baking that I have never thought about before. Because of this course, both my passion for
baking and knowledge of the subject have vastly increased. Likewise, my vocabulary regarding
the subject has also improved.
The first things that we did were pancakes and crepes. They both included a very simple
procedure, catering to the students who do not have much experience working in the kitchen
(including me.) Next, we did quick breads, which included biscuits, scones, and muffins. Each of
these recipes required a new technique called cutting, and this technique is used to mix in the
fats with the dry ingredients. We also used the biscuit method, which is adding the wet
ingredients to the dry, and the fats are liquids. Lastly, we used a method called creaming, which
is combining the butter or the fat with sugar before adding it to the rest of the ingredients.
Unfortunately, a large fraction of the class did not read the recipe well enough and did not follow
this step. Not creaming the butter and sugar together can lead to an undesirable result. On the
positive side, now we know that from now on, to cream, we need to add the sugar to the butter,
not the dry ingredients. Next, we made muffins from recipes of our choice. Here we used the
muffin method, which is sifting together the dry ingredients (including sugar), and mixing them
together with the wet ingredients. My group did a (sweet) peanut butter and jelly muffin with a
(savory) bacon cheese muffin. Both were delicious. I liked having the freedom to determine what
flavor we were making, and also the diversity of flavors throughout the class. Next, we made
bread, pretzels, and bagels, which all require a simple procedure. However, it is extremely
important that you let the dough rise 24 hours prior to baking it. This allows the yeast to rise,
therefore making the baked dough fluffier. Sift together the dry ingredients (including sugar).
One key thing that I have learned from this class that no matter what you do, wrong or right,
could affect the outcome of the recipe.
Maddie P