New School of Cooking - Pro Baking 1 - Class 2: Custards

I'm taking the Pro Baking 1 series at the New School of Cooking in Culver City (Los Angeles) this fall/winter.

During Class #2, we made three custards as well as learn about dairy. As a lactose-intolerant person, it was an interesting and yet sad lecture...all that stuff I shouldn't eat. Sigh.

Did you know? Heavy cream is 37-40% fat, but there isn't standard percentage. Manufactured cream is 40% butter fat (that is what we use in class).

Since I've never worked in a bakery or restaurant, I really like the aspects of the lecture when the instructor lets us know how "it is done" in bakeries and restaurants.

I also learned that it is less about the recipe...and more about the technique and ingredients. The difference between using excellent butter (she suggests Plugra butter) and just regular butter is great. Now, when I taste something delicious, I'm going to ask not just for the recipe, but for a listing of what brands of ingredients are used. You can use the Toll House recipe to make chocolate chip cookies, but the result will be different if you use Plugra butter or high quality chips.

As I mentioned before, in this class, we make each recipe individually! I'm a hands-on learner so this is fantastic. It is also soooo much fun; reminds me of art class in elementary school. Here is a recap of two items we made; first up, Bread Pudding!

We made "restaurant style" bread pudding. Home cooks might have a nice casserole dish served family style, but restaurants need an easy way to divide things. This was baked in a 9" cake pan and you could serve it with a separate creme anglaise, whipped cream, or berry sauce.

We used challah bread (I soooo love challah bread!!) and a crazy amount of dairy: 2 cups manufactured cream and 1 cup whole milk. A bit of orange zest, pecans and rum soaked raisins were also added.

The bread pudding was pulled out of the oven with 15 minutes left, and brushed with more cream and sprinkled with sugar.

Bread Pudding is so versatile - you can add other dried fruit, use different bread, and bake it in all different containers. I didn't have any....but my friend said it was really delicious!

We also made creme brulee in class. We heated 1/2 a vanilla bean and manufactured cream in a saucepan. The mixture was tempered into a whisked combination of sugar and egg yolk. So few ingredients and such a soft and lovely dessert.

Because our class is only 4 hours and it is best to refrigerate these for 6 hour minimum, they weren't perfectly cold, but my very small bite was yummy. I just love the burnt sugar on top too.

I love torching food. It is the best. The room smells like toasted marshmallows! :) Make sure you cover the ENTIRE custard with a thin layer of granulated sugar so you don't burn the custard. Creme Brulees are best torched to order so the topping doesn't start to weep.

We also made Chocolate Pudding but I didn't get any photos of that. According to my friend who was the recipient of this dairy dessert...it was delicious.

Next week - Cream puffs! Whoo hoo!

P.S. I'm a little behind...will announce the winner of my birthday giveaway later today or tomorrow! - mary

Recap:
Baking Therapy
Class 1