Bounty of Bread

And ... back to Bread again.
The first week of this class has been a lot of repetition from our intro bread class. Baguettes everyday, Focaccia, white pan loaf, pita, tortilla ... with a few added bonuses like ciabatta (which is more like batter than dough), honey buttered oat and fougasse. All of these doughs are straight dough method (everybody in the bowl and mix) or sponge method (make a sponge with the yeast and ferment that before adding the rest of your ingredients.) Next week we will try some poolish breads and starter breads. I was assigned Anadama bread for my final project in the last week of class. Stay tuned to learn all about it ... or if you have some knowledge on Anadama you can share it with me!

Elvis Has Left The Building!

Bye Bye Buffet.
We finished up buffet this week with Opera cake, petit fours and Battenburg cake. The final two days of class were devoted to our final practical (a project we have been planning since the first day of class.) We had to produce five products, each filling a different category. My chocolate and fruit themed menu consisted of: New York Cheesecake with a chocolate crust and a raspberry swirl, White Chocolate and Grapefruit Truffles with hazelnuts, Elvis Pie ... peanut butter and chocolate pastry cream with banana and chantilly in a flaky crust, Chocolate Orange Madeleines dipped in white chocolate and Cacao Nib Macaroons sandwiched with a strawberry ganache. For my centerpiece I candied lemons, limes and oranges and dipped them in tempered chocolate along with fresh strawberries.

Tarts, Tarts, Tarts

From Bread to Buffet.
We are into our second week of Buffet. Buffet is the opportunity to learn how to produce and plate smaller size (2-3 bites per piece) items for .... yes, a buffet.
Last week we worked on dough products. I made 60 tartlets, cheesecake bars and apple pie bars. On Monday I had a chance to plate all that work on a mirror.
The small plates are from my practical (test) on Monday: chocolate chiffon with chantilly creme and frozen fruit pie filling in a pate brisee crust with a streusel topping.
On top of all that production work at school I started a new job at the cutest little cupcake bakery ever. Check us out: http://www.cupcakejones.net/
Enjoy the spread... I'll make lots more!