Baking Product Analysis Post

   

While visiting both bakeries, “Pain d’Epices” and “Poseidon Bakery” I had the great experience to explore flavors I never tried before. While one bakery was from France, the other was from Greek. Although they sale similar products, their themes and flavors totally differ. The products differences could be told by eye sight. However, as an overall perspective, both of the bakeries, were great with their services and products. 

In Baking and Pastry Arts 1 we had the opportunity to make Onion Rolls and  Herbed French Bread for the dining room as well as for ourselves. With only 8 students in class we all hustled and stayed focused to get the job done. All the breads came out wonderful and on time to be served. Some of the trigger ingredients were: gluten, soy, eggs, onions, poppy seeds and Parmesan cheese. During the bread process we were also in charge of making 4 Vanilla Genoise’s which is also known as a sponge cake for our upcoming Final practical. If I were to own my own bakery I would definitely have these two breads there due to the fact that they would go good with a nice Italian dish. My favorite item made was the onion rolls because of my love for them. All in all, this production day went very smooth and I was proud of all the hard work that was put in and the products we made.


Student sifting dry ingredients (besides sugar) for the Vanilla Genoise


Herbed French Bread prepped for baking after being in the proof box.


Onion Rolls in the oven


ONION ROLLS


HERBED FRENCH BREAD

Baking and Pastry Week 10 / Danish Dough, Whole Wheat Boules, Assorted soft rolls- Club, Butterflake, and Cloverleaf

Today we had the pleasure of learning the steps of making danish dough using the modified straight dough. We also prepared an assortment of breads and rolls. We made Whole Wheat Boules, and Assorted soft rolls- Club, Butterflake, Cloverleaf. The class was also shown how to decorate a cake, which we had the opportunity to practice our decorating skill.

Students practicing their decorating skill

Professor Warner demonstrating the technique for making pastry dough.

The mixture of butter for the Danish dough

The whole wheat boule ready for the oven

Napoleon

The Napoleon is a pastry made of many layers of puff pastry with filling alternating the layers. It can be eaten as a dessert, or even as a decadent meal. As a French pastry it is called mille-feuille, and it is filled with whipped cream, and pastry cream. The topping may be simply powdered sugar, or a layer of fondant, often with strings of chocolate drawn into a chevron design. I had the pleasure of visiting two prominent bakeries to sample this amazing pastry. The bakeries I choose to sample these were at the Financier and Ferrara, both places were located in lower Manhattan. My first stop was at the Financier Café, located at 60 Stone Street, New York. When I first entered their store, I was immediately bombarded with the strong aroma of coffee which I love. I then noticed the lovely colors of the cakes and pastries in the showcase. I began my search for this Napoleon pastry, which I located quickly. I left Financier and headed to Ferrara Bakery and Café, located at 195 Grand Street, New York. When I got to the area of Ferrara, it wasn’t hard to locate. The place had a large lighted sign with their name in lights, reminded me of Broadway. As I entered, I noticed the place was much more crowded than Financier. Apparently, they are like a small restaurant combined with the bakery. The line to purchased baked good was very long, and they had more products in their showcase than financier. While on line waiting my turn, I noticed they had the Napoleon but in two sizes. A regular size and a half size of the regular ones. I purchased the regular size and two cannoli and left for home.

Napoleon Pastry

Napoleon

 

Financier

Financier Patisserie first opened in the lower Manhattan near the stock market neighborhood. Named after the French Financier cake that originally was created for Financiers since they were very simple and easy to eat. Some Financiers didn’t have time for lunch so this little cake was perfect to for them to enjoy during working hours since they didn’t have any filling or topping that would leave their hands messy and sticky. At Financier Patisserie these cakes are sold individually and wrapped in plastic bags. They taste like almonds and butter, not too sweet and medium moisture! Delicious! They only cost $1.85.

Mayson Kayser also sells Financiers but they have a muffin-like shape, they come in plain, pistachio, raspberry and cherry flavors. They are very sweet, the dough tastes like almond paste and they have a lot of moisture. They are good but I prefer the Financiers at Financier Patisserie. The cost at Kayser is $5.35 which is I think is a little too expensive. One aspect I liked from Kayser is that they have a cozy and beautiful interior and the service is always on point.

My baking experience was both great at Amy’s bread and also at Eataly FlatIron, however some characteristic was very different from the other . At Amys Bread the customer service was awesome but I did not like the appearance and display of the product but the product “The bronx was the product I purchased which I enjoyed very much it was tasteful and flavorable. At Eataly the customer service was great as they helped me with my preference of the bread but the product did not taste good , the topping threw off the flavor of the bread. The price were reasonable but at Eataly the price of the focaccia bread was cheaper, you pay for the quality of the product.

Baking Term Paper Post

This is a slice of opera cake from Balthazar Boulangerie.

This is a slice Mon Gateau Fine Bakery and Cafe.

The first bakery I decided to visit was Balthazar Boulangerie located at 80 Spring St, New York, NY 10012. The bakery had a very French style to it with multiple breads lining the walls on shelves and multiple pastries and cakes on display in glass cases. There were also baskets of baguettes as well as many pastry chefs working in plain sight of the customers. The second bakery I visited was the Mon Gateau Fine Bakery and Cafe located at 8101 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11209. The bakery in comparison to Balthazar, is a more modernized bakery with a section with glass cases lined with pastries and cakes which was followed by a section with a multitude of breads.

Croughnuts in a box

The Dominique Ansel Bakery located in Lower Manhattan has been making batches of this doughnut and croissant fusion filled with a filling of the week, this one in particular was salted caramel. All the works of a doughnut, but the flakiness, texture, and layers of a croissant filled in with a creamy salted caramel filling in between each layer and a nice amount of granulated salt. It was sweet, soft, and moist and all of this put in a box. The line to get a box of two croughnuts wraps around the corner of Spring street and Thompson street, people would line up an hour before opening to get their hands on a small box of croughnuts.

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Baking & Pastry I – week 6

Baguette-Making baguettes using the straight dough method

Piping cookies-Professor Warner showing us how to pipe cookies.

Creaming Method-Mixing dough using the creaming method

 

 

Chocolate tea butter cookies with sprinkles on them.

Knotted rolls-After baked!!!

This week we made cookies using the creaming method. We learn how to make different shapes by piping the cookies. some of the cookies we made were chocolate tea butter cookies, almond cookies & ginger snaps Also we learned how to make knotted rolls using the sponge dough method. The other to types of bread we made were french breads and baguettes.

The baguettes and french bread were delicious, crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. I would definitely serve these breads on my own bakery. Very simple to make using few ingredients, also the final product is of good quality.

My favorite was the french bread, it was very tasty! and I think very similar of what a french bread would taste in France.

Some of the trigger ingredients in the bread were eggs, milk powder, butter, shortening, gluten, sesame and poppy seeds.

Baking lab #5

Students using a scoop to evenly place cookie dough onto trays.

Students using a scoop to evenly place cookie dough onto trays.

Our finished cookies! We used the creaming method to make chocolate chip, peanut butter, and oatmeal cookies.

The finished product of our Portuguese sweet bread. Our bakers came in early to work on this bread so we could send it to the dining room.

Our finished pecan raisin bread, the other bread sent to the dining room that day.