Breads and Breakfast Pastries: Week Two

       Wow! I have learned so much since I have moved to Chicago; not only about baking and pastry arts, but about my family as well. About a month ago I started ancestry.com to research my family heritage. I always new I had Italian and big part of German in me, but what I did not know was there was an even longer line of French in me! I guess that is why I am drawn towards making French pastries!

        You are probably asking why I am bringing this up now! Well, I found out that the French part of me started in Alsace, France! The past two weeks, we have been making breads that are big in Alsace! I think it is amazing to not only find out that my ancestors are from Alsace, but to learn about the breads of that region!

Danish

 Apricot and Pear Danish with Almond pastry cream

 Peach danish with almond pastry cream

Kugelhopf

 A kugelhopf (koo-guh l-hopf,-hawpf) is very common in Alsace! It is custom to make these around Christmas time and give them to your grandparents. Inside the Kugelhopfs are raisins, but you cant put anything you want in it.














There are many stories of the Kugelhopf. Here is a link with some of the history of it.

Kugelhopf

One Cake, Many Names

Baguette

            Sourdough
















The best sourdough I ever had was when my family went on a cruise for a vacation. Now I am not sure which one is my favorite because this was so good!

 Just a little stream bonding with shaping the "special" croissants. A.K.A bicolor croissants.

 The biocolor croissants are two toned because the white dough is just regular croissant dough and the brown dough is a chocolate croissant dough.

 Country Bread

(Each shape of bread had a different name. I will give you the names but i do have to warn you they are in French)

Fendu-means split

Auvergnat

Tabatière

Couronne Bordelaise- means Bordeaux Crown

Bostock Brioche

 Bostock is a syrup made with almond powder, extract, and orange blossom water. The bostock is brushed on to the brioche then the almond cream is put on top. Finally it is topped with sliced almonds and baked.

 Almond Croissants

We learned that this is the best way to make almond croissants because you are able to have more almond cream in them! Most bakeries will pipe a line of almond cream before shaping and it will be baked with it inside. However, we shaped and baked the croissants just like normal. After being baked, they are cut in half and brushed with the bostock syrup and the almond cream is piped on. The other half of the croissant is placed on top and it baked a second time. Let me tell you, they are delicious!!!!

Chocolate Croissant

 Multigrain Bread

Love my classmates! I love how we work as a team and have fun while learning so many new things! I wouldn't want to share this experience with any other class!

Today we had verbal evaluations. Chef Jonathan asked me if I was for sure going to do the L'Art de la Boulangerie (bread) program this coming June, because I was talking more about it earlier this week. And my answer was yes. When he asked me why, my first response was that he has had a huge influence on my decision. I never knew I would love making bread so much. Obviously I love bread, but I didn't know that I would have the patience for it and actually like the shaping part of it. Not only has he had a huge influence, but he has been an amazing teacher. I have learned so much in these two weeks, I can only imagine what I will learn in the eight week course! June cannot come fast enough!

Bread and Breakfast Pastries: Week One

     I usually don't talk that much about the chefs who teach each section, but this module is taught by Chef Jonathan Dendauw.  This was the third week that my class has had him, because we had him for Petits Fours class. I can honestly say that I have learned more this week than I have out of the past nine weeks in the kitchen. Wow, next week will be the a total of twelve weeks, I will be halfway done! Anyways, I usually read the bios of the chefs before having them in class just to get to know them better and I didn't read Chef Jonathan's until this week.

     Each chef has a quote under their picture and he said, "Bread baking and pastry creation are passions. Once you start to enjoy them you will never stop thinking about how to create new products. My mentors inspired this passion in me, and now it is my turn to share it with other." I am happy to say that he has already inspired me.  Before school started, I was so excited and ready to do all three programs; then a couple of weeks into the program I got homesick just as a normal college student would. I wasn't really sure that I wanted to continue on to bread program, but I brought it up to him and he was very helpful. He made me realize that I have to figure out what I want to have in my bakery later on. Yes, it is a while away before I open my own bakery, but I still have to start thinking about it. As I said before, Chef Jonathan has inspired me not only to think more about what I want but to expand more into the bread part of my career. I can definitely say that he is turning into my mentor because I feel like I can go to him for advice on anything! I look forward to having one more week with him in this program and starting the L'Art de la Boulangerie Program (Bread Program)


If you want to read his whole bio here is the link: Chef Jonathan

Now let's talk bread!!!

  

 Blueberry Muffins

These were good, but they were definitely not the same as my grandma's. Yes, they are a different type of muffin all together, but nothing reminds me of the summer at home than baking my grandma's blueberry muffins with my mom.

Brioche

The first time we made brioche, we made it by hand. This helps us gain the knowledge of the dough, by using all of our senses especially touch. We are able to touch how the dough is supposed to feel when it is done mixing.

Even when we are mixing  the dough in a mixer, we feel the dough periodically to see the progression of it. Our hands(touch)  are the best form of memory.

Nanterre (Brioche Loaf)




















Bressance- This is a flat brioche which has butter, cream and sugar on top before it is baked. This is one of my favorites!

The beginning of learning how to shape bread!

Toast Bread

Lemon Pound Cake

Whole Wheat Bread

French Bread 

 Berliner Beignets

When I took German in middle school we learned about berliners and the fact that they mean donuts in English. I asked Chef Jonathan if there are different types of beignets since the recipe said Berliner Beignet.

 Here are the different types of beignets: Beignet Carnaval, Beignets made with Baking Powder which rise when fried, Beignets made with Pate a Choux batter, and more

Croissants

Croissants straight out of the oven! I was so excited to be able to make croissants! Let me tell you, they were DELICIOUS!!!

Beer Bread

I love how the dusted rye flour made the beer mixture separate and make a cool design on top!

Brioche




This is brioche with Bee's Sting on the bottom. It is a mixture of  butter, salt, honey, and almonds

Brioche with sugar on one side.

Farmers's Bread

It may be called Farmer's Bread, but you could actually call it walnut bread, or rye walnut bread.