to hold as a standard
 is baking the day of.
  I know the last wedding
  that I had I woke up at 2 am
 to start baking for it 'cause
 I wanted it all to be fresh.
 I just feel happy when I bake.
 I don't know if I'm channeling
 the grandmas up there
or what, but I just
find that baking really
makes me happy and it's
a relaxing thing to do.
   I know not all bakers find
   it relaxing when you're
really busy, but no
matter how stressed I am
 and no matter how many hours I
   put into it, it's
   fulfilling for me.
 After word got out that I
 was making cakes from scratch
and how good they were,
it was busy enough
 that I decided to ask around
 and rented a caterer's kitchen
so that I could legally license
  and advertise making
  wedding cakes.
 I've found that in the
 state of Minnesota,
  there's a lot of
  regulations and rules as to
if you're making cakes
out of your home you can
   only use word of
   mouth advertising
 and if I wanted to concentrate
 on the wedding cakes
 it wouldn't be very
 easy to just do that.
 So that's what guided me into
getting into a licensed kitchen.
  And thankfully, the caterer
  in town was semi-retired
 and let me in there,
 and business took off
   and it really gave
   me the confidence
 to want to have my own
 shop and in a matter
   of months, here I am, and
   I'm doing what I love.
  I approached the city of
  Clontarf about this building
that had been sitting empty for
a few years and here we are.
  This was originally
  a diner, arcade,
  meat locker, grocery store.
  They had video rentals here.
   By the time I was a little
   girl down the street
   they just had a diner
   here, so junior high came
  and I cooked and
  waitressed in this building
  and so it's all kind
  of come full circle
   for me and it's really
   interesting to be in here.
  It took me about two
  months of work to
  get this building
  up and going again.
 There was a lot of
 scrubbing and cleaning
and a lot of removal of old
equipment and a lot of painting.
Put new ceilings in and
we're fully licensed
and insured bakery now.
 I strive to be a
 wedding cake designer,
but I can bake anything
to pay the bills.
 Here at Beth's Cakes
 we make wedding cakes,
 cupcakes, cheesecake,
 pies, and muffins.
 I find that the
 wedding cakes are one
  of my favorite
  things to do because
 it's such an important
 thing for someone
   and I actually feel very
   entitled that they've come
   to me for such a important
   event in their life.
 And, it's an instant art that
 gets eaten and I love it.
It makes so many people
happy and a wedding
 cake is a great form
 of expression for me.
Every single one of them
seems to be different.
   Brides come for a
   tasting and approach with
 color palettes or
 pictures of cakes that
 they've seen and we start with
 a sketch and go from there
 and it's one of my
 favorite things to do.
It's one of the reasons
I opened this shop
   was to be able to
   have a space to
  offer tastings to
  brides in the area.
It's not something
they would normally get
   to do unless they drove to
   the cities or something.
  A lot of my common cakes
  have just been like fondant
 covered cakes with
 ribbons that match the
 color scheme or fresh
 flowers that match.
   In the last couple years,
   I've really tried to
   concentrate on making gum
   paste and fondant flowers
   so you have sugar
   flowers that match
  your decor that are
  actually edible.
 If someone orders a
 gum paste flower of a
certain kind, I go and
order a bouquet of them.
I pull up a bunch of
pictures and I go at it.
 And I've been striving lately
 to make the most realistic
   flowers that I can and
   that's really been a goal.
  I love the art of
  looking at a bouquet
and even wondering is that real?
 I think that's what's
 kind of setting my
cakes apart in the area
is the sugar flowers.
  And it's not just an
  average frosted wedding cake
 or just an average
 fondant covered cake.
 The flowers can really
 help set it apart.
 One of the cakes I'm really
 proud of was my brother's cake
  and that was a three tiered
  chocolate fondant covered
  chocolate cake
  with some gum paste
 calla lilies to match
 their wedding decor.
   It was kind of a
   soft pink palate.
  My brother and his
  wife entrusted me
  to making their cake
 and I'm so glad I did because
 it came together beautifully
 and it gave me the confidence
 to push forward with it.
  I kind of felt like I might
  as well try with a wedding
 cake with my brother
 'cause if I dropped it
  he would still live with me.
  The most recent wedding cake
  I did had some roses on it
and I really took pride
in how close to real I
got those to look and
it was separated on some
pillars so that's always kind of
   nerve wracking,
   if it's gonna tip.
  It amazes me every time that
  I just pull some ingredients
   off the shelf and can
   assemble this four or five
   tier wedding cake
   just from a few
  pieces or a few ingredients
  and it all comes
together in the end and
it makes everyone happy.
 I find that in small town
 Minnesota it's not always easy
to find wedding cakes to
make to pay the bills,
 so I've branched out into
 some wholesaling and I'm gonna
 be putting my grandma's
 sugar cookies on the shelves.
 It's one of my fondest
 childhood memories
 so it really means a lot to me
 and I hope it goes over well.
I have a few local stores
signed on right now to carry 'em
   and it's just a matter
   of getting them out there
  and getting the word
  and I think as soon
 as people eat 'em it's
 really gonna take off.
 I brought some cakes
 over to Appleton this
last fall and entered
them in the county fair.
  That was really fun.
   It was a good way to know
   what I was doing was good
and I was a blue ribbon winner,
so that pushed me forward.
 Advice I would give to anyone
 at home wanting to start
 baking would be to follow
 that recipe and measure right.
From start to finish, a
cake can take anywhere
from a couple of hours
to a few days but it all
   starts with square
   one and that's a
 little bit of flour and sugar.
 I found that pursuing
 my passion and opening
  my own cake shop has
  really given me a new focus
on life and I hope that
maybe my son can come
   and wash dishes at
   my bakery someday.
   And I hope to be retired
   and still frosting cakes.
  Being able to do what I love
  has really made a positive
   impact on my life
   and I look forward
  to big things in the future.
   - Now we'll take a walk on
   the sweeter side of life
  by tasting the fine
  European chocolates
of Mr. B in Willmar, Minnesota.
  His one of a kind creations
  have impressed the community
for years and we'll see just how
   these beautiful chocolates
   are made by hand.
 - [Dwight] Our
 chocolate shop here is
  located in Willmar,
  Minnesota, and our kitchen,
   we can make almost
   anything you want.
   We make a lot of specialty
   items for weddings and
 for different events and it's
   something, you can
   eat your pride.
 It's a unique
 quality of chocolate.
I was born a chocoholic.
 I was president of the World's
 Association of Photographers
  and I did a lot of
  traveling and I got a chance
to go to Holland and
Belgium and I tasted the
chocolate there and I
thought that was great.
   I became friends with the
   chocolatier and he said
  I could come over and learn
  how to make chocolate.
- There's 11 children in
the family with Mr. B's
  and I'm smack in the middle,
  there's five on each end.
   And when Dad said that he
   was thinking about doing
   the chocolate and
   making it, we kind
   of thought, are you sure?
  He said yeah, I'm
  gonna go over there
 and bring it back and
 learn how to do it.
   - [Dwight] I worked in a
   chocolate shop in Belgium,
  a small chocolatier
  in Anthrop, Belgium,
   and that's where I learned
   most of the chocolates.
  And then Callebaut company
  makes the chocolate bars and
they're also in Brussels
and that's where I went
for schooling several times over
  a period of five, six years.
   And that was where
   I picked up all
 the chocolate
 including the recipes.
I, of course, with doing
photography at the time
   I was learning chocolate,
   and my daughter Mary who
   is now manager of
   the chocolate shop
  here worked with me
  all of that time.
And we just kind of grew
into it and learned what
   to do and what not
   to do and what was
 good and what was not so good.
  - He's 82 this year,
  and still working.
 He comes and helps us
 on holidays, busier
 times of the year,
   and keeps up with us just
   as much as we're doing.
  He'll work all day, but
  he's also the creative one.
 He'll come and give different
 ideas of what to make
 and then we have three
 other girls that work
   help creating the
   different fillings
and decorating on the chocolate.
- [Dwight] The owner of
the chocolate shop now
   is my daughter and
   son-in-law and she
 wanted to keep the
 good chocolate going.
 - As a matter of fact,
 the truffle is the
reason that I purchased
Mr. B's Chocolate Shop.
  My wife gets very
  upset with me when I
say I didn't want to
see the truffle go away.
 I wanted to keep eating those.
The Swiss truffle that
my father-in-law created
or made here out of this
chocolate is by far my favorite.
 I do a lot of quality control
 on a few selected items.
   The truffle, I have been
   eating for about 35 years
  and that was long before
  the original Mr. B's opened.
  Dwight made those chocolates
  and we enjoyed them at
 Christmas time and
 then we started seeing
 them around more often
 than Christmas time.
  And then, he started
  selling them,
but the truffle is by
and large the greatest.
  - [Dwight] Our equipment is
  made in Holland and Belgium
and it's imported so we
could use the different
kinds of things that
they've got over there.
And the recipes are all
from the European area
   and also a lot of
   the ingredients.
 And, we have to temper the
 chocolate every day we use it.
  We heat it up to a
  certain temperature,
then we bring it
down to cool it.
 Then we have to bring
 it up a little ways
   to use it so that
   it stays brittle.
  If you don't do
  that, then you can't
   use it because it
   will not harden.
  - [Mary] It's very
  artistic, the chocolate is,
  because you have
  to be very careful.
It's not something you
can just throw together.
 A lot of the chocolate
 takes, some of it
  can take two to
  three days to make.
Artistically, when they
go in and make a piece
 of chocolate, we have
 to do the decorating.
   Everything's done by hand.
   The painting on the molds,
   when they might have a
  fish or something else, it
  all has to be done by hand.
Before they put the
chocolate into the mold,
  we go in and paint it with
  our fingers or a paintbrush,
so any of the detailing,
it's one of a kind.
 We're not gonna get
 things that look alike
   'cause everybody that does
   it does it differently.
- It's, you get to be creative.
  You can do a lot of
  different things.
   It's fun to try different
   flavors and mixing
 different ingredients
 in your fillings.
 One thing about the
 chocolate from Belgium
  is it doesn't have a
  lot of sugar in it.
And the fillings that
we use do not have a lot
   of sugars, more cream and
   butter, the good stuff.
   You can make whatever you
   want out of chocolate.
  While I was studying in
  Belgium, we made a full size
  European car out of
  chocolate, and this
   was done for a car dealer.
There were 2,000 pounds
of chocolate in it,
  and after they were
  through using it for
advertising they just
gave it to an orphanage
   and the kids ate
   the chocolate car.
(laughs)
   - The taste itself is
   beautiful and I strive to
   make sure that the people
   who work here making
   our chocolate understand
   that anything that leaves
   our shop is going to be
   beautiful and people know
   that they have their
   hands on a specialty item.
  - [Mary] What's unique about
  the store is the quantity
  of candies, the different
  types of candy that we make.
 A lot of the businesses or
 the stores that start up now,
  they might make say ten, 12
  different kinds of candy.
   Well, we make 75
   different kinds of candy.
 Different fillings from fruit
 cremes to caramels, toffee.
  It's just the quantity that
  we do, such a big variety,
   and that's the way Belgian
   chocolate really is.
 It's a big variety of
 chocolate, and when we brought
  it over and decided
  we were gonna do it,
   we decided that's
   exactly, we wanted
 to have that amount of
 quantity, just like they did.
   The favorite part
   of working at a
   chocolate store is
   everybody's happy.
The employees are happy,
it's fun to work here.
   - I think it's part that,
   and it's fun to find
new things that
they've created and try
 and tell people about
 it, and, especially
seeing people that come
in for the first time
  that have never been
  here, it's like oh,
they're just totally
amazed to try the candy.
  'Cause we always
  give them a sample.
- There are not too many people
that do not like chocolate,
   and so it's something that
   is good for gift giving
 and if you get good chocolate
 you don't need to eat
a lot of it, 'cause one
piece will satisfy you.
  And as I said, our
  chocolates do not have a lot
  of sugar in them,
  and unfortunately,
  I became a diabetic
   and so I have to be
   careful of how much I eat.
 I kind of feel like an
 alcoholic bartender.
(laughs)
  - Next, we stop by Southwest
  Minnesota State University
   where their unique
   dessert creation
 won the RCA Culinology
 Competition.
- [David] The culinology program
 started approximately
 six years ago,
 but the thought
 process that led to it
 began probably a week
 after I arrived here,
although I wasn't gonna
call it culinology.
When I arrived, I came here and
it was in the middle of July
  and what was around
  me were corn fields
and soybean fields and Schwans,
and those kinds of things
and I began to think, you know,
this is an interesting area.
What is unique about it,
that's unique about it,
 what can we do on the campus?
   And at that point I didn't
   know that we had once
  had a very vibrant,
  traditional culinary
program and hotel
management program here.
 So, as I began to
 look into that I said
  well, why don't we bring it
  back and make it our own?
  The kitchens here,
  as I've often joked,
  were real 60s kitchens, sort
  of Ozzie and Harriet kind
of kitchens for home ec courses,
that's basically what they were.
  Avocado appliances,
  the only thing
missing was the orange shag rug.
 But that's what was
 here, and I knew that
   that would not be
   sufficient to the program,
so I began thinking
about where could we get
   the funds to transform it
   because I knew it would
  be expensive, but
  I didn't want to do
  anything until we
  had someone on board
 who would really take
 the lead in that.
  And that was Michael Chang,
  when we hired Michael.
 You know, I gave Michael
 basically the charge to think
about how to redesign
this while I would think
 about how to raise the
 funds to get it done.
 I think it took about
 two years to get the
  funding lined up
  and another year to
 get the transformation
 to take place.
 So we had really moved
 from home ec kitchens
   to fairly state of
   the art, at least
  for this institution
  and this area.
   Professional,
   commercial-like kitchens.
- Well, I would say that
the culinology program
that we have at SMSU is the
only four year fully integrated
bachelor of science and
culinology in the entire world.
 Our main strength of course is
 how we integrate both sides,
 the culinary arts
 and the food science.
  And then, the success of the
  program is measured based
upon the graduates and
in the past three years,
 we've had some very
 successful graduates.
 The Research Chefs Association
 put together a student
 culinology competition
 about five years ago.
  The goal was to see how
  students could create a gold
standard and take it to
commercialized version.
   With that said, we decided
   that since we have some
  experience working in
  private development as part
of the class project, I
felt confident that we
   could actually go in there
   and compete nationally.
Since the inception of the
student culinology competition,
 I've always wanted to
 put a team together.
 It's just waiting for
 the right moment and
the right team, students
to put into the team.
So, the opportunity came
when we found that we
 have some really strong
 students who are very talented
   and Kaylee Ryker's one of
   them, and I selected her
   as a team captain
   and told her to
  go out and pick her
  three team members.
   - As team captain,
   I was responsible
for the communications
with the RCA and making
   sure that the team stayed
   on task and focused.
 - And students had to
 create a gold standard
  on site as well as a
  commercialized version which
 they were to ship six weeks
 before the competition began.
 Then judges on site would
 compare the students' product,
which is prepared
fresh, to the commercial
   standard and see
   how similar it is.
   There were some guidelines
   in the competition,
  which was peaches
  and also a dessert.
   So, beyond that,
   students were free
 to create whatever they want.
  I pretty much let Kaylee
  have free reign on that one.
 They did a whole bunch
 of brainstorming.
  They looked at trends, came
  up with different ideas,
  made different fresh
  and gold standards,
 and then we tried all
 of them, and the ones
 that we were happiest
 with, that we felt we
   could replicate
   and commercialize,
ended up being the peach cobbler
 with the buttermilk ice cream.
- [Kaylee] Our team
made a brown sugar pecan
   peach cobbler with vanilla
   buttermilk ice cream.
 The first part is the cobbler
 bottom, which is peaches.
 In order to make that,
 you take a sautee pan
  and put the peaches in, with
  the sugar, some vanilla,
  the salt, and then heat that
  until it starts to bubble.
Then you add in the corn starch
that's been mixed with water
and then that is
heated to a boil
 and then the pecans are added.
Ashley Moore is the team member
who made the cobbler top.
 She does it by mixing
 it in the stand mixer.
   She adds her dry
   ingredients to the
 bowl and then places
 the butter in as well.
She mixes it until
they're about pea-sized,
the butter chunks are
pea-sized, and then adds
 in the liquid ingredients
 until it just comes together.
Steph Graus makes the ice cream.
She does this by taking
the milk and cream
and putting it on the stove and
 bringing it to almost a boil.
 The eggs are then
 mixed in another bowl,
 and then you temper it so
 that the eggs don't scramble.
   After it's tempered, you
   put it back on the stove,
add the corn syrup and vanilla,
 and heat it until it's nape
 or coats the back of a spoon.
And then it's about 170 degrees.
After that, you cool it
down to about 40 degrees
 so that you can run it
 in an ice cream maker.
   For the finished product,
   you do the peach cobbler
on the bottom and then
add the cobbler topping.
   And then when you
   go to plate it,
   you just scoop the
   cobbler out of the dishes
   and onto the place
   with ice cream.
   This is our commercial
   cobbler and so, what it is
   is a two compartment tray
   that has a perforation
  down the center, and
  so when a restaurant
  or a company gets it
  or, like, the ones
  that we sent to the RCA
  competition, they'll take it
 and tear it down the
 center, and then place
this half in the
microwave and the other
  half they'll scoop
  onto the plate after
 it comes out of the microwave.
- So once we got on
site, and we look at the
  competition site and
  what the other teams
  are making, we got a
  little apprehensive.
 But in the end, it
 turns out that we had
the best product and the
closest match between
  the fresh version and also
  the commercialized version.
   We were really surprised.
   Actually, I thought going
   into the competition,
 if we could get one of the top
 three places, I'd be happy.
 And then we found out
 that we're not third,
 and we're not second,
 but we actually
   were first, that
   made me feel good.
  And the students
  were very surprised.
I know they put a lot of
work and effort into it.
And this was something,
it was one of those
moments where you go, you know,
  this is the epitome
  of culinology.
   This is what we
   want the students
  to be able to do and they've
  succeeded in doing it.
  - That's all for this week.
 For more information,
 go to our website.
Hope to see you again
next time on Postcards.
  - [Voiceover] This program
  on Pioneer Public Television
is funded by the Minnesota
Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund
  with money from the
  vote of the people
 of Minnesota on
 November fourth 2008.
   Additional support
   provided by Mark
 and Margaret
 Yackel-Juleen in honor
   of Shalom Hill Farm, a
   non-profit rural education
   retreat center in a
   beautiful prairie setting
near Windom in
southwestern Minnesota.
  Shalomhillfarm.org.
 The Arrowwood Resort
 and Conference Center.
   Your ideal choice for
   Minnesota resorts offering
  luxury town homes, 18 holes
  of golf, Darling Reflections
 Spa, Big Splash water
 park, and much more.
 Alexandria, Minnesota,
 a relaxing vacation
or great location for an event.
   Explore Alex dot com, easy
   to get to, hard to leave.
