This semester I'm in a class called Baking Science. Every week in lab we get hands on experience making all types of breads and baked goods. From whole wheat, sourdough, white bread to fococcia, pizza crust, pie crust and cakes. Of course, it isn't just a baking class because we talk about ingredient functionality, flour quality, and the chemical reactions occurring during baking and how to change formulations and problem solve in the baking industry. It is so interesting and useful!
Here are some of my whole wheat loaves. We have to score them on their crust color, grain, crumb, symmetry and texture. It's hard work to get them to look like this but they make such good sandwich bread. Sam and I have hardly bought any bread from the store because I bring home so much. It's one of the perks of majoring in grain science.
We learned how to make the perfect, flaky pie crust and then got to make our own pies.
If you want to make a flaky pie crust the key is very cold ingredients to make sure your fat doesn't melt into your flour and don't over-mix.
Here are some tips:
-refrigerate your mixing bowl and paddle
-cut up your fat (shortening or lard) and refrigerate it
-refrigerate your flour
-use ice water
-when you cut your fat into your flour make sure you don't make the fat pieces too small (the smaller the fat pieces the less flaky the crust will be)
