Chefs Kitchen Pastry Craft: Chef/Owner Laurie Pfalzer, secrets of sugar, professional baking tips, Seattle WA, Salish Lodge & Spa, pastry classes in your home, Seattle Chef's Collaborative, Slow Food, Culinary Institute of America NY, PCC Natural Markets

Chef's Kitchen

Each month we bring a guest chef into our Chef's Kitchen column to give us tips that elevate their cooking (and hopefully ours). They also provide a recipe that showcases their tips. Our guest chef this month is Chef/Owner Laurie Pfalzer of Pastry Craft, an in-home pastry instruction company. Laurie comes to your kitchen to help you develop the simple skills to create beautiful desserts, breads and confections. She encourages lively discussions about baking and pastry technique and is passionate about teaching not only the "how," but also the "why" behind the techniques. She'll help you discover Northwest produce, allowing you to create seasonal delights. Even better? You learn to how to fix your mistakes!

Laurie spent three years as the pastry chef at Salish Lodge & Spa in Snoqualmie, Washington. At Salish, her greatest joy was working with new pastry cooks, guiding them through the learning process while infusing her passion and knowledge about baking and pastry, Northwest produce and artisanal products. She has worked with Master Baker Jeffrey Hamelman at the King Arthur Flour Company in Norwich, Vermont and has created pastry in kitchens at The Wauwinet Inn on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, and Baby Cakes Bakery and Cafe in Poughkeepsie, New York. Laurie graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in New York with top honors. She is a member of Seattle Chef's Collaborative and Slow Food and teaches around the Seattle area in various locations, including PCC Natural Markets.

The Secrets of Sugar, by Pastry Craft Chef/Owner Laurie Pfalzer

Making a confection like caramel is fun, satisfying and a lovely gift. Use these simple, professional tips when you're cooking sugar and your confections will be stress-free this holiday.

Always start with a very clean pot and utensils so that you don't "contaminate" the sugar.
Add enough water to the sugar in the pan before cooking it to ensure there are no dry spots in the sugar, especially on the bottom of the pot. I like to add water into the sugar pot right from running water at the sink, using my hand to wash down the sides. I finish washing down any leftover crystals with a pastry brush dipped in water.
Once the sugar comes to a boil, do not stir it. Stirring will cause the sugar to crystallize. Instead, if you need to even out the color, gently swirl the sugar by grasping the pot handle and moving the pot in a circular motion.
Always watch cooking sugar closely. Once it starts to color amber, it can get dark very quickly.
Above all, have fun making your confection!

Pastry Craft

To schedule a call or get more information, email laurie@pastrycraftseattle.com or call 206-819-9025.

www.pastrycraftseattle.com

Click here to see Laurie's recipe

December 2010

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