The pastry and baking classes have begun and Chef Foran stresses technique! If you make a recipe once well but cannot consistently repeat that, it means you don’t have good technique. If you don’t have good technique, you’re just a hit and miss cook, and that’s enough to make you bananas for sure! This is what I was hoping for. Technique!

 

So we begin with the basics and build on that. Once you understand conceptually the method for any baking process all a chef needs are the ingredients on a list. I was amazed to learn this because I had never worked with a recipe that did not have all the steps listed. Every ingredient is listed in ounces and pounds and needs to be weighed on a scale, not in cups like is traditionally seen. This could take a while to get used to.

 

Lab 1 – Blending Mixing Method – consists of 2 mixtures, one wet and one with sifted dry ingredients. Any garnish ingredients like nuts, chocolate, dried fruit are added last.

 

The key is not to over mix the batter. This will result in a courser grain and tougher crumb in the baked product. Add wet ingredients to dry all at once and mix briefly until just incorporated. Scrape bowl down twice to mix batter evenly.

 

This method is used for: cakes, quickbreads, muffins

 

 

• 9 oz Oil (vegetable or canola)
• 6 oz eggs
• 12 oz banana puree (use an immersion blender)
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla
• 2 oz cream
• 5 oz brown sugar

——————————- these are the wet ingredients

• 10 oz sugar
• 10 oz cake flour
• 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt

—————————— these are the dry ingredients

 

1. Whisk together wet ingredients and finish with an immersion blender.

2. Sift together all dry ingredients.

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry all at once. Whisk together.

4. Pour out onto a half sheet pan and use an offset spatula to smooth out mixture.

5. Bake on a greased and parchment lined sheet pan at 325 (convection) 350 (conventional) for 12-15 minutes. Cool.

6. When cool, invert onto a serving platter and frost. You can also decorate with piped shells around the edges or a sprinkling of walnuts or pecans.

 

 

12 oz cream cheese – room temp

3 oz butter – room temp

6 ½ oz powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

 

Place cream cheese and butter into the bowl of a mixer and blend until smooth. Slowly add the powder sugar so that you don’t blow it all over yourself! Add the vanilla and mix at high speed until very smooth and creamy.

 

Lab 2 – Creaming Method – Fat and sugars are creamed with paddle mixer until very light and smooth. Scrape down bowl 2 times during the process. Eggs are added one at a time allowing each addition to incorporate. Scrape bowl after each addition of eggs. Sifted dry ingredients are added in 2-3 stages. If there is a wet ingredient (like buttermilk) this wet ingredient and the dry are alternated starting and ending with the dry ingredient. An example of this is Red Velvet Cupcakes.

 

This method is used for: cakes, cookies, quickbreads, muffins

 

We also made chocolate chunk cookies. Use a #40 ice cream scoop (approx 2 tbs) to keep size and baking time consistent. Sprinkle with a few flecks of French Sea Salt before baking. It adds a little salty bite to contrast the sweet chocolate. Great combo! Try your favorite recipe using this method.