That's How I Roll

I am loving Advanced Baking... more than I should. I always thought that I liked the flexibility of hot foods more than the rigidity of baking. I am slowly going to the darkside (baking, that is). Of course, it doesn't help that our teacher, Chef Catherine Hallman, is the most amazing person/chef/instructor I think I've ever had/known. She can fix anything that I might ruin (like if I were to try to soak instant dry yeast in water when you are only supposed to soak active dry yeast...). Yes, she's a miracle worker.

The above photograph is of the spread that our baking class created for a continental breakfast at school. It includes cinnamon rolls, donuts, cherry cream cheese danishes, cinnamon pecan twists, grissini breadsticks, and mini bagels. We were so proud of ourselves. :)

Some things I've learned so far in Advanced Baking that I thought I would share:

1. The best cinnamon sugar mixture, according to Chef Hallman is 1 lb. granulated sugar, 1 lb. brown sugar, 4-5 T cinnamon, and enough canola oil to make it moist. This makes for the perfect sugar:cinnamon ratio that will not fall out of whatever it is you are making.
2. The key to delicious homemade bagels is organic barley malt syrup in the dough and in the water that you boil them in. This can be purchased from King Arthur Flour's website. The ones we made tasted exactly like real live bagels... not the kind you buy in a bag at Food City.
3. The best icing/glaze for cinnamon rolls or danishes is so simple! Just pour one 16 oz. box of confectioner's sugar into a mixing bowl. Then add about 1/2 cup of clear Karo Syrup and a couple glugs of whole milk. Then mix until it is the perfect consistency for what you need it for. Not only does it taste delicious, it won't crack/crumble once it dries... a common problem with other glazes.

Next week we are making something I have always wanted to make... petit fours!

Too Late to 'Pologize?

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. School has a tendency to (A) freak me out and (B) take up quite a bit of time. So, here's what's been happening since I last wrote:

1. I survived a year of culinary school. Tah dah! I've learned so much I can't even comprehend it. I finished cake decorating... which was awesome, difficult, and super rewarding. The photo above is me and my final exam cake. It was a lot of work, but I was so proud of it! I also finished Culinary II. I'm much more confident in my cooking abilities now. I can't wait to see what we do next semester!

2. I'm two days into the summer semester right now. I'm taking Advanced Baking (and Principles of Management.... I know, thrilling, right?) with the amazing Chef Catherine Hallman. She can fix anything, make anything, and do anything you need when it comes to baking. We've already made:

- Brioche rolls (oh the buttery goodness...)

- Lemon Buttermilk Poundcake (light and delicious)

- Chocolate Marquise Torte (dang. this thing had a lot of pieces...)

- Italian Buttercream Frosting (the best frosting I've ever eaten in my entire life. period.)

- Gianduja (basically, a fancy name for nutella)

- Japonaise (hazelnut meringue)

- Chocolate Chiffon Cake (chocolate cake with meringue folded into the batter)

- Cointreau (simple syrup flavored with Triple Sec)

- Soft Ganache

- Hard Ganache

- Havana Torte

Yes, we made all this in two days! Intense? Indeed it was. But, I'm learning quite a bit and am loving every minute of it. There are only seven of us in the class, so we can get a lot of one-on-one time with Chef. Awesome times!

So, I'll try to be better about updating... but, until then, peace, love, and hair grease (to quote Dusting Cochran).

Mari

Jagged Little Rose Petals

This is my second attempt at cake decorating. It was frustrating at first, but after it was all said and done, I was quite pleased. The hardest part was frosting the cake. I could NOT get the darned thing smooth! I tried a hot spatula and a smooth paper towel.

Once I got past the idea that it didn't have to be completely smooth, I got down to decorating. We learned how to make roses, sweet peas, vines, stems, shell borders, rosebuds, and drop flowers. It was a full day - that's for sure. My hand is not pleased with me.

I was happy with my flowers, but Ms. Lora said that my icing was a little stiff and that is why the edges of each petal are a little jagged. Honestly, though, I really liked them! They were more dainty and carnation-like. I cannot wait to try all of the new things we are going to make! I'm already thinking of birthday cakes and such that I will be creating. Watch out, Duff! Chef Bland is on her way up!

Only Two Pounds of Sugar...

This, ladies and gents, was my very first attempt at icing (for real icing, not cream cheese who-really-cares-if-there-are-crumbs-it-tastes-freaking-amazing icing) and decorating a cake. I was quite proud. I'll be putting more photos of precious (hopefully) cakes up as I make them. Sadly, though, the cake was not the best tasting thing I've ever eaten. Next time, possibly less sugar (yeah... less than the TWO POUNDS we used), more butter, and more vanilla.

Comfortable in the Kitchen

Well, I'm back. It was a lovely holiday and I cooked and baked more than I ever have before! I had a lot of firsts: homemade marshmallows, homemade smores (with homemade marshmallows), Chef Hallman's famous cinnamon rolls, and Christmas dinner.




And now, it's back to school and back to cooking with a person looking over your shoulder and grading every move you make. In each class we had a practical exam on the first day. That was... well... awful. I did fine, though. I didn't have time to get all worked up over it, so I was more relaxed. This is definitely something I have noticed in these first two weeks of Semester 2. I have a certain relationship with the kitchen now that I never had before. I'm not afriad to get burned, cut, or wounded in any way. Instead, I have a respect for my knives, the skillets and stock pots in the kitchen, and myself.

I can't wait to continue this crazy journey I decided to embark on. Today my partner and I made a killer Bolognese sauce. Chef Joe tasted and it grinned. I'm really not sure if there is a better compliment out there.

Pumpkin Oat n' Fruit Bread

I almost forgot! Here are the pictures of the creative baking project I did: Pumkin Oat n' Fruit Bread:

Exam Week

Today was my Bakery Skills practical final exam. I've never taken a practical final... so it was a bit awkward for an essay test-taker pro like myself. But, it wasn't too horrible. We had to draw a random sheet of paper and make whatever was on it. I ended up with Whole Wheat Soft Rolls and Standard Pie Crust. Luckily, I had made both before (except for the whole wheat... which was the tricky part). So, first, we had to convert each formula into the yield amount that Chef gave us. This would have been easy except my roll formula did not have any percentages. So, I had to convert the original weights into percentages, and then do the baker's percentage formula. Not the easiest feat. Especially, since we had never done that before. But, luckily, I studied quite a bit and knew how to do it. If you haven't ever done this before, this part of the post probably makes no sense, but just think of it as weird science/algebra - baking style.

The pie crusts came out great. I was excited about that. I got darn good at making the things the other day when Chef had Megan and I make 20 lbs. of dough... and all the pie crusts that come with it. But, we learned it, dangit! The directions were to blind bake one pie crust and not bake the other at all. And that was exactly what I did.

My rolls, however, were another story. They were just beautiful to behold (as you can see in the above picture), but weighed as much as a darn baseball. When I handed it to Chef Hallman her arm dropped. It was hilarious... at my expense, of course. Hah. I didn't let them proof enough before I baked them, sadly. With whole wheat flour, it takes longer for the dough to rise & proof because the whole grains react with the glutenin and gliadin... causing it not to rise as well. But, you live and you learn. And now I know: whole wheat flour = longer proofing time. Simple, really.

Tomorrow I have two written exams, so I won't be taking pictures (for obvious boring reasons). Wednesday I have my Culinary I written & practical exam. I shan't be taking any pictures, though, since I have to focus all of my energy on my knife cuts, veloute sauce, bechamel sauce, chicken fabrication, and chicken cooking. Sigh... lots to do in only 2 hours!

I'll blog about that later. Right now, I need to try my very hardes to motivate myself into studying. Yeah. We'll see how that goes...