carbs...part one

I can make a cheesecake no problem for you, but if you ask me to make you something doughy....that might be a problem.  See in my future bakery i really want to have this whole section of artisan breads.  Breads you wouldn't necessarily find in a Smiths.  What exactly that entails is still in the works, but i've decided i need to get my practice on.  Dough....specifically bread dough....is not my forte.  It could BE my forte if i actually started making breads.  Which is what i decided to do this warm september day (i know right? warm...it's september for heaven's sake.  i need the fall weather!)  Anyway, I started by making Danish dough.  SO, i advise anyone making bread dough to make sure you have added the right amount of yeast for the right kind of yeast.  I tend to just rush over things as in not really reading everything before i begin.  (kind of like when i start playing a piano piece and not looking at the key before i begin...i'm impatient ok!!)  Well for the type of yeast i was using i added tablespoons when i should have only added teaspoons.

what dough looks like when you add right amount of  yeast.

what dough looks like when you add TOO much yeast.

I figured that a little added yeast wasn't going to hurt anything so i went ahead and made what i was planning to.  The first were cheese danishes.  I didn't realize how much work it takes to just do one batch of danishes!! (Yield:12).  So if you ever go to a bakery and complain that a cupcake or pastry costs so much money, it means there was a lot of time, sweat, and effort put into making just one! (well, hopefully they emitted the sweat from the recipe.)  There are what's called single and double turns.  It's different for Danish and Croissant dough.  Basically you do a turn and chill for 15 minutes, do another turn, chill, one more turn, chill.  When I was done i froze the dough for about 3-4 days (minimum of 2 days before you actually bake the bread.)  According to Sarabeth ( Sarabeth's Bakery),...well hell, i'd quote her here, but her book of mine is suddenly missing.  Basically it makes the dough flakier when baked.  After all the turning was done I cut the dough into 12 evenish pieces.  The cream cheese was then put smack dab in the center of the square.

Now for this first batch i tried and could not get it to rise!! Grrrr.....so frustrating.  My kitchen probably wasn't warm enough.  This was Sarabeth's instructions.  As you see in the picture below i put a glass of very hot water almost in the center of the pan and then tied the bag at the end so it would hold in some heat and hopefully help the dough rise.  

In the end, the poor wittle danishes that could have been, but were not, didn't really do anything.  After pretty much and hour and a half.  Go me :)  Hence the practice right?? So, i went ahead and baked them.  They looked like little alien pods ready to explode.

 ANd that's all i have to say about that.