Back to baking again...

Well, after more than a month, I finally was able to get back to my weekly ritual of baking. You see, I was off to San Francisco for a professional baking class at the San Francisco Baking Institute and got back last weekend. I took the Viennoiserie class to learn how to make croissants, Danish and other buttery goodness. The class was excellent and it was probably one of the most satisfying things I have done in a long time.

Before all the knowledge leaked out of my ears, I wanted to try something from the class. I decided to start simple and made sticky buns. They turned out pretty well but I need to adjust the baking temperature and time. Everything we learned in class is targeted for a bakery shop so I have to translate some of the techniques to make it work at home.

The biggest thing is working out a baking temperature and time for a regular oven when the recipe is calibrated for a convection oven. I overshot the temperature a little and the tops were getting dark but when I tipped the buns out, the glaze hadn't fully caramelized. Still very edible, but next time I think I will turn the temperature down a bit and bake them for just a bit longer.



I also did another run at baguettes. They turned out well and I was really pleased with the crust. You could actually hear the crust cracking when I took them out of the oven.