For the next three weeks, I'm scheduled to work with the morning team at the store in the 15th district. When I first learned this, I was nervous to say the least. The last time I worked with group, they stuck me with Steve, the dough guy. By the end of the week, I could tell he wanted to throw me out the window. This team is also the most serious, unsmiling while they create and decorate. I barely know each person's name and feel like an outsider.

But this week was different. As soon as I arrived, they set me to work with the entremets (cake) team, making and preparing the different ingredients that go into the final product. Most of the time they handed me a recipe and I weighed out the ingredients, but by the end of the week, I actually made and prepared final products all by myself. I primarily worked with two young Frenchmen who spoke slowly, made sure I understood their instructions, and were genuinely good teachers. They have obviously worked with many, many interns before because they had a lot of patience.

My specialty this week was making jellies - passion fruit, orange, strawberry, raspberry, rhubarb. It took me a few times before I really understood the method. First, the gelatin leaves must be softened in cold water. In France, they use thin leaves of gelatin weighing about two grams each instead of the powdered stuff we use in the States. Next, I cut the frozen fruit puree up into small chunks and mix it with water, lemon juice, or orange juice. The liquids are heated just enough to thaw the puree and then the sugar is added and mixed until dissolved. When the gelatin is soft, I drain it, squeeze out the excess water, and melt it down in a sauce pan. Once liquid, I add a few ladlefulls of the fruit puree, mix with a whisk and heat the mixture just slightly over low heat. The gelatin and puree is then mixed together and ready for assembly. Although this sounds simple enough, it really did take me a few recipes, and lots of verification in broken French, to get into the routine.

In the pastry shop, they sell items called Sesations and Emotions. These are various jellies, layered in clear glasses. They're quite beautiful to look at and fabulous on the tastebuds. I started out making Sensation Satine which is only sold between March 13th and April 29th. Just like fashion, we have collections that are only available during certain times of the year.

To make the Satine, I start out with the passion fruit jelly recipe, prepared as described above. Once the jelly is ready, I set glasses into a plastic tray that tilts them at a 45 degree angle. Using something called a piston, I fill deliver a precise dose of jelly into each glass so it rests at an angle in the glass. The glasses are then put on a metal tray and carefully put in the refrigerator. While the passion fruit jelly is setting up, I start on the marmalade jelly. By the time it's ready, I pull the glasses out of the refrigerator, tilt them another 90 degrees, and fill each one with an exact amount. The final layer is a jelly made out of plain yogurt and it's added while the glasses are upright. Each glass is then topped with an apricot macaron half and ready for purchase.

On Saturday, they let me make a whole set of Sensation Celestes by myself. These are just like the Satines above, but with rhubarb, strawberry, and passion fruit jellies. As I'm making them, several of the staff seem excited. Evidently this is a favorite among them and is only sold as part of the Celeste collection, available May 1 through 29. This collection pairs the three flavors in a variety of desserts: cake, cheese cake, millefeuille, tarts, and ice creams.

As I'm focused on my jellies, I do take a couple fleeting glances around me. The other people on the team are working rapidly in conveyor belt fashion to assemble new items such as the individual Desires:  butter-rich pastry, lemon cream, a layer of strawberry and banana jelly, lemon cake, and wild strawberries. The result is a melt in your mouth extravaganza that leaves me craving more. Although I don't help with the production at this point, they do let me add the wild strawberries on top for the final decoration.

This week I was rather proud of myself. I made very few errors and had only one small accident. When I was taking a tray of jelly filled glasses from the refrigerator, I back into a palet on the floor and lost my balance. Afraid of dropping and breaking the final product, I managed to hold the tray steady as I very ungracefully fell to the floor. While I did save the jellies that I worked so hard on, I now have a rather nasty bruise, larger than my hand, on my outer thigh. But hey, I didn't drop them!

As I changed into my street clothes and exited through the pastry shop before two days off. I stopped at the counter. On a whim, I bought four individual desserts I had helped make earlier that week. Being an intern does have benefits as I get a 30 percent discount in the store. Upon my return, Fabrice and I set the desserts out on the table and sampled them all. Yup, I did good.

So all in all, it was a good week. I'm not ready to say that I love my work yet, but at least no one wanted to throw me out the window...

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