Baking Science & Theory wk6 Midterms

 Midterms

 

            We have made it to the interim of our class load for this course, and reached Midterms.

 

This was a wonderful opportunity to use the culmination of our skills learned to date.  In addition to the written exam, our team was tasked with a creating four products that would reflect each of the different baking subjects covered to date. 

 

Our menu included: Chocolate Chip and Walnut Cookies, Classic Poppyseed Bread, Yeast Rolls, the Foolproof Pie Dough, and a Pumpkin Pie with Brown Sugar-Walnut Topping filling. 

 

I would really like to commend my team for this week. 

 

With the continued exception of the doneness of our Pumpkin Pie filling, all of our products were executed perfectly, cleanly, and in a swift, efficient manner!  We have learned how to work well together, and how to communicate the various tasks. 

 

Also, each team member stepped in to select tasks which played to our strengths.  We also helped and encouraged each other along the way, as well as helped to keep track of items baking, and reminders of previous critiques to improve our finished products.

The cookies looked nice, with a nice spread to them. They were critiqued to be a little light, and could have browned a bit longer. But, they were proclaimed to taste really good.

 

The Poppyseed Bread was by far my favorite product on this menu.  It was judged to look nice and have a good texture. 

 

I made the pie crust for our pie this week, and was able to get my crust into the pie pan on the first try this time.  I also gave the crust a fairly thin bottom for quick baking, and a strong fluted crust around the edge; which kept its shape and did not break upon slicing! I was also more practiced with this recipe's saturation factor, and was not caught off guard by the extra pliability to the pie dough. 

 

Despite ample bake time, and the employ of a different oven with perhaps a more reliable thermostat, our pie fillings continue to come out underdone.  This problem seems to continue to plague many of our classmates as well. Our pie was, therefore, critiqued to still be a little soft in the middle, and could have baked for a few more minutes.  I do not know how many more minutes it would have taken for that pie to set up correctly.  But its flavor was well balanced, and the crust was golden brown and delicious. 

The pronouncement that the rolls looked nice may have seemed a bit anticlimactic at that point, but at least they were not underdone!

 

ha. 

 

Overall, I think this week was a huge success! 

Baking Science & Theory wk5

Pies

This week we learned how to make a “Foolproof Pie Dough”, “Chocolate Cream Pie”, “Lemon Meringue Pie”, and “Pumpkin Pie with Brown Sugar - Walnut Topping”.

 

 We were advised that the Foolproof Pie Dough would be much wetter than what we are used to because of the Vodka used to make the dough pliable.  That was a gross understatement!  The pie dough was wet, sticky, and a completely new experience for my whole team! But the finished product seemed to get the job done. 

The Chocolate Cream Pie was very rich, and more dense than the kinds I have sampled in the past.  The Pumpkin Pie turned out as expected. But the topping was an unexpected addition, and reminded me of something I would find on a Dutch Apple Pie. 

I focused on the Lemon Meringue Pie.  I have made several of these in the past, but from a store mix. This was a wonderful experience for me.  The flavors were aromatic and robust, and the finished product was delectable.  The filling thickened well on the stove, but seemed to thin as it came to rest while waiting for the pie shells to bake. Our instructor indicated we needed the mixture to come to a boil on the stove, to allow the starches to release to their full potential. This greatly affected our finished product. 

Our Meringue was mixed by hand by our team.  This was a very significant experience! I have always used an electric hand mixer for this in the past.  Our first meringue was beaten until smooth and glossy, but it did not peak. This happened because the sugar was incorporated before the egg whites had been beaten to a full soft peak stage. We made a second meringue, which reached a stiff peak and was smooth and glossy. We garnished our pie with some well placed Lemon Zest Curls.

           

Our team was critiqued to have done a nice job on the meringue.  The chocolate pie's crust could have rolled a bit thicker and browned a touch more, but it tasted good. Also, our pumpkin pie was pronounced to be fine.

 

Overall, I enjoyed the pie making. However, I expect to continue to use my butter and lard pie crusts as opposed to this Vodka version.  Not only would I prefer it because I am opposed to alcohol in general, but I am more familiar with its quirks and know what to expect. Still, I appreciate the opportunity to be exposed to different recipes and techniques, and know they all have their place in the pantheon of the Pastry Chef's Pantry!