Week # 31!

Wow week # 31 and 7 months of working here in Germany... The time really flies!

I've turned to drinking my coffee 100% black.  I don't know how it happened... I used to drink it with Splenda, and then maybe a little bit of milk, I never got into the whole cream business.  Then, eventually here in Germany, I drink so much that I just started leaving out everything.  I blame it on the exhaustion.  It's back.  It's always like this after my block of schooling.  Waking up at 2:30am and starting work at 4am is still rough.  Today, waking up at 12:30am was really rough.  Hence, the 3 hour nap when I got home.

All in all this week was a great week at work.  Yesterday in particular.  We're making new delicious Berliners now.  In case you're not sure, Berliners are America's doughnuts, without the hole and filled.  These particular Berliners are filled with Apple Sauce and topped with glaze... delicious!  The other kind are filled with a cherry filling and topped with white chocolate and a small cherry gummy candy.  You can probably guess they are also delicious and have this "gourmet" feel to them.  I was also able to work in the "Sahne" (Cream) station making a nut marzipan cake, strawberry cream cake, and lemon rolls.

Here is my weekend package I took home today from work...

This is our delicous Butterkucken (Butter Cake).

This is a fabulous loaf of bread which I will be enjoying all next week!

Now let's talk about cheese...

I love the fact that France is so close to Germany.  Not in that I have this particular fascination with France, I've only ever been to Paris, but I have a particular fascination to cheese.  Those of you who know me, know this has always been true.  How much do you think this piece of cheese costs?  In the U.S.?  In Germany?  In the U.S. this piece of French cheese would cost close to 10 dollars.  In Germany, this was 2 Euros.  What?!  Well I certainly had hay day!  I brought myself home a baguette from work, freshly baked in the morning, and ate the whole thing.  The cheese was creamy and soft and so delicious that I have to refrain from buying it everyday and eating the whole thing everyday.  This isn't even the cheapest cheese here.  I can buy a nice big hunk of French Camembert for .99.  Really.  I'm not kidding.  I don't joke about cheese...

Kuvertüre

Kuvertüre... translation:  courverture or chocolate coating.


Today at work all the apprentices had a small tutorial on Kuvertüre and tempering chocolate.  Have you ever wondered why chocolate has to be tempered for different pastry products?  If it's not tempered, the chocolate turns "gray."  This means that it doesn't fully harden and the color turns an ugly grayish color.  Definitely not something you would want covering your Pralines (small delicious chocolate that can be consumed by the hundreds). 


I of course found this topic interesting because it has so much to deal with my profession specifically.  We learned exactly what Kuvertüre is made of and it's different components.  Of course there are different kinds of Kuvertüre including, Dunkle Kuvertüre (dark courverture), Milchkuvertüre (milk courverture), and Weiße Kuvertüre (white courverture).  Also, there are different ways to temper the chocolate.  Who knew?   Of course there are!  Ever seen the movie "Chocolat?"  Hint: It has Johnny Depp in it.  In this movie, there is a scene where she pours the chocolate out on the table and tempers the chocolate.  That, is one of the techniques used.


Check out what we made:

This is a solid chocolate heart that we got to decorate as we pleased.

This is a layer of Marizipan covered in the Kurvertüre.  This, for example, is used as the top of a cake and can be decorated with swirls in the chocolate (as you can see here) and other decorations including chopped almonds (shown), pistachios, and whatever creative ideas come to mind.

My Bike is Back!

I am so happy to say that my bike is back!

Yesterday, I was pondering the disappearance of my bike from my building and had a small hunch.  What is the possibility that someone put my bike in the basement?  I guess relatively small, but what's the harm in checking?  So I did... and it was there!

A neighbor of mine in the apartment building took it upon him or herself to move my bike into the basement without telling me.  Though I am very grateful that it wasn't in fact stolen, I'm curious as to why a note wasn't written, or someone didn't knock on my door to tell me this information.  I don't have an answer to that, nor does it matter much anymore because the bike is safely stored in my empty room in the apartment to avoid further situations such as these.

Blätterteig vs. Plunderteig

There nothing like waking up in the morning and having your shower curtain fall on your head...


I'll explain...


This morning at 5am, I wake up to get ready to head to my last day of school (wooo!).  As I go to start my shower and pull down the curtain, BAM!  The whole thing comes crashing down on top of my head!  I had hardly even opened my eyes and here I am lying on the ground in my bathroom... now very wide awake.  Oh goodness, what a phenomenal start to my day.


I am really glad to be done with school for a few weeks and heading back to work on Monday.  There was a lot of information crammed into my brain these past two in a half weeks.  From school to my German course, it was a lot to handle.  


On the upside, we made Blätterteig in school yesterday.  Blätterteig is Puff Pastry.  Last week, if you remember, was Pluderteig.  What's the difference?  There is a clear distinction between the two, but, as you may recall I also used the term "Puff Pastry" for Plunderteig as well.  Does that mean that we don't distinguish between the two in America?  I don't have an absolute answer to that question, only that I keep getting different translations between the terms "Blaetterteig," and "Plunderteig."  The difference is that Plunderteig is a yeast dough, Blätterteig is not.  


For Pluderteig I have received the following translations:
Puff Pastry
Danish Pastry
Brioche Dough (which Brioche is made from Plunderteig, but I think this translation is completely wrong)


For Blätterteig I have seen these translations:
Puff Pastry
Puff Paste


In my opinion, I think that Blätterteig is Puff Pastry, but Plunderteig does not seem to have a definite term in the English language.  I think that it depends on where you are from.  I would appreciate an actual technical term... if anyone can offer up some suggestions, I would be grateful! 

The difficulty of tests

As I sit here at my kitchen table on my computer, after just getting home from school, I'm still feeling frustrated from the day.... and it's only halfway through!

Today was our big test for this particular school block on Hefeteig (yeast dough).  I have never been one to study and stress over tests, even through college, and I always got decent grades, but I guess when you know your gonna be given a test in a different language it sparks something inside you that says, STUDY HARD.  So I do.  I spend hours studying now, and in the past tests I've also spent hours stressing and having panic attacks.  The difference here is that I actually care about the topic, and I really want to learn all there is to know on these subjects.  The work is double if not triple hard for me because I not only need to learn the material, I need to learn the material first, and then the material in German.

In this subject the terms were very particular and the words were very technical and had to be used just right.  Let's get real here, we were talking about the fermentation of dough.  You can imagine I had never heard most of the words we were talking about.  I'll test those of you who speak a little German (no cheating!):

What do these words mean in English:
1. Luftfeuchtigkeit
2. Gaerklima
3. Teigruhe
4. Stueckgare

...Point proven.

So anyways, I had studied for hours and when it came down to it, the tests was so difficult I couldn't even answer all the questions because I didn't even know what it was the question was asking!  The frustration inside me was so large at this point that I thought I was going to burst.  I knew the material!  I know it inside my head, it's just forming the words on paper in German was too difficult a task.

To make matters worse, as I was getting on the train to come home it popped into my head! I know the answer!  Now I feel stupid for leaving the question blank because it seems so obvious now.  I'm just too late...

Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day!

I'm not quite sure why I seem so excited about that...

Even though I do not have anything to celebrate on this day or anyone to celebrate with, my choice of profession has taken over all holidays and required me to forget all about the actual meaning of the holiday and focus specifically on the baking aspect of the holiday.  Which I am 100% okay with... especially on this day.

All anyone wants and should want on Valentine's Day is a cupcake.  Here are my cupcakes dedicated to Valentine's Day

These cupcakes are vanilla, filled with pudding, and topped with a buttercream frosting.  They are yummy!

Pizza dough

I have been wanting to make my own pizza dough for a long time now.  All this talk of Hefeteig (yeast dough) in school gave me the push to finally try it!  I must say, it turned out great!

I got the recipe out of my live saving Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book, and realized it was a lot simpler than I thought it was!

2 1/2-3 cups flour

1 package active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup warm water

2 tablespoons cooking oil or olive oil

Combine half the flour, yeast, and salt.  Then, add the warm water and oil and mix slowly for 30 second with an electric mixer.  Increase the speed for another 3 minutes.  Then, stir in the rest of the flour with a wooden spoon.  

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, kneading the dough for about 6-8 minutes until it is smooth and moderately stiff.  Divide the dough in half, cover and let rest for about 10 minutes.

I froze half of my dough and only made one pizza.  

The pizza recipe, however, came from Real Simple Magazine:

1 pound frozen pizza dough, thawed

Cornmeal, for baking sheet

1 medium sweet potato, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced

2 shallots, thinly sliced

8 springs fresh thyme

3 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

4 ounces Brie, sliced

• Heat oven to 425 degrees. Shape dough into a large oval and place on a cornmeal-dusted baking sheet.
• In a medium bowl, toss the sweet potato, shallots, thyme, 3 tablespoons of the oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Scatter over the dough and top with the Brie. bake until golden brown and crisp, 20-25 minutes.
  
  
  *I unfortunately had to sub the sweet potato because they are so expensive in Germany.  This is in no way due to the fact that a do not like sweet potatoes because I am a sweet potato fanatic!  I used chicken instead and it was fabulous.  

Let me just say, it was yummy and delicious and everything came out perfectly! 

Brioche!

I had no idea what a Brioche was until yesterday.  I have heard the word before and assumed it was French, but could not pick the product out of a line up.  Good news! Now I know, and can successfully bake it!

Credit

It's a little different looking right? I think so too, and what's the deal with the ball on top? We were also wondering that in school and our teacher said that it is just an attribute of the Brioche. I also overheard from another student that the reason for the ball is that it makes it easy to take out of the form. I don't know if that's true, but it makes sense!

The finished product, as you can probably tell from the picture is delicious!  It seemed to be a mix between a bread and a pastry.  It wasn't necessarily sweet, but it also didn't have the substance that bread has and is usually eaten with butter (yes, more butter than the enormous amount that is already in the dough) and jelly or marmalade.  

As you can most likely tell from my up beat post that today was a great day at school.  

1. I got to bake Brioche

2. I ate the Brioche

3. I understood the math that coincided with Teiggewicht (dough weight), Backgewicht (baking weight), and Backverlust (baking loss).

4. We got out about an hour and half early... and let's face it that always makes for a good day...

Thank you all for your comments! I love reading them!

Surreal feeling

Being Blog of Note is so surreal to me still!  The traffic coming into my blog is amazing and I welcome all of you with open arms!  I am loving the comments and am so glad that so many people have had similar situations and struggles and we all can relate to each other!

My head feels like it's about to burst.  There is so much information being squashed into my brain it seems a mystery to me that it hasn't burst.  Having school all day long, in German of course, and then taking German class, in order to learn German and therefor understand school, is taking a toll on my brain.  However, I am learning so much and I love it!

Today we had English class in school today.  As you probably can guess I love English class (for obvious reasons).  The topic was eggs, and we were reading aloud a story about eggs in class in English, of course.  Generally speaking the teacher doesn't call on me because I can already read in English and it's better for the other students to read aloud to practice.  Well today, after one paragraph was read, I was called on.  I thought, 'Okay, no problem, I can read aloud in English."  Well think again Katie.  I was asked to translate out loud the paragraph that was just read.

Are you kidding me?!

On the spot translation is really difficult to do.  Not to mention reading aloud during my thought process.  My hands got clammy, my face got red and I'm sure everyone could hear my heart beating.  I struggled through every last word.  What seemed like an hour later, I finished the translation.  That was rough.  Why is it that the teachers always seem to take me by surprise?

On a side note...
Some may remember my bike that was stolen in October, and then found again a few weeks ago, and then picked up at the police station... About that... it's stolen again.  Within an hours time of me getting home from school and running, the bike was stolen out of my building.  I'm still hoping that someone (as in my neighbor) took it for a joy ride and is coming back with it.  But, as the hours pass, I really doubt it.

I hope it comes back to me yet again!

Wow, Blog of Note!

The most amazing thing happened today... I was the Blog of Note for February 8, 2011!!!

I thought something was going on when I had a flood of e-mails in my inbox.  Then, I realized they were all from Blogger, and I was a Bog of Note!

This is extremely exciting news and such an honor!  I want to welcome all the new readers and thank Blogger and everyone for your wonderful comments!  I hope you stay with me and follow along!

Blog of Note!

I must have these!

I not only want these... but I must have them...

Check these out!!!

Etsy- Cupcake Coffee Cup Cozy

Etsy- Cupcake Scarf 

Except, now, both items are sold out!!!

Looks like I missed my chance...

Ducks, Geese, and Hens?

I swear, my German class (not to be confused with my course I'm taking to learn the language) in school brings me down a full notch every time.  Why, do you ask?  Because the work is so simple, and if it were in English I would fully be able to do everything in the class.

Today, we had to read a Fable/ Story, and then sum it up and write the moral of the story.  Simple?  NOT.

It was a story about ducks, or geese, or hens, or even all three... I don't have a clue.  Something happened with the big goose and then the others were yelling at him for some reason I couldn't figure out.  Sound confusing?  It was to me.  After reading through the story about 10 times I finally decided I had to write something for a summary.  So I picked sentences out of the story and copied them just about word for word and put them together to create my "summary."  All I could think about was awful it would be if someone else read this, because it clearly doesn't make a bit of sense.  Then, my teacher asks me if I was done, because I was the last one still working.  My answer was vague to say the least.  I shrugged and said kind of.  So then the girl next to me asked if she could read my summary.  Oh God.  So then she did, as I sat there waiting for her to give me some crazy look.  Then she said to me, "You have to write the moral of the story."  Naturally, everyone heard this and I responded by acting surprise, "Oh yea I just forgot that part."  What I really meant to say was, "Oh yea, I didn't understand the Fable and therefor can't figure out the moral of the story, and I was just stalling so that I didn't have to actually write a "moral" because let's face it, I should be able to figure the moral of a story with ducks in it."  So I stalled some more and ended up not having to write a moral to the story.

I win.

Danish Puff Pastry (Pluderteig) and German Class

I can't tell you the last time I was this busy.  I've always been a busy person, and I've always loved having stuff to do, but this brings me back to my highschool days where I had school then either swimming or softball practice and then dance.  I had no time for anything after that but food and bed.  Now, with school running all day long and then my German course taking up my little bit of free time, I am currently waiting for dinner to be finished and then I'm headed off to bed.

How is school going anyways?
School is so much better! I can actually see the difference in my understanding and it's exciting because, now, with this course, it will come faster and better.

This block we are learning about Teig (Dough).  Right now, it's Plunderteig (Puff Pastry).  We got to make the Plunderteig today from scratch, and then made small pastries with vanilla cream in the middle and glaze on top.  They were delicious!  Unfortunately, they did not make it home for me to take a picture of them.  Let's face it, I have an hour train ride home and no food is making its way past my stomach while I'm sitting on the train.

As we were learning the theory of Plunderteig, we learned that there are different kinds in relation to the amount of Fett (fat/ butter) in the ingredients.  One is called the Danische Plunder (Danish Puff Pastry).  I was thinking maybe this is why we, in America, call pastries like this a Danish.  Who knows if my theory is right, but it adds up!

Last but certainly not least, my German course began yesterday.  I definitely think this course will be a huge help!  I think I really need to have a place to practice speaking, where someone will correct me, and I can feel comfortable talking aloud and making mistakes.  It's hard, sometimes, speaking to the general public here because my thought process is slower and I stumble on my words when I get rushed.  In this class, I think I'll have the chance to get a little more confident.

EVERYONE in my class speaks Spanish.  Don't I wish I actually paid attention in my Spanish class in highschool?  There are 3 people from Spain, 1 from Mexico, 1 from Argentina, and 1 from Poland.  Even the guy from Poland speaks Spanish!  Oh wait, I also forgot to mention the fact that they can all speak English.  Wow, I really feel like a underachiever.  Let's go America, have you not yet understood the growing importance of a foreign language?  Honestly though, you don't know how important a foreign language is until you are thrown into the situation.  If anyone is reading this who isn't learning a foreign language, I suggest you take some time to do so.  Trust me, you will wish you did, or maybe you already wish you had...

My bike is back!

I got my bike back!

Maybe you remember a while ago, it was maybe around October when someone stole my bike from the train station after my trip to London.  Well guess what?  The bike is back!

While walking out of a grocery store, Eagle Eye spotted what was definitely my old bike.  I could not believe my eyes.  With the thousands of bike in this city, my bike that was stolen just happens to be parked outside the grocery store that I just happen to be shopping at.  I was 100% sure this was mine, so the cops were called.  The man riding the bike came out of the store shortly after the cops arrived and, lucky for me, acted like a fool and was completely disrespectful.  It all added together.  His story was that he found the bike in someone's trash (which is illegal here to take) about 3 months ago, in the part of town that it was stolen, and he had been riding it around ever since.

The cops then took the bike with them, and I picked it up at the police station a few days later!  Amazing how that works out.  Now, I have 2 bikes.