Biscuits - Learning to Laminate - The DoughDr Episode Saturday 10/8/22

Hello Bakers,

On Saturday’s DoughDr Live - I demoed how to build flakiness into biscuits. This is first in a series called “Learning to Laminate”. In this series we will learn how to build layers into our doughs that we want to be flaky.
In baking, flakiness is a good thing.

Here is the link to Saturday’s show and the laminating demo: https://youtu.be/Yiufh5DtUko

BUTTERMILK BISCUITS
Yield: 8 to 10, depending on size of cutter
Equipment

Biscuit Mise en Place - and ready to bake on the left

Half sheet pan lined with parchment paper
Large mixing bowl
Bowl scraper
Pastry blender (optional)
Sifter
Rolling pin
Biscuit cutters
Bench scraper or chef’s knife
Pastry brush

Ingredients
2 cups (9 ounces/255 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
3⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (4 ounces/113 g) unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
3⁄4 cup (6 ounces/170 g) buttermilk or milk with 2 teaspoons lemon juice or apple cider vinegar added to it, store-bought or homemade, plus extra for brushing

1. Line half sheet tray with parchment paper.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 F (190 C). For convection 375F (180 C).

3. Sift together dry ingredients in a large bowl.

4. Cut in the butter with a bowl scraper or pastry blender until the butter looks like small flakes.

5. Add the buttermilk or acidulated milk over the top of the dry ingredients, using the bowl scraper to push and fold the liquid into the flour.

6. If it looks dry add a little more buttermilk or milk (two tablespoons at a time) around the edge of the bowl.

7. Continue to mix and fold until all the dry ingredients are incorporated and there is no dry residue on the bottom of the bowl.

8. Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and fold briefly until smooth. 
To laminate the dough roll the dough out into a rectangle approximately 6” X 12” and then fold into thirds, give the dough a quarter turn and roll out again and fold. Working quickly repeat one more time. Then roll the dough out into a 6”X 6” square and cut the biscuits into 2” x 2” squares. The dough can also be rolled out 5/8” thick and cut with a cutter.

11. Place biscuits on a baking tray, 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart and chill in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.

12. Brush tops with buttermilk.

13. Place biscuits in oven. Turn the oven temperature down to 375. Bake the biscuits. Start checking in 15 minutes. They should be an overall golden brown. Break one open to check for doneness. They may take a few more minutes.

Check for doneness by picking one up - it should feel light and be golden brown in color.

14. Usually, more baking time is needed, reduce the oven temperature by 25 F (15 C) and continue to bake, checking in 5-7 minute intervals.

15. Cool for a few minutes on a rack. Serve warm.

Note: Leftover biscuits freeze well. Wrap and hold for up to one month.

Thaw and refresh in a 350 F (180 C) oven 5-7 minutes before serving. 

Finished Flakiness

Bread Pudding - Learn how to make a great one! The DoughDr 9/30/22

Hello Bakers,

Today we are tackling bread pudding - how to make a good one. It’s all about measuring mindfulness - yes. Make sure you carefully measure well weigh out your ingredients. It’s when those ratios go off the rails that we can have problems.
Bread pudding is one of the best ways to use leftover bread. Other options are croutons and making breadcrumbs. But bread pudding - that magical combination of bread cubes and vanilla scented custard - well that’s the best.

But bread pudding - can be awful too - dry, dense with uneven flavor. Everything our bread pudding is not.
You can use just about any type of bread except breads with savory additions like rosemary or olives. There are savory bread puddings but today we are talking about sweet ones.

So here we go - here is the recipe. Please give it a try - especially if you love bread pudding or you bake for someone who does. Any questions - let me know. And as always - if you post your bread pudding photos - please tag me - I love to see your beautiful work.

Points for success: An assortment of like minded breads is fine - a single variety is fine too. Please don’t skimp on the vanilla - the amount is correct.

Equipment: A pan or baking dish that is close to 9” x 13”. It can be metal, ceramic or pyrex. Cutting board, serrated knife, large bowl, whisk and spatula - can be mixed in the mixer as well - use the whisk attachment.

Ingredients: 16 ounces (454g) cubed - medium diced bread - egg breads like brioche and challah work well,
baguettes and buns. And they can be mixed - so when you get to toward the end of a loaf - freeze it. Leftover croissants work too. If you are using sweet breads (like panettone, cinnamon rolls or danish) you might reduce the sugar by 20%.

Extras: You can add raisins, other dried fruit and chocolate chips. 85g-113g is a good amount. Nuts tend to get soggy when soaked in custard but you can add them if you like.

454g of cubed stale bread (recipe for bread pudding bread below)
3 large eggs (150g)
283g of sugar
2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
57g butter, melted and cooled
3 1/4 cups milk (737g)

Bread pudding MEP

Bread Pudding Bread (recipe below) cooling

1. In a large bowl whisk the eggs until thick and frothy or mix in the mixer, with the whisk attachment for 2 minutes.

2. Add the sugar, spices, vanilla and melted butter. Whisk until well combined and 1-1/2 minutes on medium speed if using the mixer.

3. Add the milk and whisk for 1-2 minutes until well combined. This is the custard - set aside.

4. Generously, I mean generously butter the baking dish.

5. Place the bread cubes in a large bowl and pour the custard over the bread cubes - toss evenly.

6. Then transfer the bread and custard mixture to the prepared baking dish.

7. Let sit 45 minutes until the custard is almost absorbed - press down on the bread occasionally to make sure that it is soaked evenly.

8. Preheat the oven to 350. Cover the pudding with a piece of buttered aluminum foil, crimp the edges to seal.

9. Place the pudding in the oven and reduce the temperature to 325 degrees.

10. Bake for 35 minutes and check to see if the custard is set. When done it will feel firm to the touch with no liquid seeping up and it will register 170 degrees on an instant read thermometer.

11. Increase the oven temperature to 425 - remove the foil and bake for 8-12 minutes until the pudding is puffy and golden.

12. Remove the oven and let cool for 20 minutes before serving. Cut into squares and serve with your favorite sauce. Some suggestions are caramel, rum, or creme anglaise - vanilla ice cream works too.

13. Store leftovers, well wrapped in the refrigerator.

Bread pudding Bread - I loaf

195g water (70 degrees)
6g instant yeast or 1 pkg active dry
300g bread flour
20g sugar
30g softened butter
6g salt

Combine water and yeast, let sit for 5 minutes, add flour, sugar, butter and salt. Knead for 3 minutes on speed 2 and 3 minutes on speed 1. Bulk ferment 60-75 minutes until doubled in size. Degas and preshape into a cylinder. Grease an 8 1/2” x 4 1/2” pan and place dough in pan. Press dough until sides and corners of the pan. Cover and let rise until it almost to the top of the pan. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Turn off over and let it sit in the over for 5 timed minutes. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes, remove for pan - let sit overnight, uncovered before slicing and using.

Cremona - A new twist on an Italian Classic - The DoughDr Episode 9/24/22

Bakers!

I thought I knew almost everything you could possibly know about laminated doughs. Last week one of our bakers asked about a laminated dough from Cremona, Italy. “What?” This was news to me - a laminated dough from Italy, from the town where they make violins. If you remember the movie “The Red Violin” one major storyline was set in Cremona.

Oh my goodness! I quickly summoned the oracle that is Google and a quick search yielded a short blogpost and a reference to a book called “ Seven Fires, grilling the argentine way,” Well I quickly found the book at the Los Angeles Public Library and it gave me a rough guideline of how to put the Cremona together.

This bread is popular in Argentina - probably even more so than in Italy. Italians flocked to Argentina between 1870 and 1960 to escape economic hardship and the devastation of both world wars and they brought the Cremona with them.

The one problem was that it was classically laminated with lard , that’s hard to sell - very few people want to eat lard these days.
But what about a blend of garlic/extra virgin olive oil and butter? Yum! I think that works great. For this laminated dough we brush the magic melted mixture on the dough and then fold - so much easier. If you are just getting started with laminated doughs this is a great introduction.

The fringed horseshoe shape looks cool - great for feeding a crowd. And the flavor - my inspiration was garlic knots - how could this not be a tasty success.
And a shout out to our baker Kathy who asked about the Cremona - thank you! This was fascinating.

Bakers - give this a try - and let me know how it goes - tag me in your photos - I love to see your beautiful work.

Equipment: Stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, scale, bowl scraper, half sheet pan lined with very lightly oiled parchment, plastic wrap, marker, scissors

Combine water, yeast and oil in the mixer bowl…let sit for 5 minutes then add flour, sugar and salt - ready to mix….

Ingredients:
283g water (70 degrees)
7g Instant yeast
20g olive oil
454g bread flour
10g sugar
9g salt

Butter/Oil Brushing Mixture
57g butter
57g olive oil
3 cloves of garlic

1. In a small saucepan combine the butter, oil and garlic, heat over low/medium heat until the butter melts. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool. Leave the garlic cloves in the butter mixture to infuse more flavor.

The mix is a short mix as we will continue to develop the gluten through laminating.
1. Combine the water, yeast and oil and let sit for 5 minutes for the yeast to hydrate.
2. Add the flour, sugar and salt and mix on speed 2 for 2 minutes - the dough should begin to roughly clear the side of the bowl. Stope the mixer and scrape dough with the bowl scraper.
3. mix on speed 1 for an additional 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.
4. Let rise in a warm place (kitchen counter is fine), covered for 30 minutes. Then refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
5. To laminate the dough - roll out to a rectangle that is about 8” X 20-24” - 1/4” thick. Brush liberally with the garlic and butter/oil mixture. Fold the dough into thirds like a business letter. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Repeat step 5 two more times.
6. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes before shaping.
7. Have the lined sheet pan close by. Roll the dough out to 8” by 20/24” 1/4” thick and brush with the melted butter/oil mixture. Fold the dough in half lengthwise but leave 1” of the bottom half exposed. Move to the prepared pan and shape into a circle that almost closes.

Then with scissors cut through each edge of dough (you can cut them at the same time or separately) about 3/4” apart and 1” deep. The fringe is on the outside.
8. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for 45 minutes.
9. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

10. After the 45 minutes the Cremona will be slightly puffy and have a marshmallow texture. Brush with melted butter/oil mixture and bake for 30 minutes. Check to make sure it is a beautiful golden brown. Then turn off the oven and let the Cremona sit in the oven for 5 timed minutes to bake out the last of any excess moisture.
Garnish with chopped Italian parsley.
11. Cool for 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

Parmesan Cheese Version: Everything is the same except the Cremona is laminated with freshly grated Parmesan cheese as well as the melted garlic/butter and oil mixture. It is amazing! It will take between 113g-170g (4-6 ounces) depending on how much cheese you sprinkle on.

Cheesecake Bake A Long Part 2 - The DoughDr Episode from 9/17/2022

Lemon curd topped cheesecake…

Hello Bakers,

Here is the recap from Saturday’s show. Following these steps any cheesecake can be baked in a regular cake pan.
Before we go too much further I wanted to give you the recipe for Cake Goo that I am always talking about. It was what I used to grease the chessecake pan and all my pans.
Cake Goo Recipe
99g vegetable shortening, 71g all purpose flour, 106g oil. In a mixer (with paddle) or by hand (wooden spoon) mix the flour and shortening together then slowly add the oil. Store in an airtight container. Keep for sixth months to a year in the refrigerator.

DoughDR Archive Link

Once you are ready to serve and decorate your cake this is what you need:
1 cardboard round
Presentation board or serving platter
Offset spatula
If desired piping bag and piping tip of choice
Pastry torch
Plastic wrap

1. The cake can be unmolded when it is frozen or thawed. Thawing it overnight in the refrigerator is the best way to thaw it.

2. Shrink wrapping the cardboard. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cover the cake cardboard in plastic wrap as tight as possible.

3. Place the wrapped cardboard in the oven for 3-4 seconds - remove carefully.

4. Place the shrink wrapped cardboard on top of the unwrapped cheesecake and invert.

5. Turn the torch on and wave it over the bottom of the pan (1-2 inches above) for 1-2 minutes.

6. Turn off the torch and using oven mitts, pick up the cardboard and cake and give it a quick shake and the cake will release.

7. Invert a presentation board or platter onto the cake bottom and flip.

8. Remove the plastic wrap from the cardboard and if clean - it is fine to reuse.

9. Now the cake is ready to decorate.

In the show, I used lemon curd - here is that recipe and a border of sweetened whipped cream.
You can top the cheesecake however you like - this is just an idea.

Equipment: saucepan, whisk, strainer, scale, medium bowl, small baking tray lined with plastic wrap, spatula, instant read thermometer

Ingredients:

100g fresh lemon juice
125g sugar
72g egg yolks (4 large)
Zest of one lemon
85g butter - softened

1. In the saucepan, whisk the lemon juice and sugar together until well combined, Add the egg yolks and zest. Whisk until smooth not foamy.

2. Turn the heat to medium and cook until the mixture begins to thicken but does not boil. Stir all the while.

3. The curd is done when the initial foamy created by whisking the ingredients together subsides, steam wafts off the surface and the the temperature of the curd is about 176-180 degrees.

4. Stran the curd into a medium bowl cool to 100 degrees and whisk in the softened butter.

5. Pour the curd onto the plastic lined sheet pan, cover with plastic wrap - there is usually enough to fold over the curd.

6. Chill for several hours or overnight. Lemon curd lasts for 5-7 days in the refrigerator - it does not freeze well.

   Chantilly Cream

   Equipment: chilled large mixer bowl and whisk, stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or handheld mixer fitted with whisk attachment or standard beaters.

   Ingredients:

   1 cup, 8 ounces, 227g heavy or whipping cream
   2 Tablespoons, 1 - 1 1/2 ounce, 28g - 35g powdered sugar - sift before adding to cream
   2 tsp, 8g vanilla extract or vanilla bean extract

   1. Whisk the cream vigorously or use mixer until it has the consistency of Greek yogurt, add the sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk until soft peaks form - taste and adjust sweetness if necessary.

And as I said on the show this cheesecake is not very thick - if you want a thicker cheesecake go to last week’s post and you find (at the bottom) an increased amount - scaled up to either make a 9” or 10” cake or a thicker 8”.

Any questions - please reach out. Happy Baking! Colette