Moves like...

On Friday in class we made cute little dinner rolls. Our instructor showed several different to prepare them including braids, knots and Mick Jagger lips (not pictured). One of my favorite parts of baking is trying to make things look fancy or adorable. I like making loaves of bread and baguettes but it is so much less satisfying to just dump dough in a pan than to work with it and try to give it a very specific look.

We also made tortillas on Friday and they were delicious. I had no idea that real tortillas contain lard. That is probably why they were so delicious. I made them again at home with shortening and they were good too. So good that of the 24 tortillas I have made I got zero pictures of them. They will be made again!

Earlier in the week we made pizza and pita bread. That was a delicious day! I have made pizza and pita bread many times before but I always enjoy it. These turned out kind of rectangular because we had to form them on half sheet trays. The pizza dough recipe we made was different that my usual and it was so easy to work with. We let it ferment overnight and when I took my dough out of the fridge the next day it was so light and fluffy it could have been a pillow. Or a pizza cloud. Or something else that I can't think of.

This week I think I will learn how to make my own yeast starter!

A Bounty of Bread

I started breads class this week. We will spend the first half of this class focusing on typical breads working towards artisan breads and then the second half will be devoted to enriched breads and pastries. That means croissants and danishes are on the way.

The first day was all lecture but we have been working nonstop since then. And by nonstop I meant sporadically. Turns out, there is a lot of waiting around when you are making bread. This is in stark contrast to our last class when we were in constant motion in an effort to get everything finished. No one is quite sure what to do while waiting for our bread to ferment or proof so we have started playing battleship and hangman. Yesterday I was smart enough to bring a book.

All that waiting around has produced 2 baguettes, one loaf of white pan bread, one loaf of cinnamon pan bread, pizza dough and two baguettes epi style. I froze the white bread, my husband and I ate one baguette almost immediately, the cinnamon bread became french toast for breakfast this morning (with leftovers for tomorrow) and I fed the kids at school one of the epi baguettes. The last baguette will hopefully become banh mi sandwiches tonight and I think we are making pizza during class today. One epi baguette left. Phew! Bread is easier to find a use for than cookies at least.