Cookie Craziness

My first "Fundamentals of Baking" class was great!

I had done plenty of praying about the group I would be a part of for the remainder of the semester. My prayers were answered, and I love the group I'm in! We immediately had a great connection and were joking around and teasing each other within minutes. We were taught how to sanitize our station and were told to start prepping our ingredients for the first of three batches of cookies we would make that day.

Next, Chef Eddy Van Damme started his demonstration of chocolate chip cookies. He reminded us that this was a "fundamental" class and he understood that we might be a little embarrassed about baking cookies on our first day. It was as if he had read the "I already know how to make cookies" sign taped on many foreheads that morning. His demonstration was pretty quick. We were on our own for the remainder of the class.

My group worked quickly and very efficiently. We were done first and our chocolate chip cookies were perfect! They had risen and browned just as they should have. We were on to our next batch: white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. We used the same base recipe as the chocolate chip cookies and switched out the "chunky" parts. These cookies turned out even better than the first! Was that possible? How could you improve on "perfect?" Chef Eddy was so impressed with our second batch that he came over to our station and asked if he could "steal" 4 of them for a photo shoot. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? We were SO proud of ourselves! Next, we made oatmeal raisin cookies. Those turned out great too... maybe a little flat, but moist and chewy as every oatmeal raisin cookie should be.



I mentioned in my previous post that there were a few "know-it-all" people in the class. Would you have ever guessed that they chose to be in a group together?! It was pretty comical to watch it happen. Maybe they believed that if a bunch very smart guys (yes, they're boys!) worked together, they would be unstoppable. It took an insane amount of effort not to laugh when I heard Chef Eddy tell them to throw out 2 of their 3 batches of cookies because they were "inedible." I should not delight in the failures of others, but I had gotten sick of seeing these guys pull the Chef aside to tell him how wonderful his lectures are and how he was exactly what they had been searching for. I had tired of watching them scramble and fight to do little chores for Chef Eddy as if he were impressed by them.

Later, I helped organize all the cookies to be sold in the cafe. I found myself marveling at the different outcomes. Was it possible that we all used the same recipes? Some cookies were flat, some weren't caramelized enough, some were so strange looking that we had to argue about whether or not they were chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin!

As we were all finishing up, Chef Eddy called us in for a closing lecture. He spoke to us about the chocolate we had just used in 2 of our cookies. I find myself constantly impressed with this man. His standards for our bakery are set so high. He has revolutionized how the culinary department works at HCC. He explained why we only use good quality chocolate. He also talked about how he will only allow us to use unbleached flours in all of our baking (the only exception being cake flour). This is not only healthier because no chemicals are used, but the flavor is exceptional!

Well, I had a blast! My group was great, Chef Eddy was impressed by my group's offerings, and I got to laugh a ton. I'm looking forward to next week!