Hosting My First Trial Workshop at Kaleido 🎉
As part of my collaboration with Kaleido, I hosted a trial workshop—a great opportunity to experience their kitchen in a class setting. And this time, I decided to leak my strawberry shortcake recipe! 🍓✨
As I prefer each student to receive enough individual attention, the class was limited to a maximum of 8 students. Unlike my previous workshops, where participants worked in pairs, this time each student had their own set of equipment and was fully responsible for making their own cake. This hands-on approach allowed for a more immersive learning experience—but it also meant a lot more prep work for me! 😆
To stay organized, I pre-measured all the ingredients the day before and arrived three hours early to set up. Also, my good friend Sara came along to help and capture some great photos.
Prep included:
✔️ Moving tables & setting up equipment
✔️ Organizing fridge space
✔️ Washing and cutting strawberries
✔️ Lining up tools & ingredients for each student… and having an apple for dinner 🍏
I managed to finish all prep works in 2 hours and 45 minutes, but just as I was about to take a breather… students started arriving early! 😆
One student had to cancel last minute, so I asked Sara to take their spot—no ingredients wasted!
I originally planned to teach in English, but since all the students were Cantonese speakers, I switched to my mother tongue. Except… I forgot some baking vocab! 😅 So I ended up bouncing between Cantonese and English throughout the class.
By the end, everyone was overjoyed with their cakes! We took a group photo, but just as we were wrapping up, one student’s cake fell to the floor—ouch! 😱 But instead of dwelling on it, we all laughed and said, "落地開花，富貴榮華"
(Rooted to the ground, blooming with prosperity and honor)
These little moments are what make workshops so special.
🔍 Reflection & Lessons Learned:
✅ The class went almost exactly as planned!
❌ I underestimated the washing and cleaning workload during class. Huge thanks to Mr. Day for stepping in to help with the dishes mid-session! 🙌
✅ Luckily, 3-4 Kaleido staff helped with cleanup afterward, so we wrapped up in just 45 minutes.
❌ BUT… I still took home over 100 ingredient containers to wash. It took me almost 3 hours the next day! 😵💦
💡 Lesson learned: Next time, I definitely need to hire an assistant for hands-on baking workshops, so I can focus more on teaching and guiding students instead of juggling cleanup!
🌟 Bonus: A Sweet Surprise! 🍰✨
Four days later, Sara told me the cakes still tasted wonderfully fresh—a true testament to the strength of my recipe. Success! 🎉 To be honest, when you buy a ready-made cake from a store, there’s a good chance it’s already a few days old, and you might not even notice the lack of freshness. Homemade always wins! 😍
Overall, it was an exhausting yet fulfilling experience! Thank you, everyone, for this opportunity—I can’t wait for more workshops ahead! 🙌✨