So here we are, and I’m going to keep “peeling back the curtain.” While I love to continue referencing The Wizard of Oz and all things fantastical, it’s just another way I can help you see how I create my artisanal baked goods.
My day as a licensed home baker usually starts with a 5am alarm, followed by two 9-minute snoozes — why is it 9 minutes, Apple? Does anyone else find that strange? As much as I love what I do, it takes me a few minutes to emerge from my cocoon, search for the eye mask that never stays on my face, place it on my bedpost, and stretch before I’m ready to tackle the first part of my baking day. Coffee, yawns, fresh clothes, sanitizing buckets, and dishes are among the first things on my list when I stumble into the kitchen. Air conditioning really wins out these days, which means a veritable game of Tetris for all my baking equipment so the airflow can run directly to where I stand to complete hours and hours of dishes throughout the day.
Aside from a detailed checklist of cakes, fillings, buttercreams, macarons, and all things delicious, my next task is to remove eggs, butter, and milk from the fridge to begin to warm to room temperature. This is one of the most important tenets of my baking world — room temperature ingredients. If you’ve struggled with baking in the past and you’re not allowing your ingredients to rise to room temp, you might want to start there.
Next comes putting away clean dishes, organizing my space, guzzling coffee, and then sorting, weighing, and gathering all the other ingredients needed for each of my recipes that are on deck for that day. This process is called “mise en place.” It means exactly how I described it — to put things in their place. If you pronounce it like the “chef” from the Little Mermaid, it sounds about right.
Why is it so important? Have you ever been working on a recipe, even for dinner, and it took so long to find and measure everything that what you were cooking started to overcook or bake unevenly? If you mise en place, that’s not going to happen. Everything is ready for you to follow the recipe, and nothing will boil over. You won’t lose count of how many cups of flour you’ve just added to the bowl. Everything is kept separate until it’s time to use it. Eggs are not immediately added to a bowl; they’re on their own, and you can tell right away if they’re spoiled, thereby avoiding spoiling an entire batch of cookie dough, which, as you can imagine, is money right down the drain. As a small business owner (or anyone who isn’t Warren Buffet), that’s akin to lighting my wallet on fire. Not to mention, it alerts me at the beginning of the day if I’ve missed anything in my inventory check. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve forgotten to check my baking powder and had to run to the store. If I were in the middle of mixing my batter, that would be so costly in terms of efficiency and time.
Once this process is taken care of, I can load my baking sheets onto Merlin (you can introduce yourself to Merlin here) and move on to administrative work, making the kids breakfast, re-cleaning and sanitizing the kitchen, and beginning the next set of prep. Mise en place sets me up for success every time, and once the baking starts, it’s as if I have an entire team of line cooks moving my work along for me. As long as I keep the dishes going and the dishwasher running, it’s the perfect process. I highly recommend it for your next baking adventure or even dinner. It may feel like a long process at first, but you’ll get the hang of it and find out what works for you. Here is a list of a few tips and tricks that can help you get started:
Read your recipe through entirely before starting anything.
Clean, clean, clean then clean some more!
Pull out all of your ingredients and place them on your counter or a separate area from where you’re going to measure and/or mise
Collect a baking sheet large enough to hold bowls or plates for your ingredients. Don’t sweat it if you don’t have one, just use one for your messy stuff like raw foods or liquids and it’ll help you keep your countertops clean.
Collect bowls, measuring spoons, a scale, and utensils within reach of your workspace.
Print out your recipe or use an app like Paprika to keep track of your ingredients.
**Paprika is my personal favorite. It’s not a free app but there are so many great benefits to using it. I can’t recommend it enough. I’m also not paid to say this.
If you laughed at “Print out your recipe” I’m thrilled to know I’m expanding my demographic on this blog. Were you also confused by Warren Buffet?
Set everything aside or get cooking/baking!
Don’t be afraid to try new things or start a new habit.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m far from a perfect baker. Sometimes I just go for it, but usually, I regret it. My macarons are a perfect example. They have so few ingredients, and I like to get them done first because I want to preserve the mixing bowls! I always wipe down my bowls and whisk with vinegar before I start, so my already fickle friends (the macarons) don’t fail me due to any lingering oils. It’s so easy just to go for it. Next thing I know, I’m right on to the confectioners sugar and almond flour, forgetting entirely about that pesky little addition of superfine sugar. So there they are, egg whites mixing away on high, and it’s a race to slowly mix in the sugar. Doh! I can just hear the egg whites taunting me, “we’re gonna be hollow… ” Jerks. Just mise en place. You’ll sleep better at night and maybe only hit the snooze button twice — I actually do hit it three times. Mornings are so not my thing.
Stay sweet, Alice
A Few Highlights:
The 7/17 Market was fairly breezy despite the hot temps and it was so nice to see familiar faces and returning customers. I am so enjoying getting to know so many of you!! Also, my sister came along to help me out and it was a lot of fun to have her there with me.
I spent the next day (my day off) in Portland, ME exploring Cape Elizabeth with my Sister and kids and we had the most beautiful day and best weather. If you live in the area and haven’t been, what are you waiting for?!
Sneak Peak at Cupcake flavor for 7/31 Market: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough!
Geekamuffins 