German Chocolate Cake

In today's cakes class, we made my all-time favorite cake: German Chocolate. This cake actually originated in the US, not in Germany as many would believe. In 1852, a man named Sam German worked at Baker's Chocolate Company - you know, Baker's of the squares of chocolate you can buy in the grocery store. Anyway, Sam German created a new formula for chocolate, and the company called it, Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate. In 1957, a woman in Texas was first to publish a recipe using this chocolate of Sam's, thus giving it the name German's Chocolate Cake. Over time, the possession was dropped, and we've been referring to it ever since as German Chocolate Cake. Interesting stuff.

My mom used to make German Chocolate Cake and I fell in love with it early in my life. It contains three of my favorite foods: chocolate, pecans, and coconut.

We made our cakes today by preparing the batter and baking the cakes in separate layers; again, we didn't have to slice the cake layers so that was a nice bonus. To make the filling, we heated evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, and butter over medium heat, until the mixture thickened. We took the mixture off the heat to add coconut, vanilla, and pecans. We placed the pot in a water bath to cool the temperate and help the mixture thicken. I didn't hesitate to sample the filling.

We made an Italian Buttercream with meringue. While similar to a Swiss Buttercream, the Italian Buttercream is made by heating sugar and water to 250 degrees F, creating a syrup. We then whipped egg whites to a stiff peak and slowly added the sugar syrup. Once the temperature cooled slightly, we added softened butter and continued to whip. Finally, salt and vanilla were added to help in the flavoring, and we whipped the whole mixture until it came together as buttercream.



To put this cake together, we placed down a cake layer, then piped buttercream around the edge. We then placed the coconut/pecan filling on the cake layer. We repeated this on the second layer. After the top layer was placed, we iced the sides with buttercream, and then covered the sides completely with toasted coconut. To finish the top, we piped a reverse shell border of buttercream, and then filled it in with the coconut/pecan filling.

Traditionally, German Chocolate Cake does not have an outer layer of icing. The cake is often left un-iced to show the layers. While I liked this cake, I would agree with the tradition that the outer icing isn't necessary. The cake is delicious as is with just the filling. And yes, I brought this one home to enjoy during the upcoming week and Thanksgiving holiday!

Exam Day

In last Thursday's laminated doughs class, we had our midterm practical exam. I had to make classic croissants and pain au chocolate. Overall, it went pretty well. The class environment was a little crazy, but it was definitely a worthwhile exercise. In my afternoon class, I baked a pecan chiffon genoise cake, which I'll decorate next Tuesday. My photos didn't turn out too well, since I was a bit rushed, so sadly I have nothing for you to view, but I promise some photos next week. Lots of cakes happening.

Quiche and Custard Pie

In Tuesday's Bakeshop class, we made quiche and coconut custard pie. I like recipes like this because the same pie dough can be used for both a savory concept (the quiche) and a sweet concept (the pie or tart). My quiche had spinach, bacon, and cheddar cheese, and it was absolutely delish. We haven't yet sampled the coconut custard pie, which we'll do on Thursday, but I love coconut so I am sure I will enjoy it.

Fleur Style Danish and Savory Croissants

In Tuesday's Laminated Doughs class, we made Fleur Style Danish and Savory Croissants. Fleur Style Danish refers to the shape of the product. Basically, you cut the dough into squares, stretch the corners, and then fold the corner into the center. The dough is then proofed, a hole is formed in the center, and then the product is filled before baking. Chef let us experiment with a filling so Gilly and I made a filling with dried apricots and pistachios; we flavored it with honey, star anise, thyme, and lemon. Sadly, our dough didn't perform that well and our product didn't rise nicely before baking or during baking. The consensus of the limited rise is due to the yeast we used; we normally use fresh yeast but we only had dry yeast available, and it just didn't perform. The danish still look good, and I liked the taste of them, so it was a good lesson:



The savory croissants tend to be filled with things like ham and cheese. We didn't have ham available, so I made mine with pepperoni, cheese, black pepper, garlic salt, and fresh oregano. These were shaped like a traditional croissant:



Savory croissants inspired the now popular "Hot Pockets" so I asked Chef if he would play one of my favorite comedic acts of all time - Jim Gaffigan's Hot Pockets. I seriously love this clip and always laugh even though I know exactly what Gaffigan is going to say. If you're never seen/heard it, it's worth a look so I am giving you the link. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-i9GXbptog

Square Birthday Cake

In Monday's Cakes class, we made a 7 inch square cake. The cake itself was coconut, which I love and the icing was a Swiss Buttercream. To make this cake, we spread out large amounts of batter in a full sheet pan; after baking, we cut 7 in squares of cake which was definitely an easier process than slicing the round cakes.

The Buttercream was made like we've done in the past. We decorated the cake in a similar fashion, putting buttercream and simple syrup between the cake layers, and covering the entire cake in buttercream. Icing the sides of a square cake is a new challenge, particularly in trying to get straight sides, firm corners and generally nice edges. We also used buttercream to pipe a shell border on the bottom of the cake and around the edge of the cake.

In our downtime, we also made marzipan rosebuds and leaves which were used for decoration atop the cake. I had never worked with marzipan (which is almond paste and sugar) so this was another new experience for me. And finally, we used chocolate to pipe a message on the cake.



I had some difficulty with my edges, particularly the corners, and my shell border was a bit too big. My rosebuds and leaves turned out pretty good and my piping was OK. I had to take my initial attempt at "happy" off the cake, thus ruining the flat top, but the new piping was much better so it was worth it overall. In general, it was a pretty good day for the first attempt at a square cake, but I am starting to understand more and more why fondant is a popular choice for cake decorating.

Pizza

In Thursday's Bakeshop class, we made personal 10 inch pizzas. Nothing too fancy here, but a quick and easy pizza dough recipe. I chose to put spinach and olives on my pizza, and it made for a satisfying dinner after class.

Scones, Elephant Ears, and Bear Claws

During Thursday's Laminated Doughs class, we made a variety of items: scones, elephant ears, and bear claws. It was a really fun day with lots of new techniques.

Scones have become more popular in America as a breakfast item, but traditionally, they are reserved for tea time snacks in countries like England. We made traditional scones with buttermilk and currants. This process is all done free handed. My scones were slightly too large and some of them baked on a slant. I started calling them "slanted scones" and Chef and a few others agreed that "Slanted Scone" could be a great name for a bakery. Anyway, here's a snapshot of my scones which were finished with a flat icing:



We next made Austrian Elephant Ears. This is done by rolling out a large piece of croissant dough, which is egg washed and covered with a nut mixture combined with cinnamon and sugar. We chose to use pecans for this, giving them a southern flare. Traditional elephant ears would have almonds or walnuts. After the filling is spread over the dough, Gilly and I worked from opposite ends to jelly roll both sides of the dough and meet in the middle. We then flipped the entire piece of dough to cut pieces, which were then proofed. After baking, they were glazed:



We then made bear claws. Again we started with a large piece of dough. We then piped frangipane in a line along the edge and sprinkled almonds over it. We again jelly rolled the dough and then cut the dough after the jelly roll completed a full circle. We cut the dough into 3.5 inch pieces and then made four cuts to give the dough a claw-like appearance. These were dusted with powdered sugar after baking:



Both are a pretty big treat, and both tasted great.