Thursday, January 14, 2016

Summer Baking: French Night {Class 10}

This summer I completed the Culinary Lab: Baking course as part of my graduate program - the Master of Liberal Arts in Gastronomy at Boston University. For six weeks I spent two nights a week in the professional kitchen learning all about baking. The course required students to keep a journal of the experience and I decided to record my adventures here on the blog. I hope you enjoy! You'll get the calorie-free version of my decadent baking experience.
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Macarons, puff pastry, chocolate mousse. This is what you think when you think fancy dessert. And these are intimidating desserts that are often only eaten out prepared by a professional. With a little practice they could be made at home as well. They all require careful attention and precise preparation. Here the creativity is in the filling flavors and serving method; the recipes are made to be followed. One misstep and you can throw off the whole batch!




That's what happened with my chocolate mousse. While not ruined, it was not a textbook mousse. The first mishap was putting the vanilla extract in with the egg yolk mixture instead of the egg whites. The egg yolk mixture is cooked and the vanilla loses its potency. My group remedied this by adding extra vanilla to the egg whites. My job was to beat the egg whites until just frothy in order to ensure a light and airy chocolate mousse. I turned my head for a second and they were over whipped. Oops! This meant extra work mixing them into the chocolate. This causes the air to be pushed out resulting in a more dense mousse (not light and airy). The egg whites should have been slightly under-whipped as they would get more mixing. Not to worry, Julia Child's recipe includes a good dose of dark brew coffee and a splash of rum. Even if the texture was off the flavor was right on. If this is made for a mixed crowd, be sure to use pasteurized egg whites, decaffeinated coffee, and orange juice in place of the rum.



A dish that is part ready for any brunch, Dorie Greenspan's French yogurt cake is easy to prepare. The cake gets its name from the way it used to be measured in France - with a glass yogurt cup. It was eaten as an afternoon snack. This is a versatile batter that can be baked into a loaf, an 8" x 8" cake pan, or cupcakes. All you need is to adjust the cooking time based on your chosen baking dish.  A great trick we learned tonight was how to distribute the lemon flavor evenly throughout the cake. Use your hands to rub the zest into the granulated sugar until it looks wet.



A second trick, or technique, for folding ingredients is courtesy of Julia Child. Take the spatula and cut the batter in half toward you, as you lift, turn the bowl. Continue this until the batter is just mixed. As our instructor would remind us, you want as little gluten development as possible.



There are books and classes dedicated to making the perfect French macarons. Tonight I was expecting a learning experience - basically a macaron flop especially since it was 90+ degrees and humid. Surprise - somehow we made it happen (beginner's luck?)!



What a fun night! Practice will definitely make closer to perfect (I'm not sure perfection is attainable for me with these recipes). After experiencing the amount of labor that does into those petite desserts, it is easy to understand why they are so expensive at the bakery!



Have you made macarons? Tackled a pastry that you always buy at a bakery? I"d love to hear your story!

Friday, November 6, 2015

Summer Baking: Middle Eastern Night {Class 9}

This summer I completed the Culinary Lab: Baking course as part of my graduate program - the Master of Liberal Arts in Gastronomy at Boston University. For six weeks I spent two nights a week in the professional kitchen learning all about baking. The course required students to keep a journal of the experience and I decided to record my adventures here on the blog. I hope you enjoy! You'll get the calorie-free version of my decadent baking experience.
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The word of the night is syrup! To be fair, these desserts are made in a hot climate and sugar helps to retard the staling process. Middle Eastern desserts vary across cultures, but they also share similarities. The same dessert can be known by a different name across borders or ethnic or religious groups. Ingredients are shared across cultures as well. As different groups moved across the region they introduced ingredients and dishes. Over time they have been adopted and adapted. Historically desserts from the Middle Eastern region were strongly perfumed with ingredients like rosewater, orange blossom and orange flower water.


Ma’amoul are filled cookies. The dough is not sweet at all, just a hint of orange blossom water. The filling is lightly sweet. Traditional fillings include date, walnuts, pistachios and almond. Dates are chopped and mixed with orange flower water. Walnuts are chopped with sugar, cinnamon and orange blossom water. These are made in beautiful wooden molds. The design of each mold matches the filling inside. The cookie is stuffed and then placed into the mold. A good whack on the baking sheet releases the cookie and it is ready for the oven. The cookies do not brown in the oven and are dusted lightly with powdered sugar before serving.






Melomakarona are Greek – a dry cookie dipped into a warm honey syrup. These cookies are made with a fragrant combination of orange juice, brandy, orange zest, cinnamon and cloves. The dry texture is achieved with a combination of AP flour, semolina and ground walnuts.



The syrup packs quite a sweet punch here – 2 cups of sugar, 2 cups of honey, and 2 cups of water. The cookies take on the wonderful honey flavor and are quite addicting.


The ravani, or basbousa, is a Greek semolina cake generously doused in lemon soaking syrup. Ravani is made with yogurt which gives it a pleasant tang along with the lemon syrup. The yogurt and baking soda provide the leavening for the cake. The recipe instructs, “when the cake can no longer absorb the syrup, stop adding it.” This is how I feel about the class – I’ve hit my sugar absorption limit! The weight of this pan was incredible after we soaked it. Thankfully this is cut into small pieces – remember the importance of matching the sweetness of the dessert with the serving size. Although most American desserts are usually ‘bigger is better.’


Even though these were all so different, you can see the similarities in technique and ingredients across the recipes. What a delicious and fragrant part of the world!

Do you have a favorite Middle Eastern dessert? Favorite local shop for them? I love Sofra bakery in Cambridge and Seta’s CafĂ© in Belmont. 

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Summer Baking: International Night {Class 8}

This summer I completed the Culinary Lab: Baking course as part of my graduate program - the Master of Liberal Arts in Gastronomy at Boston University. For six weeks I spent two nights a week in the professional kitchen learning all about baking. The course required students to keep a journal of the experience and I decided to record my adventures here on the blog. I hope you enjoy! You'll get the calorie-free version of my decadent baking experience.
____________________________________________________________________

The first of our dedicated international nights crisscrossed the globe with lamingtons, tres leches cake and Irish shortbread. Three distinctively different desserts.



The Tres Leches cake can be summed up in a word = Milky! Milk in the cake, milk, milk and cream poured over the cake, and whipped cream on top. Not for the lactose intolerant! The cake is made in a unique way – by whipping egg whites until frothy and then beating in the yolks. The result is an airy cake perfect for absorbing the tres leches. This was not my favorite, but I could see how others would enjoy the cake. While making the cake we learned a valuable trick. If not serving whipped cream right away, place it into a colander set over a bowl. Top with a layer of plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator. Any excess moisture will drip out and keep the cream light and fluffy until you need it.



Our Irish shortbread suffered from poorly calibrated ovens. It never quite browned or cooked all the way through. Have you ever tried to make shortbread and ended up with fingerprints all over the top? We learned a great way to erase them. After patting the shortbread dough into the tart pan, lay a piece of plastic wrap across the top. Using a small spatula smooth all the fingerprints away. Peel off the plastic and you are left with a perfectly smooth top. The shortbread get scored and poked pre-baking to prevent them from puffing up from the steam of the melting butter. An important note when making shortbread – the flavor will only be as good as your ingredients. Here we used Kerrygold salted butter which resulted in a rich and delicious flavor.



The lamingtons were the most fun. The texture of this coconut and chocolate coated sponge cake was amazing. The chocolate icing stays on the outside and the cake stays fully and pristine on the inside. We achieved this by sticking our cake in the freezer for a few minutes before icing.



One important takeaway here. The recipe called for lemon extract and initially we felt it smelled strong, almost medicinal. We followed the recipe and added it in anyway. We probably should have skipped it. The lemon extract is stored in a plastic bottle and either had gone bad or the plastic bottle was leaching. It is very important to check all ingredients before adding them in. If you get to the last item in your ingredient list and then realize it is no good the whole batch will be ruined! Another important task is to have your mise en place before starting – every ingredient measured and lined up ready to go. Read the recipe thoroughly and then dive in. You never want to find out you are out of cream when everything else is already mixed in the bowl!



International night takeaways:

  • Tres leches cake is a serious overload of dairy
  • Always crack and separate eggs individually so you don’t ruin the whole batter
  • Know your oven: have a thermometer to double check the temperature
  • Electric mixers make quick work of whipping egg whites and cream (save your elbows!)

What is your favorite dessert from international travel? Local international bakery? Favorite food destination?

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