Finals Week(s) and Spring Break!

Last Day of School!!!! For a week, anyways. I am now finished with the baking of bread for at least two months, but we'll get to that. Firstly: finals week, the reason I didn't blog for two weeks.

After coming back from being sick for a week and a half, I had my practical exam that lasted two days. For that practical, we baked brioche carroune, brioche a tete, and challah bread. I got an 91% on my practical. Just barely an A, but I'll take it. That was Monday and Tuesday, on Wednesday, we started our bread projects. It had to be a bread themed sculpted plaque made from edible modeling dough. We had a total of nine hours to make the entire plaque; six for the raw dough, three for the glazing and edible paint and presentation. It turned out pretty well, overall, I got a 94%. So I was pretty satisfied. That takes care of last week. Monday, we made pain de campagne, onion rye, and old fashioned rye bread dough. All of these are made with rye flour, so they are very sturdy loaves. The pain de campagne was actually really moist when I went to eat it, I really enjoyed it. The rest I froze to take home to the family this weekend on spring break. Tuesday we baked the bread and took our final written exam. Yesterday, we made San Fransisco sourdough and chocolate cherry dough, as well as challah to cover the chocolate cherry dough. And today, on the final day of class, we made sourdough boules and chocolate cherry challah covered hearts. We also got to make breakfast!!! I made hashed browns topped with over easy eggs and bacon and carmelized onions. It was sooooo delicious, I was stuffed. Chef also gave me my final grade for the class: 95.5%. And now, the excitement of my week: I got a bakery job!!! Granted, it won't start for two months, but its the perfect job for me, so I have no problem waiting. the pay will be phenomenal, benefits are good, and the work itself sounds like a lot of fun. God really blessed me with this job. Until April, and my Wines & Beverages course and Math (ick!), See ya!

M

Bedridden

I didn't blog at all this week, but there's a great reason: I spent the week in bed because I was recovering from an upper respiratory virus. I was in the Emergency Room on Saturday and Sunday because I had a fever of 104 and trouble breathing. The second ER visit on Sunday finally yielded some results in the form of some pain medications that would allow me to semi function while I get better. But anyways...kitchens!
In the fantastical world of bread this week: Monday we took our first paper test and mixed brioche dough, which is really buttery!!! We had to mix it in stages, first developing the gluten without the butter, which makes up about half the weight of the dough, and then kneading in the butter without melting it.Tuesday we shaped it into brioche a tete (excuse my lack of French accents, my laptop doesn't have that program), and carroune. A tete meaning with head, because brioche a tete  literally has a small head on top of a cupcake, and brioche carroune is French for crown. Wednesday we shaped more brioche, because it will be on our next practical exam. We also mixed challah bread dough. Challah is a traditionally Jewish bread that is soft and delicious! We shaped it into a five strand braid, as that will also be on our practical exam. Friday we made bagels and pretzels which were hand shaped and everything, as usual. It was really interesting to see after working at Panera how a real baker shapes bagels. What Chef said, is never stretch a bagel by poking a hole in the middle and stretching it out, because it always contracts. The best way to stretch a bagel is to pinch it into a rope, and then wrap the rope around your hand until the ends overlap. Roll the ends together by leaning hard on them as you roll. Another practical exam on Tuesday I think. So far, I've kept my GPA at the 4.0 so let's pray it stays there. Brioche carroune may just be the death of me. Until next week,
M

Bread Practicals and Pizza

TGIF!!! Apparently, this means "Thank God It's Friday" But I saw a church sign the other day that said Thank God I'm Forgiven, so I like that better. But still, I'm glad Friday is finally here, so that I can look forward to a weekend of doing nearly nothing that requires conscious thought.
On Wednesday, we made pizza, which was fantastic. We practiced stretching it three different ways, including the pizza parlor way of throwing it up in the air. You don't really throw it, you really just make a fist with both of your hands and twist your hands while flicking your fingers. Obviously, it's easy. HA! I didn't drop my dough, but I was one of the few. We were given our choice of toppings, so I chose caramelized onions, ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, and fresh basil that I cut chiffonade. In case you're wondering, chiffonade is when you roll up whatever you're cutting, usually some type of leaf, and cut thin strips off of the end. It's similar to shredding using a food processor. At any rate, it was delicious.
Thursday and today, we had practicals, so today we just worked on the practicals, but on Thursday, we made pitas, which were delicious!!! Very complicated to make, but still good. Our practicals today consisted of baguette, epi, and pain au lait, which we tied into single, double knot, figure eight and single braid. Of course, my mind decided to take a break when it was time for the single braid, and I completely forgot. My baguette turned out fine, except for the seam showing on the far side. Overall, Chef gave me a 93%, which isn't terrible, but didn't meet the standards that I'm held to. Hopefully I'll do better next time. For now, I go to work and wish for 4:30 to come faster. Have a nice weekend!
M

Italian Breads!!!

It's official, I'm addicted to bread. Today we shaped and cooked our tortillas, and used one to make a quesadilla.  It was SO GOOD!!!!! The amount of deliciousness that I perceived was probably due to my lack of eating, because I hadn't eaten for about 12 hours, but still. My quesadilla was pretty simple, just with cheese and caramelized onions. We also shaped and baked our focaccia dough.

      First, we oiled a sheet pan, and dumped our dough onto the pan. Each person used about a half of a sheet pan for their bread. after stretching it out on the pan, you add whatever you want in your dough, because if you put it on top, it will burn to a crisp and become bitter. I added onions and some roasted garlic on half of mine. After you top it, you fold it over and gently pull it into the shape of the half pan, and proof for about 10 minutes, or until the bread stops contracting. Then you stretch it further into the pan and put it back in for about 10 more minutes. Finally, you pull it out of your proof box, and gently brush it with olive oil Into the oven until it starts to brown. Once you rotate it, and its nearly done, pull it out and put more oil on (we used olive oil infused with alternately rosemary and garlic) then top with whatever you choose, and bake for maybe 5 more minutes, or until your toppings are melted or cooked. Be careful not to burn. And its delicious!!! While we were baking our bread, we mixed pizza dough for tomorrow.

I did promise proofing tips so here it is:
      To proof at home, you first get a cardboard box big enough to hold your bread pan, and cut off one end of it. Then you can go ahead and put your pan into the box, spray with water to keep the dough moist, and cover the box with a bag  you can seal. Seal the bag and move then entire contraption somewhere warm. Chef recommended either above your refrigerator, or in the bathroom while you take a shower. The shower idea sounds great to me, because of the steam.  So there you go, you can now proof bread and other doughs at home. Happy Baking!
        M