I want a hippopotamus for Christmas...if by hippopotamus, you mean a candy thermometer that works. I hear these are not hard to come by, that they come in many a variety and type and that everyone has an opinion on their favorite one. There are glass ones, digital ones and even infrared ones. I'm intrigued by the infrared variety as their use applies to candy making. They measure surface temperature. I wonder how that varies from internal temperature of a boiling napalm like sugar syrup? I am inclined to find out.
I currently possess a large glass thermometer from before my goddess-y days that I have recently discovered is as reliable as a weatherman. Reliability and accuracy are not required in all things in life. I'm okay with the occasional 'ish'. We'll be there at 9-ish, bring a coat it's chilly-ish. In candy making though, 'ish' just will not do. Soft ball and hard crack are two completely different chemical states and produce two completely different results in a finished product.
Now, I must admit that having no candy thermometer does not take this Goddess completely out of the game. There is always the water test. When sugar is rapidly cooled in cold water it will tell you how it will finish. Each of the common stages of cooked sugar has a name like soft ball and the evil, 'you blew it' black jack. To truly appreciate this magic trick, check out this chart:
http://www.baking911.com/candy/chart.htm
For extra mad scientist fun, try creating something from each stage of the chart. (except black jack - no one should do that to an innocent smoke detector) Get a feel for the sugar's look, smell, taste and character at each stage as well. It's amazing. Now, find someone to share all this candy with before you send yourself into a diabetic coma. And for goodness sake - if you are the family of the Pastry Goddess, get her a decent d**n candy thermometer for Christmas.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Bread is Life, Life is Bread
Lets talk about bread. It's a process that cannot be rushed, but we try. It's a basic set of ingredients and steps that absolutely work, yet we relentlessly monkey with them. It's a simple, yet complex thing involving no small amount of magic. Each culture has a bread of it's own. Each family has bread associated with certain times of year. Bread is involved in a variety of religious rituals. Bread is life, life is bread.
Bread is this. Grain flour, a liquid, yeast, food for the yeast, a lubricant, time and heat. Everything else is decoration. Don't get me wrong, some of that decoration is very tasty and quite pretty. We endlessly create with the medium of bread in shapes, flavors, colors and textures. It is a bakers dream canvas and an eaters dream come true.
I must admit that I didn't emerge from the womb a fully formed bread master. I began my adventures with bread in my twenties and failed over and over. It wasn't till my thirties that I mastered it. I really think it was a combination of quality ingredients, and a different ability to focus that broke through for me. I also credit a deeper understanding of the chemistry of food and a better understanding of the difference between a process and a recipe. A process is a set of steps, a recipe is a specific set of ingredients to create a certain iteration of a process. Cake is a process, German chocolate cake is a recipe. Pie is a process, apple pie is a recipe and also delicious!
Once I had the basic concepts under my belt I began my love affair with bread. It's such a calming thing to make. I have the best results when I do it all by hand. I think the energy is different and it helps me to maintain the quality of the product by developing a feel for it. I like to use the kneading time to meditate. It seems that when my hands are occupied, my mind wanders better. Not to be too chicken soup for the soul here but I think it makes my mind clearer, my heart lighter and most of all, my bread better. On a technical point, kneading is less tiring if your brain is occupied and you're not clock watching. It's wonderful to take a break from clock watching now and then. On an additional practical note, bread making goes well with doing other things around the house like chasing the child, scaling Mount Washmore and washing Mt Dishmore, or cooking other things.
This brings me to my current adventure with bread. I want to bake bread far more often than my little family can eat it. Once again, I'm out seeking enablers for my baking problem. So many people are so busy these days and get by with a shelf stable derivative of a bread-food product. There's no 'there' there. My solution, the Bread Club. The Bread Club delivers or ships a fresh white or wheat loaf (or loaves) to you weekly with a specialty loaf once a month. You can sign up for just one week a month, just the specialty loaf, or just the weekly loaves. I can also do vegan breads and gluten-free breads although the specialty breads won't fall into these categories for now. I will deliver within 30 miles of my house and ship to anyone else. Feel free to request more information about this in the comments or by email. You know you want to. Also, you should because it's good for you and the Pastry Goddess said so.
I'm so excited about this new adventure especially as the new year approaches. I think it will be a wonderful opportunity to bake to my heart's content and to make so many people so happy and full and full of life. Bread is Life, Life is Bread.
To Life,
The Pastry Goddess
PS - December's Specialty bread will be Panettone - Italian Christmas Bread
Bread is this. Grain flour, a liquid, yeast, food for the yeast, a lubricant, time and heat. Everything else is decoration. Don't get me wrong, some of that decoration is very tasty and quite pretty. We endlessly create with the medium of bread in shapes, flavors, colors and textures. It is a bakers dream canvas and an eaters dream come true.
I must admit that I didn't emerge from the womb a fully formed bread master. I began my adventures with bread in my twenties and failed over and over. It wasn't till my thirties that I mastered it. I really think it was a combination of quality ingredients, and a different ability to focus that broke through for me. I also credit a deeper understanding of the chemistry of food and a better understanding of the difference between a process and a recipe. A process is a set of steps, a recipe is a specific set of ingredients to create a certain iteration of a process. Cake is a process, German chocolate cake is a recipe. Pie is a process, apple pie is a recipe and also delicious!
Once I had the basic concepts under my belt I began my love affair with bread. It's such a calming thing to make. I have the best results when I do it all by hand. I think the energy is different and it helps me to maintain the quality of the product by developing a feel for it. I like to use the kneading time to meditate. It seems that when my hands are occupied, my mind wanders better. Not to be too chicken soup for the soul here but I think it makes my mind clearer, my heart lighter and most of all, my bread better. On a technical point, kneading is less tiring if your brain is occupied and you're not clock watching. It's wonderful to take a break from clock watching now and then. On an additional practical note, bread making goes well with doing other things around the house like chasing the child, scaling Mount Washmore and washing Mt Dishmore, or cooking other things.
This brings me to my current adventure with bread. I want to bake bread far more often than my little family can eat it. Once again, I'm out seeking enablers for my baking problem. So many people are so busy these days and get by with a shelf stable derivative of a bread-food product. There's no 'there' there. My solution, the Bread Club. The Bread Club delivers or ships a fresh white or wheat loaf (or loaves) to you weekly with a specialty loaf once a month. You can sign up for just one week a month, just the specialty loaf, or just the weekly loaves. I can also do vegan breads and gluten-free breads although the specialty breads won't fall into these categories for now. I will deliver within 30 miles of my house and ship to anyone else. Feel free to request more information about this in the comments or by email. You know you want to. Also, you should because it's good for you and the Pastry Goddess said so.
I'm so excited about this new adventure especially as the new year approaches. I think it will be a wonderful opportunity to bake to my heart's content and to make so many people so happy and full and full of life. Bread is Life, Life is Bread.
To Life,
The Pastry Goddess
PS - December's Specialty bread will be Panettone - Italian Christmas Bread
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
