It's All in the Garnishes

Here are our cutsie sweet nibbles in their garnished, presentation form.

Workin' the Assembly Line

So, the College is hosting several events this weekend to welcome the new president on board. Of course, where there are people, there must be food (so they will willingly sit through long-winded speeches). HA!

That's where my classmates and I come in.

This week we've been the bakery production crew, makin' and a bakin' the cookies, pastries, and cutsie sweet nibbles that will (hopefully!) be enjoyed by all who attend the public and invitation-only VIP festivities.

Here is just one of the cutsie nibbles: Red Velvet Trifle (red velvet cake, custard, whip cream, and Grand Marnier). 

Can I get a drum roll, puhhleeaase?!

Also on our to-do list are Creme Brulee, Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Mousse Cordial, Margarita Mousse Parfait with Lime Sugar Rim, Chocolate Lava Souffle, and Tiramisou with Fresh Raspberries.

We have a lot still to do, including all of the garnishes. It's going to be busy this Saturday, when our class meets up in the kitchen bright and early!

It's All in the Four-Fold for Puff Pastry

On Saturday, my baking partner, Amanda, and I made a puff pastry dough. It's a bit labor intensive, so I'll break down the steps.

1) First you make the dough. You do this by combining bread flour and cake flour with butter and salt that has been dissolved in cold water. For mixing, we used the small KitchenAid mixer that you probably have at home. After developing a nice, smooth dough -- without overmixing, as that develops too much gluten -- we plopped the dough onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and shaped it into a rectangle with our hands. We then covered it with plastic wrap and let it chill out in the cooler for about 20 minutes.  

2) As it chilled (to relax the gluten) we prepared the butter. We blended it in the mixer with a bit more of the combined flours, to both soften the butter and absorb excess moisture. We shaped it into a rectangle and slipped it into the cooler just until we'd rolled out our dough. Then we flipped the butter over onto the dough, as shown.

At this point, it would be hard for an onlooker to tell if we were making Danish pastry or puff pastry, since both include a butter roll-in -- unless he or she had a good nose. Danish pastry is made with yeast, puff pastry is not. And Danish layers are made with three-folds, while puff pastry layers are created with four-folds.

Imagine it this way: for a three-fold, a rectangular-shaped dough is visually divided into thirds, by two imaginary dotted lines. The top edge of the dough is folded down at the line marking the top third. Then the bottom edge is folded up at the other marker, overlapping the first fold. So the number of layers in the dough triple with each three-fold.

For a four-fold, imagine that you have three dotted lines running the width of your dough. You fold the top edge down as for the three-fold, so that the edge meets the middle dotted line, or middle of the dough. The bottom edge is then folded up so that its edge meets the middle line as well. Then you fold the top half over onto the bottom half. The butter and dough layers are quadrupled with each four-fold.

3) So, after "locking-in" the butter with the four-fold, here's how our dough shaped up.

4) After letting the dough chill out for 30 minutes in the cooler, we then rolled it out, and gave the dough another four-fold. We repeated this step two more times, letting the dough chill for 30 minutes between each roll. After a final 30 minute chill, the dough was ready for use. Here's a photo of Amanda rolling out the dough.

* Just a note about flours, since I mentioned that we used cake and bread flour. Bread flour provides good quality gluten, while cake flour is a weak, low-gluten flour made from soft wheat. Cake flour is used primarily for cakes and delicate baked goods, while bread flour is usually used to make yeast breads. High-gluten flour is typically used for hard-crusted breads and in specialty products like pizza dough and bagels.

FAT TOM

Soooooo.....

If I wasn't enough of a germaphobe before, I am now. Because now I have to worry about pathogens (pesky, uber-tiny microorganisms) that cause foodborne illnesses.

I'm talking viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi, people!

Which is where FAT TOM comes in. This acronym has nothing to do with a guy with a hefty appetite, and everything to do with conditions that fuel pathogen growth.

FAT TOM stands for Food, Acidity, Temperature, Time, Oxygen, and Moisture.

Pathogens like to gobble up carbs and proteins, like we do. Too, they really like foods that contains little or no acid, and they simply adore hanging out between 41 and 135 degrees (known as the Temperature Danger Zone or TDZ). Give the little creeps four or more hours at TDZ, and they grow to a level high enough to wreck havoc on someone's intestines, stomach, or kidneys. 

As my instructor says, "This food will ruin your day."

Oxygen -- or lack of it, in some cases -- jump starts the pathogens as well, as does moisture. Can you say, "BOTULISM"?! (Without treatment, you can kiss your life goodbye.)

The following list of foods have the right FAT TOM conditions that pathogens need to grow:

*milk and dairy products

*untreated garlic-and-oil mixtures (like the kind your cousin made you for Christmas!)

*sprouts

*heat-treated plant food, including beans and rice

*baked potatoes

*fish

*beef, pork and lamb (in other words, all the MEATS I frequently digest)

*poultry

*eggs

*shellfish

*sliced melons/cut tomatoes

*tofu and textured soy protein

Lovely. So not only do I get to wonder if kitchen staffs are washing their hands after they pick their noses. I also get to imagine them leaving the chicken on the counter for six hours to thaw, not cooking foods at high enough temps to kill microorganisms, and cross-contaminating raw fruits and veggies before placing them in my salad.  ;-(

Icing A Cake - My First Attempt

Hmmmm.....I knew icing a cake wasn't going to be as easy as Chef made it look!

Steps to icing a cake:

1) place cake on a cardboard base

2) use a serrated knife to shave off any browned cake, so that the surface is all the same color and flat

3) cut cake in half, so that you can add filling between the layers

4) ice with a base coat

5) finish with a heavy coat, which you make as flat and smooth as possible

6) cover up your flaws with coconut! HA!

7) put cakes in the cooler so icing will harden

Tools you need:

*icing comb - a small, inexpensive plastic or metal tool, usually triangular in shape. The serrated edges can be used to even out icing or add decorative texture.

*straight spatula - also called a palette knife, this long flexible blade has a rounded tip. Size needed depends on size of cake.

*offset spatula - the angled blade allows you to get under a cake and lift it.

*cake cardboard base - don't forget this step, or you'll have difficulty removing the cake from the turntable once it's iced! The cardboard gives the cake a sturdy base.

*turntable - a round, flat disk that swivels freely on a pedestal base. Available in plastic and heavy-duty metal, the latter of which is obviously more expensive. My tip: buy the best you can so it lasts longer.

*baking sheet lined with parchment paper - use to transport cake to the cooler. Parchment paper is a handy tool for minimizing dirty pans and clean up. It's also great to use when baking cookies. 

Icing A Cake - Chef's Demo

So, today my baking partner, Amanda, and I got to try our hand at icing cakes. We tried using the buttercream icing we made the other day, but it was too soft. Yeah, icing made with lots of butter and shortening has trouble staying sturdy in 90-degree kitchens.  ;-)

So Chef had us remake the icing, this time leaving out the 2 cups of heavy cream. It was still soft, but at least it was spreadable.

Then Chef demonstrated how to ice the yellow cake. He chose to add a layer of raspberry filling, which always goes under the buttercream layer, because it's heavier.

The man's a whiz at getting the icing to spread completely flat and smooth. He should be; he's made hundreds of wedding cakes during his career!

Less Than Stellar With Red Velvet

So, to be frank, today's kitchen experience SUCKED. All five hours of it.

All my baking partner, Amanda, and I had to do was whip up a red velvet cake batter, a yellow cake batter (using liquid shortening. Ewwwwww!), and a big bowl of buttercream icing (3 lbs. butter! 3 lbs. shortening! 7 lbs. powdered sugar! 2 c. heavy cream!).

We ran into problems from the get-go:

1) There was no buttermilk for the red velvet cake batter .... so we substituted heavy cream, per Chef's directive.

2) The three 10" pans of red velvet cake baked lopsided.

3) That damn gooey red food coloring made cleanup a royal PAIN!!! (I even had to soak my chef coat in dishwasher machine detergent when I got home.)

4) Chef told us that we used the wrong mixer for the yellow cake batter (I'm still foggy as to why one mattered over the other - but I better get that fact straight ASAP, as we're to make another batch of batter on Thursday!).

5) The two 10" pans of yellow cake also baked lopsided as well. (Note to self: double check that oven shelves are level!)

Hmmm....perhaps the sloping surfaces were simply mirroring our frazzled nerves?? 

Turf skirmishes over available ovens and equipment, between the second-year culinary students and us lowly first-semester baking students, took all the fun right out of the day. 

CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG, PEOPLE?  ;-)

Yeah, baby, yeah.

Success With Danish!

My partner, Amanda, and I had a successful day in the kitchen. We made Danishes and two apple crumb pies. In the first two photos, Amanda is adding softened butter to two-thirds of our rolled out dough, so that we can fold it inside the dough. Danishes are made from "laminated" (high fat!) yeast dough that has been rolled out and folded ("turned") three times.

After we cut our finished dough into two-ounce strips, Chef Songin showed us how to twist and twirl the strips into their final shape for proofing and baking.

After the Danish were cool, Chef showed our class how to drizzle flat white icing over the tops. Chef's preference is fondant, because it stays shiny and doesn't flake off, but none could be found in the storeroom.

The finished product were de-lish!

Must Haves for Artisan Breads

So, according to all the research I've been doing, I'm all set to make my first loaf of artisan bread. Why? Because I've collected the following *must have* items and my excitement is well proofed!

Must haves:

*mixing bowls

*baking parchment paper

*bread flour (I purchased high-gluten flour from St. Honore bakery in Portland, OR)

*rubber spatula

*spray oil

*instant-read (probe) thermometer

*scaled (measured) ingredients (thus, a digital scale, accurate to .25 ounce, is a MUST!)

*sheet pans

*metal pastry scraper

*instant yeast (SAF-Instant comes highly recommended)

*proofing couche (thick cloth that helps loaves to keep shape)

*lame (scoring blade for top of loaves)

*baking stone

*metal peel

*copy of The Bread Baker's Apprentice

Let's see....what else?

BUTTER! Lots and lots of butter! And maybe a nice soup.   ;-)

Sanitation Is An Eye-Opener

So, along with my kitchen hours, I'm taking a class titled "Sanitation." As you might expect, the goal of the course is to get readers to set high food safety standards, whether they're employees in a fast-food chain, future bakers like myself, or managers of five-star restaurants.

We're only a week into the course, but already I'm disgusted. Yes, by those pesky microorganisms that cause food borne illnesses. But mostly by the examples of personal hygiene no-nos that lead to cross-contamination.

Can you say "Keep Your Feces to Yourself!"?

Just one example: in a video snippet, we watched a waiter slip his hand inside his pants to scratch himself. He then resumed filling glasses with ice at the soda machine. Ewwwww!  

But there are also the people who pick/blow their nose, scratch their zits, or run their fingers through their hair.

I didn't realize just how much the info is seeping into my personal kitchen practices -- until tonight, when I licked my finger after cutting fresh peaches. Instinctively I froze, my finger still in my mouth. At my expression, my husband bust out laughing. 

"Don't worry," he said, wickedly. "I won't tell anyone!" 

Yeah, right. 

I bet he's installed a hidden camera in our kitchen, so he can upload "SHERI'S SANITATION NO-NOS!!" on YouTube.

Another Book to Recommend - How to Break an Egg

This hefty volume, subtitled "1,453 Kitchen Tips, Food Fixes, Emergency Substitutions, and Handy Techniques" is worth the read, especially if you feel like a total twit in the kitchen.  ;-)

I highly recommend a thorough review of two sections in the back: "Handy Kitchen Techniques" (complete with glossy photos) and "When Things Go Wrong, Substitutions, and Equivalents."

In the first, I learned how to quickly core and slice an apple. (I previously wasted a lot of time slicing the apple directly through its center, then gouging out the core.) And I learned how to cut segments from an orange without mangling it into a big, wet mess.

In the second, I found the "Bad Bread Blues," "Pie Pitfalls and Tart Tribulations," and "Cookie Chaos" sections particularly helpful. 

It's amazing how much easier the kitchen is to tackle with the right tools and know-how.  ;-)

You Say Scale, I Say Gimme Digital!

Here are photos of the scales I'm using in my pastry school's kitchen. I just wish I was allowed to cart in my DIGITAL scale from home!

Helpful Baking Info - Conversions & Subtitutes

Sheeeesh! The amount of info bakers need to know is astounding! Here are some great links I found, just in time for class. (How the heck did I ever function before the Internet??!)

Approximate Volumes to Weights Chart 

Metric Conversion Table

Refrigerator and Freezer Storage Times Chart

Cake Pan Size Conversion Chart

Common Baking Substitutes Chart

Two Heads Better Than One?

You'd think two heads would be better than one, right? That having a pastry partner would ensure that I wouldn't screw up. Hmmm.....

....perhaps IF the brains in both of our heads weren't overwhelmed with trying to appear confident and capable in using equipment we'd never laid eyes on before. Such as a multi-attachment commercial mixer and old-fashioned balance scale that measures in OUNCES. 

Our task was fairly simple: weigh out and mix the ingredients for chocolate chip cookie dough -- after tripling the recipe.

At home, of course, Amanda and I know where everything is. Here we had to search for the flour bin, the 16-oz blocks of butter, the flats of eggs, even bowls. And then try to convert everything to those dratted ounces. Obviously, the mental energy needed to do mathematical equations simply isn't there when all of your other synapses are firing away over new sights, shapes and textures.

That's the only explanation I can come up with for why we dumped our white sugar, brown sugar, flour, and salt into a single stainless steel bowl -- BEFORE CREAMING THE SUGARS WITH THE BUTTER. (Duh! That's why it's called the "Creaming Method"!!)

I'm going to blame it on that dratted balance scale. In this digital age, why hasn't that metal torture tool been banned to museums and prisons?!  "Because," Chef intoned, "a lot of bakeries still use them."

STOP LIVING IN THE DARK AGES, PEOPLE!!

Anyway, after Chef caught us in that error, he walked by just in time to observe our second: our virgin attempt on the commercial mixer. "Wrong paddle!" he barked. "That one goes on the bigger mixer."

THERE'S A BIGGER ONE?!

Hmmm. I guess my guy friends are right after all: size DOES matter!  ;-)

Pastry School: Day One

So, my pastry/baking kitchen classes run FIVE HOURS long! From 8:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m., three days a week, including SATURDAYS. 

That doesn't include the three days of baking lecture, baking math, and two hours of sanitation. Yup, that's right. Until Christmas, I'll have no life.

Today was hard. For starters, can I share just how long it's been since I've been up at 6 am? Two, I'm not used to a rigid schedule. And three, I'm definitely not used to being a pack mull. My book-laden backpack must have weighed 50 pounds -- and felt like bricks were being added with each of the eight blocks I walked from my apartment.

I know. I shouldn't complain. My grandfather (and probably yours) had to walk 13 miles to school, all of it uphill, barefoot. With nary a tart, scone, or French baguette to stall his tummy rumblings.  

Yeah, well, at least Gramps didn't have to worry about getting stuck in the culinary department's commercial elevator. I face that very real possibility on the day(s) I'm assigned to drag the kitchen's trash down to the first floor dumpster.

"Pull this big door open like this," explained "Chef," my instructor, "then pull this gate across to step inside. Be sure to close them both COMPLETELY before you push the button to go down or you'll probably get stuck inside."

Then he dropped the other shoe. "When you're ready to come back up," he added, "step inside, close the doors, then push the button. It will ring the alarm back up here. As SOON as someone hears it, he or she will push the button, and the elevator will rise."

Yeah, I can see the holes in that scenario. Like the rest of my 12-member class deciding that NOW is a good time to visit the potty and grab a smoke.