Lemon Tarts and Pate au Choux....Gesundheit!

Pretty Little Swans

Tonight in B&P we got a visit from Amy who works in the Career Services Department of CCA, and she came today to talk to us about our upcoming externships. There wasn't any new information, but it was a nice reminder that I really need to figure out what I am going to do. After the visit from Amy, we got a nice demo from Chef Richard on the makings of Creme Chantilly and a chocolate glaze he named 4-2-1 Glaze. Then he showed us how to put together Creme Puffs, Eclairs, Paris Breasts, and those fancy little Swans. And then we all got to work!

Eclairs

We had already baked our Pate au Choux dough last night, and made our Vanilla Pastry Creme, so those were all ready to go. The Pate au Choux dough is different in that it is a hot dough. So you actually mix the ingredients over heat in order to sort of cook out some of that flour flavor, and this is the dough we used to make our creme puffs, eclairs, Paris breasts and swans...

Profiteroles

We then quickly whipped together our creme chantilly, and got to work on cutting and poking holes in  the profiteroles and eclairs and swans, then filled them with pastry creme, topped them with creme chantilly, and dipped some in chocolate. It was tedious work, but kind of right up my alley! These are the parts I enjoy most about baking, the finishing touches and making all our hard work look beautiful. My eclairs turned out on the thin side, so by the time I filled them with pastry creme, then went to top them with a big cloud of creme chantilly, they were wanting to fall over. Well, some of them did! So I struggled a little with that, but I wasn't the only one... I kept hearing one of my classmates saying "man down!". Ha! 


I put together my pretty little swans last, I kept checking other swans to make sure that I put the wings on the correct way, because I didn't want "angry swans"! And I must say, they sure are pretty! 

Paris Breast

Lemon Curd Tart with Swiss Meringue

Once I was finally done, (this basically took us about 2 hours I think), I put all my work on one sheet pan as chef instructed, and carefully walked my tray over to be graded. We were also graded on our Lemon Curd Tarts with the Swiss Meringue from the other night. And as we are winding down on our third week of B&P, chef gave us each individually a little overview of how we are doing thus far. He had all good things to say, that I "do nice work", and while not everything has been perfect, such as the piping work on my lemon tart, he could still sell that in a bakery, and that this is just my first time ever making any of this, so he is really grading on technique. It all makes sense to me, and I agreed. It was nice to hear and makes me feel good in that I am on the right path.

Show Me The Dough!

I can't believe it's Friday, and that means that we are about to complete our second week of Baking & Pastry. And even more so, I can not believe that after we finish this class (in just 4 more weeks), we only have one more class left, then we do our externships, and then we graduate! Wow.....time sure flies when you're having fun!

So this week of B&P is pretty well represented in the photos here. The week started out nice and tasty with the baking off of our Brioche breads. Chef Richard showed us how to make various types of brioche breads, we made Atete's, a Nantere, a 3 Braided loaf and a 4 Braided loaf. Mmmmmm.....I can't wait to make some brioche french toast with these babies.

And then the week got sweeter with Sweet Doughs! We made some pretty ridiculous Cinnamon Rolls, they were almost as big as my head, or as my friend said, looked like a horse's foot!

And then we went insane with butter and made Croissants. I never knew how croissants were made, and never really thought about it. But when the time came to make our croissants, I felt a bit nervous, because I could only assume that they are not easy. And it turns out that they are not so difficult, it just take some finesse and patience. It took us two nights to complete our croissants, but we did also make pretzels on the first night. The process of making croissants was eye opening. To see how much butter, and how the butter gets worked into the dough...well all I could say was "wow". We also made some Pain au Chocolats, croissant dough filled with chocolate. Yummy. But I preferred the cheese filled ones....

 Oh, and let's not forget about the Pretzels! We were all pretty much mad at Chef Richard for allowing us to make these, because they were so good, that we all ate about 2-3 of them after class that night! 

And last night was the first half of our first practical exam, which we finish tonight. We will be tested on Biscuits, Cookies, and French Bread Baguettes. Last night we had two hours in which I gathered all the mise for all 3, made the french bread dough and let it rest, then put that in the walk-in to bake off tonight, made the cookie dough and put that in the walk-in to bake off tonight, and made a partial biscuit batter to finish and bake off tonight. We will have another hour and half tonight to finish tonight. Wish me luck!

Oh For The Love Of Baking!

Well our first week of B&P is fully baked. It's been an interesting week, but not so much to really write about. The pace of baking is so much slower, less intense, there's fewer ingredients, and lots of waiting time. Each night this week we basically gathered our ingredients, measured everything out, maybe got a demo from Chef Richard and some brief discussion, then we mix our ingredients together and then we typically wait. Well, we aren't actually just standing around waiting and watching the ovens. We clean, or we usually have a few things to bake each night, thanks to Chef Richard. He usually adds an item or two for us to make so that we aren't standing around watching dough proof. So we have actually made a LOT in just our first week. 


We did have a little bit of drama and laughter during the week...let's see....Chef Richard showed us how to roll out a baguette using "Spirit Hands", also known as "Jazz Hands". Lol! And then we had some drama when he had to leave class to tend to his daughter that was in an accident, so we were kept company by Chef John and Head Chef Michael Weller (Thanks Chef's!). And we were all relieved to hear that Chef Richard's daughter was ok.


 And last night a really funny thing happened when another chef instructor, who seems to have an affinity for my food, came into the kitchen. You see, a few classes back I had made some cupcakes for two people that were having a special event in their lives, and before they were able to enjoy my cupcakes, she swooped in and ate them both! So last night she comes into the kitchen and my partner and I have our bagels beautifully baked and resting on one sheet pan together. And I start seeing this go down as if in slow motion....she approaches our sheet pan of bagels, and starts touching them as if trying to decide which one to take. I politely suggest for her to take one of the cinnamon ones (because those were Sean's!), and she says "No, that would be sweet", (she is a candy or pastry chef so she didn't want more sweet), and I see her hand going for one of my beautiful sesame seed bagels, and she says "I'll take THIS one"! But I guess I can't blame her, I know my food always looks the best!! And she did come back to show that she ate it all :)


All in all this week we first made Biscuits, then Cookies, Brownies, Blueberry Muffins, Focaccia Bread, French Bread Baguettes and Batards and a Round Loaf, and last night we made Bagels and the dough for Brioche that we will bake on Monday. (YUM!!!!)

And everything for me has come together very quick and simple like, and they have all turned our pretty nice, with perfect scores for far. So even though there isn't a whole lot to say about it all, I think the pictures are worth a thousand words.....and it's just too bad you can't taste them!!

The Culinary 13

One of our former chef instructors once said that the average weight gain of culinary students during their schooling is 13 pounds. Yikes! Well, in just my third day of Baking & Pastry, I can definitely see how that might happen. 


Last night we made cookies and brownies, and tonight we made blueberry muffins, and made dough for French bread (which will be baked tomorrow).  I came home with three bags full of sweets. Luckily I get to see some friends this weekend so I can unload most of that!


Baking is a very different beast from savory cooking. It still has all the perks of cooking - creativity, working with your hands and simple raw ingredients, all with fabulous end results. But the pace of baking is much slower, and you really need to measure everything. One of the things I enjoy most about savory cooking is the ability to add an ingredient here and an ingredient there, or a little more of this and that. I like the looseness of it. Of course not everything in savory cooking works that way, but really none of that works in baking. I think I just need a few more days to settle in to this new class, as I have with each new class so far. But this certainly feels like we are winding down, especially since our last class was so energized, creative, and fun. 

I am already learning a lot in this new class, certainly a lot more than I really expected about the whole science behind baking. Tonight Chef Richard talked to us about yeasted doughs, gluten formation, fermentation, yeast temperatures, and more mixing methods. I am excited about my French bread dough that is currently fermenting in the walk-in at school, and the Focaccia bread that we will also make tomorrow. Till then....let's all think happy thoughts to my little French dough ball in that cold and dark walk-in....

Baking and Pastry Beginnings

Tonight was our first night of B&P, Baking and Pastry. We have a new chef instructor, Chef Richard Sanchez, a new student, and are in a new kitchen. The kitchen is beautiful, perfectly set up for baking, with 3 very large and long wooden block working tables, a 4 deck oven, many mixers, and a wide variety of flours, sugars, and a few cases of butter. 


I am afraid, very afraid! You see, I love breads and pastries. It's always been my weak spot. I feel my time spent at the gym is going to have to be doubled going forward during this class. Ugh!! I asked chef if we could taste the biscuits that we made at the end of class tonight, and his response was "yes, you HAVE to". So I think I have cause to worry, especially since I already ate 3 biscuits tonight. Yikes! And it gets worse, chef says that tomorrow we have a much busier day, as we will be making cookies, brownies, and muffins. Ohhh Lord! 


So tonight we got an overview of the class, a tour of the kitchen and equipment, and a short lecture on Quick Breads. There seems to be a whole science behind baking, so it was all fascinating to me, and slightly intimidating. Chef was using terms like mixing methods, creaming and sheeting, and hygroscopic. Apparently sugar is "hygroscopic", meaning that it absorbs moisture. Hmpf. And chef told us that the same rule about using fat applies to baking as it does in cooking. That "fat is fat, and to go for flavors". Meaning to chose the type of fat that will provide you the flavor profile you are looking for. Cool!


After the brief lecture on quick breads and mixing methods, fat temperatures, and the rules around using baking powder versus baking soda, we got a quick demo on how to make biscuits. Very simple enough. Then we got our own mise together for our own biscuits, and got to baking biscuits! I decided to add cheese and jalapeno to mine, they came together very quickly, and I was first to get mine in the oven. Within 20 minutes they were done and a beautiful golden brown. And, well, I guess they are good, cause I really can't stop eating them!