Author: joepastry

Bread of the Magi

Where does kugelhopf come from? The Holy Roman Empire. That term isn’t terribly helpful since at its height the Holy Roman Empire comprised everything from Belgium to the Czech Republic, Northern Italy up through Switzerland, Austria and Germany to Western Poland. That’s a big area, can we get any more specific? Well we know that kugelhopf, which is German word, is made from brioche. That’s a French word for a Viennese bread that was probably first invented in Poland. Does that help any? Nah, not really.

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Speak to Me of Brioche

Brioche is one of those base pastry components that most of us take for granted, and that’s a mistake because brioche is miraculous in itself. It’s a bread, but more than that a golden bread, and more than that a very rich but still feather light golden bread, full of egg yolks and butter (sometimes brown butter, which cranks the deliciousness factor still higher). But how can a bread contain so much egg and milk fat yet remain so light? Friends, it’s all in the mixing.

The story of pastry is one of war between the forces of Up and the forces of Down. The Up brigade consists of all the materials that give a baked item its volume and lightness: mainly white, gluten-rich wheat flour but also water, egg whites and leavers like yeast and baking powder. Together these components form what you might think of as the beams and girders of a bread or cake layer. They are the structure that surrounds and contains the empty space in the crumb.

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Well that s*cked.

Today is the first day I’ve felt close to normal in over a week. My doctor warned me I’d feel sick until Monday and be exhausted ’til Thursday, and his prediction was pretty much spot-on. I’ll be back after it tomorrow morning, thankful that even though I had the world’s longest bout of flu, at […]

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Chocolate Just Got More Interesting

Chocolate- and/or sugar-extruding 3D printers have existed on the margins of the pastry world for a year or two. Beginning this week they may just become commonplace, following 3D Systems’ unveiling of the ChefJet at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The cheapest models cost about $5,000, which means only high-end pastry departments will be able to afford them for now. And maybe that’s for the best. I’m not sure I’d eat something like this in front of the TV on a Tuesday night. Photo from Make Magazine.

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On the whole, I’d rather be in Philadelphia.

Clawing one’s way back from true flu — not some cheap knock-off made in a sweatshop in Queens — takes time. On my examination yesterday, I was prescribed bed rest, fluids, Tylenol and no more than an hour of work per day until Monday. All of which is to say that if you’re distressed by […]

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Presenting ze “Coffee Croissant”

Reader Aaron of Hewn Bakery in Evanston, Illinois (a near-north suburb of Chicago) writes to say that he and his team have invented a new coffee croissant, created by infusing the détrempte with concentrated coffee. He was kind enough to invite me up to try one if I was still in Chicago and I certainly would if I wasn’t already sick with flu in Louisville. They’ll be debuting the new croissants this Wednesday. They were planning on tomorrow, but from what I understand Evanston, like Chicago, is presently encased in a single solid block of ice.

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Shakespeare in the Bush

When you’re laying around sick you don’t have a lot of energy for intense reading, and laughter makes great medicine (though rather poor cough syrup). I delighted in this little jewel of writing today, and thought you might too. It’s been standard reading in anthropology departments since it was published in 1966, mostly for what it says about communicating between cultures, but surely also for its charm and hilarity. I’m surprised I’ve never run across it before. You only need to know the bare outline of the plot of Hamlet to get the jokes. If not there’s always Dr. Sparky Sweets. Just remember that Laertes is the son of Polonius (and brother of Ophelia) who gets sent away at the beginning of the play. Also Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the “age mates” who try to pump Hamlet for information early on, then later accompany Hamlet to England, bringing with them a sealed letter from Claudius that instructs the King of England to execute Hamlet immediately.

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Next Up: Kugelhopf

Since most of us still have a pile of rich sweets, candies and chocolates to deal with at home, it seems something a bit less indulgent is the way to go this week. And anyway, my kugelhopf pan hasn’t been getting enough use!

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