Overview

Skip dinner and go right to everyone’s favorite part of a meal, with baking tips and recipe ideas from The Culinary Institute of America.

Get a quick, easy, and comprehensive guide to the fundamentals of baking like a professional with The Everyday Gourmet: Baking Pastries and Desserts. Chef Stephen L. Durfee, an award-winning pastry chef from the Culinary Institute of America, demonstrates tried-and-true methods for baking everything from simple cookies and cakes to custards, cream puffs, and chocolate mousse. Filmed at the CIA’s Greystone campus in Napa Valley, this course is packed with interactive demonstrations and hands-on opportunities, providing practical tips and insights for both novice and master bakers.

Course Outline

• Handle with Care – Basic Doughs
  • Duration: 36 min
  • Understand basic techniques and methods to create a wide range of desserts, including proper measuring and creaming techniques.

• Mixing It Up – Methods for Cakes
  • Duration: 41 min
  • Explore key mixing methods through the preparation of devil’s food cake, chiffon cake, and angel food cake, focusing on egg whipping techniques.

• Blue-Ribbon Winners – Pies and Biscuits
  • Duration: 38 min
  • Learn how to make flaky dough for pies, including molding, blind-baking, and creating various crust designs, as well as tips for making biscuits.

• Lighter Than Air – Cream Puffs
  • Duration: 37 min
  • Master puff pastry techniques to create cream puffs, éclairs, and churros, while also learning to make pastry cream.

• Simple to Elegant – Custards
  • Duration: 43 min
  • Discover the secrets of egg-based custards like crème brûlée and crème anglaise, while gaining confidence in baking with eggs.

• Final Touches – Mousse and Dessert Sauces
  • Duration: 37 min
  • Learn advanced techniques for making mousses, whipped cream, and dessert sauces, and how to present your desserts beautifully.