Toasted Almonds

Toasting almonds brings out the amazing flavor hidden in raw almonds. Natural almonds tend to be harder and grittier in your mouth. Roasted almonds have a fuller flavor and softer to chew. They also have a rich brown color. Oils in nuts help bring out the flavor when toasted.

picture from www.nutsonline.com

Testy Chocolate

When we think of chocolate, covered cherries and cinnamon bears come to mind, but how do these delectable treats come to be smothered in chocolate? The process is called tempering. For how delicious chocolate is, it is more temperamental then expected. To obtain melted chocolate to cover treats, the best method is a double boiler to prevent burning the 

chocolate and to achieve evenly melted chocolate. The purpose of tempering chocolate is introduce stable crystal seeds to the chocolate to create a hard, crystalized structure and give chocolate that snap. Once the chocolate has been melted in a double broiler, add pieces of unmelted chocolate to act as the seeds and gently fold the chocolate. When the chocolate texture begins to thicken, the chocolate is ready. Enjoy!

Picture from www.chefeddy.com

 

Funky Fondant

I have discovered that my calling in job may not be cake making, but I could make caramels. Making fondant is using the principle of supersaturated solution of water and sugar. Corn syrup which is made of glucose and fructose is added to the sugar and water and brought to a boil. This takes about 4-5 minutes for the sugar to dissolve. On high heat, bring the mixture to 233 degrees  then again pour the mixture onto a buttered sheet. The mixture is a clear-yellowish color and glass consistency. Once the fondant has cooled to a 100 degrees, the fondant can be handled. Do not get the dough scraper wet. All of the water was boiled out of the mixture and that is how the mixture gets its hardness. Continue to move the fondant around the sheet in a figure eight shape. After about 12-15 minutes the fondant will turn a white color and begin to crumble. Begin to knead the fondant with your hands into a smooth ball shape. My fondant turned out to be as hard as a rock and was overcooked. In the future I would obtain a thermometer that sits in the pan to measure internal temperature and not only surface temperature. Watch the amount of time the mixture is allowed to boil to prevent overcooking the fondant. 

My second attempt at Fondant was met with as much as trouble. I again created a supersaturation solution of cream and sugar, using again corn syrup.This mixture began to boil faster and more violently (hence, why a tall saucepan). When this mixture was poured onto the buttered sheet is was a tan color and immediately began to cool and harder. AS it cooled I began working with the fondant hoping to restore a creamy texture. The fondant grew harder and stickier. I ended up with a ball of candy that was a camel color and tasted like caramel.

Pictures from www.cakejournal.com and www.faculty.clintoncc.suny.edu

English Toffee

Bottom of the Toffee pan

Hot Toffee

Cooled Toffee

To learn the lesson of crystal structures- make candy. In English Toffee patience and precision are essential. In a large saucepan (to prevent boiling over) boil the water, water, and liquid corn syrup. Once boiling is reached, add the butter and continue stirring to prevent burning. Once the butter has melted stop stirring! Stirring can agitate the toffee causing the toffee to immediately crystalize. The butter can separate from the sugar causing a oily layer. With a pastry brush and water, brush the sugar crystals down the pan back into the mixture. Always watch the toffee. It burns quickly! Three signs can indicate the toffee is done. 1. Toffee reached 300 degrees, 2. Toffee begins to smoke, 3. Toffee turns a dark brown like it is burning. At 270 degrees the toffee was done and Vanilla was immediately added and throughly mixed in to give the toffee a vanilla flavor and brown coloring. Any one of these three signs is reason to remove the toffee and carefully pour the toffee onto a buttered cookie sheet. Do not scrape the bottom of the pan because that will be the burning part of the toffee and will make the toffee taste burnt. Pour the toffee on a buttered sheet so it does not stick to the sheet. After about 30 minutes the toffee is cool and can be broken into small pieces and enjoyed.

Ready to Eat!

Pleasant Pudding

Pudding with Cornstarch

Many recipes call for a thickening agent. In our pudding recipes we use and compare cornstarch and flour. Starch is composed of glucose monomers held together by Glycosidic bonds from the Carbohydrate family. Cornstarch is pure starch and acts as a thickener by swelling with water and taking on the flavor of the recipe. The pudding first takes on a frothy look and is a yellow color. While the milk if coming to a boil, keep stirring to prevent the milk from burning. The milk turns a creamy white and becomes a thicker liquid. Vitamin D milk to used to be the source of fats for the pudding. Milk boils at a high temperature, but also burns quickly. The boiling milk is added to the cornstarch mixture and again keep stirring to prevent the egg from scrambling and heating the cornstarch too quickly and gelating the surface. This mixture is returned to the pan and continues to boil until the mixture thickens and is a creamy white. Now with a strainer, the pudding is sieved through to create a smooth consistency. While still warm take butter from the previous emulsion experiment and add it to the pudding to creating a creamier texture. The vanilla is added at the end which gives the pudding the vanilla flavoring and brown color. Do not add too much vanilla for a little goes a long way. In the future use less vanilla so it does not over power the pudding and add more sugar to increase the sweetness. Beating the eggs could also increase the pudding's fluffiness. The pudding tastes creamy and of vanilla. And if let to sit, a "skin" forms over the top of the pudding that is attributed to the protein Gluten.  

Pudding with "skin"

Pudding with Flour. Not as thick.

Flour on the other hand contains a small amount of starch and takes more flour to reach the same thickness. Flour recipes also end up with an opaque appearance. And do not need to be heated as long as the cornstarch. The pudding recipe follows the above recipe and is similar except for the step of boiling the milk and egg mixture together. Once boiling, the mixture is not as thick and does not have a creamy texture. In the end, this pudding was not as creamy or thick as the first recipe and almost had a gritty texture. Only 2 tablespoons of Butter were added which can cause the pudding to not be as creamy. Again, add less Vanilla to prevent the vanilla from overpower the pudding.

Picture from www.wikipedia.com

Butta'

Another lesson in emulsions is making Butter. Making Butter is simpler than it seems and only requires an enduring forearm. Heavy cream starts out our mixture. Heavy cream is combination of water, proteins, and fats. Phospholipids act as our stabilizer in heavy cream. Whisk the cream until it starts to stick together, then keep whisking until the creams starts to clump together then kept whisking until the creams turns creamier and takes on a thicker appearance. This takes about 10-15 minutes. The persistent whisking is essential for breaking the bonds of the heavy creams and introducing energy to form new bonds. The newly formed bonds are held together by Van Der Waals interactions. Once the creams transitions to a butter precursor, the cream will begin to "sweat". At this point the butter looks like cake frosting and smells of milk. Remove the buttermilk to a separate bowl. For reference, this buttermilk is not cultured like buttermilk from the grocery store and can be discarded. Continue whisking the butter until it turns yellow and creamy like a spread. You are finished once you add a pinch of salt to taste. Do not over salt the butter! 

Picture from www.recipetips.com

On the other hand...

When we do not have all of the ingredients listed in a recipe, we all try to skirt around the missing piece to avoid a trip to the grocery store. In the case of Mayonnaise, not having one egg is well worth the voyage to the store.

The picture says it all. Adding the Canola oil to only the Dijon mustard creates a gritty-like liquid mixture. The consistency is extremely oily and does not hold together as in the first recipe. Keep whisking the Mayonnaise to achieve the desired results. In this recipe the Mayo is not light and fluffy due to lack of egg white. Despite whisking the mixture, separation occurs and the mixtures stays a buttery, yellow coloring even when the lemon juice is added.

Marvelous Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise is an example of an emulsion, which is defined as the non-polar and polar end of molecules coming together and staying together with the assistance of a stabilizer. In plain terms: two ingredients mixing and staying together. In this particular Mayonnaise recipe, the addition of one large egg yolk acted as our "glue". The egg yolk contains Lecithin, which is a fatty substance that acts as our emulsifier. Canola oil is added to the egg yolk DROP by DROP. Canola oil is the source of Triglycerides. It is essential that the oil is added slowly because if not, the oil will separate out and will not be stabilized by the Dijon mustard. The mustard acts as a stabilizer and a source of carbohydrates. Once the oil, egg, and mustard is added, keep whisking to prevent separation and at this time the mixture will be a vanilla-yellow color, and a sticky consistency. Keep whisking the mixture until a whipped texture is reached. Add the lemon juice to kill any present bacteria and to bleach the mixture a whitish-yellow. The last step is to add a pinch of salt for taste and to aid the breaking down of yolk granules to become more viscous. The end product is a whitish, creamy texture that can be smoothy scooped in a dish. The texture is creamy and the constancy is fluffy and a taste dominated by the Dijon mustard and the sweet lemon juice.

Cereal

This Fall semester I am enrolled in a course called Culinary Chemistry in desperate hope to learn how to cook. Currently, my repertoire consists of cereal, PB & J, and occasionally frozen pizza's. I will admit- I cannot cook. Through this course and and the assistance of McGee, I am envisioning a complete transformation into a master chef, of least master spaghetti.

Picture from www.sodahead.com