#formerchef

Bannoffee Pie, Wheat Digestive base, filled with a dulche de letche (condensed milk caramel). Slices of ripe bananas topped with a compound whip cream (1:1 cream and sour cream. With just a touch of vanilla) and for the final garnish, crushed toffee with rich dark chocolate and salted pretzels. This is always a hit with guests, family and friends.

Should I post a recipe?

Rum Baba soaked in an orange rum syrup served with creme anglaise and a rum caramel. Delicious light and satisfying treat.

Ingredients

For the Rum Baba:

• 1 packet active dry yeast

• 2 tablespoons warm water

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 4 eggs

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup melted butter

• Pinch of salt

For the Orange Rum Syrup:

• 1 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup water

• Zest and juice of 2 oranges

• 1/2 cup rum

For the Crème Anglaise:

• 1 cup whole milk

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

• 6 large egg yolks

• 1/2 cup sugar

For the Rum Caramel:

• 1 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup water

• 1/4 cup rum

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions

Rum Baba:

1. Prepare the Dough: Dissolve yeast in warm water, mix with flour, eggs, sugar, melted butter, and salt. Knead into a dough and let it rise for 2 hours.

2. Bake: Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Divide dough into greased molds and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Orange Rum Syrup:

1. In a saucepan, bring sugar, water, orange juice, and zest to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.

2. Remove from heat and stir in rum.

3. Soak Baba: Once the babas are baked, immerse them in the syrup and allow them to soak thoroughly.

Crème Anglaise:

1. In a saucepan, heat milk, cream, and vanilla.

2. In a bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar.

3. Gradually add the hot milk mixture to the eggs, whisking constantly.

4. Return the mixture to the stove and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Strain and chill.

Rum Caramel:

1. Heat sugar and water in a saucepan until caramelized.

2. Carefully add rum and cream, stirring until smooth.

3. Allow to cool slightly before using.

Beyond bowls and measuring cups, what tools would you recommend for someone who really wants to get into baking?

My goal: be able to make just about any kind of bread, cookie brownie or cake.

Also, any opinion on Teflon vs non stick?

Hey! Fantastic question,

A beautiful spoon never goes amiss, a bread tester/fish tester, a bench scraper, a nice comfy whisk and a rolling pin are in my mind the other bare essentials, I also really recommend a bench mixer for quicker and more accurate mixing, and my personal biggest reccomendation, get yourself a few nice sized baking sheets of good quality, and a silicone mat. Trust me it will help a tonne!

I won’t lie and will admit fault in that I don’t know enough e out Teflon vs Non Stick to have an opinion. I generally have one teflon pan for eggs etc and then I use mostly stainless steel or Cast Iron. For baking id suggest Tefal which I believe is teflon, but really take good care of your equipment and use paper as required and it won’t matter a tonne.

Thanks for the great question!

Cheers

Hey!

Honestly lots of experience, i usually look at a recipe as a guideline and tweak as i go. Once you figure out the consistency and textures you need to look for you can kinda guestimate the amount of for example flour you need, etc. Perfect way to learn is to bake a cake and follow the recipe perfectly. Then after a break bake the same recipe, but be a little more blaise. Add flour until the texture is right. That sort of thing, eventually your brain will just recognise the right signs. Hopefully that helps just a little. Thanks for the great question!

Cheers

I've spent a bit more than a year and a half as a cook at fastfood place (basically burritos), and now work in a coffee shop, and i do like the job, but am not sure if it's possible to — get somewhere from here?

Sorry for rambliness, have a good day.

Hey!

No need for an apology, I love ramblings it’s often where purest thoughts come from. I spent time as a Barista in a trendy cafe/brunch place for a while, super fun and pretty relaxing. Generally with that sort of work you have two options. You became great at coffee, become invaluable and work to be manager. Do that till you have enough experience to either buy a partnership or open your own place. A really close friend of mine took another path, they worked as a barista in the morning and as a bartender at night, eventually this turned into him becoming what was nicknamed a “Hospo Legend” basically he made enough connections and had the skill to basically become a Substitute bartender/barista. He’d charge 35 an hour and would work “hero shifts”. Someone calls in sick, he’s called in, advertises it on his socials and drags in his following. I also believe there’s the Coffee Olympics (IIRC) where people compete for best coffee best art etc. Feel free to hit me up again if you want any more info or ramblings from me!

Cheers