It’s like stepping out of the Southern Arizona desert and into a quaint bakery situated along the hustle and bustle of the Champs-Élysées.
The owners of La Baguette Parisienne were kind enough to take me on as a prospective pastry baker at their east-side establishment for my latest installment of Hiring Heidi; a sweet gig to be sure, but was I up for the task?
Since it first opened in 1983, La Baguette has been the go-to place for anyone living east of Craycroft for all of their baked good needs, from fruit tarts to chocolate croissants to, of course, their signature French baguettes.
With such a stellar reputation, the pressure was on.
And our objective for this job interview was no easy task: decorating a cake that celebrated our desert surroundings.
I threw on an apron and watched my future colleague, baker Anissa Gomez, a true master of the craft, work her magic.
She was good. Very good. And quick.
“How did you go so fast?” I asked.
This was going to be a disaster. I’m one of the least artistic people out there.
But I jumped right in.
“I’m already moving at a very slow pace,” I told Anissa
I was taking my time. But only because I didn’t want to mess it up.
The pink frosting that Anissa applied to her cake, looked so smooth and delicate; a mouth-watering vision.
My first attempt was...not as pleasing.
“This looks like a mess,” I said, only half-joking.
It took me a hot minute, but I managed to smooth things over.
Then it was time to really start decorating.
I broke out the green icing and began making my saguaros.
“Oh my goodness,” I said. “What a disaster.”
I was really struggling.
“This is the ugliest cactus I’ve ever seen,” I told Anissa.
I attempted to hide the mess by adding smaller cacti and little pink flowers. I then moved to the top of the cake.
My plant life was coming out as shapeless clumps, but I was really focused on getting it right.
Finally, the pièce de resistance: “Hiring Heidi” written in cursive across the top.
“Heidi” came first. Not bad. Not bad.
Then came the “Hiring.”
“This isn’t half as bad as I thought,” I said.
I somehow got it done. The saguaros were the worst part…but everything else, not horrible!
It wasn’t going to win any French cake decorating contests, but in the end it had enough "je ne sais quoi" to earn a “you’re hired” from the good folks at La Baguette.
Swing by the bakery at 7851 E. Broadway if you are ever looking for something sweet from your favorite KGUN 9 news anchor.