Level 2...START!

This is the beginning week of our level two classes and so far it has being a lot of fun. We have learned how to make various shapes and sizes of bread and buns including: baguette, whole wheat and white loaves, dinner buns, epis rye and other items like bagels. Everything needs to go into the proofer ( a mildly humid and warm environment where yeast can quickly multiply and give volume) pretty early in the morning so by the time 10:30 rolls around we are done producing and just focus on baking and packaging.

 It’s a shame we aren’t able to create artisan style breads in this level because I have been curious in how they are made, with their crisp crust and openly porous centers. Rolling small buns is something to get the hang of and using both hands is going to take some work; it’s not a simple roll into a ball method but the dough is rolled tightly as to create a nice round and smooth surface.

My good friends from animation threw a BBQ last night ( such a good time) and since the tiramisu I made last time was such a hit I decided to make it again. I never fold in raw egg whites into the mascarpone but this time I had a brilliant idea of folding in Italian meringue!

Egg whites when foamed and folded in give a nice light volume to the cream but the idea of eating raw whites turns me off and throwing in whipped cream is just blasphemy!

So instead I used Italian meringue which is basically whipped egg whites but they are cooked by slowly pouring in very hot syrup. The volume created this way is nearly double that of French meringue and a lot more stable, plus it creates an awesome white colour.

  For the mascarpone base I do the usual egg yolk vanilla bean custard folded into the REAL mascarpone (in Italy the cows feed on various wild herbs and flowers giving the cream a distinctive aroma rather than what you will find locally).
I have to say this variance worked out really well! The cream is smooth but light and tastes awesome!