Change

It's been a bit rugged lately. The effects of the changing economy are apparent during lunch; they are just not as busy as they used to be. This time last year, there were often times where people had to wait outside for a table. Not so much now.

Along with a reach-in refrigerator and a freezer breaking down, we have been forced to be a lot more efficient with our space. But it is frustrating at times, when you find frozen shrimp sharing space with some frozen cookie dough because there is just nowhere else to put it.

As a result, I've taken two of my cakes off the menu: the chocolate stout cake and the midnight cake (chocolate cake with ganache and vanilla buttercream.) Sigh. There just is no space. But, on a good note, there have been requests for the chocolate-cardamom pot de cremes. So they are back accompanied by two petite pistachio cookies.

I've shifted my focus more on the pastry case: the breakfast pastries and cookies. This upcoming week will be a series of experiments of different cookie doughs, maybe a new brownie. Today I baked off some almond apricot chocolate cookies. (I may add oats to it. I taste too much like the regular chocolate chip cookie.) Tomorrow is nibby shortbread. I am letting it sit and chill overnight to let the nibs infuse the dough, a tip I picked up from Alice Medrich's Bittersweet.

I am also brainstorming what I can egg white. Because I am going to be making the pot de cremes again, I will be using more yolks. Perhaps a hazelnut chocolate meringue? I also have a ton of nuts that I have to figure out what to do with. Without our old chill chests, their shelf life is shortened. (I have a five pound bag of pistachios.)

The holidays are in sight as well; I keep in mind cut-out cookies, rugelachs, and flavors of peppermint.

Scones

Interestingly enough, two of my friends came to me over the weekend regarding scones that each of them had made. I thought that was funny since I don't know too many people that would choose to make scones just because. So I was happy to answer whatever questions they had.

Ah, scones. Nothing like a hot cup of coffee and a blueberry scone with a hint of lemon. I didn't really start enjoying them until after culinary school. Crumbly (or flaky) scones. There is so much I can write today about scones, but let's keep it short and focus one of the basics.

Mixing. It is really easy to overmix scones. Unlike, cookies or cakes, scones are mixed until they just come together. What does that mean? Well, it will look like a messy mass of dough with some dry clumps. (There should be clumps of butter.) It should not feel too wet or sticky. You should be able to shape the dough, patting the dry clumps into the wet areas. You can always add more liquid (either cream or buttermilk, usually) as you go.

Why is it important that you mix scones to that point? If you overmix the dough, it becomes dense. The texture feels like a giant cookie, rather than the crumbly (flaky) scone. That texture comes from the small chunks of butter trapped between layers of dough. (Depending on the shape, scones can vary in texture. A crumbly scone is made when you make a rough lump of dough for each serving. To make a flaky scone, the dough is rolled out and then cut with a knife or with round cutters.)

A good tip in adding fruit to scones: I usually just add dried fruit. But if you want to add real fruit, like berries, for example. I recommend frozen berries only because the frozen berries won't bleed when you mix them in. Also, fold the berries in toward then end of our mixing so you get hunks of the fruit rather than having just swirls of fruit through the dough.

Happy Halloween!

"Death by Chocolate" Cupcakes.

A note about weddings

So B and I went to a wedding this past weekend.

We didn't just go the wedding; we had been asked to help coordinate the reception for our friends, Gabe and Dorise. So, it was a busy evening for us: setting up the chair covers, tying to gold sashes, making sure the banquet was set up, setting up the cake...

A word about cake...why are they so expensive?

I don't think many people realize what goes into a cake, especially a wedding cake. It takes a lot of energy out of you, a lot of work and time and that is on top of all the normal production that you have for your bakery or pastry shop.

There have been many times where I wished that I had a magic wand to make the cake. Cake decorating can be painstaking, especially if you have much detailed work ahead. Sometime you feel like you are buried in cake as is slowly comes together. Just thinking about the work into making a wedding cake can be stressful.

I think the biggest thing is planning: with cake, having a plan and executing it right plays a huge part in ensuring success. (Something that I learned making my first wedding cake outside of culinary school.)

It is rare that a wedding cake is baked, finished and decorating all in one day. It is often done in stages. Mixing and baking the cake take time, and even more time if you have several tiers to do. (It gets more complex if the tiers are different flavors.) Also calculated in that is the cooling and proper storage. Then you have to make sure that you have enough buttercream, ganache, stabilized cream, or fondant to finish the cake. You also have to make time to cut the cake into layers, put in the filling, and crumb coat it. Then it is on to icing it to have that nice seamless exterior.

The time it takes to decorate can vary depending on the complexity. If you have a whipped cream cake that is dressed with organic rose petals, then the labor is a lot less than if you have hexagon shaped tiers with gumpaste flowers.

On top of all that, you have to make sure that you work cleanly and that you are organized. Because if anything happens to your work: if the cake gets damaged, if the fondant gets niched, if the gumpaste flowers break, you have to stop and fix it or start all over.

And it is frustrating.

Then set up and deliver. This is probably the worst time for anything to happen to a cake. Because you have just finished all that hard work, of making everything look perfect. I think one of the most relieving feelings is when the cake is delivered: it is out of your hands and you've done the best you can. There is nothing more that you can do about it.

But as stressful as it can be, it is rewarding when you see what you have made with your hands and find satisfaction for a job well done.

(Here is my friend Kike, helping me assemble the cake at the wedding. To save some money, the bride and groom decided to have the cake picked up by one of the guest, rather than to have it delivered.)
Note: The cake (with the purple flowers) is from Ambrosia Bakery and Cafe in San Francisco.

and another thing...about bread

I like bread that has big holes in 'em.

Here's a photo of a piece of ciabatta. The reason why you have those big holes is because of fermentation. The purpose is to improve flavor and texture. Fermentation in bread comes in two forms. You can ferment the dough by punching down the dough after its first rise and letting it rest in the refrigerator overnight. The other is with a sponge, also referred to as a pre-ferment, starter, barm, or poolish. In any case, it is a mixture of flour, water, and yeast that is allowed to sit (usually overnight.) This process allows the yeast to mutiply and create acetic and lactic acids. This in turn leads to more flavor.

I think that is why baguettes tastes so great. In general, baguettes are water, flour, salt, sugar, and either yeast or a starter.

Here is a picture of the ciabatta starter. Because of its continual process of a multiplying community of yeast, a portion has to be measure out and discarded of. (Salt it through on the discarded portion so that it will cease to multiply.) Then a measured amout of flour and water is mixed with the original batch. Essentially, the starter needs to be fed everyday to keep it alive, but a portion has to be thrown out or it would get to big.

A Good Day for Bread

I left work early today. Business has been slow and it's Columbus Day, so our usual patrons from the French school had the day off.

Coming home early, I decided to do something that I have not done in a long time: bake bread at home. The warm fall air was perfect for dough to rise. I flipped through my "Essentials of Baking" cookbook: the focaccia recipe caught me eye.

I have not baked focaccia since I was in Breads class at the culinary school. That was four years ago.

I love making bread, but the challenge is having a block of time: starting with measuring out my ingredients all the way to pulling the finished product out of the oven. Also, having the weather just right. I have figured out a way to proof bread in the chill of the winter. (I just put the dough in a container on top of the oven, and set the oven to warm. It's a bit tricky, so I would rather just wait for the right time.)

But I am spoiled when it come to bread. Students would constantly have fresh baked bread with their meals. So for thirty weeks, I had fresh piecebaguette, ballons with poppy seeds or asiago cheese, slices of levain...

So, I did have fun making the focaccia, but I wished that I had the time to let the dough sit in the refrigerator overnight and let it ferment. (The flavor is much better if you do so.)

I think one of the interesting about making bread is that you are working with something that is still alive. And, I love how simple ingredients can create something so delicious: yeast, warm water, sugar, olive oil, flour, and salt. Also, an important factor is time.


Here is my finished product. I added some tomato, green onion, and garlic.

Milk Chocolate

I often get the duty of bringing dessert when it comes to visiting friends. I guess that is part of the contract when baking is your profession.

Unfortunately, baking is the last thing I want to do when I am off work. Tell me to make potato salad or my mom's seven layer dip. Dessert? I'll do it, but with some reluctance. Don't get me wrong. I love what I do, but when you do it all day, five days a week for work, there is a stopping point.

Sigh. So, Monday was one of those days where I was commissioned to bring dessert. It was short notice. But when I saw how eager our hosts where when they had asked me, I had to say yes. I didn't want to disappoint them.

So I brought chocolate. You can't go wrong with chocolate. (I also brought some cookies that I baked off at work.)

Our friends happen to love Scharffen Berger Chocolate. I picked up two bars: the semisweet and the milk chocolate with cocoa nibs. (They have a ten year old son, so I figure something on the sweeter side would do.) My family loves bittersweet, so that is naturally the one I gravitate toward. I rarely ate milk chocolate growing up only because we never really kept it around the house. I've only recently gone beyond my bittersweet boundaries.

I often find milk chocolate a bit sweet. But it pairs with some ingredients better than bittersweet because of its sweeter, carmel-like nature. If you pay attention to Scharffen Berger's milk chocolate you can taste the butterscotch notes. I can see it going well in a chocolate chunk cookie with pecans, or mixed with some heat.

Some pastry chefs have mentioned El Rey as a good brand when it comes to milk. So I will give it a go next time. So sorry, Mom and Dad, I can't stick just to bittersweet.