I definitely think that I have improved from my first blog post. I started making things like bread pasteries which were easier to start with and then I transitioned to adding fillings and spice mixtures like the tea I made. In my last genius hour presentation I mentioned that I could have used my time better and I worked hard at trying to do so. I started making each weeks treat earlier on so that I wouldn’t be rushed for time and that for sure helped me. I don’t regret choosing what I chose to do because not only did it teach me how to work through challenges and learn new techniques but the items were all super tasty and I was able to share them with my friends, my family and even my teachers. In my upcoming presentation I am going to bring in scones. I am excited to show you what I’ve been working on, in hopes that you’ll enjoy it!
Genius Hour Update
Welcome back! This week, I made yorkshire puddings, which I have been putting off due to the fact that the company I contacted hasn’t responded yet but I couldn’t wait any longer, I just knew they would be delicious! After understanding the basics of making bread items, I used those and didn’t need any assistance from my dad. Though I did go through some challenges which I will explain.
To start, I added a teaspoon of oil to the bottom of the pan so that it could smoke and because I had to put the oven temperature so high, everytime I opened it, a bunch of smoke would come out and then my smoke alarm would go off. This was very annoying because it happened about 5 times and my parents thought I was burning the house down. I was also hoping for them to have a dent in the middle like most yorkshire puddings would so that I could put either gravy or a meat and vegetable mixture in the middle but it just stayed flat on the top. I am going to do some research about that next time and see what I can do to compensate for the inflation. Other than that I had my dad try them because hes the professional of course and he rated it an 8/10. I believe the first thing I said when I ate it was “Oh it actually tastes like one!” My dad found that funny. I think these mini yorkshire puddings are great as side dishes and I might use them for that when I make a bigger meal. They are fairly fast and easy to make so if you are looking for something this, I highly recommend.
Genius Hour Update
This week I made jammy dodgers. The most irritating part of the process was how time consuming it was. I believe it took a little over 2 hours. So I don’t recommend it if you are short on time. Some struggles I had was adding the butter, this was because the butter was really hard and I needed to mix it in with a bowl of dry ingrediants. My solution was to melt it for about 20 seconds and then add it, which did work. The recipe also told me to poke holes in the centre of half of the rounds but I did it to all of them by accident, so I just remolded them all. I did was half the recipe at the beginning because I knew I didn’t need a lot, although now that I think about it I wish I made more because they were so delicious! I like to mess around with what I make sometimes, so that I can learn new things and see what works for me. Scroll down to see the pictures.
One thing I really liked about this dessert was the jam, because it added a sweet fruity flavour to the cookie. It also balanced out the dough so that it wasn’t too dry. This week was definately a success! See you next time!
Progress Update
I am about halfway through my second genius hour project so I will just be going through the things I have done, what I want to try and my end goal. So far I have been making treats like shortbreads, cookies and toppings. When I near the end I am going to try and up my game a bit and start making meals and side dishes. I am hoping to make things like yorkshire puddings, bangers and mash and possibly fish and chips. This is what I’m deciding to do because I really want to give myself a challenge before we finish. At the end, I want to be able to use my experiences and techniques from this project and put it towards other desserts and dishes that I make in the future.
Genius Hour Update
This week, I tried to make clotted cream which the English typically use on bread and muffins. I thought I was going to be great at this but I was wrong. Here is why.
The first image was when I mixed sour cream, half and half and melted butter together. The recipe called for heavy whipping cream but I did not have that so I searched up how to substitute the cream for half and half, and it said that if you mix melted butter with it, it should work. Although that was not the case for mine. It was supposed to be fluffy once the mixing was finished but it looked like soup so I put it in the freezer for a night, took it out the next morning and it was frozen so I put it into the microwave for about a minute. After I took it out it looked like cottage cheese and tasted gross. The sour cream was overpowering and the way the mixture was textured it didn’t turn out to be a fluffy cream consistancy. Next time I will definitely just go to the store and pick up heavy whipping cream so I can feed the “good result” to my family.
Genius Hour Update
This week, I improved my tea from last week by using less flavors and let it sit for a shorter amount of time. It turned out way better. I also asked my dad for tips on how to make English pancakes. He was my expert for this weeks genius hour because he was born and raised in England. Here is how it went!
I used the same process as I did last week, I strained the spices once I added them to the hot water and let it sit for about 3 minutes and then I decided to add sugar and milk to make it a bit sweeter and cool it down. I noticed that the tea was much lighter than last time which was a good sign because it meant that the tea was less bitter.
English pancakes are closer to crepes than what you are probably used to making. They are much thinner than pancakes. As soon as I made the batter I was pretty skeptical because of its consistency. I tried to pick up the pan once I poured it, in hopes that the batter would spread out but it stayed in a thick irregular shape. Flipping them was also a challenge because of how small I made them. I found that they burned a lot faster as well so next time I will keep that in mind. Disregarding the shape and size, I tried it after I finished and they did not taste good at all. They were really bland and almost raw on the inside even though they were cooked externally. I am going to find a different recipe next time I attempt to make these and possibly add more flavors on top of the pancake to make it sweeter and less bland like syrups or fruity additions.
Genius Hour Update
As mentioned in my previous blog post, I was going to attempt making tea. I used some of the tea that I have at home as a reference and bought different spices; inluding, cinnamon, ginger, clove and green tea. Here are some pictures of how it went.
The first picture is when I added all of the spices. The second is how it looked after I added it to the hot water. Because the flavouring wasn’t contained in a tea bag, my thought process was I would let it steep and then strain out the liquid into a seperate cup so all of the leftover bits weren’t a part of the drink. But there wasn’t as many pieces left as I hoped, meaning it was a lot stronger than I wanted it to be.
I tried it after the drink was strained and I loved the flavour but it definetely needed to be dialed down quite a bit because it was too bitter. Next time I will not let it steep for as long and I will use less spice. Without those flaws it would have been great!
Genius Hour Update
For this weeks genius hour I emailed two experts. Unfortunately neither of them have answered yet. One of them was a site based in the UK causing my messages to not go through, so I texted an Instagram account called The Real Yorkshire Pudding. If I do not hear from them in the next few days, I will contact another English bakery.
This is the message I sent to them
In the mean time I started to search up different things I could put in my tea, and I think it is going to work out really well because you can add almost anything, theres different flavours, spices and fruits you can incorporate to accomodate for your preferences. Below I will show some pictures of things I might add to my tea!
Some of the things Im thinking about incorporating is; lemon, chamomile, hibiscus and possibly lychee (because its really good in bubble tea!) STAY TUNED!
Genius Hour Update
Instead of diving straight into making english treats, I decided to start off with something somewhat simple. I made shortbread. I chose this because its essentially a cookie, so making the dough and baking it was fairly easy. The only down side was how long it took because after making the dough I had to refridgerate it for an hour. Next time I am going to take into consideration how long the recipe takes.
This is what the process of making the dough looked like. I noticed that there was little to no wet ingrediants and because of that I did have to add some more due to how dry it became. At first I thought that it would make the shortbread too soft but it didn’t! Because I added more dairy, it took a lot more time to bake.
The first image was when I had wrapped it so I could put it in the fridge. My dog approved! As you can see in the second picture, I did make them pretty large because of how much dough I had made so next time I will probably half the recipe. I took them out of the oven while they were still a little bit soft, knowing that they would cool overnight. In the end, they were really yummy and there was plenty of them!
Next update, you will see messages from my expert and I.
Project 2 – Planning
For these next few months, I am planning on learning how to cook and bake different british dishes and baked goods. I think doing this will be a great way to represent my heritage through food, considering the UK is known for having unique and sweet foods. Below I will list some items that I will be attempting to make.
– Mince Pies
– Jam tarts
– Scones
– Yorkshire pudding
– Tea
Later on this week, I will go to the store to get all of my ingrediants and supplies. Then the week after I hope to have some attempts to show you.