What we learned in culinary school this week: Week 17 (Part 2)

Cakes!!!

There are two main types of cakes: Butter, which uses a chemical leavening agent (baking soda or baking powder) and sponge, which is leavened with eggs. We also went over different types of flour, which I won't bore you with, as well as frostings and vanilla and vanilla extracts. Did you know the vanilla bean is the second most expensive bean in the world? Only saffron is pricier. To make vanilla extract, the beans are soaked in alcohol for about a month. The highest quality vanilla extract is 35% alcohol or less. Bourbon, Madagascar and Tahitian are the best.

When making cakes from scratch, your eggs should always be room temperature. If you can't wait, put them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes and this will bring them to room temp.

Never fill a cake pan more than 3/4 of the way. Also, if your cake domes, it means your oven is too hot. However, you can just cut the top off to even it out.

Cake recipes can usually also be used for cupcakes as well, but test it to make sure.

And yes, the toothpick test works!

Enough of that. Pictures!

Buttercream cake:

Carrot Cake:

Chocolate Cake:

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake:

Frosting demo:

Getting it this smooth is a lot harder than it looks.

Cakes!

What we learned in culinary school this week: Week 17 (Part 1)

First week in a while with no Friday lunch. Wish we could do it all the way through the program, but we've still got a lot to cover and need all the time we can get. And we got to make all sorts of good stuff this week!

Monday: Custards. Custards involve dairy and eggs. They can be sweet or savory (today we did sweet). Refined sugar in baking adds moisture, but in custards it just adds sweetness, so you can add any sweetener, because it doesn't affect the texture. Always serve creme brulee in its dish - it won't hold its shape if you try to remove it from the dish. Custards are always served cold, so you can make them the day ahead.

For cheesecakes: If you want it light and fluffy, whip the cream cheese a lot, then add the eggs and whip on high. For a more dense cheesecake, don't whip it as much. The graham cracker or cookie crust should have the consistency of wet sand when mixed. You can even make a cheesecake without a crust - just line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

We made flan, bread pudding, butterscotch pudding, creme caramel custard and got to wield the torches to caramelize the tops of our creme brulees.

Cheesecake cracked? No problem...

...just add beautiful fresh fruit!

For the water bath - use a towel on the pan...

...then fill the dish, put it in the oven and pour water
in. That way you don't slop water all over the place
carrying it to the oven, or God forbid into the dish.

Sugar coating for the brulee.

TORCHED!!!

The next couple of days, we worked on puff pastry. It's a lot of work and time consuming. 

Puff pastry is a combination of dough and butter that is repeatedly turned and rolled out, creating layers of butter that will cause them to puff up during baking. 

The schedule.

Croissants:

Croissants with Chocolate:

Pains Aux Raisins:

Thursday and Friday we did cakes with the school's kickass Baking and Pastry Chef. Going to do that one in a separate post.

What we learned in culinary school this week: Week 16

Sick again, so I missed Yeast Breads and Enriched Breads, but as Chef pointed out, since I've enrolled in the upcoming full-time Baking and Pastry Program, I'll cover that later.

We did flaky dough (pie crusts) and sweet tart dough on Thursday. Here's what we learned about that:

Baking is much more of an exact science when it comes to the ingredients, especially measurements. In professional and commercial baking recipes, measurements are given in grams.

In pie crusts, all-purpose flour is used about 95% of the time. AP is soft enough to create tender, flaky crusts, but hard enough to hold its shape and texture. Most flours, with the exception of whole wheat, can be stored indefinitely. Store flour in a glass or plastic container with a secure lid.

The fat added is usually butter, but doesn't have to be. Crisco or rendered lard can be used. We were told that Whole Foods carries a higher quality version of Crisco. Duck fat also works great. Butter will produce a more buttery, melt in your mouth crust, while lard produces a more crunchy, crispy crust.

The dryer your dough is, the flakier the crust will be. However, it's also harder to roll out.

For fruit pies: Cooking fruit generates a lot of juice. You need to thicken it with flour (for starchy fruits like apples and pears), tapioca or cornstarch (both for watery fruits, like berries and stonefruit). However, your fruit doesn't have to be pre-cooked.

Blind baking is partially pre-baking your pie crust before filling it, adding the top crust (if using) and finishing it back in the oven.

Sweet tart dough is easier to make and hard to ruin. In other words, idiot proof. I should make more tarts.

Chef made a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie while
demoing pie crust.

Edges crimped!

Ready for the oven.

Coconut Cream Pie (YUM).

Big pies, little pies...

And a galette to grow on!

Tart crust.

Lemon Tart.

Lunch #7

Still haven't completely shaken the cold, but got through lunch. Didn't get many pictures, though.

Today we put our pie crust skills to work for Friday lunch.

Menu

Salad of Field Greens, Strawberries and Goat Cheese

Chicken Pot Pie

Chocolate Chip Cookies

My station - I made the sauce.

The assembly line.

Sadly, this was our class's last lunch service. Chef wants to use the rest of our time (we graduate June 20) to cover as much material as possible. We still have more baking and pastry to cover, then we start on various ethnic cuisines. We also have wine tasting, jams and fermentation coming up. We do have our second Family & Friends Pop-Up at the end of the month, which should be great. I will miss the Friday lunches though.

What we learned in culinary school this week: Week 15

All over the place this week. Chef decided to have us do a seasonal vegetables refresher course on Monday and Tuesday. Then we did quick breads on Wednesday and brunch on Thursday. Our Friday lunch was breakfast to order and then the school had a famous pastry chef doing a macarons demo Friday evening and I volunteered to help prepare food for the guests attending that event. Whew!

California Chopped Salad. A terrific, light,
refreshing spring/summer salad.

Bruschetta with Fava Bean Puree. A great way to
get people who hate bean (me) to eat them.

Mushroom Bourgignon. HOLY MOTHER OF GOD
this is one of the best things we've ever made. I
LOVED it. So substantial, you don't miss the beef.

Haricots Verts. Another way to get me to eat beans.

Zucchini Fritters with Minted Creme Fraiche.

Asparagus Polonaise.

We also made Green Bean Salad with Pesto, Spring Vegetable Fricassee, Cauliflower Couscous with Quinoa, Eggplant and Porcini "Meatballs" and Zucchini Spaghetti with Pesto, among others.

Quick Breads:
We went over various leavening agents whose properties are very scientific, so it's a good thing I wrote them down because I don't retain that stuff. Long story short - baking powder and baking soda are not the same thing, so don't get them mixed up. In fact, there's a lot of science in baking that I will not bore you with here.

Most baked goods are non-perishable, but taste will deteriorate over time. When measuring brown sugar, the question is always how tightly it should be packed into the measuring cup. The answer: tight enough to hold its form, but should fall apart when tapped. Unlike cooking, measurements in baking must be precise. High end baking is done in weight, rather than volume.  And yes, the toothpick method for determining the doneness of baked goods is legit!

Also, you want to let breads and muffins cool completely before cutting into them, or you lose a lot of moisture.

Apple Streusel Muffins.

Bacon Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits.

Banana Bread. Waited until it was completely
cooled before cutting it. It stayed moist for a week.

Pumpkin Chocolate Bread.

Brunch:
You want stuff that you can keep and serve at room temperature.

Fruit salads and platters - you can use less ripe, less expensive produce for salads. Cut up into pieces and add a dressing. For platters, you need the pretty, good quality stuff.

If your recipe calls for room temperature eggs, rather than waiting on them (or if you forgot to set them out) put them in a bowl, cover with warm water and they'll be good to go in a few minutes.

Asparagus Frittata with Fresh Herbs and Goat
Cheese. After taking this picture, we were informed
that we can't use fresh basil for garnish. Too
valuable to waste, I guess. Still, look how pretty!!!

Pommes a L'Huile. Hands down the best potato
salad I've ever had. Will be making this one again.

Fruit Salad with Yogurt Poppy Seed Dressing.

Smoking trout for the Smoked Trout Hash.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake.

Brunch is served!

French Macarons with Jacquy Pfeiffer

Award winning baking and pastry chef Jacquy Pfeiffer conducted a demo and book signing Friday evening at the school. Along with a couple of my classmates, I volunteered to prepare the buffet that was set out for attendees.

Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer recently released The Art of French Pastry, which recently received a nomination from The James Beard Foundation (the Oscars of cooking). He is also the co-founder of The French Pastry School in Chicago. He has a very thick French accent and a very quick wit. Our work done, we got to hang out and watch his demo of French Macarons. I need to get his book.

Menu

Grilled Bread with Trout, Tomato and Chives

Grilled Bread with Fava Bean and Pecorino

Grilled Panini

Frittata 

Fruit and Cheese Platters

My fava bean and pecorino work station ready to go.

Ready to be served.

The trout with tomato and chives. I thought it
turned out really pretty.