A Plus Pies, Cakes and More

Today was the first day we were able to get into the kitchen at school and we made three different types of breads. We made white bread as a class, each group gathering a different ingredient and combined them as we learned how to use the mixers and the other types of equipment in the kitchen.
In our groups of two we made french and italian bread. My group made french bread. We learned what a proofer/retarder is for and we baked in a deck oven, which was pretty cool, I had never done that before. Then at the end of the day, we got to bring three loaves of bread home. The family and I have already eaten one and a half loaves. I'm going to have to take a bike ride tommorrow to get rid of the extra calories.

French Bread



The proofer that we used is a proofer/retarder. The proofer helpes in the fermentation of the dough. It gives the glutin in the bread one last boost of energy, if you will, before it goes in the oven. The retarder is, namely, what it is. It retards the fermentation of the dough so you can bake it hours later, like the next day.

White Bread



Class went really well in my opinion. I learned a lot and before I knew it, class was over. I can't complain about getting fresh bread either. I'm really glad I'm following this path laid out before me, what a great adventure.