that's what she baked.

Mamma’s Bread

I don’t have the recipe that we followed but we made the dough the night before that involved a combination of yeast, flour, sugar and eggs… maybe? I can’t remember. And then we let the dough rise in the fridge overnight.

I then woke up way too early on a Saturday, and found my mother in the kitchen rolling out the first loaf of bread. We spooned out melted butter and cinnamon and sugar, and then added crushed walnuts and dates. After that the dough was ready to be rolled up, sliced and then put in the oven (off) to rise for another couple of hours.

We turned the oven on at the beginning of our family brunch and both my mom and I forgot about it. One of the loaves got a little too much lovin’ from the oven. And we forgot the egg-wash and left out the almond flavored sugar glaze… and it was all very typical to the baking experience that started with a floury mess. But all was well. I’m really glad I got to share that time with my mom. I also got some of her old cookie recipes that I can’t wait to try out. I did get to enjoy my Mamma’s Bread for the following week as breakfast, snack and dessert. 

Advanced Techniques in Baking, Week 3: Cakes II

Back in December, in the first series of baking classes I took, I made my very first cake. It was a layer cake, and I thought that was pretty tough by itself, trying to make it look nice and not chopping it up and such.. but I really liked making it. I then started looking at cakes in stores and wondered how the heck they get the edges so darn smooth.. well, last weekend, at the CSCA, I learned how…

They use cake rings! I have wondered what those rings were for, seeing them hanging up in kitchens, before, and now I know It’s quite a process (bake the cakes, slice the cakes, fill a different ring with the frosting, put down a layer of cake, soak it, frosting, cake, soak, frosting… etc.) But it lends to a mighty pretty cake. (I also put together a second messy cake really quickly without building it in a ring because I had a lot of extra frosting and cake but class was finishing)

Advanced Techniques in Baking, Week 2: Meringues

Above you see an inside-out Almond Joy ice cream sandwich. A coconut cookie with a chocolate almond ice cream, with pieces of almond, chocolate dust and feuilletine crumbs on the outside. I MADE ICE CREAM, for the very first time! it was super cool!

I didn’t even know what a meringue was before this class. Like, I had no idea what we would be making, or what it would look like in the end. I’m still not entirely sure what it is, but I do know that it has to do with a combination of egg whites and sugar and it takes many forms and there’s a lot you can do with it. 

And even some more pictures of other happenings from Advanced Techniques in Baking, Week 1: Puff Pastry

I really liked making the dough, it’s a lot like making a pie dough, but there’s special folding (you can see it here, top right), and the dough becomes super soft and almost rubbery (rubbery doesn’t seem like the right word, but I can’t figure out what would be). It lends to a really pretty layering after baked when done right and there’s so many things you can do with it!