My Time In Bread Class

It has been a while since I have posted my latest activities. The last time I posted a report I was in Intro to Baking and had talked about Thanksgiving. When I was in Intro to Baking, I had learned the basics of baking. I now know how to make bread, cheesecake, flan, and many other desserts. This time I am in Bread class, where I am learning to make every kind of bread you can think of (well almost every kind of bread you can think of). Chef had us refresh our memory on making Baguettes the first two weeks of class. We then moved on to making bagels, pizza, pita bread, sourdough bread, pretzels and cinnamon rolls.

Ever since I started to bake bread I found that I enjoy kneading dough by hand. We can use the school mixers but I like to be able to feel the dough become smooth and “tough.” The dough is not really tough; the dough is more like a marshmallow. You know when the dough is done being kneaded when it bounces back like a marshmallow would if you lightly press down on it. The one type of bread I enjoyed making would be the pretzels because I am working with a different type of dough. The dough used to make pretzels is a little moister then our everyday dough, which makes it easier to shape it.

Pizza day was really fun! Shaping the dough was twice more fun than mixing it together because we had to make the pizza as round as possible. The only thing I wish we could have done was learn to toss the dough in the air like a real pizza maker would do. J  We were even allowed to cover the pizza with whatever toppings we wanted. I topped mine with roasted garlic, fresh thyme, basil, and oregano. We didn’t have onions, bell pepper, or pepperoni, but that is okay, maybe next time.

Earlier in the week we made cinnamon rolls in class. I was surprised how easy it was to make them because I thought it was going to be difficult. Originally, I thought we were going to have to roll the cinnamon rolls by hand but I was wrong. Instead we rolled out the dough into a giant rectangle, spread the cinnamon filling on to it, roll the dough long wise to make the swirl, and then cut the cinnamon rolls with floss. After that we have to let them go through the same process as regular bread before we can place them in the oven.

This Monday I have a project due in my Bread class. I have to create my own bread recipe. The last couple of days my chef has given us an opportunity to practice our recipe, which gave me a chance to experiment. I have come up with a Mexican Style Bread, which contains, bell pepper, onion, jalapeño, cheese, and at least five different kinds of spices. I hope everyone likes the bread I created when it comes time to walk around and try everyone’s creation.  

In a few days we will be learning to make Danishes. I don’t like Danishes unless there is a lot of strawberry jam in the middle of it. I do enjoy making them though because we can shape them however we want. We will also be making croissants and puff pastry. I can’t wait!