Here's the thing about challah bread that no one tells you when you buy it... it is made from SIX strands of dough. Yup. Six strands. Imagine braiding hair (this will be even harder if you've never braided hair in your life... just work with me here) using 6 different sections- if you lose your place, you're done, and it's back to the beginning to try again. Like I've found to be true with much of what I've been learning, practice really does make perfect; the more you practice a skill like challah braiding, the faster and more accurate you become. Case in point- our chef braided his loaf in about 30 seconds (after demoing it very slowly for us) without missing a beat. Here's chef working on his demo:
After saying the 4 step process in my head over and over again, I got my entire loaf braided on only the second try! (I think I owe a huge part in my success to braiding lots of hair and making lots of bracelets as a camp counselor! Yea Deer Run!) Here's my loaf prior to baking:
Now here's the sad news about this challah bread.... we somehow forgot to add the granulated sugar, which resulted in our chef saying, "Ummm, you have a problem here," when we checked our loaves mid-way through baking. Not only are they waaaay to light to be challah bread, they also had a crusty crust (definitely a no-no for challah bread). When we ventured to taste them, our chef's statement that we must have forgotten the sugar was definitely proven true- it was like eating baked flour- not so pleasant.
You can see how crispy it is here- all those little lines are cracks in the crust. We're making it again next week to practice (and get it right this time!).
Today we also made ciabatta, which is the craziest dough I've ever seen! You could hardly call it dough... it's more like the blob, oozing to cover ever surface it comes in contact with. It is a wet, sloppy mess that somehow when baked, makes for an amazingly flavored bread, absolutely perfect for sandwiches with lots of "wet" ingredients (think grilled veggies drizzled with balsamic, melted cheeses, the list goes on... mmmm!).
"The Blob" (aka ciabatta dough)
Our ciabattas after baking (delicious!)
While our ciabatta and challah breads were proofing, we made up some scones. Each group had to come up with their own flavoring ideas; my group decided on doing both sweet and savory. For our sweet scones, we made a combination of cranberries, chopped apricots, and lemon zest soaked in freshly squeezed orange juice. One whiff of that mixture, and we knew we had a winner! I sampled a bite... and they are AMAZING.
Our savory scones were, if possible, even more amazing! We chopped up some sun-dried tomatoes, fresh spinach, and onion, then mixed in some feta cheese and finished them off with a sprinkle of parmesan-romano cheese. Whoa. They were SO good (I tried the tiniest of bites, and was blown away!)
Finish product:
Scones- fresh ones- are simply wonderful! They are soft, a tiny bit crumbly, and delicious! Once I get a good recipe for dairy-free ones, I'll be sure to let you all know! I'll also try working on a gluten-free one. I have a HUGE respect for bakers who are coming up with gluten-free baked goods- it seems that every other word in a bread lab is "gluten"- that's how important it is to baking good breads!
The good & the bad of the day (we showcase one of each for a critique at the end of each class).
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