Plaits Became Wreaths....

I know, I know...its Halloween but since we do not celebrate it in our family, we still went for a family outing. I was surprised to see brochures, leaflets and other promo about Christmas. Yup, you heard it right...its about Christmas. That got me thinking...bread wreaths on dining table for Christmas Eve dinner. It was a nice decor and a yummy bread for my family, relatives and friends last Christmas.

So..I decided to make some today. Got to get the plaits right to make the wreaths stand out during Christmas, you know? :) Well, after I plaited it like I would do for my Princess, I just pinched the ends and it becomes a wreath. My other half had other ideas though....gloss it with jam and sprinkle A1 sugar after baking it. So...here's the outcome of our breadmaking...

Danish Pastry

Our lecturer was so good to us...brought half a dozen of these babies home after making it in school and boy oh boy...it was finished within an hour. My other half said that its from Denmark but after doing my research, I discovered that it is originated from Vienna. But I am sure, others will have other versions too.

Danish pastry is another variation of Puff Pastry. I found out that the most important thing is to keep the dough cold. We made pinwheels, envelopes, pockets and bear claws.

 Envelope 

Pinwheel

 

Pocket

 

Bear Claw

Assorted Danish Pastries

Quiche - Bacon & Mushroom Quiche

Quiche is an oven-baked product. We have to blind bake the shell first and then add in the custard and other ingredients and bake it again the second time. This is an open pie and the only covering is the set custard.  For our pastry class this time, we made bacon and mushroom quiche.  Do you know that quiche is not French either. It originated from Germany. We use the short-crust pastry for the shell. Some people who does not have time can actually buy the short-crust pastry from the supermarket. If you want to keep these quiches in the freezer, just take it out 5 mins before the ending time of the baking, allow it to cool and then freeze it accordingly. Here's a photo of the bacon & mushroom quiches that we made in school.

Puff Pastry... Apple and Blueberry Strudel

Puff pastry and croissants... both uses the "laminated dough" technique. However, it is NOT the same. Croissant uses yeast, therefore, it need to be proofed. But...the amount of fats that being used in these two...really have to think twice before I bite into one of these babies again...ha!ha!

Had another wonderful time at my pastry class. We made puff pastry and this is where silly me found out that puff pastry and croissants are NOT the same. My lecturer even cut off one side of the dough on each turn to show us the lamination of it. Here's some photos.

This is how it looks like after we did our 1st turn.

This is how it looks like after we did our 2nd turn.

This is how it looks like after we did our 3rd turn.

This is how it looks like after we complete all four turns.
We use the dough after this turn to make our strudels.

Here's a photo of the apple and blueberry strudel which my lecturer did. It was delicious. Our puff pastry is in the freezer waiting for us to come in and continue next week.

Apple and Blueberry Strudel

Croissants....is it French?

Had a wonderful day in my yeast products class the other day. I also learn that croissants are NOT from France. According to my lecturer, croissants are from Budapest, Hungary. Google it and I am sure there will be stories about it. However, there's several versions to this story though....ha!ha! So, I am all confused once again...

Croissants are not that easy to bake though. I found out that there are several problems when making croissants. We had croissants that did not puff up fully when baking. I found out that the possible causes are "under proofed", "lack of humidity" or "oven too cold" from the internet. My lecturer also commented that it might be due to "lack of yeast" or "to much pressure when we roll the dough out between turns". Here's some photos - before we baked them and after we baked them...

Croissants before we sent them into the oven to be baked.

Hot, Hot, Croissants!!!