Serious Foodie Pastry Course

[CanadianBakin']

The Serious Foodie Pastry Course began last Tuesday. I'm no Jamie Maw or Zucchini Mama but I'll do my best to give you a peak into our class. We are taught by Chef Marco and the class size is 13.

Day 1 We made Austrian Apple Strudel totally from scratch. When we were done stretching the dough it was as big as the table we were working on and you could read a newspaper through it. I really should have taken a picture of the process but I only got the finished product, and blurry at that. We made an apple filling with dried cherries soaked in a bit of rum and a creme anglais to serve it with. I really like the freedom he gives us. He had intended the filling to have raisins but left it up to us if we wanted to use something different. The rum was a suggestion by one of the students. As long as he's got it we can use it.

Next we prepared the dough for bagels. It's a very stiff dough and they looked a bit funny while raw. They sat in the cooler over night.

Day 2 We finished off the bagels by poaching and baking. We put sesames(sp?) on ours and they looked and tasted amazing when they were done. We made a Mushroom & Rosemary Bread. It was interesting to make the bagel & rosemary dough on consecutive nights because their textures were so different. The rosemary dough was VERY wet. I'm glad I was able to make this under Marco's instruction because at home I would have added flour and the texture wouldn't have been as good. Mmmmm, I love the smell of rosemary. We also made Dark Banana Bread and Chocolate Orange Cookies which were both delicious.

I absolutely love the class and can't wait to go again! I'd really go every night if I could. Perhaps I'll have to enroll in the fulltime class sometime in the future.

BIG BONUS which I don't remember reading in the other Serious Foodie thread is that the fulltime students volunteer their time to wash all our dishes. All the ingredients are scaled ahead of time so when we get there all we do is receive instruction while watching a demo and bake.

Chef Marco also put out a variety of cheeses and fresh made bread for us to snack on throughout the class and both days there was also hand made chocolates of various flavours.

*Pictures to come as soon as I have time to figure out how to post them.

edited to add: Thanks so much to all of you former students who have posted your experiences! I never would have known courses like this existed.

Edited March 14, 2006 by CanadianBakin' (log)

[Ling]

I've always wanted to make strudel dough from scratch! That sounds like so much fun. Was it difficult to stretch it so thin? What happens if the dough tears--is it reparable?

What's Dark Banana bread? (i.e. how is it different from regular banana bread?)

[CanadianBakin']

I've always wanted to make strudel dough from scratch! That sounds like so much fun. Was it difficult to stretch it so thin? What happens if the dough tears--is it reparable?

What's Dark Banana bread? (i.e. how is it different from regular banana bread?)

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It was suprisingly easy to stretch the dough. It's kind of like some pizza dough demos I've seen on TV. You use your fists to hold it and let gravity do the work for the most part. Then when you lay it on the table you use your whole hand to stretch out any thick parts. It does tear but it's not a big deal since you are doing so many layers. We had way more dough than we needed so we just used a piece without holes.

Dark Banana Bread - the only difference I noted was we used dark brown sugar instead of white. The taste was great but you can't "see" the banana in it. I think I like the appearance of banana bread made with white sugar better.

[barolo]

BIG BONUS which I don't remember reading in the other Serious Foodie thread is that the fulltime students volunteer their time to wash all our dishes.

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We did have professional students and staff setting up and prepping some of the ingredients as well as helping us with equipment and techniques, but the dishwasher was not a student as far as I know. But yes, it is a bonus to not have to do the dishes after cooking.

[CanadianBakin']

BIG BONUS which I don't remember reading in the other Serious Foodie thread is that the fulltime students volunteer their time to wash all our dishes.

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We did have professional students and staff setting up and prepping some of the ingredients as well as helping us with equipment and techniques, but the dishwasher was not a student as far as I know. But yes, it is a bonus to not have to do the dishes after cooking.

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I paid closer attention last night and I think you're right. Either way, I'm happy that we don't have to take time to do dishes.

[Daddy-A]

We did have professional students and staff setting up and prepping some of the ingredients as well as helping us with equipment and techniques, but the dishwasher was not a student as far as I know.  But yes, it is a bonus to not have to do the dishes after cooking.

I believe it's Chef Tony's youngest son who washes dishes.

A.

[Zucchini Mama]

Oh, I am so jealous, Miz Bakin! What fun! Was the rosemary mushroom bread a foccacia? Wildfire does a chanterelle focaccia, but I haven't been there when it's in season.

[anisette]

CanadianBakin',

Who are you? I'm in the class as well and just happened across this thread. I sit in the back of the class. I'm loving it, isn't it fun? I'm hoping that you have some better pictures to share, as I have not been diligently snappy with my camera. Then by the time I get home, my husband gobbles up everything in sight.

Looking foward to Tuesday's class.

[CanadianBakin']

YAY!! Another e-gulleter. I hope you can help me report each week. I sit at the front table of 4 and have shorter dark hair. Please introduce yourself on Tuesday. I think my pictures from this week will be better. I really need a few minutes to figure out how to post pictures. I have a link, just need the time.

Oh, I am so jealous, Miz Bakin! What fun! Was the rosemary mushroom bread a foccacia? Wildfire does a chanterelle focaccia, but I haven't been there when it's in season.

It wasn't foccacia, I'm not sure what you'd call it. Most people cooked them in cans so the bread mushroomed out over the top. My partner and I did ours just in a round loaf. I loved the texture of the bread but the shitake mushrooms were a bit rubbery. I think I'd use something else next time.

[CanadianBakin']

Ok, I think I've figured it out. My apologies for the blurriness(sp?). I'm using a different camera for the rest of the pictures and they should be much clearer. It couldn't possibly be the operators fault.

This is the Austrian Apple Strudel served on Vanilla Sauce.

In the center and just behind is the Mushroom and Rosemary Bread. Back right is the Dark Banana Bread and in front are Sesame Bagels and Orange, Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Edited March 18, 2006 by CanadianBakin' (log)

[anisette]

CanadianBakin',

Would you mind if I used your photo on my blog? Unfortunately I took no photos of Day 2...please, please, pretty please??

[CanadianBakin']

As you can see, they're pretty blurry but you're welcome to use them.

[CanadianBakin']

Week 2

Sorry for the delay. I didn't have access to a digital camera for the last 2 weeks and had to wait to get my pictures developed.

We began the evening preparing dough for some awesome Hard Rolls. My husband said I should have these fresh for him every morning.

Come to think of it, we may have started with this next dessert first. We poached pears in a syrup that contained cassis (black currant juice) wine, lemon & orange peels, cinnamon, vanilla beans, etc. It smelled amazing! Then we made a sweet paste to use as a crust which we filled with an almond cream. It's a bit different than a frangipane as it has no flour. I found it a bit moister and prefer it. Then we topped it with the pears after they had poached quite some time. There were a few pears left over after everyone's tart was filled. Chef Marco left these soaking in the syrup overnight and we had some to eat the next evening. Absolutely delicious and a beautiful colour from the cassis.

We also made Gugelhopf. It's hard to describe the texture. We made a small amount of rich bread dough with yeast and then some cake batter. We mixed these together and then stirred in whole almonds, raisins and dried cranberries. It felt odd combining the two batters but it made a very nice bread.

And last but not least, Chocolate Creme Caramel. It's so easy to make and so smooth. We made white chocolate ice cream and raspberry sauce to serve with it. The cold, creamy and tart together were very good. I'll definitely make this again soon. My apologies for the presentation. The ice cream had just been made and wasn't very firm so it began melting right away.

That's it for week 2. It's hard to believe we were able to make everything in only two nights with instruction and rising times, etc. The class is always on the move. Chef Marco is a great teacher and enjoyable to listen to. Although I would consider myself a fairly seasoned home baker, I learn new things every night.

Edited March 26, 2006 by CanadianBakin' (log)

[Zucchini Mama]

It all looks very good, Canadian Bakin', especially those buns. I would never had thought to put ice cream on top of a creme caramel. It seems counter-intuitive, but heck, I'm still drooling!

[sanrensho]

Wow, great work. I'm envious. What is the topping on the pear tart? It appears white in the photo.

[*Deborah*]

Pistachios, I'm guessing?

[sanrensho]

Pistachios, I'm guessing?

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Doh! The white tint from the flash threw me off.

Edited March 28, 2006 by sanrensho (log)

[CanadianBakin']

Pistachios, I'm guessing?

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Doh! The white tint from the flash threw me off.

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Pistachios it is!

[CanadianBakin']

Week 3

This week we made quite a variety of things. We began by preparing dough for Sundried Tomato Foccacia. After rising and shaping it was topped with olive oil, fresh rosemary and coarse salt. I hadn't eaten dinner and I ended up eating half of it before I left that night, it was so good!

We also made a Madiera Cherry Cake with a crumb topping. It had a bit of orange zest and marzipan beaten into the batter and was much like a pound cake with a row of cherries down the center. I'm not a big fan of pound cake so this wasn't my favourite but it looked quite impressive.

This is actually a picture of Chef Marco's. Ours looked done when it was taken out, but after cooling a bit and cutting it in half we found it was still doughy so it went back in for about 20 minutes. There's 2 things that stand out as unique about his teaching. We make everything by hand so we get to know how something should feel when it's ready to move on to the next step and he never tells us how long something takes to bake. He says to take it out of the oven, "when it's ready". For someone who's a bit anal about following directions this is a bit tough but I think it's a good idea. You get a better understanding of a recipe if you have to pay more attention to it than if you're just listening for the timer. His reason for this, is that ever oven is different.

Next up is a delicious Vanilla Panna Cotta served with Strawberry Consomme and Caramelized Pecan Biscotti. Absolutely delicious! The Consomme was made by putting quartered strawberries, a bit of raspberry puree and sugar and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice into a stainless bowl. We wrapped it tight with saran and then set it over a double boiler for an hour or so. Then the mixture was tied up in cheesecloth and hung over a bowl over night. It had an amazing flavour and was clearer than a puree. Well worth the effort. The Biscotti was great too! I've already made the recipe at home this week and it was devoured.

Then before Tuesday night was over we prepared a poolish to use the next day for bread. The poolish sat at room temp over night and became a French Baguette, Fougasse and Cheese Bread.

This is apparently nothing like what you make in the Culinary course. The Culinary course's is made in an hour, this took two days. My understanding is the difference is the taste. If dough is left to ferment, there is a ton more flavour. Not everyone has 2 days to make a baguette, mind you...

And last, we made a French Lemon Tart. Much to Chef Marco's chagrin we had to use store bought puff pastry as there simply isn't time to make it from scratch in class. A very bright, tart lemon filling. I think Ling would even approve of this one.

One more week to go. I'll be very sorry to see the class end. There are rumors about an advanced class which I'll be one of the first to sign up for.

Edited March 28, 2006 by CanadianBakin' (log)

[Ling]

^I dunno, CanadianBakin', you're going to have to let me EAT one of those lemon tarts before I tell you if I approve of them or not... j/k That tart looks great, as does everything else. The caramelized pecan biscotti looks perfect!