I can make Bread now! :D

It took me quite sometime to decide if I should sign up for the 4-session Bread making class at Creative Culinaire. I had to consider the clashes with my Saturday work, initial clash with CNY eve, as well as, the fact that I am going to attend it on my own.  

 

So what made me sign up for it? On the day before the start of the 1st class, I decided to take a look at the class schedule again. And I saw that there was no longer CNY eve class. As for my work clash, I knew if I don't do it now, I will never have my Saturdays to do it in the later months. Almost immediately after I saw the change in dates, I picked up the phone (at 6pm) to check if there were vacancies. The lady who picked up my call (I somehow suspect was the chef) told me that she could still accept me but I had to decide by 7pm. I struggled, but with V's encouragement, I decided to go for it! Glad I did... a really enjoyable experience. A great teacher, Chef Judy, who shared detailed information of bread making, the considerations in business, as well as, her own life perspectives. Wonderful classmates who shared information and helped one another. Something interesting about my Class - there were 4 Wendy. Ha... I learnt not to respond to my name by my 2nd lesson.

 

My 1st Lesson 

 

My 2nd Lesson  

 

 My 3rd Lesson   

 My 4th Lesson

 

This series of classes gave me a better idea of how bread are made and I can proudly say, I can make bread now! But of course, I cannot be sure to say the quality will definitely be good. But I bet it will be much better than my 'yeasty' bread attempt previously.

 

I actually enjoyed learning the different ways of shaping the doughs. And my favourite bread from the class got to be the focaccia. the Bagels were good too. However, in view of the higher yeast content used in class (to shorten the proofing time), I find that the bread were not aromatic enough. I made a recent batch of whole meal bread using lower yeast content and they smell great!

 

How I wish I could attend the series of intermediate classes that are starting next week. I can't do it due to work, but I guess I am not ready yet. I need to have more practices first. Looking forward to more bread making!

 

Classes at BIY :)

Signed up for the Halloween themed cupcake decoration classes at BIY. An enjoyable class with new information and techniques learnt.

 

Back for Classes! :)

After more than a year, I am back at Creative Culinaire for classes! The class on Day 1 was pretty short and the fillings were all prepared by the school. We had a demo by chef for the fillings but I thought it would be better if we had the chance to do it... I guess the focus is on the puff pastry, not filling... 

Class on day 2 was still about making puff pastry. We used pastry margarine to do it on day 1 but butter sheet on day 2. Again, the curry puff filling and apple strudel filling was prepared for us. We had the chance to do our own pastry cream though. And I love the apple strudel. Yummy! My friend and I were pretty apprehensive about handling the dough these 2 days but fortunately, we still made it!

Overall, I learnt quite abit from the class but somehow, I still have a lot of 'Why's after the class. I shall practise it one of these days and see how it goes...

Intermediate Baking Class

In comparison to Beginner Baking Class, my memory of the Intermediate Baking Class is not that clear... perhaps there was too much information coming in and too much things to do. Many of the recipes taught were also not my favourite...

I shall do a short summary of the cakes learnt during these classes:

Lesson 1 (29 March 2009):

The chocolate cake & ganache covering this cake was yummy... but I didn't like the pecan icing which was the filling.

And another item baked during this lesson...

We overwhipped the egg white and the Loaf cake turned out to be quite soggy... but still nice... :)

Lesson 2 (5 April 2009):

I destroyed the sponge cake by pouring it out from the container when I realised that I did not add baking powder... notice the super flat sponge layers. Anyway, the mousse did not taste nice.. maybe we did not cook it well...

Lesson 3 (12 April 2009):

Choconana cake was quite good. The pistachio sponge cake itself was good but the buttercream had a weird taste which not everyone can accept...

Lesson 4 (19 April 2009):

Notice the extremely nice cake made by my teacher on the top right hand corner... Beautiful! :)

Hopefully after I update all my 'overdue' baked items, I will be able to blog in detail to share the recipes and to remind myself of each baking experience.

Baking Classes @ Creative Culinaire

Great classes by a wonderful teacher. And I am going back for more.... :)

Together with Wenqi & Weiling, I signed up for the Foundation course for the Art & Science of Cake Baking at Creative Culinaire.

Lesson 1: The Art of Butter Cake (18 October 2008)

Being my first lesson, I was pretty apprehensive... I did not have much baking experience prior to the lesson and was worried that I will not be able to follow well. What's more, we had to make 3 different types of cake in 3 hours... *stressed -_-"*

The class started with the theory part which provided me with a lot of new and interesting information on baking. After that, we paired up to do the actual baking. Wenqi & I were a team for this class. We were very unsure throughout the whole baking process... We had to ask our teacher, her assistant, the other chefs, Weiling & her partner to make sure that we were on the right track..... from the creaming of the butter to telling if our cakes were ready. Haha... We were the last group to finish and left only at 7pm (class finishes at 6pm).

But glad to say.... the cakes that we made were yummy.... despite the fact that I'm not a butter cake lover..

Here's our CAKES for the day:

I like the Sunflower Cupcake and Basic Butter Cake the most. Not a fan of walnut....

I tried making the basic butter cake at home but it did not taste as good. Also tried the walnut cake with Wenqi & Weiling for my colleagues' birthday.... did not turn out very well too. More practise needed!

Lesson 2: The Art Of Chiffon (25 OCtober 2008)

Chef Judy Koh explained that making a good chiffon cake is not easy. She explained the importance of whisking the egg white until stiff peaks are formed and demonstrated how to fold in the mixture properly. This time round, I partnered with another classmate. She was GOOD! Chef praised our banana chiffon cake (which was mostly made by my classmate). But she did say the rest was good too. :)

I didn't really like the taste of the golden citrus chiffon cake. The rest were yummy!

I have tried making pandan chiffon cake prior to the lessons and they ended up with big lobangs & without the taste of pandan. After the lesson, I tried them again. The taste was much better but.... they did not rise up enough. Still wondering if it is the mixer or my folding in process. Shall try it again after my mixer is repaired.

Lesson 3: The Art of Swiss Roll (1 November 2008)

This is one of the lesson that I laughed the most. Weiling and I paired up for the lesson, all ready to make swiss rolls.... unfortunately... our first swiss roll became a layered cake...

On the left is the 'Rainbow Roll" that we were supposed to do.

First, we were supposed to whisk the eggs with some other ingredients until ribbon stage. I guess both of us were dreaming during lesson that day... so somehow... we forgotten how 'RIBBON STAGE' was like (actually I can't really remember now too :P). So we continued to add in the flour until suddenly I saw some egg whites in a bowl......

I read through the recipe repeatedly, trying to see where this should go in... but there was no need for any egg whites in the later part of the recipe. It was only then that we realised it should be added in when whisking... ha... we are too used to whisking egg whites separately. We decided to just add in the egg white, thinking that it will still work, It could have.... if not for us adding in the oil almost immediately.....

We saw that the mixture was way too liquid to do piping and seeked Chef's help. Initially she told us to whisk it longer. But when she realised we had already added in the oil, she told us it was impossible to make a roll... and suggested that we make layered cakes instead. I was very amused at the thought that ours will become a kueh or something not edible....

Fortunately, the end product was not too bad la... just a bit tasteless. The fun but tiring part was actually piping the fat and adorable mouse on the cake.

And our 2nd bake for the day went smoothly, with some help from a classmate who works at a bakery.

My Tiger Roll... Looks good, taste good!! :P

My Tiger Roll was a hit with both my friends & family. I tried making it at home again and it turned out well too.... but not as good as what I made during class. I love to make and eat Tiger Roll... If only I can find a recipe that uses the excess 10 egg whites.... I'll definitely make it more often.

Lesson 4: The Art of Sponges (8 November 2008)

This lesson touched on a little bit of simple cake decoration. It is definitely not easy making pretty cakes... But the satisfaction is great.

Blackforest Cake... just like what you see in bakeries

In my opinion, the most difficult part of making a pretty blackforest cake is applying the whipped cream and decorating it with shaved chocolate. Of course, to have a delicious blackforest cake, appearance is not everything. The sponge cake should be baked to perfection, accompanied by the chocolate + whipped cream + dark cherry filling.

The Pandan Sponge Cake had an interesting checkered design when cut.

I didn't really like the Sweetcorn Fudge cake. But the Blackforest cake and Pandan Sponge Cake were delicious.

My attempt at making the Pandan sponge cake at home did not go smoothly. The pandan kaya was burnt while cooking over the fire. Being trained not to waste food in class, I continued making the cake with the remaining mixture. It turned out edible but too sweet.

Somehow.... Cakes baked in classes always taste better. I guess I will need more practise. Shall attend the Intermediate class for the Art & Science of Baking soon.... :)