ROUSES.COM
45
baked goods
Meet Our Pastry Chef —
chaya
Restaurant:
Rouses Markets, Bakery Director
I HAD A CRUSH
on one of my friend’s brothers who was in the culinary program
in high school, so I decided I would sign up for it, too. He didn’t make it to the CIA
(Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, NY), but I did.
MY FIRST BAKING JOB WAS
at Genois Bakery, which was the best bakery in
Vermont. I said I was 15, because you had to be 15 to work there without a permit,
but I was really 14.
PEOPLE ARE INTIMIDATED BY BAKING
because it’s not as easy to correct
mistakes as it is with cooking. And in general, you have to follow directions – if
you add more butter or more sugar, you’ll mess it up. But inclusions are easy. You
can add flavors to icing; you can add nuts, chocolate chips, sprinkles, those sorts of
things, and not mess up a recipe.
PUDDINGS AND STARTCH-BASED FILLINGS HAVE TO COME TO A
BOIL
or they won’t thicken. You can cook them and cook them and cook them, but
if they don’t come to a boil, they will never thicken.
OOZING FILINGS
are one of the biggest mistakes home bakers make. The filing
inside a cake is generally softer than regular icing. If you pipe a dam (a line of icing)
before you fill the inside of a cake, which will keep the filling from oozing out the sides.
THE SECRET TO A PERFECT DOBERGE CAKE
is in the layers. You cut all of
them by hand from a bigger cake. You need a serrated knife and a turn table or Lazy
Susan. Score the cake all the way around, going ½ inch deep on the first pass, then
one inch, then two inches, then you can swipe through for a clean layer. Don’t try to
cut the cake in one turn or it will come out uneven.
DOBERGE CAKES AND PETIT FOURS
are made with poured fondant, a
creamy, flexible icing that gives them that pretty, smooth top.We use rolled fondant,
a stiffer version, on wedding cakes.
I BAKE WEDDING CAKES
for my friends’ weddings. That’s my gift to the bride
and groom.
NAPOLEONS ARE MADE WITH LAMINATED DOUGH
, which you can find
in our freezer cases.With laminated dough, the air is caught in the layers between the
fat and the dough, and expands
when heated. Danish dough is
also laminated. Croissants are
made with laminated dough that
has yeast, which gives off gas as
the dough proofs, causing the
layers to rise. You have to proof
the dough at room temperature
so it doesn’t melt.
ECLAIRS ANDCREAMPUFFS
are piped underneath so you don’t
have to cut the top (most never
look at the bottom). That’s how we
do our filled king cakes, too. Donuts
are filled from the side. Cannolis are
filled from both sides. The trick is to
start in the middle and fill to the
end. If you start at the end, you’ll
never get if filled.
TOOLS OF THE TRADE:
BAKING ESSENTIALS
•
Stand Mixer
•
Submersion Blender
•
DoughWhisk
Has a heavier
handle and is thicker and than
your normal whisk so your batters
and doughs don’t get gunked
up between the wires.
•
Heat Proof Silicone
Spatula
For folding and mixing, and my go-to to
scrape down the sides of my mixer, bowls, pots and pans.
•
Bowl Scraper
Same
concept as a silicone
spatula, but curved on one
side and straight on the
other, so I can use it to mix
or to cut soft doughs.
•
Tapered Rolling Pin
Look for one a good finish to
keep the dough from sticking. I use my rolling pin to roll
out dough or softening dough that is too cold.
•
Chef’s Knife
•
Candy/Oil Thermometer
Emeril Lagasse says a
thermometer is a cook’s best friend, and he’s right. You
can use a regular thermometer to check oven
temperatures, but this tool measures up to 500 degrees.
•
Digital Scale
I like to weigh
my ingredients instead of using
measuring cups. It’s more exact.
•
Pastry Cutter
•
Flat Sheets
To prevent
uneven cooking.
•
Blow Torch
Use this to caramelize a layer of sugar on
a crème brulée, melt marshmallows and brown the
peaks of a meringue pie. I also use mine to sear
tomatoes and peppers.
•
Pastry Brushes
I use them for glazing,
brushing butter and chocolate, etc. Use
a pastry brush to glaze an egg wash
on raw dough before it goes
into the oven and you’ll get
a shiny, beautiful crust.
•
Pastry Bags & Tips
