Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Recap: Laminated Doughs & Breakfast Pastries, pt 1

Hello from hot, sunny Texas!  I'm away from SC for a few weeks visiting, resting & preparing for the busy summer ahead.  My 365 blog shows what I've been doing in Texas thus far. 

Anyway, I'm long overdue for this last recap: Laminated Doughs & Breakfast Pastries.  This one is so long that I've decided to break it into two posts.  So, watch for part 2 (all about the practical final) coming soon! 

I love, love, love laminated dough.  It was my favorite class as a student and just might be my favorite to teach too (but shhh... lets keep that one quiet).  There are several reasons why I love laminated dough.  First, the class is all about repetition.  We "laminated" dough nearly every class for the entire semester.  Most classes switch techniques every week, so it is nice to get some practice in one technique.  By the end of the semester (I hope) everyone feels very confident in their laminating abilities.  Secondly, this class is all about the details.  There are lots of small steps that contribute to a stellar end product.  Plus, there are infinite decoration options.  Thirdly, this class makes absolutely AMAZING tasting product.  Seriously. Nearly every class, I would declare to my students "This is my favorite product".... I obviously had a lot of favorites.  When I was in France last spring, I was all excited to taste their breakfast pastries after making them myself.  I was (mostly) disappointed: the Lamianted class makes better! 

We did five major "units" in this course: Other Laminated Doughs (think baklava... streudel...), Puff Pastry, Croissant Dough, Danishes, Other Breakfast Pastries.  By spending a couple weeks on each unit, student are really able to master the subject matter.   

Without further adieu, here is a pictorial representation of what we made this semester.   Quick side note, I did teach 2 sections of this class, so I may denote which class (Saturday, or Fast Forward) on photos. 

Other Laminated Doughs
 Saturday Baklava
Phyllo dough, clarified butter, spiced nuts

FF Baklava
Phyllo dough, clarified butter, spiced nuts

 Hand Stretched Austrian Apple Streudel 
Streudel Dough, Clarified Butter, Apples, Cranberries, nuts

Puff Pastry
Saturday Blueberry Lemon Chaussons 

 Apple Tart Tatin

Saturday Mustard & Cheese Saccristans 
 Pithivier
Puff Pastry, Apricot Preserves, Frangipan, Apricot glaze, Confectioners' Sugar 

 Pithivier
Puff Pastry, Apricot Preserves, Frangipan, Apricot glaze, Confectioners' Sugar 

 Jalousie
Puff Pastry, Raspberry preserves, Frangipan, 
Apricot glaze, Confectioners' Sugar, Sliced Almonds 

Napoleon
Baked Puff Pastry Sheets, Creme Diplomat, Poured Fondant, Chocolate Striping

Croissants
 Pain au Chocolat
Croissant Dough, Chocolate Batons, Chocolate Semper, Confectioners' Sugar 

Pain au Chocolat: Student Midterm
The midterm in this class is generally pretty brutal 
(working alone to make & laminate croissant dough, then turn it into 
Parisian Croissants & Pain au Chocolat).  
This student got the highest grade of both sections! 

Savory Croissants
(from evaluations, one of the students' favorites for the entire semester!) 
 Savory Croissants
Tomato Goat Cheese, Breakfast Squares, Ham and Cheese, Pizza
 Savory Croissants: Tomato Goat Cheese 
Croissant Dough, Mustard, Tomato, Goat Cheese, Parmesan Cheese
 Savory Croissants: Ham & Cheese
Croissant Dough, deli Ham, Swiss Cheese

Danish
(which can be made from croissant dough OR danish dough) 

Saturday Danish
Pepitos (Pastry Cream, Chocolate Chips, Apricot Glaze)
Apricot Creme brulee pinwheels (Pastry Cream, Almond Streusel, Apricot halves, Cherry, Apricot Glaze) 
Sunny Side Up Fleur-style (Pastry Cream, Apricot halves, Apricot Glaze... 
names comes from them looking like sunny side up eggs) 
Bee Danish Squares (Honey Almond Filling, Confectioners' Sugar)

Saturday: Bee Danish
Honey Almond Filling, Confectioners' Sugar 

Saturday Danish: Apple Cheese Streusel Strudel
Scandinavian Danish Dough, Cream Cheese Filling, Diced Apples, Almond Streusel, Apricot Glaze


 FF Danishes: All in a day's work

FF Danishes: Apple Fontains
Croissant Dough, Apple Honey filling, Apricot Glaze, Confectioners' Sugar

 FF Danish: Coconut Pineapple Twists
Croissant Dough, Coconut Cream, Roasted Pineapple, Cherry, Apricot Glaze, Toasted Coconut 

FF Danish: Cranberry Cheese Schnecken
Cream Cheese Filling, Cranberry Orange filling, Cinnamon Sugar, Apricot Glaze

Other Breakfast Pastries 
Some of these were used as fillers during days when we had down time (like when waiting for dough to proof) and some were used at the end of the semester. 

 Saturday Class: Coconut Quick Bread 

FF Class: Enormous Rhubarb for a Rhubarb Quick Bread 

 Scones!  
One base recipe (adapted from this recipe) and then each group picked their own flavor combos

 Brioche a tete
("brioche with a head".... though most of ours lost their "heads")

 Gibassier
Brioche-type dough, candied orange, anniseed, orange blossom water.... 
Like eating a memory of Dakota Harvest Bakers (for me anyway) 
 
FF: Homemade Pop Tarts 

Saturday Doughnut Day:  Apple Fritters
 Saturday Doughnut Day: Yeast Raised doughnuts dipped in sticky bun glaze 
a student came up with this combo.... and it was AMAZING! 

FF Doughnuts: Cake & Yeast Raised
Banana Bread Doughnuts with maple glaze
German Chocolate Cake Doughuts with coconut pecan icing
Carrot Cake Doughnuts with Cream Cheese Icing & walnuts
Glazed yeast Doughnuts

With the exception of the final, that is nearly all the product we made in this class!  Though we had a busy production schedule,  the students still produced excellent product.  

Watch for part 2 coming soon! 

2 comments:

  1. You had me at baklava and totally drooling by the pop tarts! Love!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. 3 Studies SHOW How Coconut Oil Kills Fat.

    The meaning of this is that you literally burn fat by consuming coconut fat (including coconut milk, coconut cream and coconut oil).

    These 3 researches from major medicinal journals are sure to turn the traditional nutrition world around!

    ReplyDelete