Voila!

Croissant dough is similar to puff pastry, but the fold-in process is simpler {3 single folds}. We made ours last week and froze it, then rolled out the thawed-out dough in today's class. It was then cut into triangle shapes and filled with either chocolate or almond paste. Then, the widest end of the triangle is rolled towards you {à la Pillsbury croissants in the can} and the "tails" of the croissant are pinched together {they separate in the oven but this ensures the croissant keeps its crescent shape}. Baking time is 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Drizzled with melted chocolate, gone in a day.

Hot buns

It looks like most of our breakfast breads are going to involve yeast and proofing and waiting. Eating the result is worth it but sometimes you don't want to stand around at 9am waiting for bread to rise, you know?

I've never eaten a Chelsea Bun before, but it's basically a cinnamon bun with some candied cherries in it. Brown sugar, salt, shortening and milk powder are mixed + one egg + sifted bread & pastry flour. Finally, a yeast & warm water slurry is added on top and everything is mixed for about 6 minutes. The dough is left to rest for 30 minutes.

Instead of baking ours individually, we baked 6 to a pan {the top photo is one of the extra buns that didn't fit into the pan}. Caramel glaze {brown, sugar, sugar, butter, honey, water} is spread onto the bottom of the lined pan and topped with cherries. The dough is rolled out into a large sheet and covered with caramel glaze, cinnamon sugar, pecans and raisins. The sheet is rolled into a log and sliced into buns, which a placed in the pan and proofed until the buns expand enough that the gaps between them are filled. THEN they are baked for 40 minutes at 360 degrees.

Lots of work on these, but when the pans are inverted and all that gooey caramel drips out you forget that you just spent 3 hours on them. Mmmmm...

Bonjour brioche!

School is back in session for the new year, which means it's time for Breakfast Breads! I doubt anyone loves breakfast as much as I do so a whole class dedicated to it means many calories and less sharing with my co-workers than usual.

Brioche is a sweet bread that consists of: a sponge {flour, milk, yeast} that has been set aside for 30 minutes, combined with a dough made of flour, salt, sugar, eggs {whole + yolks}, lemon zest & vanilla. Butter goes in last and the resulting dough is set aside and covered for 20-40 minutes. After being kneaded, the dough is separated into balls which are placed into a pan, proofed for 20 minutes and baked for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

It's pretty good; I'll add raisins when I make this again.

A healthier option

I don't think most bakers are excited at the prospect of a "healthier choice" when it comes to coffee cakes, but it's good to have a couple of options in case there are any calorie counters in your circle of friends. There is still sugar in this Apple Oatmeal coffee cake, but no butter for a change. Flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, allspice, cinnamon, oats, vegetable oil, egg, vanilla {see what I mean about these types of cakes having so many ingredients?}, and of course, peeled & chopped apples are mixed and poured into a pan and baked for 350 degrees for one hour. The glaze is a combination of icing sugar, water & cider.

A German favourite

Plum kuchen is one of those dense European-type cakes. Butter & sugar are creamed, egg, vanilla & almond extract are added, then flour, baking powder & salt. The batter is piped into the pan and topped with fresh plums. Before being baked for 40 minutes at 350 degrees, a mixture of sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar is sprinkled over the plums. Once cooled, apricot glaze is brushed on for a nice, shiny look.