Pie Doughs and Piping

A new class, a new Chef, a new baking lab, and new rules. Along with the excitement of a new curriculum comes the fear of the unknown. Our Fundamentals I Chef visited us while we were in Fundamentals II and he had , well, a strict first impression. Turns out he is not so much strict as he is very keen on cleanliness and professionalism.

We started this class with learning about pie doughs. Perhaps you knew, but I didn't really think about the possibility of having different types of pie doughs. The two we focused on were flakey and mealy. Flakey is best for the tops of pies as they have that delightful and sought-after flakiness you see in commercials on the tele when a fork cuts into a slice of pie. But as wonderfully delicious and layered as that dough is, it is horrible as a bottom crust for fillings that have a lot of moisture. It runs the risk of suffering from sog-itus. In the case of moisture-rich fillings, like pumpkin pie, a mealy dough is best. Mealy crusts are still tender and crisp, but they bake up short, meaning they don't have the same layering that flakey dough has. Both very tasty, just better for one job than the other.

Getting ready to cut in the shortening

Unfortunately, you can't see the "marbling" created by the fat and the flour in this picture, but flakey dough should have more visible and larger pieces of fat than mealy. Flakey dough fat should be cut in until the pieces are about the size of peas while mealy should resemble course cornmeal.

Flakey dough

The format of this class is a bit different. In Fundamentals II, our Chef demonstrated all the products we would be making in three days. That made for some very tired feet after standing for 4 hours straight, no breaks. This time around, the Chef demonstrates a product, then we all make it before moving onto the next. The pace of the class feels faster as a result, but it also helps to smooth out kinks and feels much more interactive. Plus, we're less likely to forget important steps and tips as we get to try things out right away. :P

Making chocolate shavings

In the second half of the class, we practiced piping a shell border. We traced circles from 6-inch cake rings, the same size of cake we'll be making for this class. If we had time, we could try writing Happy Birthday inside the borders with chocolate.

Ending borders neatly is hard

We put our pie doughs into the fridge to relax and chill overnight. It is key to let pie dough rest in the fridge for two main reasons 1) allows the fat to firm up and not melt into the dough and 2) lets the gluten in the dough relax so the pie shell doesn't shrink while baking.

Tomorrow we will be making pumpkin pies, apples pies, and lemon meringue pies. If you're around, you can pick one up at the Marketplace on Wednesday (we finish too late in the day to put them up for sale the same day).

One more thing! The next group of students in the Customer Relationship Management class is hosting their bake sale this Thursday and Friday. Here's a sneak peak at one of their cute offerings. Definitely try to check it out!

Winter Wonderland theme