Jumping Off…

There are many misconceptions about pastry that I hope to shatter along our journey. That pastry is:

• Too scientific
• Too time-consuming
• Too artsy
• Too delicate

All of the above are true…but only to a certain point. It is best to weigh ingredients although I happen to like an extra splash of vanilla in my cakes and sometimes a pinch more salt. I only mix my bread doughs for about fifteen minutes…the other 23 hours and 45 minutes are spent waiting for the dough to rise. There is nothing artsy about a slice of cake and dollop of Chantilly cream on a plate..even the most artistically uninclined among us can plate a dessert. I will have to concede to the last point: I wouldn’t recommend slamming the oven door while your cake is still jiggly in the center.

For as much as we celebrate food and cooking in the media, I don’t think know enough about where our food comes from and who are the people who prepare it. This is especially true of pastry where our ingredients veer towards the pedestrian—flour, butter, sugar—and many home bakers think the road to glory in the food arena is paved with cupcakes. It is not.

Thank you for joining me on my journey…