Week Two is over already!

This set of classes is flying by! I'm really enjoying my Baking and Pastry classes and trying to take in as much info as my brain will allow. This week we learned all about laminated doughs. We made: Puff Pastry, Brioche, Challah, Jalapeno Corn Muffins, Palmiers, Vol-au-vents, Bouchee, Pastry Cream, and Brioche a tete.

The puff pastry took quite the effort and was a two day process. We had to put a layer of butter inside the dough and then very carefully fold it up and roll it out a number of times in order to get all the layers and flakiness that comes with puff pastry. After each roll/fold we had to refrigerate it for 30 minutes to ensure the butter did not melt and seep out of our delicate layers. The end result was delicious but it also made me appreciate store-bought puff pastry sheets much more! Not many people have the time or patience to make puff pastry from scratch.

It was also my first time making Brioche (bread with LOTS of butter inside) and Challah (a Jewish egg bread). I have confirmed that I LOVE making bread! Don't get me wrong, I loved my Cooking Fundamentals class last quarter but this class is just right up my alley!