self-teaching

There's something empowering about learning to do something on your own. You have to research and figure things out. And when you get stuck, you have to work your way out of the situation. On the other hand, it can be very frustrating when things don't go right and you can't figure out what is going wrong.

Since I'm teaching myself to bake, I thought perhaps I should take a stab at puff pastry. It seems like something I should know how to do as an aspiring baker. I hesitate to use the term "pastry chef" because I'm not certain that's what I would like to be when I grow up. (But you never know!)

The current standings are:

Puff Pastry - 2
Summer - 0

It's  not going so well so far. The result is fine, I suppose, but it isn't right. It's marbled with butter as opposed to being layered with butter and I can't quite figure out where I'm going wrong. This is where I need a real life (not a youtube) demo.

In other news, I've been reading Alton Brown's book, I'm Just Here for More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking and it's been a good read so far. Last night I made his biscuit recipe and while I overcooked them slightly, they were still tasty. The dough was very wet and sticky and that tripped me up a bit. I think I'll try them again and modify the recipe slightly next time.

I also baked up a batch of chocolate chocolate chip cookies today and they are delicious. I have eaten far too many (my quick run did not even come close to evening that out) but I could not stop myself. I got the recipe online somewhere and I cannot now remember where. I'll have to find it and link to it because it's definitely a keeper!

Disclosure: This blog contains affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link, I may earn a commission if you make a purchase via that link, at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support! :)