Off Season Baking

Spring in the intermountain west can be quite unpredictable. It’s a great time of year to gear up for an upcoming busy summer, especially if you’re entertaining guests often. One of the tricks of the trade to being a good chef is staying ahead of the game. This means, doing what you can ahead of time to be prepared.

Baking is not only time consuming but tedious, precise and in some cases, straight up scientific. This can be scary, especially to those who are already somewhat uncomfortable cooking, let alone baking. For me, it’s about saving time.

For many years, I was totally against using anything frozen. I toted myself as the chef who only uses fresh ingredients. I still do, but over the years I’ve come to the proper realization that freezing has its place in the culinary realm. Pastry doughs are one example. Everything from cookie doughs to puff pastry to pie doughs. If wrapped and stored properly, the product and end result is almost impossible to detect the difference between fresh and frozen.

So, during the spring and fall months, when the weather outside is less than desirable and you need something to do, I like to take the time to get ahead of the game and as I said before:  stock up on pastry items I plan to use for upcoming events and desserts. Keep in mind, you don’t want to do too much ahead of time as the shelf life of dough in the freezer is short (1-3 months in my opinion) and I try to use those frozen products as quickly as possible.

Last, the thawing method is important. Do not try and thaw at room temperature a few hours prior to use but rather overnight in the refrigerator. Then, prior to use, pull to room temp on the countertop. This will ensure that the entirety of the dough is thawed through completely and ready for use just as if it were fresh. Above: Blueberry & Lemon Tart with Paté Sucreé previously frozen.