The busy season has past, and if I see another sugar cookie, nut horn, or candy cane cookie. Don’t get me wrong, normally I love this season, and all the baking. I normally thrive. People say I bounce during this season. Work the regular job and bake in the evenings. Twenty different types of cookies, no problem, ten dozen of each one, no sweat, chocolate covered cherries too? Just Bring it on…..well that is how I normally am. Mind you, I said normally.
I was all hyped up this year; I had a great idea, fill those Maxwell House containers they have been saving for me at work full of cookies, and bring them back to all the guys. Recycling at its finest. (BTW, those containers work great to store sugar, cookie crumbs, flour, nuts, you name it. Just make sure you clean them out really well and get rid of the coffee smell, love baking soda)
Made it to the restaurant supply house, got everything I needed, the guy I buy eggs from brought me ten dozen (free range, and all natural), Had my list of recipes, and my schedule. I was going to amaze everyone. Even took on a birthday cake for one of the Marine’s daughter. Beauty and the Beast.
I planned to work four hour days (I start at six AM, so I would finish by ten AM, yeah right), and this whole bakeathon was starting on a four day weekend for me.
Ok, I get home on day one at noon. A bit later than I intended, but you gotta do what you gotta do for your jobby job. Made up the dough for the nut horns, Made up the frosting for the FBCT, and it fought me. Just did not want to flow right. Finally got it done and I felt exhausted.
So I decided to take a nap. A fifteen-hour nap. Got up feeling exhausted and feeling like I was freezing. Got the cake baked frosted, and downed a few cups of coffee, got the cake delivered. I was not happy with it, but the Sgt. was thrilled, so was his daughter.
Back to the nut horns, and a brilliant idea. Use the pasta machine to roll out the dough into strips and just cut my little triangles to fill and roll. Worked like a charm and got three hundred plus of the little nut horns done, and bagged.
It is seven PM and I am tired, I need a nap. It lasted until 7 AM. My son needed some goodies for his Christmas party at his house. Ok, he asked for Red Velvet cake, but was complaining about how cakes were too big and to cut a small taste you end up with a messed up slice. So another brilliant idea, Red Velvet Pound Cake Petit fours, and since I had to make up a pound cake for a guy at work (he gave me his Mom’s recipe) I would do some regular pound cake too.
Never in my life have I ever had anything FIGHT me so bad. The regular pound cake was way too sweet, (did you know that in Northern Va, which is considered the south, sweet pound cake is considered normal?) So I had to find something to combat the over sweet pound cake, dark chocolate ganache, and something to enhance the Red Velvet Pound cake, white chocolate ganache. Cut the shapes with cookie cutters, poured and slapped some icing on them to make them “Christmassy.” Got them done, I was ready to throw them down the garbage disposal. Nevertheless, they were a hit, so I am glad I didn’t.
I was exhausted, and needed a nap; yes, you guessed it, 12 hours later. I still felt like I was freezing, when I realized that I had not taken my Synthroid (thyroid doesn’t work) and not been drinking the water like I normally do. Started drinking the water and taking the synthroid. Within 24 hours started feeling better, not 100%, but better. Oh yeah, the four hour days, didn’t work out as planned either.
Trimmed the different kinds of cookies down to eight, and started. Got all the cookies done, decorated, bagged, and put into the coffee containers.
Oh yeah, and during all this, this area got its worst snow in ages. Got the containers to work and set up, and all I could think of was, thank GOD I’m done. NO MORE BAKING for a bit.
Then it hit me, I have to make biscotti and ship it. A raffle prize I donated to the Support Our Shelters group. Sigh.
Everything, I mean everything fought me. I followed recipes to the letter, weighing out the ingredients, checking the ratios; I never worked so hard to get stuff to turn out.
Oh, and on Christmas my son made dinner, so I made Herb rolls, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. Guess what? I screwed up the pumpkin pie. The crust was great. Vodka is the secret for a great crust. I the guts were, off. Not enough sugar, not enough nutmeg? Can’t put my finger on it.
Oh and my commercial Kitchen Aid, a few months old, decided to stop dead while I was making the mashed potatoes. Apparently, it didn’t like the steam from the potatoes.
Like I said, I have never been so happy that I have a few days of no baking. Never, and I do mean NEVER have I ever had anything I bake fight me like all this did.
Tomorrow is the owner of the company I work for birthday. I was going to make him a cake, but the biscotti fought me today, so I am stopping while I am still semi sane. Loves of biscotti were hitting the garbage disposal.
Next week is a new challenge, and I’ll be trying to find the perfect pound cake recipe. One that isn’t too sweet, fine texture, moist, and a bit of buttery flavor.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
The Beginings
Well, I decided that I was going to try to journal or blog about the adventures of trying to start a bakery.
No not one of those commercial places, but an old fashion one, like when I was a kid, full of pastries, breads, cookies, all made right there in the little bakery. A place that is welcoming, and warm, full of goodies.
Now at this point in my life it is a bit late to be thinking of a career change, but to be honest, all my life I have baked, got a knack for it I suppose. I am happiest when I am creating in the kitchen. (Yes I love to cook too).
But baking, well there is just something special to that. It gives you a warm fuzzy feeling when you think of your favorite homemade chocolate chip cookie, or the memories that pop into your head when you smell the scents of vanilla and cinnamon, with nutmeg in the air.
This all started because I did a birthday cake for my son and his friend. They had an "80's" theme roller skating party, and he asked if I'd make him a Transformer Cake. So I did. Old school Optimus Prime, and for his friend I did Rainbow Bright, both icons of the 80's, and both favorite characters. Then there was the cake for the Gunny Sgt. at work that was being transferred to another unit, a sheet cake with his rank insignia on it. Then it carried on to all the birthdays in the area where I work.
So now I am trying to perfect specific things, tweak them so when you eat a slice of Dobos Torte, or my White Chocolate Cheesecake, your eyes close so you can enjoy the experience of the flavors and textures to the maximum.
One of the problems I have found is that many people devour what I make, ok you are saying that isn't a problem at all. But it really is. I want to know how is the texture, the flavor, is it tender enough, moist. I want feed back and comments, the good, the bad and the ugly.
I mean, when you bring in a 12" round and it is cut up and gone in 30 minutes, you assume one of two things, 1) it was really good or (2) they were starving and it was something to put into the empty, growling pit of a stomach to stop the hunger pains.
OK, so this is just a brief hello, and right now I have to go make biscotti, but I promise I'll be back and tell you about my adventure in pursuit of the perfect pound cake, the perfect red velvet, and more. Yes, there are tons of recipes out there on the net and in cookbooks, but trust me, just because it is on the net or in a cookbook doesn't mean it is all that good. Or even palatable. Ir I found a recipe for a pound cake, read it, sounded OK, followed the instructions to the letter, smelled heavenly baking, looked fantastic, perfect coloring, once it was cooled and sliced, the interior looked moist, tender, then the taste. OMG, it tasted like flour paste with sugar IT WAS AWFUL!!!
Cooking is a creative art, you can add a touch of this and a bit of that, and turn out mouth watering dishes.
Baking, sigh, baking, however is a science, one full of chemistry, ratios, and balances.
So can someone please explain to me how someone who hated calculus, trigonometry, algebra, and chemistry (and I do mean HATE) ends up loving doing something that is intricately tied in with ratios?
I just had another idea, I know that there are lots of us out there that have tried recipes that suck, maybe I should start a blog featuring a recipe that sucked and why I thought it sucked, and I can even include recipes people send it, make them list why I think it sucked and why they thought it sucked. Hmmm, that would be good for a few laughs.
No not one of those commercial places, but an old fashion one, like when I was a kid, full of pastries, breads, cookies, all made right there in the little bakery. A place that is welcoming, and warm, full of goodies.
Now at this point in my life it is a bit late to be thinking of a career change, but to be honest, all my life I have baked, got a knack for it I suppose. I am happiest when I am creating in the kitchen. (Yes I love to cook too).
But baking, well there is just something special to that. It gives you a warm fuzzy feeling when you think of your favorite homemade chocolate chip cookie, or the memories that pop into your head when you smell the scents of vanilla and cinnamon, with nutmeg in the air.
This all started because I did a birthday cake for my son and his friend. They had an "80's" theme roller skating party, and he asked if I'd make him a Transformer Cake. So I did. Old school Optimus Prime, and for his friend I did Rainbow Bright, both icons of the 80's, and both favorite characters. Then there was the cake for the Gunny Sgt. at work that was being transferred to another unit, a sheet cake with his rank insignia on it. Then it carried on to all the birthdays in the area where I work.
So now I am trying to perfect specific things, tweak them so when you eat a slice of Dobos Torte, or my White Chocolate Cheesecake, your eyes close so you can enjoy the experience of the flavors and textures to the maximum.
One of the problems I have found is that many people devour what I make, ok you are saying that isn't a problem at all. But it really is. I want to know how is the texture, the flavor, is it tender enough, moist. I want feed back and comments, the good, the bad and the ugly.
I mean, when you bring in a 12" round and it is cut up and gone in 30 minutes, you assume one of two things, 1) it was really good or (2) they were starving and it was something to put into the empty, growling pit of a stomach to stop the hunger pains.
OK, so this is just a brief hello, and right now I have to go make biscotti, but I promise I'll be back and tell you about my adventure in pursuit of the perfect pound cake, the perfect red velvet, and more. Yes, there are tons of recipes out there on the net and in cookbooks, but trust me, just because it is on the net or in a cookbook doesn't mean it is all that good. Or even palatable. Ir I found a recipe for a pound cake, read it, sounded OK, followed the instructions to the letter, smelled heavenly baking, looked fantastic, perfect coloring, once it was cooled and sliced, the interior looked moist, tender, then the taste. OMG, it tasted like flour paste with sugar IT WAS AWFUL!!!
Cooking is a creative art, you can add a touch of this and a bit of that, and turn out mouth watering dishes.
Baking, sigh, baking, however is a science, one full of chemistry, ratios, and balances.
So can someone please explain to me how someone who hated calculus, trigonometry, algebra, and chemistry (and I do mean HATE) ends up loving doing something that is intricately tied in with ratios?
I just had another idea, I know that there are lots of us out there that have tried recipes that suck, maybe I should start a blog featuring a recipe that sucked and why I thought it sucked, and I can even include recipes people send it, make them list why I think it sucked and why they thought it sucked. Hmmm, that would be good for a few laughs.
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