CUL 104

So last semester as i was registering for classes, I realized that I only had 11 credit hours planned. In order to receive my scholarship from the tribe, I have to be a full time student. That means I need 12 credit hours. Eleven credit hours may not seem like a lot, but I was planning to take two science classes, with labs, and trigonometry. That to me seemed like a lot. I decided that what I needed to do was to take an elective class, something that would be fun, and most importantly easy!! I didn't want another class that would add to the stress of this semester. As i perused my options, I couldn't find anything that seemed really fun. Finally I found a listing in the online course catalog. CUL 104- an introduction to baking, pastries, pies and doughs. I thought, "hey, I can bake!"

Then my mind said, "That can't be too hard!"

Another voice, "My oven doesn't work very well."

"I can always use my in-laws kitchen."

"I have a class!"

So I looked closer. 4 credit hours. My mind says, " 4 credit hours!!! and all I have to do is bake??"

I was practically doing backflips:)

This was so exciting, a fun easy class that would not only be less stressful than the rest of my classes, it would allow me some delicious stress relief type goodies.

I read on in the description. This is an online course. "An online baking class?? That's a little odd."

"Well, who cares, it's 4 credit hours!"

So it was decided, I would be enrolling in CUL 104, an online baking class that would kick me over the 12 credit hour hurdle.

My semester started, but my baking class lagged behind a little, it didn't start until two weeks after the rest of my classes. Finally that wonderful day arrived, my first baking class. I read through the course syllabus and began to feel my heart pounding. This class wasn't going to be easy. I had been lied to!! By myself!!!! Alas, I would be baking multiple items every week over the course of eight weeks. Plus I would be earning 4 credits. This course was going to be intense!!

Okay, I can handle this...

Week one, you will be preparing irish soda bread, muffins, and scones.

So I set about my task first item. Irish soda bread. "What the heck is that??" Well, I had the recipe and I was determined to make the best Irish soda bread possible as part of the class, they have videos of someone preparing what you will make. I must say that my soda bread looked.. absolutely nothing like the video. I was assured by my mother-in-law, "Those people are professionals, they have spent years making these products."

Here is my irish soda bread. It actually tasted quite good. However I made a large loaf, pictured, and a much smaller loaf. The small loaf disappeared almost instantly. When we cut into the large loaf, it was still quite doughy. One of the advantages of the online baking class, no one can see the inside...

I also got to make muffins, I was given recipes for a handful of different types of muffins, and finally decided on the old standby, blueberry.

Here is a picture of my blueberry muffins. These were actually quite delicious when eaten the next day. Not so good straight out of the oven.

The last thing I got to make during week one was scones. I have always found scones to taste a little bland, so I decided to spruce mine up a little bit with chocolate chips. Who doesn't love a little addition of chocolate?

They still tasted a little bland, according to Christy. However they looked nice.

Week 2- you will be preparing lavosh, and hard rolls.

Lavosh is kinda like a giant cracker, and it kinda tastes like a very old giant cracker. However, this was very fun to make because the dough is very elastic-y and it stretches and stretches and stretches.

Christy and I quickly decided that lavosh is not so tasty. We decided to experiment, and added cinnamon-sugar on top of the next sheet of lavosh. Much, much better. unfortunately I don't have a picture of that one.

The hard rolls were quite fun to make, but still didn't really taste as good as I had hoped. Although, they were served with dinner at the in-law's and they were pronounced, "amazing".

Week 3- you will be preparing zucchini bread and 2 different pizzas using boboli dough.

Ah zucchini bread. At the time I made this, it was my favorite item I had made. I used mini chocolate chips and this stuff was fantastic.

I made two different pizzas, pepperoni and cheese. Boring I know, but thats what people wanted. These pizzas were quite possibly my second least favorite thing I made all semester, right behind those old crackers...

Week 4- You will be preparing cheesecake and a layered fudge icing chocolate cake.

"Cheesecake and chocolate cake?? There is no way I can screw this up!!"

I figured I would be loved by the masses, people would be pounding down my in-law's door to get to my amazing cake and cheesecake. Then something horrible, no tragic occurred. My cake was a flop or is that a plop??

That's right, it is "The Cow Patty Cake". My cake didn't rise when I cooked it, and I insisted on making three layers just like in the video of the professionals. Alas my layers as thin as they were could not support the entire cake and it died.

The cheesecake was bound to be better than the lovely cake had turned out, and for all intents and purposes, it probably was. I, however, now know why many online recipes say to refrigerate a cheesecake overnight. It tastes better. After about four hours of refrigeration, the cheesecake tasted like eggs.

Luckily the next day the cheesecake tasted a lot better.

Week 5- you will be preparing one half batch of blueberry muffins, drop cookies, coconut macaroons, and spritz cookies.

Well, apparently I choose the wrong kind of muffins to make the first week, because now there was no option. I got to make blueberry muffins again. I wonder, do they look better the second time around?

They actually tasted better, the first time through, but I like the way they look a lot more this time.

Drop cookies, are cookies that you drop onto the pan prior to baking such as chocolate chip cookies. I made reduced sugar chocolate chip cookies with splenda substitute sugar and brown sugar. This was done at the request of my father-in-law who is diabetic and wanted to taste the chocolate chip cookies.

According to people with experience, the puffiness of the cookies is the result of using the splenda.

Apparently, I should have used the splenda for my coconut macaroons. Macaroons are supposed to puff up however, mine were a bit more humble.

They actually tasted quite good, but as my mom put it, "not like any macaroon I've ever had before." It was decided that these were actually more like coconut cookies rather than macaroons.

Spritz cookies were a lot of fun to make. In order to make them, you use a piping bag to create the little decorative flourishes. I could not figure out why my star tip in my piping bag was creating straight cookies, however on my last batch, the yellow ones, I realized that my piping bag extended around the tip and was covering the actual shape of the tip.

My father-in-law commented, "Looks like something that came out of my dog."

Week 6- you will be preparing apple phyllo crisp with vanilla sauce, one half batch of blueberry sauce and fruit tarts.

Apple phyllo crisp, my recommendation, don't eat it. Make a real apple crisp and enjoy that.

Not much else to say about that.

Blueberry sauce...

Not much to look at, but it can be exciting given the proper motivation...

This was one plate presentation I made, and then below is the official presentation with one of the tarts on it.

This just makes my mouth water.

Fruit tarts, by far the best tasting thing I made all semester. I had so much fun decorating them.

It was a lot of fun trying to be creative with the fruit and still make these look appealing.

Week 7- You will be preparing creme caramel and a napoleon.

I didn't know what a napoleon was before this class. So just a little detail. It is a layered dessert made with puff pastry dough, pastry cream, and icing. We also added strawberry jam for flavor between the layers. For this dessert, our puff pastry was not supposed to puff, so we but beans on top of it while it was cooking, to weigh it down and prevent it from puffing up. Unfortunately, it also prevented the pastry from cooking as well. It took about an hour and forty five minutes before I finally gave up and said "I'm working with slightly undercooked dough, try it at your own risk."

It looks good, but it tasted gross thanks to the undercooked dough. Apparently the edges, where it was actually cooked, tasted really good.

Creme caramel, a custard dessert served with caramel.

Unfortunately the guy who made this caramel, me, used a little too much lemon juice in the caramel, so it is more like a custard dessert with a nasty lemon topping. Also, I found out that this too is a dessert that should be refrigerated overnight to enhance the taste, warm it just tastes bland and eggy. (and lemony).

Week 8- you will be preparing cream puffs, chocolate mousse and fruit mousse.

Ah, delight of my soul, cream puffs or as a certain friend calls them, "Ecstasy puffs". I have never met a cream puff I didn't like and that still holds true. This right behind the fruit tarts was my second favorite thing to make.

Who wouldn't want to pop one of these in their mouth??

Fruit mousse, this mousse was good, but it had little chunks of gelatin floating about in it, making it slightly chewy. Not really the mousse like texture we desire.

Last but not least, a chocolate lover's heaven in a glass, chocolate mousse.

It made me so happy that this tasted as good as it did! My mom however noted, that she almost went into a sugar coma after eating some.

So, that was it. Eight weeks of pure relaxation. Straight from my kitchen (or my in-law's), to your computer screen. Leave a message, which were you most tempted by?