Croissants and Danishes

Eat your <3 out Cinnabon!

My Love Affair with Viennoiserie

Orange Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Viennoiserie is the art of bread making. I say art because bread making is a feeling. It's not a technique or a recipe. It's not something that can just be learned, it has to be in the person. And when someone with this special gift makes bread, the bread has a personality, a history, a soul. When you eat a fine piece of bread it has a story to tell you, unlike a flat piece of lifeless bread that you purchase in a plastic bag at the supermarket.


Challah


Brioche Nanterre

I'm not a carb lover not at all. I would pass up rice, noodles, and bread for meat and veggies any day. But when I'm up against a really good piece of bread and some high quality salted butter I can not resist. Somehow the bread becomes the entree instead of the inconsequential filler that gets passed out in the beginning of a meal. You know when a restaurant is going to be good when already from the start the bread and butter is delicious.


Petit Pains


Kugelhopf

I have just finished the viennoiserie section in school. I have to admit that during this course I was having a lot of trouble. At this point the curriculum has stepped up a notch. Instead of making just one item, like in the beginning when we made an apple tart, we are balancing four or five at the same time. Things are being prepped, started, continued, or being finished throughout the day. We are being trained in writing itineraries to plan out the day so we know in what order and when things have to be done. You want to be most efficient with your time. Making bread is labor intensive. It needs to be cared for. First you make a lumpy batter with yeast. Depending on what method you are using (straight dough, old dough, poolish, or sourdough method) more flour, water, and other ingredients might be added later. The dough is kneaded. Then rested and allowed to proof. However it is not to be ignored either! You still have to look at it and when its ready it has to be turned and then allowed to rest and proof again. Good artisanal bread is hand shaped. There is a lot of hands on work for good bread. Because you watch it grow from a skimpy, lumpy batter to a voluminous, soft, and smooth dough you can't help but feel an attachment to your bread. Bread bakers love their dough.


Sally Lunn Rolls


English Muffins

In the beginning I didn't get all this. I didn't know when to do what and why. I was lost and confused during the whole section. But I really enjoyed making bread. There's something very fullfilling about the whole process, watching it grow and caring for it, feeling the soft dough with my hands, and then taking home something so wholesome and hearty to share with my friends and family. By the end I got it. It's not a when or what or why. It's just a feeling. When the chef came over to grade me on the three breads I had to make for the practical she said to me, "I can tell you really have a love for making bread because it shows in the bread itself." That was an awesome feeling!


Soft Rolls


Baguette


Focaccia