ARTISAN BREADS AND VIENNOISERIE

August 7, 2013

Today we made flat breads and started on our decorative breads project.   Each team was assigned a different flat bread to make.  My team had the Lavosh.  

First a sheet pan was turned upside down and then olive oil and salt was spread over the top. 

The dough was flatten on the table a bit and then placed on the sheet pan and pounded and spread out the rest until just a thin layer.

We topped the dough with different toppings like sesame seeds and Parmesan cheese.  It was then placed in the oven to bake.

The bread came out like a thin cracker.  It tasted good but a bit too much salt was used in the making of all the flat breads.  The Focaccia turned out the best.

The flat breads were placed in the display window with the name and region of origin.

For our decorative breads projects, we were tasked with making a wheelbarrow of bread and filling it with miniature breads. 

We started by making a rye syrup dough which was rye flour and simple syrup. This is not really a dough made to be palatable and turns very hard when baked.  After making the dough and rolling it out, we cut out the shapes needed for the wheel barrow from card stock templates.

The parts were then baked in preparation for finishing and assembly tomorrow. 

ARTISAN BREADS AND VIENNOISERIE

August 6, 2013

This week's focus is flat breads, cinnamon rolls, caramel rolls, and decorative breads.  Today we worked on the cinnamon rolls and caramel rolls.  

Both the cinnamon rolls and the caramel rolls were basically made the same way just different dough and toppings.  The process was pretty simply.

First the dough was rolled out.

Then we spread softened butter on top.

Cinnamon and sugar was spread over the butter. 

Additional cinnamon was sprinkled on top.

The dough was then rolled up into a cylinder.

Then it was cut into sections.

And place in the pan for baking.

Once baked, the cinnamon rolls were topped with a cream cheese glaze. 

The cinnamon rolls were sweet but tasted great.

The caramel rolls were made the same except a different dough was used, the rolls were smaller, and before placing in the pan, a brown sugar, honey, butter paste was spread in the bottom of the pan and nuts added.

After baking, the rolls were then turn out of the pan onto parchment. 

The caramel rolls were very sweet and pretty doughy so not a favorite of the class.

ARTISAN BREADS AND VIENNOISERIE

August 1, 2013

Today we completed the remaining two turns of the croissant dough.  Once that was completed the Chef provided a demonstration of the different ways we could make up the croissant dough.  

The first demonstration was a simple square croissant with chocolate filling.  The dough was cut into squares. 

Chocolate chips were then placed in the center of the dough. 

The dough was then folded over and the seam placed at bottom.

The next demonstration, the Chef used a special cutter to cut the dough into triangle shapes. 

He then demonstrated how to roll a croissant properly. 

Fold the end up

Hold the end and stretch the dough

Roll the dough up pushing both hands outward like you are swimming

He always make things look so easy but it definitely takes practice to get them to roll properly and look like the picture above.  It is also became more difficult once we added fillings to the mix, which included almond paste and pizza sauce, pepperoni and cheese. 

Almond Paste Filling

Almond Croissant

Pizza Filling

Pizza Croissant

The next demonstration was a circle cut out topped with cherry filling. 

Then he used a special tool to cut lattice into the dough. 

The lattice cut dough was placed on top of the cherry filling and separated. 

Then the lattice was cut out with the same cutter used as for the base.

The next demonstrations were some specialty cuts into the dough. 

Braid Cut

Blueberry Filling

Braided Croissant

Fold and cut triangle in dough, then open and twist sides and place on top

Apple and Streusel Topping

Cut half circle in center and fold in half

Cream Cheese and Apricot Filling

The last demonstration was cheese sticks.

Roll out dough, top with Parmesan and fold in half

Cut in strips and top with more Parmesan

Twist each strip 

After demonstrations, we finished making up the croissant, proofed and baked them.  The finished products turned out great.

The group favorite was the pizza croissant but I did not get a chances to try that one.  My favorites of the ones I did try of course were the chocolate croissant and the cherry croissant.  

Chocolate Croissant

Cherry Croissant

Almond Filled Croissant

Pizza Croissant

Apple and Steusel Croissant

Cream Cheese & Apricot Croissant

Blueberry Braids

Cheese Sticks

Pretzel Croissant