Puff Pastry: The Anytime Suitable Delight #PastryRecipesWorldwide

Puff Pastry: The Anytime Suitable Delight #PastryRecipesWorldwide

Puff pastry is a light and flaky baked product. In its unbaked form, it contains many layers of dough, which are repeatedly rolled over and folded to prepare these pastries. It is best that you do not mash the dough, as it could spoil the pastries.

These pastries are often also called water dough. Gaps are formed in-between the layers when the pastry is baked in the oven. Piercing is done to reduce excessive rising of the pastry, while the pastries are being baked.

Puff pastries are commercially sold in many grocery stores. The most common types of fats used are vegetable oils, butter and lard. Butter is most widely used, as it provides much superior taste. Other types of fats give it a very waxy feel and the flavour is often bland too. The butter layer is what causes the rise in the pastry.

Preparing this pastry can be quite time-consuming and laborious.

Hence, many recipes that can be prepared faster like rough puff, blitz and flaky pastry are very common. Instead of folding butter in layers, it is combined into the detrempe in these recipes. Hence, they taste like folded short crust.

Puff pastry also has many variants. It can be leavened with baker's yeast to make delicious croissants. Many other forms like Danish pastries are also possible. Puff pastries are generally very famous in French cuisines.

A typical puff pastry is about 6 to 8 times its pre-baking height. For household manufacturing, defrosting of the pastry dough for a few hours before production is a very good idea, as these pastries demand cooler temperature for production. The final pastries can be of a variety of shapes.

The Production

The production can often be very time consuming, as the dough has to be necessarily kept at a temperature of 16 °C. It also should rest in between the folds to prevent the strands of gluten (a kind of protein found in breads) to join and retain layering. The number of layers in a puff pastry can be calculated with the formula: l = (f + 1)n where l is the number of finished layers, f is the number of folds and n refers to the number of times there have been folds given to the dough.

Generally, the ingredients used in the production of puff pastries are flour, salt, cold water, fat content like butter, eggs for glazing (or any other glazing material). The main rule of production is to create many layers of ingredients like butter and dough by turning and folding the two together. The butter should not melt while the pastry is being made. Therefore, it is very important that the baker works very quickly, more so if the kitchen is hot.

Professional chefs, who make pastries often use a refrigerated (or cooled by other means) marble. A pastry that is evenly layered requires that the thickness of the entire pastry should be same and edges should be straight. There can be a variety of flavours of puff pastry like pear, strawberries and vegetable pastries.

Source: Mr. Pratap Shanbhag

Qualities and Education of Pastry Chefs and Bakers #PastryRecipesWorldwide

Qualities and Education of Pastry Chefs and Bakers #PastryRecipesWorldwide

Almost everyone loves eating desserts. For those of you that enjoy making them, you should definitely consider becoming a baker and/or pastry chef. In this line of work, you will be creating and making your very own desserts. From candies to cookies, muffins and cakes, there are an endless amount of food items that can be considered pastries. Another great reason to enter this profession, other than the fact that you will be doing something you love, is because you can make good money.

There are many things that you will have to learn to become a successful baker or pastry chef. You will need to join culinary programs. Such programs are large in number. When it comes to locating baking and pastry schools in US, you can rest assured that you will find one that accommodates your wants and needs. From weekend courses to nighttime classes, you can earn your culinary degree at your own pace.

Qualities of Successful Bakers and Pastry Chefs

It is important that you understand that there are several skills you will need to master as you earn a degree specialization in baking and pastry arts. Such skills include the following:

Attention to detail: A small change made to a recipe can result in a very favorable dish. On the other hand, the wrong change can result in a recipe becoming completely inedible. As a pastry chef or baker, you must be strongly attentive to detail, always paying attention to what you are doing even while multitasking.

Stamina: You will likely spend much of your time as a baker or pastry chef on your feet. In fact, in this line of work, it is not uncommon for culinary professionals to be on their feet more than 10 hours a day. To make sure you excel, you will need to be in good physical shape. You must also be willing to get up early in the morning because many pastry and bakery shops start cooking their goodies earlier than 3 a.m. every morning.

Customer relations: Bakers and pastry chefs who own their own shops will need to have top-notch customer relations skills. From being interpersonal to dealing effectively with customer complaints, a thriving business will only be obtainable if you have people skills.

Creativity: To be a good baker or pastry chef, you need to be creative with the goodies that you make. From new icing flavors to oddly shaped cookies, being creative will help ensure your success in the culinary industry.

Becoming a Baker or Pastry Chef

There are a couple of paths you can take to obtain a specialization in baking and pastry arts. The first path involves going to baking and pastry schools in US. In doing this, you will join culinary programs, leading to the earning of a culinary arts degree. The second path involves obtaining many years of experience working in the baking and pastry industry. No matter what route you take, there is no undervaluing the advantages you will gain with a culinary degree. Even if you have 20 years of experience as a baker or pastry chef, there are some employers that will not mandate you without a culinary degree.

The culinary programs that you can take part in will vary in length and coursework. Some last for 12 months while others take up to four years to graduate. If you are looking for a quick way to enter into a pastry chef or baker position, you will want to take part in a certification program. For a job position that is accompanied by a higher paying salary, you will want to obtain an actual degree.

Source: Zac Parker

The Sweet Taste of Desserts and the Way It Can Open Your Horizons #PastryRecipesWorldwide

The Sweet Taste of Desserts and the Way It Can Open Your Horizons

Some things will never change, no matter how much we grow and look at the world surrounding us in a sarcastic point of view. Just open your eyes and you will find the things that takes you back to the innocent days of your childhood. The scent of fresh fruits, the taste of the air after a stormy weather, the feel of your skin after a warm wind catches your breath, the sound of a newly sprouting flower. These are just a few of the sensual feelings that draws you back in time to wake you from the unexciting times, when every new sensation was new, sharp as a knife.

During the long years of our growing stages, we tend to lose the ability to enjoy our senses the way we did as children. This is the cause of way we are socialized and educated into the full grown, productive members of the society, leaving them emotionally maimed, like trained dogs who lost their ability to express their feelings with a simple bark.

The only sense that in some way keeps its connection to our emotional state of mind is the taste sense. But even this is not quite correct. The one taste that really connect us to the childhood is the sweet liberating taste of a high quality dessert. Not every sweet candy could do the trick. If you really want to kick start your senses you would have to choose something more than just the plain lollypop. This is due to the extant use of artificial sweeteners in the commercial candies. In homemade desserts and in the ones served in fine restaurants, in the other hand, you would see more and more use in the good old fashioned sugar, which gives your taste bulbs the exact push it needs to boost you up to high levels of ecstatic consciousness.

This is one of reasons we see in the past few years what you can call "the revival of home cooking". More and more people start to realize that in the past decades they have lost the control of what they enter their bodies, and that there are consequences. The internet helped a lot in this new trend of home cooking. Today, more than ever, it is easy to find any recipe you like in a matter of seconds, and thus opening the world of cooking to ones who had never practiced such an exciting experience.

All you have to do is just look for the dessert you would like to try, and you could make it in no time. Craving for a sweet old fashioned black forest cake? Got an itch for a Spanish Churros recipe? Woke up with an urge for a strawberry creme brulee? All you have to do is look it up, get the right ingredients and surprise yourself while finding out how easy it is to make your own desserts. You would be surprised even more when you first taste your own making and rediscover the enjoyable senses long lost.

Source: Yoav Shai @GoArticles

Fruit-Flavored Croissant Bread Pudding #PastryRecipesWorldwide

Ingredients:

Bread Pudding
4 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 tablespoon vanilla
7 large (5 1/2x4 1/2 inches) croissants, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces (10 cups)
1 cup dark chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup dried cherries

Cherry Sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1 bag (10 oz) frozen dark sweet cherries
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Procedures:

1. Heat oven to 325°F. Grease bottom and sides of 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with shortening or cooking spray. In large bowl, beat 4 whole eggs, 1 egg yolk and 3/4 cup sugar with wire whisk until well blended. Beat in milk, whipping cream and vanilla until well blended. Stir in 7 cups of the croissants pieces. Let stand 20 minutes. Pour into baking dish. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Lightly press remaining 3 cups croissant pieces on top of mixture. Brush top of croissant pieces with butter; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Sprinkle with dried cherries.

2. Bake uncovered 55 to 65 minutes or until top is light golden brown (center will jiggle slightly). Cool 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, mix 1/4 cup sugar, the cornstarch and water until blended. Stir in frozen cherries. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

4. Serve sauce over warm bread pudding. Store bread pudding and sauce covered in refrigerator.

5. Serves 12

Essential Pastry Tools and Baking Tools for Making Puff Pastry at Home #PastryRecipesWorldwide

James Lyndona is a certified interior designer and runs his own interior decoration consultancy. James especially loves decorating a home in wooden furniture and believes that nothing gives a home as warm and cozy a touch as all-wood furniture and decor. James loves reading up on new design ideas, and has a special interest in space saving techniques.




Essential Pastry Tools and Baking Tools for Making Puff Pastry at Home

Whether you wish to make puff pastry for desserts or savory dishes, it's easy to make at home with the right pastry tools and baking tools. Here's a list of essential tools for pastry and tips to choose them.

Pastry Blender or Cutter

These pastry tools are also called pastry knives and they are essential for "cutting" or combining butter or shortening into pastry flour. The cold butter pieces have to be distributed evenly through the flour before kneading the pastry dough. After mixing, kneading and rolling, the butter creates pockets of fat in the dough. While baking, the butter melts and releases steam which makes the pastry flaky and delicate.

These baking tools have a series of curved blades which are attached to the handle. These blades are pushed through butter and flour to combine them so choose pastry cutters that are sturdy and well-constructed. For better handling and control while blending butter, pastry blenders with easy-grip handles are a good choice.

Pastry Board

Puff pastry needs a lot of folding over to create the flaky layers and pastry boards are helpful pastry tools for this activity. Choose boards made from wood as they are easy to handle and store than marble boards. Wooden pastry boards that come with marked measurements such as circles for making pie crusts and a ruler are an excellent choice. Opt for a board with a non-slip mat to keep it stable while working.

Rolling Pins and Brushes

Rolling pins and brushes are essential baking tools for making puff pastry. Rolling pins come in all shapes and sizes and in different materials. Wooden ones are the best choice as they are lightweight and easy to handle. Longer pins are ideal as they are useful for rolling puff party and pie crusts. Pastry brushes are essential for applying an egg wash or a butter wash while baking puff pastry.

These pastry tools are versatile. Rolling pins can be used to crumble crackers for crust while pastry brushes can be used for basting and glazing meats. Choose baking tools that are dishwasher-safe to save time and effort while making puff pastry from scratch.

Use these tools to make flaky, multi-layered and delicate puff pastry at home.