The Projects for the day: Soft & Chewy Sugar Cookies, Moist Peanutbutter Cookies, Sour Cream Coffeecake, and Cream Biscuits.
There were three people in our group, so each of us divided the task. I did the Sour Cream Coffeecake, since I've made coffeecakes before...started creaming the butter with the sugar...and noticed that the mixture was a bit "buttery". "Hmmm..." I thought. The recipe called for 12 Tablespoons of butter....I had put in 12 oz., thinking that 12 T = 12 oz. of butter. At this point, I didn't think much of it. After all, it was 7 AM-ish, and I was tired from the online 2-page-paper-due-every-other-day class. But the batter came out nice and creamy, so I spooned it into the 10" tube pan and put it in the oven.
The other two were working on the cookies. Their doughs were also a bit "buttery" and gooey. It didn't help that the girl doing the sugar cookies kept overworking the dough either.
While our products baked, Chef K, our substitute (our Instructor was out of town), did the demo on Cream Biscuits.
Here, she is rubbing the cold butter into the flour and baking powder mixture....
....until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, or "the size of small peas".
Then knead gently 4 ~ 5 times (try not to overwork the dough). Wrap and chill at least 30 minutes.
By this time, the cake was ready to come out of the oven.
...Well, it's hard to tell from the photo, but the "Soft & Chewy Sugar Cookies" turned out soft and crispy, "Moist Peanutbutter Cookies" were cake-like. The standards for peanutbutter cookies are that they are chewy, gooey, with a "greasy-looking" middle. The cake was very moist and soft, and very delicious though.
As for the Cream Biscuits....
....Oi. Not good. I followed the direction on the baking time, but it was still underdone. It had formed a lovely, flaky top layer with a gooey, undercooked bottom layer. Chef explained that it's better to separate out the pieces instead of keeping it together family-style (I baked it in a round cake pan). I hate wasting food, but had no choice but to throw it in the garbage. I took the rest of the goods (the cookies were still pretty tasty), and gave them to my friends at Biomat. They were delighted with the unexpected treats and appreciated the morale boost that they provided.
Back at home, I was typing up my notes....when all of a sudden I realized that...12 oz of butter DOES NOT EQUAL 12 TABLESPOONS!!!! 12 Tablespoons of butter is 6 oz....I used the wrong amount of butter in both the cake and the biscuits (although the cake came out extra moist)!! That totally explained why the the biscuits turned out gooey. And then I also realized that I probably gave the wrong amount to the two people in my group as well (They always ask me to do the conversions and the amount to use. Technically they should be able to figure it out on their own....)
Ah well. One lesson learned...double check the portions listed, and yes, it's probably OK to bake the biscuits in the cake pan as long as the correct amount of butter is used.
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