Hello all!
Well, I'm now into my third week of placement at Holtwhites Bakery & having a great time =)
The weeks seem to be progressing in a fairly routine manner & I'm coping quite well with the hours, although I do wish it was easier to get to sleep that first night!
So far there have been no major injuries, although I did manage to cut my thumb open last Friday, doing the drying up of all things, but that's about it. A few aches here & there, but that's to be expected. I do believe the muscles in my upper arms are already stronger than they were three weeks ago; by the time I leave I'll be a veritable strong-woman! =D
I've had quite a lot of experience with viennoiserie (croissants, pain
au chocolates, danishes, pain au raisins etc) so far. They make these twice a week, Wednesdays & Fridays, & it's a nice way to end the day, quite relaxing really =) Last Tuesday I
was allowed to make the Chelsea buns! And again this week! Quite an
honour too, or so I'm led to believe =)
Seeing as it's almost Easter, we're making lovely hot-cross buns. At
the moment the most we've done in a day is 120, but I think the plan is
to increase that number the closer to next weekend we get, so that
should be fun!
They're also going to make Simnel cakes to order. We made the first one yesterday, to test the recipe & marzipan-to-cake ratio. It was almost perfect, with just a small amount of tweaking required. It's surprising how difficult it is to evenly space 11 marzipan balls on top of a cake though, especially when they keep rolling off!
There's a different special every day; todays was a really lovely Soda Bread, which I mixed & scaled. They also do Raisin Rye Breads, Olive Ciabattas, Walnut bread, Apricot & Hazelnut bread, New York Deli rye (brilliant as a sandwich with their salt beef & mustard!) & a great looking Chocolate bread on Saturdays =)
Friday & Saturday mornings are by far the busiest of the week, with all the bakers in & working by 3.30am on Saturday, which makes for a very hectic bakery for the first few hours! We do such a huge number of tin loaves on Saturdays that it would be almost impossible to shape them all by hand; there just wouldn't be time, so, a tin loaf moulding machine is employed for that one morning.
Every other day though, it's all hands on deck to get the loaves & rolls shaped & ready to go =)
One of the really nice things about this bakery is that all the bakers get together for breakfast on a Saturday. Once things have quietened down a bit, usually around 10.00am, we all troop off to the pub next door. There isn't much time to chat & catch up during the week, so it's a nice thing to do, to give everyone the chance to get together & relax for a moment at the end of the week =)
So, all in all I'm having a great second placement so far =) Everyone has made me feel very welcome, & I think I've settled in quite well too. It's going to be very odd next Saturday, saying goodbye to the gang for the last time...
But enough of that! There's still seven busy baking days left before all that! =D
Wednesday 20 March 2013
Thursday 7 March 2013
So we're half way through week one of the placement, & I'm shattered!
It's been great through, the guys I'm working with are lovely, all very friendly & great to work with. I've been starting at 3.30am, which is a nicer time to start then at my last placement; I'm not having to go to sleep quite as early in the day, but it's still been a little tough to get into.
So far I've mostly been helping to shape the doughs as they're ready, some into tins, others as bloomers, as well as rolls. I've also been helping out with croissants, which has been a lot of fun!
Richard, who owns the bakery along with Kate, showed me how to use the sheeter to laminate the croissant dough, It's a slightly tricky task, requiring quite a bit of hand-eye co-ordination to stop the pastry flying off the end!
Look! Here I am! =)
Once the pastry had been laminated, it was popped back into the chiller until later in the day, when Richard rolled it out very thinly. We used 6 blocks of pastry to make croissants, danishes & pain au chocolates, which was great. We haven't done much in the way of croissants etc at School yet, so it was great to have that experience.
I've also been helping out with weighing out ingredients at the end of the shift, ready for use tomorrow. Whilst I'm starting at 3.30am, the first baker, Ian, gets in around 12-12.30am, followed by George at 1.30am, so there's already quite a bit done by the time I get in.
Holtwhites is quite a lot bigger than Shrewsbury Bakehouse, but whenever I say that everyone is really surprised, so I think I'm starting to understand just how small Shrewsbury Bakehouse really are! It's quite nice to have the experience of working with several bakers in a larger environment, but it does mean that I might have less involvement with the oven & mixing side of things, but that's alright =)
I think I really was spoilt with my first placement; being so close to home then has meant that this feels like a totally different experience, in fact I've been rather homesick. It's quite a daunting thing, to know that you're going to be away from friends & family for four weeks; it feels like an awful long time...
I'm actually staying with Richard & Kate, & their two small boys, as they live just a couple of minutes up the road from the bakery, & they've been really lovely. They've done a lot to make me feel welcome, so that's helped to take the edge off, but still, it can be a little lonely, especially as I don't know anyone down this neck of the woods, & I don't want to intrude too much on Richard & Kate's lives...
This weekend though I think I might head into London, as I'm not all that far away from there, & see the sights =) And next weekend I think I'm going to head home, just for a few days, so that will break the placement up nicely.
In the meantime, I'm going to continue to relax & gather my strength, ready for a busy couple of days =)
It's been great through, the guys I'm working with are lovely, all very friendly & great to work with. I've been starting at 3.30am, which is a nicer time to start then at my last placement; I'm not having to go to sleep quite as early in the day, but it's still been a little tough to get into.
So far I've mostly been helping to shape the doughs as they're ready, some into tins, others as bloomers, as well as rolls. I've also been helping out with croissants, which has been a lot of fun!
Richard, who owns the bakery along with Kate, showed me how to use the sheeter to laminate the croissant dough, It's a slightly tricky task, requiring quite a bit of hand-eye co-ordination to stop the pastry flying off the end!
Look! Here I am! =)
Once the pastry had been laminated, it was popped back into the chiller until later in the day, when Richard rolled it out very thinly. We used 6 blocks of pastry to make croissants, danishes & pain au chocolates, which was great. We haven't done much in the way of croissants etc at School yet, so it was great to have that experience.
I've also been helping out with weighing out ingredients at the end of the shift, ready for use tomorrow. Whilst I'm starting at 3.30am, the first baker, Ian, gets in around 12-12.30am, followed by George at 1.30am, so there's already quite a bit done by the time I get in.
Holtwhites is quite a lot bigger than Shrewsbury Bakehouse, but whenever I say that everyone is really surprised, so I think I'm starting to understand just how small Shrewsbury Bakehouse really are! It's quite nice to have the experience of working with several bakers in a larger environment, but it does mean that I might have less involvement with the oven & mixing side of things, but that's alright =)
I think I really was spoilt with my first placement; being so close to home then has meant that this feels like a totally different experience, in fact I've been rather homesick. It's quite a daunting thing, to know that you're going to be away from friends & family for four weeks; it feels like an awful long time...
I'm actually staying with Richard & Kate, & their two small boys, as they live just a couple of minutes up the road from the bakery, & they've been really lovely. They've done a lot to make me feel welcome, so that's helped to take the edge off, but still, it can be a little lonely, especially as I don't know anyone down this neck of the woods, & I don't want to intrude too much on Richard & Kate's lives...
This weekend though I think I might head into London, as I'm not all that far away from there, & see the sights =) And next weekend I think I'm going to head home, just for a few days, so that will break the placement up nicely.
In the meantime, I'm going to continue to relax & gather my strength, ready for a busy couple of days =)
Friday 1 March 2013
Well, that's it. Yesterday was the last taught day of Term 2.
Next week we're all off on our second placements; I'm off down to Enfield, to spend four weeks with the guys at Holtwhites Bakery. I'm feeling kind of nervous about it, but excited at the same time. Amy had her first placement there, back in December, & I know she had a great time, so I'm sure I will too =)
This last week has been great; we've gotten back to real bread, which, after two weeks of decorative, inedible bread, is such a relief!
We started off with some lovely loaves as well. First up, Wayne's Olive & Gruyere loaf!
We were all working individually this week, so Wayne could get an idea of where we're all at in terms of skill level etc, before we leave for placement. This meant a lot of hand mixing! Thankfully, the Olive & Gruyere loaf has such a lovely dough it was rather a pleasure. There's a small amount of olive oil that goes into the dough, right at the end, which makes it silky, smooth, & wonderful to work with.
Once the dough had proved, it was stretched out by hand, then liberally scattered with chopped olives & Gruyere cheese, like so...
It was then rolled up, dipped in water & rolled in a sesame seed mix, before being chopped in two, & placed cut-side up in a tin, like so...
They looked & smelt wonderful once they came out of the oven, & they were so tasty, only a few made it home in one piece, if at all!
We also made a Roasted Garlic & Caramelised Onion loaf on Monday, which also came out quite well, although I must admit I was less keen on the flavour, but then I'm not a fan of onion...
The loaf on the left was proved smooth side down in the basket, the other craggy side down, so I could see the difference between a loaf which was scored, & one left to burst naturally. Not intentional at all, but the cuts look a little like a scary pumpkin! Something to remember for Halloween perhaps? =)
Tuesday was a busy day, with four doughs to make & shape; a Caramelised Pecan & Chocolate loaf, a Fig & Walnut, Walnut & Blue Cheese, & finally a Raisin & Orange loaf.
All my doughs progressed as expected, except the Raisin & Orange, whose dough resembled something more like a stringy soup than anything bread related... We think it was either a particularly acidic orange, which denatured the gluten, or perhaps I added the orange too early, before the gluten had developed enough to cope...
But all was not lost, I simply put down another starter, ready to try again on Wednesday!
The only loaves we baked off on Tuesday were the Roasted Garlic & Caramelised Onion, so once we had divided & shaped all the other doughs & put them in the fridge to retard overnight, we were free to do some research for our freestyle loaves, to be made on Wednesday.
I chose to try my fruity Brioche again, so I made the dough up Tuesday afternoon, then popped it into the fridge to rest overnight. I also put my fruits to soak in raspberry tea, & set about drying some orange segments for my second freestyle loaf. This one would be an attempt at an Earl Grey & Orange sourdough. I took the water for the recipe, & stewed some Earl Grey teabags in it overnight.
First thing Wednesday, we baked off the three loaves from the day before.
Left to right are the Walnut & Blue Cheese, then Fig & Walnut, & last but not least, the Chocolate & Caramelised Pecan loaves. I'm really quite pleased with how they've all turned out. I only scored the Walnut & Blue Cheese loaves, & one each of the other two. The remaining loaves were proved craggy side down, & they've actually burst in a similar pattern to the intentional scores =)
Once the Brioche dough had warmed up to room temperature, I incorporated the soaked fruits & a touch of mixed spice, then left it to prove again. Then it was divided into 80g rolls, egg washed, & popped in the prover to rise again.
Before they went in the oven, they were egg washed a second time, & sprinkled with sugar nibs =)
They rose well in the oven, & smelt wonderful. Here they are, just out of the oven...
These were much improved from the last batch, full of lots of lovely fruity flavours, & actual fruit! I do think they could have been proved a little longer perhaps, or some more work put into developing the dough strength to improve its volume. And I think perhaps next time I'll soak the dried figs as well. I didn't this time as I was worried they'd get a little mushy, but in truth I think they dried the crumb out slightly... Wayne seemed to like them though =)
My Earl Grey & Orange Sourdough was quite a slow mover, so that went into the fridge to retard overnight, as did the Raisin & Orange loaves. They were also vastly improved from the previous attempt, this time an actual dough! With strength! And structure! =D
Both those loaves were baked off Thursday morning, & came out looking like so...
These were the Earl Grey & Orange sourdoughs; I'm really pleased with the way the cuts have opened, & with how much they sprung up in the oven. I was a little worried they wouldn't move at all, especially as I was using my sourdough culture I made when we were taught by Emmanuel a few weeks back.
The Raisin & Orange loaves came out looking alright as well, but I think my cuts needed to be deeper to really have any impact. They're very tasty though =)
Yesterday was flour confectionery, finishing off the week on a sweeter note. We were still looking at types of meringue this time, as well as a ganache & a boiled buttercream.
First thing we did was to make up the chocolate ganache, which used an obscene amount of double cream & chocolate! Then that went into the fridge to cool & set, so we made up some frangipan & a sweet pastry, to make little tarts.
We put a spoonful of jam, either apricot or blackcurrant, or some lemon curd into the bottom of the pastry cases, before piping on the frangipan. I was quite pleased with how mine came out in the end =)
We also made up some Japonaise fancies, a type of meringue that uses ground almonds & hazelnuts to give extra texture & flavour. These we piped out into discs & shell like shapes, then scattered with nibbed or flaked almonds, or left plain, & baked.
Clive (our tutor) had piped his Japonaise into three long strips, which he used to create the most epic meringue based dessert any of had ever seen! There was so much ganache used on this beast, it was crazy!
There was ganache in between each layer, then piped & smoothed down the sides, which were then coated in crushed pistachios. Then, a final layer piped on top!
Once our Japonaise fancies had cooled, we set about creating little towers & sandwiching them together with the ganache, & the tarts were topped with melted fondant, or with the boiled buttercream.
This was my tray of creations =)
All quite tasty, although I must admit I think the ganache is just a little too heavy for the meringues...
So that's it. Another term over & done with... I feel a little melancholic about it all. The years going so fast, before we know it, it'll be July, & it'll be over. But I've loved every minute so far, so the thing to do is make the most of my placement, get everything I can from it, then come back & take on Term 3!
I'll try & update while I'm on placement, but I make no guarantees! =D
Next week we're all off on our second placements; I'm off down to Enfield, to spend four weeks with the guys at Holtwhites Bakery. I'm feeling kind of nervous about it, but excited at the same time. Amy had her first placement there, back in December, & I know she had a great time, so I'm sure I will too =)
This last week has been great; we've gotten back to real bread, which, after two weeks of decorative, inedible bread, is such a relief!
We started off with some lovely loaves as well. First up, Wayne's Olive & Gruyere loaf!
We were all working individually this week, so Wayne could get an idea of where we're all at in terms of skill level etc, before we leave for placement. This meant a lot of hand mixing! Thankfully, the Olive & Gruyere loaf has such a lovely dough it was rather a pleasure. There's a small amount of olive oil that goes into the dough, right at the end, which makes it silky, smooth, & wonderful to work with.
Once the dough had proved, it was stretched out by hand, then liberally scattered with chopped olives & Gruyere cheese, like so...
It was then rolled up, dipped in water & rolled in a sesame seed mix, before being chopped in two, & placed cut-side up in a tin, like so...
They looked & smelt wonderful once they came out of the oven, & they were so tasty, only a few made it home in one piece, if at all!
We also made a Roasted Garlic & Caramelised Onion loaf on Monday, which also came out quite well, although I must admit I was less keen on the flavour, but then I'm not a fan of onion...
The loaf on the left was proved smooth side down in the basket, the other craggy side down, so I could see the difference between a loaf which was scored, & one left to burst naturally. Not intentional at all, but the cuts look a little like a scary pumpkin! Something to remember for Halloween perhaps? =)
Tuesday was a busy day, with four doughs to make & shape; a Caramelised Pecan & Chocolate loaf, a Fig & Walnut, Walnut & Blue Cheese, & finally a Raisin & Orange loaf.
All my doughs progressed as expected, except the Raisin & Orange, whose dough resembled something more like a stringy soup than anything bread related... We think it was either a particularly acidic orange, which denatured the gluten, or perhaps I added the orange too early, before the gluten had developed enough to cope...
But all was not lost, I simply put down another starter, ready to try again on Wednesday!
The only loaves we baked off on Tuesday were the Roasted Garlic & Caramelised Onion, so once we had divided & shaped all the other doughs & put them in the fridge to retard overnight, we were free to do some research for our freestyle loaves, to be made on Wednesday.
I chose to try my fruity Brioche again, so I made the dough up Tuesday afternoon, then popped it into the fridge to rest overnight. I also put my fruits to soak in raspberry tea, & set about drying some orange segments for my second freestyle loaf. This one would be an attempt at an Earl Grey & Orange sourdough. I took the water for the recipe, & stewed some Earl Grey teabags in it overnight.
First thing Wednesday, we baked off the three loaves from the day before.
Left to right are the Walnut & Blue Cheese, then Fig & Walnut, & last but not least, the Chocolate & Caramelised Pecan loaves. I'm really quite pleased with how they've all turned out. I only scored the Walnut & Blue Cheese loaves, & one each of the other two. The remaining loaves were proved craggy side down, & they've actually burst in a similar pattern to the intentional scores =)
Once the Brioche dough had warmed up to room temperature, I incorporated the soaked fruits & a touch of mixed spice, then left it to prove again. Then it was divided into 80g rolls, egg washed, & popped in the prover to rise again.
Before they went in the oven, they were egg washed a second time, & sprinkled with sugar nibs =)
They rose well in the oven, & smelt wonderful. Here they are, just out of the oven...
These were much improved from the last batch, full of lots of lovely fruity flavours, & actual fruit! I do think they could have been proved a little longer perhaps, or some more work put into developing the dough strength to improve its volume. And I think perhaps next time I'll soak the dried figs as well. I didn't this time as I was worried they'd get a little mushy, but in truth I think they dried the crumb out slightly... Wayne seemed to like them though =)
My Earl Grey & Orange Sourdough was quite a slow mover, so that went into the fridge to retard overnight, as did the Raisin & Orange loaves. They were also vastly improved from the previous attempt, this time an actual dough! With strength! And structure! =D
Both those loaves were baked off Thursday morning, & came out looking like so...
These were the Earl Grey & Orange sourdoughs; I'm really pleased with the way the cuts have opened, & with how much they sprung up in the oven. I was a little worried they wouldn't move at all, especially as I was using my sourdough culture I made when we were taught by Emmanuel a few weeks back.
The Raisin & Orange loaves came out looking alright as well, but I think my cuts needed to be deeper to really have any impact. They're very tasty though =)
Yesterday was flour confectionery, finishing off the week on a sweeter note. We were still looking at types of meringue this time, as well as a ganache & a boiled buttercream.
First thing we did was to make up the chocolate ganache, which used an obscene amount of double cream & chocolate! Then that went into the fridge to cool & set, so we made up some frangipan & a sweet pastry, to make little tarts.
We put a spoonful of jam, either apricot or blackcurrant, or some lemon curd into the bottom of the pastry cases, before piping on the frangipan. I was quite pleased with how mine came out in the end =)
We also made up some Japonaise fancies, a type of meringue that uses ground almonds & hazelnuts to give extra texture & flavour. These we piped out into discs & shell like shapes, then scattered with nibbed or flaked almonds, or left plain, & baked.
Clive (our tutor) had piped his Japonaise into three long strips, which he used to create the most epic meringue based dessert any of had ever seen! There was so much ganache used on this beast, it was crazy!
There was ganache in between each layer, then piped & smoothed down the sides, which were then coated in crushed pistachios. Then, a final layer piped on top!
Once our Japonaise fancies had cooled, we set about creating little towers & sandwiching them together with the ganache, & the tarts were topped with melted fondant, or with the boiled buttercream.
This was my tray of creations =)
All quite tasty, although I must admit I think the ganache is just a little too heavy for the meringues...
So that's it. Another term over & done with... I feel a little melancholic about it all. The years going so fast, before we know it, it'll be July, & it'll be over. But I've loved every minute so far, so the thing to do is make the most of my placement, get everything I can from it, then come back & take on Term 3!
I'll try & update while I'm on placement, but I make no guarantees! =D
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