Benito's blog

Having to practice more to get the rust out of my processes and shaping.  I was able to get my preferred organic all purpose flour similar to T55 for baguettes.  Also continuing to see how far I can push fermentation with every so slightly more gluten development with each bake.  In this bake along with the Rubaud kneading in the bowl when adding the levain and later when adding the bassinage water, I did a total of 300 slap and folds.  These recent bakes do support the fact that doing more gluten development does support longer fermentation without loss of grigne/ears.  I’ve also adjusted my scoring a bit as the broken straps were bothering me.  Although I still overlap the scores still to avoid sausage appearance, I am consciously trying to leave the straps slightly wider, this seems to reduce the number of straps that break during oven spring.  To do this, I do have to score a bit outside the middle third lane of the baguette.

One thing that is now happening is that extensibility has increased substantially and my baguettes are too long for my baking steel and even for the cookie tray that the couche sits on.  So I over handled this set of baguettes.  After 20 mins in the couche, I decided to remove them to cut them a bit shorter, otherwise they would have drooped off the steel.  I know I degassed them somewhat during that process of over handling.  So I might reduce the dough weight a bit so they aren’t as long next time, or cold retard them en bulk at the end of bulk to tighten the gluten, not sure yet.

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Overnight Levain build ferment 75°F 10-12 hours

78°F 9 hours to peak

When levain at peak, mix 28 g water with all the levain mixing to loosen.

In the morning, to your mixing bowl add 353 g water and diastatic malt 5.8 g to dissolve, then add 527 g AP flour to combine.  Allow to autolyse for 20 mins.  Next add the loosened levain and salt 12 g, pinch and stretch and fold to combine in the bowl.  Slap and fold x 100 then add hold back water 23 g gradually working in until fully absorbed by massaging and then Rubaud kneading the dough, then slap and fold x 200.

Bulk Fermentation 82*F until aliquot jar shows 20% rise.

Do folds every 20 mins doing 3 folds

Could do cold retard at this point for  up to overnight. (Aliquot jar 20% rise)

Divide and pre-shape rest for 15 mins

Shape en couche with final proof until aliquot jar shows 55% rise then (optional) cold retard shaped baguettes en couche for at least 15 minutes for easier scoring.  I often do this for convenience as the oven is pre-heating.

Pre-heat oven 500*F after 30 mins add Silvia towel in pan with boiling water.

Transfer baguettes from couche to peel on parchment

Score each baguette and transfer to oven, bake on steel.

Bake with steam pouring 1 cup of boiling water to cast iron skillet dropping temperature to 480*F. 

The baguettes are baked with steam for 13 mins.  The steam equipment is removed venting the oven of steam.  Transfer the baguettes from the baking steel to next rack completing baking directly on a rack to minimize the browning of the bottom crust.  The oven is dropped to 450ºF but convection is turned on and the baguettes bake for 10 mins rotating them halfway.  The baguettes are rotated again if needed and baked for another 3 mins to achieve a rich colour crust.

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Being back in Toronto I have access to ingredients that I couldn’t find in Fort Lauderdale Florida.  Yesterday I went to Chinatown and picked up some purple sweet potatoes and some BBQ Pork.  I’ve been wanting to try making fully sourdough (not hybrid with IDY) Baozi for a while, the last attempt at it didn’t go well.  Given the expense of buying BBQ Pork these needed to be successful and they were.  

The dough is quite stiff as is customary with these steamed buns so mixing my hand and kneading on the countertop are the way to go.  The dough comes together very quickly.  Because there is baking powder in these, the pH data is interesting.  Not surprisingly they start out with a high pH of 5.62 and at the time of steaming only dropped to 4.86.  Even the delta of only 0.76 is very low.  Some of that is definitely the baking powder but I also used a stiff sweet starter as well.  This kind of bread shouldn’t have a sour tang and these definitely did not.  In the future, I would increase the dough per baozi to 60-65 so I can get more filling into each.  As well, I would increase the final proof even more, these were steamed at 112% of rise for the second batch, I’d say I can go up incrementally to 120-125% next time as the dough performed well.

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I did not use the optional IDY in this bake.

For 12 Baozi 

Make the Filling 

Filling Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
• 1 clove garlic , grated
• 1/8 teaspoon five spice powder
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 heaping cup (180 g / 6.5 oz) homemade char siu , diced (or store-bought char siu) 1.5 cups is better 
• While the dough is resting, combine all the filling ingredients in a small pot except for the diced char siu. Mix until the cornstarch is dissolved fully.
• Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until thickened, so you can draw a line on the bottom of the pot with a spatula, about 1 minute. Take the pot off the heat and let the mixture cool off. Once cooled, add the diced char siu and mix until it is evenly distributed.

Overnight Levain

In a large jar, combine all purpose flour, water, ripe sourdough starter, and sugar. Cover the jar loosely and let the levain ripen overnight at warm room temperature (I keep mine around 76°F to 78°F).

Tangzhong

In a sauce pan set on med heat with about 1.5 cm of water, place the bowl of your stand mixer creating a Bain Marie, whisk the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool.

In The Morning

In a mixing bowl, add the Tangzhong, water, milk, sugar and salt, mix to dissolve.  Add the stiff sweet levain and using a silicone spatula, cut the levain into small pieces.  Add the baking powder, cornstarch, oil and flour.  Mix to form a shaggy dough.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  On your countertop knead the dough until good gluten development, this is a very stiff dough so I prefer to knead it manually to spare my mixer.  Spread about half of the mashed sweet potato on top of the flatten dough, fold and then repeat with the remaining mashed potato.  Knead the dough on the countertop until the mashed potatoes are well distributed.  Remove some dough for aliquot jar to follow rise.  Shape into a boule and rest in a covered bowl at 82°F until the dough has increased by 40%.

Prepare twelve 4” parchment squares.

Remove the dough to the counter and divide into 12 equal portions shaping each into a tight boule.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  Roll out the dough into a 5” circle thickest at the center rolling towards the center of the circle. Flour the back of the dough circle then place about 45 g of bbq pork filling in the center.  Form into a bun pleating the dough together at the top.   Place on a 4-inch square of parchment paper.

Cover the filled bao with a damp cloth and place in a warm place and allow them to ferment until they pass the poke test.  Using an aliquot jar they should reach about 100% rise.

Prepare your steamer setup and bring water to a boil.  Working in batches if necessary, arrange buns in the bamboo steamer spacing 2” apart.  Once the water is boiling turn the heat down to medium.  Steam over boiling water for 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat and leave the buns in the covered steamer for 5 more minutes to prevent collapsing.  (I left them in the steamer and on the same stove element turned off). Do not lift the lid of the steamer, doing so will cause a sudden drop in temperature that can cause the buns to collapse or wrinkle or dent.  Remove the buns from the steamer and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before serving.  

Buns can be kept in an airtight container (a resealable bag works great) at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Room temperature buns can be reheated in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds or steamed for about 2 minutes, until soft and warmed through. Reheat frozen buns by steaming until soft and warmed through, 10 to 15 minutes.

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For those interested, the aliquot jar shown in the photos is made by Billie Olive and it is well designed and easy to use.  I have always found using one helpful when adjusting my bakes when repeating a bread and wanting to increase or decrease the degree of fermentation.  

I am doing a giveaway with Billie Olive for one of these aliquot jars on Instagram this weekend.  If you’re interested head over to Instagram and follow me bread_md and you’ll be able to enter the free giveaway for the aliquot jar.  I will be posting the giveaway tomorrow and it will only be open for a short while.

Here’s the link to my Instagram giveaway.

My index of bakes.

I was disappointed in my last set of baguettes so had to bake another set.  With this set, I was using this new AP flour again and based on the last set decided to go with 76% hydration and do hand mixing so I could better assess how the dough felt.  I also didn’t do any cold retard because the dough in the last set really resisted stretching as it was still a bit cold during shaping.

I have only two baguettes to show this time, one of the shaped and fully proofed baguettes slipped off the transfer board and hit the edge of the countertop and stretched out of shape degassing.  I didn’t bother to bake it.  This dough didn’t resist stretching and in fact I barely had to so any stretching during shaping.  In fact, they ended up a bit too long for the cookie tray that I use to support the couche and the pointy ends ended up sticking to the cookie tray and I had to wrestle them off.  Despite this I am quite happy with this bake.

Another thing I have been exploring is whether more gluten development can allow longer fermentation and still retain the grigne/ears of the baguettes.  I’ve increased the slap and folds up to 260 this time and I really pushed final proofing to a total rise of 50% far greater than what was my standard when I first became adept with baguettes.  Back then I tried to get the baguettes in the oven by 30% rise so 50% is a much more.  The ears were retained and the crumb looked decent.  I think I can push a bit more to 55% with this flour and this degree of gluten development.

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I still have some rhubarb from a friend’s farm from last year frozen in my freezer.  We are hosting a dinner party for neighbours tonight so wanted to bake a pie with a pate brisée pastry crust using the rhubarb.  I couldn’t source any sour cherries so decided to try a spiced peach rhubarb filling for the first time.  I recently purchased a Fat Daddio’s pie dish.  I have always used glass pie dishes because I could see the crust and tell if it was fully baked.  The problem though is that the glass doesn’t heat as quickly as I’d like even with the pie baking on the baking steel on the lowest rack.  This metal pie plate should transfer the heat sooner to the crust so hopefully these juicy filling pies will have a crisp and non soggy bottom.  Another benefit of this pie plate is that it is a bit deeper so more fruit filling is a good thing in my book.

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You will need to have a double batch of your favorite pate brisée pastry recipe for this pie.  You can find the one I use in my index here.

Peach Rhubarb Filling

• 2 1/2 cups sliced rhubarb (about 1/4 in. thick)
• 2 1/2 cups peaches (peeled and sliced)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp allspice 
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp vanilla

Put frozen fruits in the dutch oven to defrost with ½ cup of granulated sugar to help macerate.

Later add the other ½ cup of granulated sugar to the ¼ cup of cornstarch to loosen the cornstarch and remove the clumps.  Then add the ¼ cup brown sugar and all the spices and salt to the liquid from the fruit. 

Will partially cook to thicken a little bit.  Brought up to 155°F so a bit thickened but not fully thick.  Tested the liquid by removing some and microwaving it and it does fully thicken well.

Once the bottom pastry is rolled out and transferred to the pie plate cover and place in fridge for at least 30 mins and up to 3 hours allowing the butter to firm up and the gluten to relax before adding the filling and topping with the top pastry.

When ready to bake pre-heat oven to 425°F baking at this temperature for 30 mins on the lowest rack on a baking stone or steel.  Watch the edge and protect it from over browning.  

After 20 mins shielded the edge and continued to bake at 425°F for another 10 or so mins then shielded the whole pie with a cookie tray and decreased temperature to 350°F and baked until the bottom crust was nicely browned another 60 mins or so. 

My index of bakes.

I am definitely out of practice shaping baguettes.  Looking at my index I see it has been almost exactly 6 months, much too long.  Based on the three baguettes I baked you can see the improvement with the shaping from the first to the third.  Another variable is that I couldn’t find my preferred flour that I have been using for baguettes so had to use a flour I haven’t used for baguettes before.

This bake I wanted to further test the idea that with more gluten development I could final proof further.  In the past with little gluten development I found the sweet spot for proofing at time of bake was a 30% rise in total.  This allowed me to get an open crumb and decent ears.  This time I actually used my Ankarsrum Assistent for dough development and a couple of folds.  The dough went into cold retard when the aliquot jar showed a rise of only 20%.  The following morning the dough was pre-shaped, shaped and allowed to rise to 45%, so much much more than what I used to do.  Based on the third shaped baguette I’d say that my theory works.  I’ll need to try to get another bake this week of baguettes to get the rust out and confirm my findings.  The one baguette which looks like a snake that swallowed a small animal probably had a large trapped air bubble I’m guessing, anyhow suboptimal to say the least.

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Overnight Levain build ferment 75°F 10-12 hours.

In the morning, to your mixing bowl add 353 g water and diastatic malt 5.8 g to dissolve, then add 527 g AP flour to combine.  Briefly mix in your stand mixer until there is no dry flour, then autolyze for 15-20 mins.  

Add the bassinage water to the stiff levain, mix to loosen.  Sprinkle salt on the dough.  Then spread levain on the dough.  Mix until the dough has at least moderate gluten development.  This was very quick in the Ankarsrum Assistent.  Release the dough to the countertop and do a few folds to smooth out the dough.

Bulk Fermentation 82*F until aliquot jar shows 20% rise.

Do folds every 20 mins doing 2 or 3 folds stopping when the dough is showing good strength.  Place in 3°C fridge overnight.

Divide and pre-shape rest for 15 mins.

Shape en couche with final proof until aliquot jar shows 45% rise then (optional) cold retard shaped baguettes en couche for at least 15 minutes for easier scoring. 

Pre-heat oven 500*F after 30 mins add Silvia towel in pan with boiling water.

Transfer baguettes from couche to peel on parchment

Score each baguette and transfer to oven, bake on steel.

Bake with steam pouring 1 cup of boiling water to cast iron skillet dropping temperature to 480*F. 

The baguettes are baked with steam for 13 mins.  The steam equipment is removed venting the oven of steam.  Transfer the baguettes from the baking steel to next rack completing baking directly on a rack to minimize the browning of the bottom crust.  The oven is dropped to 450ºF but convection is turned on and the baguettes bake for 10 mins rotating them halfway.  The baguettes are rotated again if needed and baked for another 3 mins to achieve a rich colour crust.

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My index of bakes.

We’re back home and as usual out of bread.  I found some Einkorn flour so decided to use it in this loaf.  No bread flour or VWG will be used for this loaf.  As I have recently started to use a stiffer tangzhong and have increased the percentage up to 20% I haven found that I don’t need to use any VWG at all and can still get a great rise for this style of bread.  So this loaf is 100% whole grain, 20% of that whole einkorn.  I also like the flavour that einkorn gives to bread, but it is definitely hard to come by around here.

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For one 9x4x4” Pullman pan loaf.

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76-78ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and whole wheat flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

If you plan on using a stand mixer to mix this dough, set up a Bain Marie and use your stand mixer’s bowl to prepare the tangzhong.

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flours.  I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before adding in more butter.  Again, knead until well incorporated.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane, not quite as good as a white flour because the bran will interrupt the windowpane somewhat. 

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2 - 4 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape.  Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer.  Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

Prepare your pans by greasing them with butter or line with parchment paper.  

Lightly oil the top of the dough. Scrape the dough out onto a clean counter top and divide it into four. I like to weigh them to have equal sized lobes. Shape each tightly into a boule, allow to rest 5 mins. Using an oiled rolling pin roll each ball out and then letterfold. Turn 90* and using a rolling pin roll each out to at least 8”. Letterfold again from the sides so you have a long narrow dough. Then using a rolling pin, roll flatter but keeping the dough relatively narrow.  The reason to do this extra letterfold is that the shorter fatter rolls when placed in the pan will not touch the sides of the pan.  This allows the swirled ends to rise during final proof, this is only done for appearance sake and is not necessary.  Next roll each into a tight roll with some tension. Arrange the rolls of dough inside your lined pan alternating the direction of the swirls. This should allow a greater rise during proof and in the oven.

Cover and let proof for  4-6 hours at a warm temperature.  I proof at 82°F.  You will need longer than 4-6 hours if you chilled your dough for shaping. I proof until the top of the dough comes to within 1 cm of the top edge of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 350F and brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.  Just prior to baking brush with the egg-milk wash again.

Bake the loaves for 50 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190ºF, rotating as needed to get even browning. Shield your loaf if it gets brown early in the baking process. After 50 mins remove the bread from the pan and bake a further 10 mins by placing the loaf directly in the oven on the rack with the oven turned down to 325ºF.

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My index of bakes.

For our final dinner party we are hosting down here in Florida I wanted to make pulled pork sandwiches so I needed to have a large enough bun that while soft would hold up to the sauce, pulled pork and roasted pineapple.  So I decided that increasing the whole wheat would make the bun a bit firmer while the addition of the sweet potato would enhance the flavour.  I unfortunately didn’t get photos of the sandwiches, however, I do have some pulled pork and buns leftover so I’ll try to remember to take some photos of the assembled sandwiches.

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For 8 buns

egg wash: 1 yolk, 1 tbsp milk and a pinch of salt, beaten…

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this stiff  sweet levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flour, I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 15 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next drizzle in the melted butter a little at a time, or alternatively add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  Slow the mixer down to avoid splashing the butter at you. The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before drizzling or adding in more butter.  Once all the butter has been added and incorporated increase the speed gradually to medium.  Add the mashed potatoes gradually.  Mix at medium speed until the gluten is well developed, approximately 10 mins.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane.

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2.5-3.5 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape.  Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer.  Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

Line a large cookie tray with parchment paper.  Punch the dough down and then divide into 8 equal portions.  Form each into tight boules.  Place on a parchment lined cookie tray.  Cover them and allow them to fully proof about 4-6 hours, they should pass the poke test.

After about 30 mins of proofing time, whisk your remaining egg and milk and then brush the small boules.

About 30 mins prior to end of final proof preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Immediately prior to baking brush the dough again with the egg and milk mixture.  Top with sesame seeds.

Bake the buns uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190F. Cover if your rolls get brown early in the baking process.

Remove the buns from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool.

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These buns were a success, they definitely stood up well to the saucy pulled pork while still being soft and flavourful.

My index of bakes.

OK last dinner party of the Fort Lauderdale season for us as hosts.  One last pie that I’m making here in Fort Lauderdale until next visit whenever that is.  I loved the simplicity of the lime coconut pie but wanted to make it with the Ritz Cracker crust for a bit of saltiness to contrast the lime coconut flavor.  Also with the Ritz Cracker crust instead of the graham cracker crust I can control the amount of sugar and reduce it which is better in my mind.  I do find the graham crackers down here are very sweet so the crust turns out too sweet for me.  Ritz Crackers aren’t so sweet so the crust is a bit more neutral in sweetness which is great.

A great way of making very stable flavored whipped cream is adding jello powder.  Yes jello powder.  Unfortunately I couldn’t find coconut jello here, so I had a vanilla jello box sitting around so my whipped cream is vanilla flavored.  To 1 cup of whipping cream add 2 tbsp of jello powder +/- 1 tbsp of sugar.  Mix to dissolve and then whip as usual.  You will find that this whipped cream is super stable for several days and really holds the shape of the piping tip you use. 

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Ritz Cracker Crust

• 175 g Ritz Crackers, crushed. 
• 1 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 cup (4 oz.) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Crush the crackers finely, but not to dust. You can use a food processor or your hands. Add the salt and sugar, then sprinkle in the melted butter tossing with a fork until the mixture starts to clump evenly.  Ritz Cracker Crust

• 5 ounces round buttery crackers (such as Ritz) (about 40 crackers), crushed.  (Original not enough increased to 175 g)
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar (reduce greatly to 1 tbsp)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (reduce to ½ tsp)
• 1/2 cup (4 oz.) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Crush the crackers finely, but not to dust. You can use a food processor or your hands. Add the salt and sugar, then knead in the butter until the crumbs hold together like dough. Press into an 9-inch pie pan. Freeze for 30 minutes, then bake for 20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. 

In the meantime prepare the filling.

• 250 ml (1 cup) heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons icing sugar (sub 2 tbsp sugar)
• (2/3 cup) unsweetened coconut milk
• 14-ounces (1 can) sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed or bottled Key lime juice
• Zest of 1 lime, finely grated

To garnish:

• Whipped cream (optional)
• Toasted coconut (optional)
• lime slices or lime zest

Instructions:

• In a bowl, using an electric mixer or a whisk by hand, beat heavy cream and sugar until creamy. Add the coconut milk, condensed milk, lime juice, and lime zest and whisk until fluffy and thick. Pour into crust and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to set.
• Before serving, top pie with whipped cream, sprinkle some toasted coconut and/or lime slices (if desired). Slice and serve.

My index of bakes

A close friend is having a dinner party today down here in Fort Lauderdale so I offered to bring rolls.  I’m almost out of bread flour to in order to ensure that I have enough for one last bake I’ve been adding some whole wheat to my bakes, even for company.  I switched Alan’s starter to whole wheat and it seems fine with it.  Instead of a bread flour tangzhong I used whole wheat.  Another change I made is that I added the butter to the tangzhong while cooking it.  Although the tangzhong’s consistency obviously changes, by adding the butter to the tangzhong I have so far found that I am able to reduce the number of slap and folds while developing the dough by hand in half.  That is a big savings in work and time.  This may be what I do going forward, at least when hand developing enriched doughs that use a tangzhong.

For this bake I decided to add the dried herbs, rosemary and thyme directly to the dough rather than just from melted butter infused with herbs.  I hope that there will be more herb flavour this way.

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For four by six rolls in a 7.5 x 11.5” pan

Dried Herbs 0.5% each 

Rosemary 1.8 g

Thyme 1.8 g

egg wash: 1 yolk and 1 tbsp milk, beaten…

Prepare the stiff sweet levain overnight or the day before and refrigerate when ready.

Cook Tangzhong mixing flour and milk constantly until it becomes a thick roux.  Let cool before adding to final dough.  Or add to cold milk and egg to cool it down.  Add the levain and break it up into small pieces with your spatula.

Whisk together dry ingredients flour sugar salt herbs and yeast (optional). 

To mix by hand, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients (milk, tangzhong and egg) to dissolve.  Next add the flour and mix with a silicone spatula until no dry flour remains.  Rest 10-20 mins.  Next perform French folds until the dough is well developed.  Smear the butter onto the dough and then fold to incorporate and then perform further French folds until well developed.  Gradually add the mashed potato and knead to incorporate it well into the dough.  Form into a tight ball and place in a bowl covered with plastic or a damp cloth @ 82°F for 2-3 hours, some rise will be visible. Alternatively, you could mix the mashed potato and butter and then add the mixture to the developed dough until well incorporated.

Butter a large baking pan or line the pan with parchment.  Punch the dough down and then divide into 24 equal portions.  Form each into tight boules.  Place in the buttered baking pan seem side down.  Cover them and allow them to fully proof about 4-6 hours, they should pass the poke test.

About 30 mins before the end of proofing time, whisk your remaining egg and milk and then brush the small boules.

About 30 mins prior to end of final proof preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Immediately prior to baking brush the dough again with the egg and milk mixture.

Bake the rolls uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190F. Cover if your rolls get brown early in the baking process.

Remove the bread from the oven but not the pans, brush the tops with the melted butter while hot, and then let cool for 10 minutes before pulling the bread from the pans. You may need to slide a butter knife down the sides of the pan to loosen the bread, but I have found parchment paper to be unnecessary.  Sprinkle with fleur de sel if you wish after brushing with butter. 

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My index of bakes.

Did you know that the price of pecans is much less here in the south compared with in Canada?  So I decided I’d try making pecan sticky buns that I’ve seen but never eaten.  To bring a bit of Canada to them I’ve added maple syrup to the topping.  The rest of the bun is pretty standard cinnamon rolls.  I’ve used my usual stiff sweet levain to keep the sourness in check.  I’m still fully hand developing the dough so decided to try an experiment.  I added the butter that would go into the dough, usually late in development, into the saucepan with the milk and flour while preparing the tangzhong.  This changes the tangzhong making it looser and somewhat greasier.  However, this change reduced the number of slap and folds by 50% to get full dough development.  Having more KA WW flour than I can use up before my stay here ends I’m adding WW to everything.  I figure most people won’t notice the small amount that I’ve added here since it is only in the tangzhong and with the strong flavours they won’t taste it.

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Filling 

PREPARE THE BROWN SUGAR CINNAMON FILLING: In a medium bowl, whisk together the 140g dark brown sugar, 12g flour, 6g cinnamon, and small pinch of salt. Cover and set aside.

Topping for 9x9” pan

170 g chopped pecans

70 g unsalted butter

57 g packed light or dark brown sugar

41 g whole milk

41 g maple syrup

1 g salt

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

If you plan on using a stand mixer to mix this dough, set up a Bain Marie and use your stand mixer’s bowl to prepare the tangzhong.

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flours.  I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before adding in more butter.  Once all the butter has been added and incorporated increase the speed gradually to medium. Mix at medium speed until the gluten is well developed, approximately 10 mins.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane. 

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2 - 3 hours at 82ºF.  There may be some rise visible at this stage.

Optional cold retard overnight or just 1.5 hours to chill the dough for easier shaping.

Prepare your pan by greasing it or line with parchment paper.   Meanwhile, make the topping:  Spread chopped pecans in an even layer in the pan. Set aside. Combine the rest of the topping ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the butter has melted, then bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, give it a quick whisk, then pour over pecans. Set aside.

This dough is very soft. Act quickly to roll, spread the filling, and cut before the dough warms and softens further. If it begins to soften, place it in the fridge to firm.

Remove your bulk fermentation container from the fridge, lightly flour your work surface in a large rectangle shape, and the top of the dough in the bowl. Then, gently scrape out the dough to the center of your floured rectangle. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour, and using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 15″ x 15″ square or larger rectangle.

Brush melted butter on rolled dough.  Sprinkle brown sugar cinnamon filling mix on top.

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Starting at one of the long sides of the rectangle in front of you, begin rolling up the dough as you move across. Be sure to tightly roll the dough by gently tugging on the dough as you roll.

Once finished rolling up the dough, divide it into nine 1 1/2″ pieces using a sharp knife. Transfer the pieces to the prepared baking pan and cover with a large, reusable bag, place in a warm spot.  I use my proofing box set to 82°F.  Final proof may take 3-6 hours, be patient and wait until the dough passes the finger poke test.

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Be sure to start preheating your oven about 30 minutes before you feel the rolls will be fully proofed. For me, the final warm proof time was about 3 hours at 77°F (25°C).

Bake

Preheat your oven, with a rack in the middle, to 400°F (200°C). After the warm proof, uncover your dough and gently press the tops of a few rolls.  The fully proofed rolls will look very soft. The texture of the dough will be almost like a whipped mousse. Be sure to give them extra time in warm proof if necessary. If the dough needs more time to proof, cover the pan and give the dough another 15 to 30 minutes at a warm temperature and check again.

Once your oven is preheated, remove your pan from its bag, slide it into the oven, and bake for 40 to 45 minutes.  Once fully baked remove from the oven and then invert pan onto a serving platter.

My Index of Bakes.