Jack Burke

Results

This past week’s lab was really informative into the insights of different enriched yeast breads. I particularly enjoyed getting to hear Chef Michael’s insights into laminated doughs, especially his scrap hack and how he incorporates scraps into his folds. Working in a bakery the past two years making these types of breads and pastries, it was really interesting to make them in this class setting and to experiment with different doughs. I enjoyed each of the soft textures of each product, and the flavors were all so rich and buttery.

Evaluation of Results

Something that did not work in our favor last week was our store-bought danish dough. The dough seemingly got too hot and when baked, resulted in a dense, less-flakey pastry. If there is one thing I know about making pastries like danishes with puff pastry, it’s that it is important that the butter is ice-cold before going into the oven.

What did work in our favor was the flaky, soft interior of the brioche. I believe that this came down to our mixing process, which was slow and steady to incorporate the ingredients, especially the butter, evenly and completely. According to Rossi Anastopoulo at King Arthur Baking, “What makes brioche so great — its high percentage of butter — is also the thing that can make it difficult to master,” (Anastopoulo 2022).

Conclusion

I very much enjoyed this lab, but I am so excited to move into other pastries and cakes. There is so much more that I could learn about bread and its many processes, but I believe that cakes and cookies are also just as important for those wanting to be successful in our field.

Works Cited

Anastopoulo, R. (2022, September 1). How to master brioche and unlock a whole world of baking. King Arthur Baking Company. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2022/09/01/how-to-make-brioche-maritozzi