Although there are 11 weeks in the quarter, we had our final practical exam this week. We also had a written exam. I received a perfect score on my written exam. My breads, Foccacia (sponge), Baguette (sponge) and Whole Wheat Sourdough (levain) were close to perfect. My Wheat had a bit of thin crust in one spot. While forming the ball I didn't roll tight enough, so part of the skin was thin. The seam on the bottom was good. We made two Baguettes, one of mine was pretty close to perfect. It was straight, good crust and even bottom seam. On my second baguette, my ends were a bit large. My Foccacia, looked good, it could have been a bit thicker, but it was still good. This was the only week we did not taste or even cut our bread. Since it was the final, all of that was left to Chef Sean. This was a great class. I learned a lot.
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This was a really busy week. Because of the time needed for fermentation, the only bread we could complete the first day was the Challah. My Challah was a 5 strand braid. We made the sponge and fillings for the other breads on Monday and finished them on Tuesday. Those breads were: Pannetone, Stollen, Kuglehopf, Danish and Croissant. The Pannetone, Stollen and Kuglehopf are quite similar. They are all considered holiday breads; very buttery with dried fruit and nuts. They taste quite similar as well. The difference is in the presentation. Kuglehopf is made in a special mold/bundt pan. The Pannetone is made in a tall round pan and the Stollen can be shaped in a variety of ways and is covered in powdered sugar. I really liked all of these breads and would make them at home. I am not fan of our Danish dough. It just seems flat. Our Croissants were heavy, but good. They were heavy because we did not have enough time to proof them. If this class were 7 hours instead of 5, I'm sure they would have been great.
We used: scale, table-top mixer, bowls, spoons, measuring spoons, stove top, pots and special molds. Because of Memorial Day, we only had class one day this week. That meant we did not have a chance to make everything that was on the syllabus. But we did make quite a bit. We made: Brioche, Portuguese Sweet Bread, and Sweet Rolls. The best part was that we were able to be creative in the presentation of these breads. For instance, in my group we made Chocolate Brioche and a Cinnamon Braid with the Sweet Roll dough. In fact, the Sweet Roll was made a different way in each group. One of the groups made a Classic Cinnamon Roll and the other group made a really good Sweet Bread. This was the first time we really got to be creative. It would be great to do more of that.
We used: oven, scale, spoon, measuring spoons, fermenting/proof box and convection oven. |
AuthorKimberly-baker and food history enthusiast! Archives
March 2015
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