timtune's blog

I burnt my lil finger a bit just now while making Naans for dinner today (thx to my very small oven size!). I'm having a vegetarian Indian dinner tonight. The Naan goes with lentil curry and fried bittergourd with spices. :) [Dunno how it tastes like yet though...]

Once in a while, i guess i have to make a breakfast treat for myself. But every breakfast's a treat to me being a breakfast lover. :P Though more suited for tea time, i decided made some Austrian or German (not too sure which one) jam filled yeast dumplings. But somehow, i forgot to include eggs in the dough. Nevertheless, it still was soft and moist (with flowing hot jam) and i dun think the eggs would make a significant difference.

It's been a long time that i've wanted to try this (from Reinharts BBA). The recipe asked for a small portion of pumpernickel grind flour, but i can't find that, so i used a small percentage of wholewheat. Couronne crease/ cracks didn't came out so well thanks to not making it deep enough. Flavour was great! Tasted mildly sour and of toasted sunflowers.

With my exams over, i just had to test the BBA's pizza recipe method. I made Pizza Magherita but with Romano and Mimolette cheese . I guess mimolette isn't a good melter, as u can see the lil orange bits. Also, dough hydration was way too high to toss. Just had to fold it and press it down on the pan.

Made a supposedly Dutch kinda breakfast cake last saturday. But internet's down for the last 2 days. Groninger Koek? that's the name.. lol It's made with rye flour, and it contains no eggs or fats. Very spicy smell. Also, an excuse to meddle with my dad's new camera ;)

After used to having bread for breakfast, i was deprived of my usual breakfast treat when my exams came and my last loaf finished recently. This is what i have to do when i have lil time on my hands. A loaf prepared in 15 minutes!! ..lol Had to make a brown soda bread... too much Soda i think. Affected the taste..haha..or is it suppose to be like tht?..i dunno. The people in the place where i live only calls white fluffy, sweet - cake liked things as bread. They would term all my breads as alien...

Ahh...finally after more than a 2 week wait, it arrived. Peter Reinhart's bread baker's apprentice finally got to my doorstep. Got it from Amazon. Haven't went thru it thoroughly yet, but it certainly looks great, though i find adhering to some of the recipes difficult at times (as in measures). ;)

I just set a starter out last night. Made of raisin water and unbleached all purpose. Hopefully i'll manage to get some loaves outta it this time.. hehe.. This is the 2nd time i'm doing this. Earlier this year, when i knew very little about making bread, my starter looked fermented, but they didn't produce anything or make dough rise... Guess it's just some other bacteria, not wild yeast. I live in a tropical country. Hope it's ideal for wild yeast and not some other nasty microbiological impostors... Didn't use wholewheat flour.

Yesterday i tried making croissants for the 2nd time. The first time wasn't tht good becoz the butter burst through the dough and i just threw part of the dough and simply made some badly/oddly shaped croissants. So yesterday, i rolled out the dough and thought mebbe if i use pieces instead of a block, the results will be better. Instead, the pieces were too frozen and it pierced right through the dough!.. :S... I got frustrated and kneaded the pieces in the dough and roughly crushed it while i kneaded it. Then i quickly threw it in the freezer.