Week 2 -- Light Rye Bread, Foccacia, Sticky Buns

This week in lab we made yeast breads. Tyler and I worked together to make Light Rye Bread, Foccacia, and Sticky Buns. I began working on the light rye while tyler started the sticky buns. Chef Mark prepared the sponge for us before class because it needed to sit for an hour before we got there. To make the dough, I put the sponge in the mixer and added caraway seeds, powdered milk, and salt. While it mixed, I added the flour a little bit at a time. After mixing for a while, chef recommended that I take it out of the mixer and knead it by hand. After kneading for about 5 minutes, we decided that it wasn't going to get any better, so we let it ferment. Chef had me throw the bread in an open oven to let it ferment. Then a little bit later I saw him messing with it. Apparently the oven was a little to hot and my bread had kind of started cooking! He took it out and put in the combi oven which was finally through the cleaning cycle.

Light Rye Bread

While the light rye was fermenting, I started the foccacia bread. Foccacia is made using the straight dough method. I combined the yeast, sugar, and water, and then added the flour a little bit at a time. After the dough was mixed, I added onions and salt. I took it out of the mixer to knead it by hand. It was very sticky, so chef had me put it back in the mixer for a little bit longer. Since it was so sticky, I added tiny bits of flour at a time to try to fix it and I think it worked. I took the dough out of the mixer and let it ferment in the combi oven.

Foccacia Bread

When the rye was done fermenting, I punched it down (fun!) and formed it into a ball. I use the term "done fermenting" very loosely. My rye wasn't really rising like some of the others, probably because of the previously mentioned oven debacle! After forming the rye, it had to go back in the combi to proof.

After the foccacia was finished fermenting, I puched it down (fun again!) and pressed it onto a half sheet pan. I brushed the foccacia with olive oil and we sprinkled rosemary, salt, and freshly-cracked black pepper on top. Then, the dough had to go back into the combi to proof.

After both breads were done proofing, we put them in the oven. The rye didn't turn out well at all, which was the case for most of the other students too. Chef thinks it has to do with the fact that the recipe called for rye flour and whole wheat flour instead of rye flour and bread flour. He thought that would've worked out better. Our foccacia turned out really good, so I was really proud of that! The black pepper was a nice addition to the recipe. I think it worked out really well with the rosemary.

While I was working on the rye and foccacia, Tyler was making the sticky buns. First he mad the dough. He mixed and kneaded it by hand. He had a really good rhythm going while he kneaded the dough. I bet it's because of the practice he's gotten making pizza at Angelino's. While the dough was fermenting, he made the filling and the topping. He greased a muffin pan and then put spoonfuls of topping in each muffin cup. After the dough finished fermenting, he rolled it out and spread the filling on it. Then he rolled it jelly roll style, cut it into slices, and put them in the muffin cups. After the sticky buns baked, he took them out of the oven and immediately turned them out onto a sheet pan. They turned out really well. We were both really happy with them.