So far, throughout the baking and pastry course, I have gained a lot of knowledge about

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

                                                                                                                                    March 5, 2014

So far we’ve made pancakes, crepes, muffins, and an assortment of quick breads. Through the process so far, I have learned that it is very important to always read the directions all the way through before beginning to bake. Also, you have to gather your ingredients in the proper order and have that at hand for best results. Knowing which cooking instruments will be necessary in the process is also crucial.

I’ve really enjoyed what we have done so far and cannot wait for what is to come. I will continue to learn and use the lessons I have already learned to make the best baked goods that I can! And always remember… Become the whisk!        -Cassie E.

 

In this unit we learned how to make non-knead or yeast required breads. Instead of using yeast and letting the dough rise for a good day or so the substitute ingredient was baking soda and/or powder. Mostly the breads that were made were crepes or pancakes. It was all very quick and simple. We also made buttermilk biscuits for the unit that came out nice and fluffy and no-knead bread which was very simple and quick to put together. It was fun, quick, and simple to put together. -Mary Kate H.

I enjoyed the quick bread unit. We started off with a simple pancake recipe, which went fairly well for our group. We whisked all the ingredients together and started to cook the batter on a pan. The finished product came out a little raw in the middle but we all learned from that mistake. We also made crepes, where my group and I learned how to use both a hot plate and a pan to cook them. The scones were one of my favorite quick breads we made. I learned how to cut the butter into the rest of the mix. My group worked well together to finish the task and create a good end product. I also enjoyed the Grandma’s muffins. We had to cream the butter and sugar together and then add the rest of the ingredients to form a perfect batter. Although we were faced with a few minor faults and problems, overall I thought the quick bread unit was enjoyable, and a good learning experience. -Ali M.

Over the course of this unit we learned about different Quick Breads and how to make them. A Quick Bread is made from a dough that does not have the living organism of yeast. During this unit we worked on: pancakes, biscuits, crepes, scones and muffins. Each class we either came in with a recipe for our group, or were assigned a recipe to make for that particular period. At the start we made basic recipes, such as pancakes, but as our knowledge and skill improved we made more complex recipes. The most challenging part of the class was being able to procure a finished product by the end of the period. Another challenge was communicating clearly with all the other members in my group. We had to do our part but when there was some miscommunication it slowed us down, making it harder to finish in time. During this Quick Breads unit we also learned different techniques, some of which included: beat, knead, whisk, fold and cut in. In each recipe we used at least one of these techniques. The techniques that we used most were: whisk, and cut in. These techniques are used in many recipes that involve dough. To whisk is to simply stir the mixture until it is combined to a certain point. Cutting in is when you cut the butter into the dry mixture without totally combining them. Overall, this unit taught us that many doughs do not require yeast, and it also gave us a good basic understanding of tools and techniques used in baking. Elliott B.

Caroline L.

I enjoyed the pie unit, however I am not a big fan of pies so I gave my pies to my friends.  Most of my pies came out very well.  My favorite was the pumpkin pie.  The filling was very creamy and the crust was crispy and flaky.  Another girl in my group her pumpkin pie, the crust around the edge fell off.  My group works very well together.  We have great mise en place and we are always  the first group finished.  Our pinwheels were not finished int time so I never got to taste them but I'm sure they were great too.  Rolling out the dough into circles was the hardest part because it was sticky and didn't easily form into a circle.  We even were asked to roll out dough for the Veteran's Day breakfast.  Sauteing the apples was my favorite part because the cinnamon, apples, and butter smelled very good and it was a new thing we hadn't done before.
 

In the pie unit my table made apple pie, pumpkin pie, and other crusts. Overall, I think everything turned out great and our table made little to no mistakes in the process. My least favorite was the pumpkin pie, because I am not a fan of pumpkin and we didn't let the pie sit for long enough, so it was a liquid. My favorite was the apple pie because I loved the apples and it was very sweet. conrad morris /Users/conrad/Downloads/photo-3.JPG

Working at a girls field hockey game is totally different to a football game. However, it was something I liked and enjoyed just as much if not, I like it even more. I think that at a football game there is no time to enjoy the people that come or the people that are working. At a field hockey game however, you get time to take in everything around you, the teachers, the other workers, and the people who are buying. Furthermore, doing the field hockey game on a special night gave it a little more emotion because it was breast cancer awareness game so there were a lot of people there in pink, raising money for a really good cause. The field hockey games are something that I will certainly be up for in the upcoming future of the Snack Shack. – Gent

Working a Friday night football game at Newtown High School’s snack shack is really unique. I think that it’s really unique because you’re making food for hundreds and hundreds of people who are there to enjoy their Friday night. In the beginning I was just hoping that the time would fly by, and I could go home and get ready to go out with my friends which was in the back of my head the whole time but I learned something really important that night. I learned that, being part of the snack shack is like a working family because after 10 minutes I just know where everybody is and I yell in the direction of that person and continue my job. I didn’t actually realize that things can be done so easily when you have chemistry like that with other kids in a classroom. In fact, I don’t think you can do anything like this in any other class in the school. It makes me feel like I am on a soccer team, everybody is just working together and nothing works if one person isn’t doing their job. It was truly an experience that I’ll never forget, I don’t know if being a part of the snack shack on football games is my thing but I will definitely give it another try and I won’t forget it as long as I live. –Gent

In the yeast bread unit, the class made four different types of bread. The first was a no knead dough, next we made pizza, pretzels, and cinnamon rolls. The no knead dough was very good and very simple, however it was much better on the third day, after it was given time to rise. The pizza was fantastic; I personally loved the grilled taste. The cinnamon rolls were good, but I do not like nutmeg and this flavor was a little too overwhelming in the dough. Lastly, were the pretzels. This is where our group had a little difficulty. When we began the process of making our dough for the pretzels we overheated the milk and water mixture and killed our yeast. Because of this we were given the opportunity to quickly fix our mistake. I was happy about this because pretzels would taste pretty bad if the dough didn’t rise. On our second try we had better luck, and we learned a few things from this. When we killed our yeast, we learned that we were measuring the temperature wrong such that we needed to fully submerge a tiny dot on the thermometer in order for it to read the temperature of the liquid, which we did not do, and that the thermometer itself was broken. We knew this because it measured the air temperature at 60 degrees, so by the time our milk mixture got up to the required temperature, it would have been at least 15 degrees off. I am glad I learned this, because next time I make yeast dough I will keep in mind that yeast is a living organism and needs to be treated with care. -Meg M

Yeast Bread Unit Our group did a great job this unit. We only had problems when making the pretzels, because the yeast died and we didn't know why. Eventually, we found out the thermometers were not accurate because they didn't read the correct room temperature and we didn't fully submerge the thermometer in the milk/water. We learned from the mistake and never killed the yeast again. This unit we made pretzels, bread, pizza, and cinnamon rolls. In my opinion the cinnamon rolls tasted the best and I also got to eat a large quantity because a group member was missing and we made a lot. The last thing I learned this unit is that, not all group members will always make it to class and when this happens you have to work harder to make a good bread.

Conrad M.

We started the unit out making rolls of bread. I knew working with yeast could be challenging however our table, 22, didn't encounter any problems in keeping the yeast alive. Our rolls came out perfectly golden and shaped nicely. We also made grilled pizza witch turned out delicious. Even though we kneaded the dough well enough, I realized I should have rolled it a little thinner because it turned out thick. The only issue we had this unit was when we boiled our perfectly shaped pretzels in the water and baking soda, we had trouble scooping them out with.the skimmer and most of them lost their shape. However, our group definitely improved in efficiency allowing our baking to come out almost perfect this time. Alexanna J

For the quick bread unit, we first learned the creaming method, witch is mixing together sugar and butter until smooth and creamy, and than began with buttermilk pancakes that came out golden and fluffy. We all took turns to pour in out batter and flip them. I attempted flipping it without a spatula and just in the pan and it worked well. We than made crapes with melted chocolate inside and powdered sugar on top. They were delicious. Than we made chocolate chip muffins using the creaming method as well. Using the biscuit method, we made chocolate chip scones by plopping the dough in medium sized drops on the pan. Those were definitely my favorite. Alexanna J.

The quick breads unit was a fun learning experiance. During this unit I learned that mistakes are going to happen even if the recipe is followed correctly. Everybodies batter is different and some more dry or wet than others. For example, our group table 31 needed more flour(4 cups) than what the recipe had called for when making the bread. Also when making the scones the mixture was a little dry, so adding a little more buttermilk was necessary. Personally, I would consider my self a beginner in the kitchen, but some of the members in my group are very experianced and I have learned a lot from them. I realize that other groups make mistakes too and I try to pay attention, so our table does not make the same mistake. My favorite day was when our table made chocolate chip pumpkin muffins because I feel we worked fast and efficiently with our creative recipe. The result of good team work and little mistakes was a delicious product. Conrad M. /Users/conrad/Downloads/photo-1.JPG

For the quickbread unit, Table 21 baked cinnamon muffins, banana chocolate chip muffins, buttermilk biscuits, and chocolate chip scones. Each dish had varying successes. Both muffin recipes were made with a mixture of flower, sugar, butter, buttermilk, and a combination of baking soda and baking powder. Extra ingredients such as vanilla, cinnamon sugar, chocolate, and bananas were added for flavor and were not needed for the baking process. The cinnamon muffins came out well with a crispy golden brown outside and warm, fluffy inside. The use of spring-loaded scoops to portion the batter and fill both the middle and top of the muffins with cinnamon sugar added to the flavor. The banana chocolate chip muffins were also evenly portioned with the help of scoops, but they lacked the golden brown color of the cinnamon muffins. While cooked all the way through, only a few of the muffins managed to acquire the desired color for presentation. The chocolate chips and bananas were balanced well, but the bananas were too green and made the muffins almost taste sour. The buttermilk biscuits were the least successful dish made. Using the biscuit method, butter is supposed to be cut into the flower of the biscuit dough until there are split pea sized pieces of butter. When making the muffins, the butter was only as small as 1/4 size pieces because we did not split it further before using the Kitchenaid Mixer. The biscuits were a bit dense and lacked truly flaky layers because the small pieces of butter were not present to melt. The chocolate chip scones allowed a second chance using the biscuit method. Using both butter knives and a pastry cutter, we were able to cut the butter into the appropriate sized pieces, and the scones came out fluffy and golden brown.

Lilly F.

Baking and Pastry One: Quick Breads I enjoyed the quick breads unit. I was already sort of skilled in the area since I have previous knowledge on scones, biscuits, pancakes and muffins. I already knew how to cream butter and sugar. My group also tinkered with a recipe, we took out the nutmeg and added vanilla and chocolate chips. Everything looked as good as it tasted. On our first day in the kitchen, it was a bit hectic because we had never cooked in there. Cooking in the culinary kitchen was a whole new experience. I had never worked in an industrial kitchen before, I also wasn't too familiar with where everything was. We learned skills that would carry into the other classes, for example, to clean as you go. Cleaning as we went, helped us not to rush at the end of the period. Recently, from baking scones and muffins, we learned we need to work quicker and more efficiently in order to get our pastries out of the oven. I also learned to be patient when turning on the gas stove, I nearly singed my eyebrows off trying to turn on the stove top. I look forward to what our next unit will bring. Erin H.

The last Cake

Since my mom’s birthday and a lot of other people I know birthday are coming up. I’ve to use the brownie recipe I got from baking and pastry. When my table and I made those delicious brownies, I was thinking when I should make them again. Now, I’ve found the perfect time to use this recipe. But, I’m kind of sad I think this will be my last blog post since it’s may and almost time for finals.

   I have to say a few things, when I first got to Baking and Pastry I didn’t know how to make a pie let alone a simple brownie. But through one semester and a lot of fun classes, good partners and helpful teachers, I can now melt chocolate, and fill cupcakes. What I mean to say is, Baking and Pastry has really taught me a lot. On Friday before my aunt comes to celebrate her 50^th birthday, I’m going to make a cake from scratch. But the one thing I have to say was the best thing to make in Baking and Pastry were the pretzels.

    They were amazing, tasted delicious and were so much fun to make, the doughnuts. They were fun too but there were a lot more to make. But making them, using the kitchen and enjoying time with my partners. They came out, amazing and we’re fun making them too.

   Now, one semester won’t make me a master at the art of Pastry making, but I’ve learned a lot. Even though I tend to add too much lemon zest in the lemon square, or sometimes I need a second opinion, but this class was amazing.

     I have to admit, I have to say this year has been great, even my phone thinks this class is great. I texted my friend saying I was in Baking and Pastry but, it turned into “Baking and Mastery”. So, even though I have about two weeks for this class, I intend to make them the best days, because now I can do so much more than before. Thanks Mrs. Hoagland, you’ve made this semester great! Now, to go bake a cake for my aunt using the skills from this class! Rory .S ~

Connor LeMay Today my group made macaroons and even though we didn’t get to bake them they were really good. To make them we had to whip egg whites into a meringue. A meringue is when egg whites are whipped with sugar until they stiffen and make almost like a frosting. I was really excited to make this because I tried once before to make meringue but I didn’t know what to do with it. I made a meringue then and added clove, cinnamon and nutmeg then put it in the oven to toast. If you do this they taste like marshmallows and it’s really good. This weekend I think that I’m going to try and recreate the macaroons and this time I’ll be able to taste them cooked not raw like in class. After class, I looked up more recipes that involve meringue and one that I really wanted to try is Baked Alaska. It’s an old dessert that was really expensive but it stopped being popular because everyone did it. Baked Alaska is cake with a scope of ice cream on it then meringue piped over the whole thing. To finish you take a torch and toast the whole thing, the tricky part is that if you don’t cover the whole thing then the ice cream melts and it is supposed to stay cold. This is a recipe I really want to make but I don’t think that my family would enjoy it and thatll be a lot of work.

Oh pizza how everybody loves pizza. Its just so magical and it can be eaten at any time f the day and a lot of foods can not say that. You can have it in the morning after a rough night, in the afternoon for lunch, or even for dinner. You can have it any where or anytime and nobody is going to judge you. But how good is it? That’s the question that seperates the good joints from the bad pizza joints. At Three Brothers in New Jersey, is possibly the best pizza you will ever have. One slice will fill you up and leave you with the feeling, “Am I in Heavn?” well that’s what I thought when I first tasted it. I have a house down there on the shore and I probably go to this pizza place for every single one of my meals when I’m down there. They have plain cheese, pepperoni, buffalo chicken, white, Hawaiian, etc…every kind of pizza you can think of is there and there is no doubt in my mind that it’s the best in the world. The way the crust is made, how think and crunchy but soft it is… and the cheese, don’t even get me started on the cheese, just smelling it makes your mouth water, you can be blind and still have your mouth water. And just the looks of this beauty we call a pizza is just such a sight it should be in a museum. I’m sorry but you haven’t lived until you have been to Three Brothers in New Jersey. Its just one more thing to add to your bucket list and I can cross it off my bucket list at least 500 times. It is that good! Tim K.

The other week my friend Lauren and I made cinnamon rolls and it was the best thing i have ever baked. We bought crescent rolls and mixed cinnamon, sugar, vanilla, brown sugar, butter, and a little bit of salt which we spread over the rolls. We rolled them up and put them into the oven at 400 degrees F for 15 min and then mixed confectioners' sugar and milk and put that into a plastic bag. We cut the tip of the bag and after the rolls cooled we drizzled the glaze over it. It was so sweet and a great treat to make!