Bake The Vote - with Chef Thais Rodriguez
FOH has teamed up with Chef Thais Rodriguez to bring you Bake The Vote: Poptarts Edition.
Bake The Vote is an idea from the Bakers Againt Racism Team.
How To Participate
Join our live demo and bake your goods. Sell your goods to family and friends and raise money to donate to organizations that are ensuring a fair election, preserving everyone's right to vote, and creating pathways for true equality.
Supplies list will be posted soon.
Your voice is your power!
About Chef Thais
Born and raised in NYC to Dominican parents, my love for food runs through my veins. I love the kitchen and all that evolves around food and beverage. I have been in the kitchen for over 15 years now and still in love with it.
My approach is not just about food costs and executing traditional recipes, it is about staying current, being innovative and adapting my food and menus to the new trends in the market.
My passion for travel and appreciation for food from different regions of the world inspires my cooking. I love to showcase re-inventions of multi-ethnic foods and I combine the old with the new – still respecting tradition yet striving for innovation. I support local farming and I like to create dishes that are based on what I have on hand and the seasonal produce that is available.
Along with my creative cooking style, I have built my career on one simple principle: Work smarter. I am the person who looks for inefficient procedures, finds ways to streamline them, and consistently strives to boost the productivity of everyone around me.
My goal is to teach the simplicity of food and how to preserve and accentuate flavors, the art of plating, food trends, and how to think outside the box to create food & beverage trends. I am a competitive and innovative person and always looking for what's next and how to be ahead of the game. In other words, I am the ultimate food and beverage junkie and I wouldn't have it any other way!
Follow Chef
IG @thaisnrodriguez
Register for the class, here.
Instructions For Bake The Vote: Poptarts Edition
Equipment list
Bowls - 2 small and 1 large
Box grater
Fork
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Plastic wrap
Rolling pin (or a bottle)
Baking sheet or flat baking pans
Parchment paper Ruler (optional)
Whisk
Pastry brush
Spoon
Shopping List
All Purpose Flour
Granulate Sugar
Unsalted Butter
Salt
Dark Brown sugar
Ground Cinnamon
Vanilla Extract
Egg
Powdered Sugar
Lemon
Milk (optional)
Do Ahead
Pop tarts can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature. After icing has had 24 hours to set, you can reheat in a 300° oven until warmed through, 5–8 minutes.
Pie Dough
2¼ cups (10 oz/284 g) all-purpose flour
1 tbsp (½ oz/14 g) granulated sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup (8 oz/227 g) unsalted butter, frozen
5 tbsp (2½ oz/71 g) ice water
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Filling
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Pinch of kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Assembly
All-purpose flour (for dusting)
1 large egg, separated
1 tsp milk or water
Pinch of kosher salt
2 cups powdered sugar
½ tsp. fresh lemon juice
½ tsp. vanilla extract
Pastry Dough
Whisk flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl to combine.
Toss the butter in dry ingredients to coat, then working quickly, grate butter on the large holes of a box grater into the bowl
Toss grated butter to coat, then, using your fingers, work butter into dry ingredients, smashing until the largest pieces are about the size of lentils.
Tossing constantly with a fork, drizzle in the ice water, then using your hands, lightly toss the mixture several times to distribute water evenly.
- Knead dough in the bowl with your hands until it comes together into a smooth mass with no spots of dry flour remaining
Form into a ball, cut in half, and transfer the dough to plastic wrap and pat into thick squares. Wrap tightly, pressing out the air.
Chill for at least 2 hours and up to 36 hours ahead.
Remove 1 chilled dough from the refrigerator and allow it to sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. This will help make the dough easier to roll and work with. Keep the other disc in the refrigerator.
Lightly dust a clean, dry work surface with flour. Place the dough in the center of the work surface, and dust the dough as well as the rolling pin with flour.
Roll it into a rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick and 9×12 inches in size. - Trim the sides as needed and remember to always be gentle with your pastry dough to prevent tearing.
Cut each piece of dough into thirds and each third into thirds again. You will end up with 9 rectangles. You can also use a ruler to help make this process easier and more accurate.
Chill the dough until firm and while the rolled dough is chilling, repeat the process to the other piece of dough.
Brown sugar filling
Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and set aside until ready to use.
Egg wash
Prepare the egg wash by combining the yolk of one egg with the 1 teaspoon of milk or water.
Assembly
Remove 1 baking sheet of the rectangles from the refrigerator. Brush egg wash over the entire surface of each rectangle.
Place a heaping tablespoon of the prepared brown sugar filling into the center of each rectangle, spread it around, leaving around 1/4 inch of space on the edges.
Remove the second baking sheet of rectangles and place each rectangle on top of the filling-topped rectangles.
Use your fingertips to press firmly around the pocket of filling, sealing the dough well on all sides.
With a fork, poke holes in the tops of each filled pastry to allow the steam to escape. 6-8 holes is enough.
Seal the edges by crimping with a fork, to prevent the sides from opening as the pop-tarts bake.
Refrigerate the filled pop-tarts for at least 20 minutes and up to 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Remove from the refrigerator and brush the tops with the remaining egg wash.
Bake the pop tarts for about 22-25 minutes or until they’re golden brown, rotating the pan halfway through baking.
Let the baked pop-tarts cool completely before glazing.
Vanilla Frosting
Add a pinch of salt to the reserved egg white and whisk until foamy.
Add the powdered sugar a little bit at a time, whisking constantly and vigorously until you have a smooth, opaque white icing that falls off the whisk in a slowly dissolving ribbon (depending on the size of your egg white, you might not need all the sugar).
Whisk in the lemon juice and vanilla.
Working with 1 pop tart at a time, spoon a thin layer of the frosting on top of the cooled pop-tarts.
If you have the patience, let the pop tarts sit at room temperature at least 1 hour to let the icing set before serving.if you don’t have patience, DEVOUR!
