Sunday, August 9, 2009

Day 1: Brooklyn

Today was the first official day of the Paula's Pastry Project, and I have to say, it was kind of a disaster. Which is really embarrassing because, well, I do this every day. And I get paid to do this. All I had to make was a simple birthday cake and a batch of no-bake cheesecakes. But I did learn a very valuable lesson. Baking is so much easier when you start with a clean, organized kitchen.

I did not start with a clean kitchen. I started with dishes in the sink that my fiance, Michael, should have done days ago (sorry sweetie but ya should've) and clutter on the countertops, which don't have a lot of space to begin with. I was a mess.

To begin, I made the first recipe in the book from the first chapter, titled "Brooklyn Inspirations". I have to say I am most excited about this chapter (& the academy awards chapter, its a tie) because New York pastries are iconic, a staple in today's American pastry world. Sherry introduces the chapter with a few pages on her childhood in Brooklyn. And when you think of pastries or desserts from your childhood, what do you immediately think of? Birthday cake. Of course. Everyone's had it, atleast one made by mom or grandma or aunt-whoever. Great way to start the life and times of Sherry Yard.

Back to my mess. First off, as I'm pouring ingredients from a measuring cup into a running mixer, my hand somehow loses grip on the cup and it falls into the mixer going clunk-clunk-clunk until I clumsily realize what is going on and turn off the mixer. In my hurried attempt to turn off the mixer, I knock over the open bottle of vanilla extract sitting on the counter and it gets all over my t-shirt and all over the counter. And it was a brand new extra large bottle of vanilla, and I'm stingy when it comes to extracts. Anyways I ran and got my camera to take a picture (but it was out of battery so by the time I got it to work, the vanilla set in so much that the countertops are now semi-permantely stained and need to be bleached.

Isn't my mixer beautiful? I still haven't named her yet, but I'm thinking of naming her Susan after my two Aunt Susan's who bought it for me :) Best gift ever!

Anyways, I managed to finish the birthday cake. Its a simple white cake made with whole eggs and plain milk. Although I love most of Sherry's recipes, this one is not my favorite white cake. SORRY! I do know that I tend to overbake this cake (I have made this before). It does not brown on the tops like most white or yellow cakes. So it looks raw when its actually ready. It came out pretty dry.


I also am not crazy about the icing. It has two ingredients - butter and chocolate. Its a little too much for me. I prefer a light swiss buttercream. This icing is also very soft like a ganache, and I prefer a thicker icing for birthday cake.

Here is the finished product!


The second recipe in the book is no bake mini cheesecakes with a nilla wafer crust. They were delicious! And so simple and quick to make! Definitly a keeper recipe!
They were a little soft cause I didnt let them set up properly before eating them. I also didnt pulse the nilla wafers cause I was lazy and didnt want to have to clean up the food processor. So I turned them into crumbs by hand, which might be why they didnt stick together at all and were very, well, crumbly. And hard to eat. But that didnt stop the ladies at the knit shop from eating them and licking the paper liner clean, literally!

All in all, a good start to my project. Can't wait for the end of this chapter where I get to make pretzels!

Oh and I must introduce my helper, Joey.
She is always at my feet while I bake.

2 comments:

  1. Is your mixer the 600 series in Chrome? If so we have the same one! hehe :)

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  2. yes it is! its the best although I kinda want to try the cuisinart 1000 watt mixer with the digital timer!

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