WEEK 15: A Practicing blog
INTRODUCTION:
COOKERY TOPIC: Reviewing concepts for the practical
THE MENU:
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Cheddar Jalapeño Soft Rolls- "Papaw's Georgia Bread"
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Strawberry Pastry Cream
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Chocolate- Strawberry Pâté à Choux
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Pecan Topping for Sheet Cake
MY PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:
My prior knowledge of the menu for this week is a little more advanced, since we have practiced these items at least once during the semester. I have practiced the cream puffs a couple of other times outside of class, but I am very happy we have this week in lab to perfect our skills before the big day.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
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Increase comfort level with a difficult product to make from earlier in the semester
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Work on time management when working with multiple projects
BACKGROUND:
For the first menu item, the soft rolls, there are a few things that I would like to hone in before the final next week. I have practiced making the rolls, but I want to be able to do the task with more confidence & not be nervous about rolling the dough. Second, I want to get better at the three shapes for the rolls: the circle, knot, and twist- I feel ok about the twist, but I want to perfect the circle & knot shapes. When we made the rolls in class, mine came out too small and were not puffed up enough in the center. This may have been caused by kneading the dough too much, or the yeast got too hot or too cold.
The second menu item, strawberry pastry cream, is going to be interesting. I'm doing a little experiment this week with the strawberries to see the best way to add this flavor into the base vanilla cream. I purchased fresh strawberries to maybe use a purée in the cream, as well as dehydrating some berries to see if chopping the dried berries up will provide a strong strawberry flavor or just texture. Lastly, I purchased Bonne Maman strawberry preserves, which I think will be my best bet for concentrated flavor, as well as a little bit of texture.
If there is time, I would like to practice the Pâté à Choux dough to at least make the éclairs shape, since I have not practiced this shape in some time. The cream puffs have worked out okay for me in the past, but I want to work on making sure the inside is not raw & has become hollow. The main reason for the dough not becoming hollow is because the batter is too wet- too many eggs, not enough flour. If I am able to practice the cream puffs, then I will either practice in lab or at home making milk chocolate and white chocolate ganache. I want to top all the puffs and éclairs with either milk or white chocolate, whichever looks best.
Lastly, if I have spare time, I would like to practice/save some brown sugar roasted pecans that I will use as a topping for my coconut sheet cake.
RECIPES:
My Inspiration:
Pastry cream
chocolate ganache
My best soft roll!
My ideal cream puffs
https://www.seriouseats.com/choux-pastry
strawberry pastry cream
https://eatsmarter.com/recipes/cream-puffs-with-strawberry-cream-filling
soft rolls
Week 15: Reflection
Lab Outcomes: This week's lab was a wake up call. While reviewing and practicing concepts for the final, I had some realizations that my time management needs to be pushed forward, since I was finishing close to the end every time I practiced.
Dish Results:
Cheddar Jalapeño Soft Rolls: During practice, my rolls have surprisingly come out better and better each time! This week I used 3 peppers and about half a cup of cheese, and I liked the flavor, but it was missing something. I practiced at home a couple days later & added more salt and paprika to the dough, and this was exactly what the bread needed.
Chocolate Strawberry Pate à Choux: My cream puffs during practice week turned okay decent- although they could have puffed up more. The chocolate ganache for the top of the cream puffs was taking me too long, so i decided to make it optional. I was scared that I would run out of time for it during the final.
Strawberry Pastry Cream: My pastry cream had a good flavor by utilizing the Bonne Mama strawberry preserves. I had wanted to use dehyrated strawberries, but doing this process would have taken almost a whole day- not the smartest use of time. I thought about using freeze dried berries, that way there would not be too much juice incorporated into the cream, but those berries were a little too expensive.
Conclusion: In conclusion, this practice week was great to have & I hope future classes are able to have this same opportunity as well.
