Final week of bread

The last week of class was packed full of many new products including making our own sourdough. We didn't have to do our production items this week, so we had much more time to squeeze in additional projects. Pictured above is Pumpernickel Bread that was made using a portion of my sourdough starter, which had rye flour added to it. It was deliciously rich and dense.

Currant Scones. These were okay, but you can see that they are rather flat, and didn't rise like other scone recipes I have made in the past (see cranberry scone post in November). Also, they were too sweet, almost more like cake than scones.

This was my first sourdough loaf using my own starter. To be technical, this was a "first-build starter sourdough," which means that it didn't come directly from my original sourdough starter, but from a starter I started from my original starter--confused??? Simply put, it is made from a baby of my mother starter. I love the marks made on the crust by the banneton baskets and the color of the crust turned out perfectly. The crumb was nice as well with a variety of small and large air pockets. I was very happy with the results, but best of all it tasted wonderful! It was a very mild tasting sourdough compared to many sourdoughs I have had where there is so much acid that it is almost hard to eat!

This was my second loaf of self-made-starter sourdough. It looks almost the same as the first, but it is a "second-build starter sourdough"--the mother starter's grandchild!

We were required to make 4 pie crust recipes so we could practice getting it right. Best note to take here is to not add too much water (add a little at a time to ensure this doesn't happen). Also, always work with cold ingredients and don't overwork. I have used the same recipe for years for my pie crusts, but after making this one (and learning the perfect method) I think I will switch! The product was a really crisp and flaky dough, but not too tough.

We were required to make an apple pie and the above photo is a double-crusted Apple Pie, which I accented with dried cherries. It was awesome!

Our second pie could have any filling, but had to be made in a blind-baked crust--a crust that is partially baked without a filling. I made a Pecan pie, which was really good. I have made lots of pecan pies, and never blind-baked the crusts, but the end results were fairly similar.

Our final project was making puff pastry, a process which took two days worth of kneading, rolling, folding and fermenting. The dough had to be rolled out and turned (folded) 5 times, with an hour fermentation time in between each. The photos above show one turn. After the dough was ready it was divided into 18"x26" (full sheet pan size) sheets, one recipe made four sheets. At this point the puff pastry can be used for a huge variety of items depending on the fillings, additions and shape. Below are several items I made with puff pastry.

These are Palmiers, which are a piece of puff pastry rolled with sugar or cinnamon sugar that is then folded, sliced and baked so that the sugar caramelizes. An amazing cookie and my vote for the best use of puff pastry.

Apple turnovers. Prior to baking and then after being baked. Wow, these were good!

These were hollow shells that I filled with pastry cream and placed a blackberry on top. These would have been wonderful filled with something savory as well.

Cheese straws. These were really good and very addictive. I made them with parmesan, sesame and poppy seeds.

The bread/dough class has been a really great experience, however I am excited about moving on to pastry. The next three weeks will be "butt time" sitting in the classroom for three lecture classes--nutrition, cost control and human resources. I am looking forward to the project we have been assigned where we have to create our own bakery!