My Culinary Institute of Virginia Class Portfolio
Here you will find pictures of various foods prepared in class throughout my time at CIV. I have tried to label them accordingly, whether they were completed as part of a team or as an individual. Many of the pictures are for practical projects. Others are what we were assigned to produce as part of our daily grade for class. Some were done as experiments/extra credit at home. Also included are competition photos from the Souper Stars Competition. Please check back for additional photos; I try and upload pictures frequently to reflect the new techniques I have learned!
Baking and Pastry Fundamentals
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Scaling Formulae |
Using the recipes for corn muffins and brioche, I will convert each recipe to an amount three times larger, and also reduce each by half.
Original Recipe - Corn Muffins (see pictures, below)
10 oz Sugar
1 pound 10 oz All Purpose Flour
2 oz Baking Powder
9.5 oz Cornmeal
.25 oz Salt
1.5 cups Oil
8 oz Eggs
10 oz Water
10 oz Milk
Original yield: 5 pounds 5 oz, approx. 40 at 2 ounces
Tripled Recipe - Corn Muffins (conversion factor: 3)
1 lb 14 oz Sugar
4 lbs 14 oz AP Flour
6 oz Baking Powder
1 lb 12.5 oz Cornmeal
.75 oz Salt
4.5 cups Oil
1 lb 8 oz Eggs
1 lb 14 oz Water
1 lb 14 oz Milk
New yield: 15 pounds 15 oz, approx. 120 at 2 ounces
Halved Recipe - Corn Muffins (conversion factor .5)
5 oz Sugar
13 oz AP Flour
1 oz Baking Powder
4.75 oz Cornmeal
.125 oz Salt (1/8 oz)
.75 cups Oil
4 oz Eggs
5 oz Water
5 oz Milk
New yield: 2 pounds 10.5 oz, approx. 20 at 2 oz
Original Recipe - Brioche (see pictures, below)
2 pounds 8 ounces All Purpose Flour
.75 oz Salt
4.5 oz Sugar
.75 oz Instant Yeast
10 ea Eggs
6 oz Milk
1 pound 4 oz Butter, Softened
Original yield: 5 pounds, 28 pieces at 3 oz, 40 pieces at 2 oz
Tripled Recipe - Brioche (conversion factor: 3)
7 pounds 8 oz All Purpose Flour
2.25 oz Salt
13.5 oz Sugar
2.25 oz Instant Yeast
30 ea Eggs
1 lb 2 oz Milk
3 pounds 12 oz Butter, Softened
New Yield: 15 pounds, 84 pieces at 3 oz, 120 pieces at 2 oz
Halved Recipe - Brioche (conversion factor .5)
1 pound 4 oz All Purpose Flour
.375 oz Salt (3/8 oz)
2.25 oz Sugar
.375 oz Instant Yeast (3/8 oz)
5 ea Eggs
3 oz Milk
10 oz Butter, Softened
New Yield: 2 pounds 8 oz, 14 pieces at 3 oz, 20 pieces at 2 oz
Original Recipe - Corn Muffins (see pictures, below)
10 oz Sugar
1 pound 10 oz All Purpose Flour
2 oz Baking Powder
9.5 oz Cornmeal
.25 oz Salt
1.5 cups Oil
8 oz Eggs
10 oz Water
10 oz Milk
Original yield: 5 pounds 5 oz, approx. 40 at 2 ounces
Tripled Recipe - Corn Muffins (conversion factor: 3)
1 lb 14 oz Sugar
4 lbs 14 oz AP Flour
6 oz Baking Powder
1 lb 12.5 oz Cornmeal
.75 oz Salt
4.5 cups Oil
1 lb 8 oz Eggs
1 lb 14 oz Water
1 lb 14 oz Milk
New yield: 15 pounds 15 oz, approx. 120 at 2 ounces
Halved Recipe - Corn Muffins (conversion factor .5)
5 oz Sugar
13 oz AP Flour
1 oz Baking Powder
4.75 oz Cornmeal
.125 oz Salt (1/8 oz)
.75 cups Oil
4 oz Eggs
5 oz Water
5 oz Milk
New yield: 2 pounds 10.5 oz, approx. 20 at 2 oz
Original Recipe - Brioche (see pictures, below)
2 pounds 8 ounces All Purpose Flour
.75 oz Salt
4.5 oz Sugar
.75 oz Instant Yeast
10 ea Eggs
6 oz Milk
1 pound 4 oz Butter, Softened
Original yield: 5 pounds, 28 pieces at 3 oz, 40 pieces at 2 oz
Tripled Recipe - Brioche (conversion factor: 3)
7 pounds 8 oz All Purpose Flour
2.25 oz Salt
13.5 oz Sugar
2.25 oz Instant Yeast
30 ea Eggs
1 lb 2 oz Milk
3 pounds 12 oz Butter, Softened
New Yield: 15 pounds, 84 pieces at 3 oz, 120 pieces at 2 oz
Halved Recipe - Brioche (conversion factor .5)
1 pound 4 oz All Purpose Flour
.375 oz Salt (3/8 oz)
2.25 oz Sugar
.375 oz Instant Yeast (3/8 oz)
5 ea Eggs
3 oz Milk
10 oz Butter, Softened
New Yield: 2 pounds 8 oz, 14 pieces at 3 oz, 20 pieces at 2 oz
Product Description
Brioche au Tete
Experience our rich, delicious individual-sized Brioche pastry bread. It's light, fluffy texture and melt in your mouth flavor will have you wanting more! Fabulous on its own, or pair it with our house made compound butter - savory or sweet, they can't be beat!
Experience our rich, delicious individual-sized Brioche pastry bread. It's light, fluffy texture and melt in your mouth flavor will have you wanting more! Fabulous on its own, or pair it with our house made compound butter - savory or sweet, they can't be beat!
Challah
Have a craving for a rich bread but can't tolerate dairy? This Challah's for you! This shiny loaf can be the star of your table; it pairs well with either sweet or savory meals, and also comes in knotted rolls. There's no butter or milk, so it's a great way to enjoy a slightly sweet, rich loaf of bread even if you're dairy or lactose intolerant!
Have a craving for a rich bread but can't tolerate dairy? This Challah's for you! This shiny loaf can be the star of your table; it pairs well with either sweet or savory meals, and also comes in knotted rolls. There's no butter or milk, so it's a great way to enjoy a slightly sweet, rich loaf of bread even if you're dairy or lactose intolerant!
This is a Fruit and Cream Pie Chef Fachko demonstrated for us in class. After slicing the fruit and layering it, she covered it with an apricot glaze. This is a picture of it without the glaze applied.
Individual Fruit and Cream Pie
An individual portion of our popular Fruit and Cream Pie (pictured above), this is prepared with fresh blueberries, strawberries and kiwis on an individual pie crust with a delicious pastry cream filling. A great way to end your meal on a sweet note!
An individual portion of our popular Fruit and Cream Pie (pictured above), this is prepared with fresh blueberries, strawberries and kiwis on an individual pie crust with a delicious pastry cream filling. A great way to end your meal on a sweet note!
Opportunities for Improvement
Here we have a picture of corn muffins that we made the first day of class. These were muffins in which our Chef intentionally left out the leavening. As you can see from the picture, not only did the muffins not rise, but they did not obtain any color.
These are the same basic recipe as the muffins our team made later the same day, but as you can tell from the pictures, the second batch turned out much better! Both muffins used the muffin mixing method and were baked at the same temperature.
Similarities: Same baking time, temperature and basic ingredients (with the exception of the jalapeno and cheddar add-in). Same type of oven and baking pan.
Differences: Crumb, color, muffin rise, taste. Despite being fully baked, the corn muffins without leavening did not taste done. They were fully cooked, but lacked the texture of a cooked muffin. They were very mealy. Many of them had tunneling, or large air pockets. Also, since they did not have the cheddar and jalapeno add-ins, they were a different flavor profile. Sorry, Chef! Ours were better! ;D
These are the same basic recipe as the muffins our team made later the same day, but as you can tell from the pictures, the second batch turned out much better! Both muffins used the muffin mixing method and were baked at the same temperature.
Similarities: Same baking time, temperature and basic ingredients (with the exception of the jalapeno and cheddar add-in). Same type of oven and baking pan.
Differences: Crumb, color, muffin rise, taste. Despite being fully baked, the corn muffins without leavening did not taste done. They were fully cooked, but lacked the texture of a cooked muffin. They were very mealy. Many of them had tunneling, or large air pockets. Also, since they did not have the cheddar and jalapeno add-ins, they were a different flavor profile. Sorry, Chef! Ours were better! ;D
Here you can see the corn muffins our team made, using jalapeno and cheddar cheese. They had leavening in them, so they rose much higher and were lighter and fluffier than the other corn muffins. They had a much softer crumb, and had a much better taste and texture overall. This was partly due to the extra flavor from the add-in ingredients, but the texture played a big part as well!
Utilization of Product
We made Blitz Puff Pastry dough in class. Puff pastry can be used to make several different types of desserts. Here are several things I came up with researching this versatile dough for class.
Napoleons, or layered desserts, are well-known confections. They translate to “thousand leaves” in Italian (mille foglie), and are typically made of puff pastry, pastry cream and chocolate. Delizioso!
Cream Horns are a type of dessert I have seen in pastry shops but never tried. I didn’t realize they were made of puff pastry! They are basically rolled around a mold and then filled with cream after being rolled in sugar. They sound delicious! I don’t know why I didn’t realize they were a pastry; I always thought they were more savory, which is why I never tried them.
Turnovers were staples in our house for unexpected company, or for special occasions, when I was growing up. My Mom always used dough she had on hand in the fridge. I didn’t realize it was puff pastry! These are basically individual pies filled with fruit (at least the way my Mom made them) and then drizzled with glaze.
Pinwheels are another dessert made from puff pastry. They can be filled before or after baking, and are typically sprinkled with sugar. I have never seen them anywhere, but they sound like they would be fun to make!
Finally, Puff Pastry Petits Fours are another type of dessert made with puff pastry dough. They are formed into a half moon shape and filled with apple compote. They sound very similar to a dessert I grew up with, but I can’t remember what it was called. Usually fruit filling was part of it, but I don’t recall apples. We had apricots and other flavors. We usually had them at the holidays.
Puff pastry really is a versatile product! Who knew so many different things could be made with it. I’m sure I’ve also seen it used in savory dishes as well, so it also has uses beyond desserts.
Napoleons, or layered desserts, are well-known confections. They translate to “thousand leaves” in Italian (mille foglie), and are typically made of puff pastry, pastry cream and chocolate. Delizioso!
Cream Horns are a type of dessert I have seen in pastry shops but never tried. I didn’t realize they were made of puff pastry! They are basically rolled around a mold and then filled with cream after being rolled in sugar. They sound delicious! I don’t know why I didn’t realize they were a pastry; I always thought they were more savory, which is why I never tried them.
Turnovers were staples in our house for unexpected company, or for special occasions, when I was growing up. My Mom always used dough she had on hand in the fridge. I didn’t realize it was puff pastry! These are basically individual pies filled with fruit (at least the way my Mom made them) and then drizzled with glaze.
Pinwheels are another dessert made from puff pastry. They can be filled before or after baking, and are typically sprinkled with sugar. I have never seen them anywhere, but they sound like they would be fun to make!
Finally, Puff Pastry Petits Fours are another type of dessert made with puff pastry dough. They are formed into a half moon shape and filled with apple compote. They sound very similar to a dessert I grew up with, but I can’t remember what it was called. Usually fruit filling was part of it, but I don’t recall apples. We had apricots and other flavors. We usually had them at the holidays.
Puff pastry really is a versatile product! Who knew so many different things could be made with it. I’m sure I’ve also seen it used in savory dishes as well, so it also has uses beyond desserts.
Favorite Product
Our practical project is due today, day 8 of Baking and Pastry Fundamentals (3/26/14), and I think today may be the day I name my favorite product made during class: turnovers. We got to make several versions. Raspberry, Blueberry, Spinach and Mushroom and Ham with Swiss. Maybe it's because we've had so many sweet items up to this point, but I think today was my favorite day. It was great seeing a savory application of puff pastry, and even better eating it! I think the Ham and Swiss turnovers we made were my favorite, followed closely by the Spinach with Mushroom. I don't typically like mushrooms, but I really liked them mixed in with the other ingredients of the filling.
Since we've written several papers, one of which was all about puff pastry, it was great to actually see it firsthand and taste a finished product. It was even better since we got to use it several ways; sweet, savory, filled, topped and merely rolled with cinnamon sugar. It really is a great product, as I'm sure my enthusiasm above will confirm.
Since we've written several papers, one of which was all about puff pastry, it was great to actually see it firsthand and taste a finished product. It was even better since we got to use it several ways; sweet, savory, filled, topped and merely rolled with cinnamon sugar. It really is a great product, as I'm sure my enthusiasm above will confirm.
Stills of Production
When making any product, it is very important to follow the appropriate steps to ensure success. Below are the steps for making Challah.
First, one must mise en place all necessary ingredients:
Challah Bread
Ingredients:
2 pounds 8 ounces Water, warm
2 ounces Instant Yeast
6.25 oz Brown Sugar
6.25 oz Vegetable Oil
11.5 oz Eggs
4 oz Egg Yolks
6 pounds Bread Flour
1.5 oz Salt
This is called scaling the recipe. Next, we mix the ingredients in the proper order. For Challah, it follows the Straight Dough Method, as follows:
Preparation: In 20 qt bowl with dough hook, mix 5 minutes on speed 1. On speed 2, mix 4-6 minutes or until a window pane can be pulled from the dough. That basically means that the dough is thin and see-through. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap to bulk ferment. Bulk ferment approximately 30 minutes. You can observe some of these steps, below.
After bulk fermentation, the dough is punched down (de-gassed) and portioned. For these rolls, after we portioned them they were rounded and rested, or bench proofed. This allowed them to rise again. After their second period of resting and rising, we did the final shape, which for these rolls was a knot. We did both single and double knots. They were then panned and allowed to proof for the final time before being baked, cooled and devoured.
In addition to the shaped rolls, we also made loaves and braided loaves. The method is the same, but the shaping stage is different. Check out the pictures below!
First, one must mise en place all necessary ingredients:
Challah Bread
Ingredients:
2 pounds 8 ounces Water, warm
2 ounces Instant Yeast
6.25 oz Brown Sugar
6.25 oz Vegetable Oil
11.5 oz Eggs
4 oz Egg Yolks
6 pounds Bread Flour
1.5 oz Salt
This is called scaling the recipe. Next, we mix the ingredients in the proper order. For Challah, it follows the Straight Dough Method, as follows:
Preparation: In 20 qt bowl with dough hook, mix 5 minutes on speed 1. On speed 2, mix 4-6 minutes or until a window pane can be pulled from the dough. That basically means that the dough is thin and see-through. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap to bulk ferment. Bulk ferment approximately 30 minutes. You can observe some of these steps, below.
After bulk fermentation, the dough is punched down (de-gassed) and portioned. For these rolls, after we portioned them they were rounded and rested, or bench proofed. This allowed them to rise again. After their second period of resting and rising, we did the final shape, which for these rolls was a knot. We did both single and double knots. They were then panned and allowed to proof for the final time before being baked, cooled and devoured.
In addition to the shaped rolls, we also made loaves and braided loaves. The method is the same, but the shaping stage is different. Check out the pictures below!