The Fresh Loaf

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varda's picture
varda

I have been making a lot of baguettes lately.    I had a particularly promising one the other day - took a bite, left the room, came back to find the dog eating it.   That's what happens when you make a lot of baguettes, I suppose.   

My husband asked me if I was driving myself crazy with making all these baguettes.   The answer?   No, I'm just trying to learn how to do it.   And you have to make a lot to learn.   So there it is.    And fortunately unlike some of my rye-ier efforts, he actually likes to eat the endless series of practice rounds.  

Today's entry?   A lower hydration overnight retarded sourdough version.   It rolled out a lot longer than I expected - 20 inches - as I did a long rest after the preshape.   It surprised me that the shaping was much easier with this long rest and it didn't seem to get overproofed.    As my baguette trays are 16 inches long instead of proofing on the tray, I placed it diagonally on a 16 inch sheet seam side down, covered with couche, and supported the sides.  

It sang like crazy coming out of the oven and looked ok if a bit mottled - I'm not sure why.

I was thrilled with the taste.   My best yet without question.   This had exactly the smooth creamy crumb texture that I have been striving for with an absolutely crisp and brittle crust.   The sourdough gives it a deep flavor, with not a hint of sour.  

Since I rolled it out so thin it had a bit higher ratio of crust to crumb for every bite, than I might have hoped.   So at least a shade thicker and shorter next time.  

      Final   Starter   Total Baker's %
KAAP15042192 
Water1002812867%
Salt3 31.6%
Starter70  22%
   323 
     
Mix all by hand - a couple minutes 
Bulk Ferment 1 hour  
Stretch and Fold in bowl  
Seal container and refrigerate for 13 hours
Remove and preshape  
Place upside down in couche  
Rest 1.5 hours   
Shape and place diagonally on 16 inch sheet
Cover with couche and support on both sides
Proof for 1.5 hours   
Slash and bake at 450 for 30 minutes 
steam at beginning   
Rotate at 25 minutes  

If you ask am I likely to be posting any more on baguettes, I will have to quote Winston Churchill.  

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

After all, I still haven't fully explored hydration or yeast vs starter or retardation time or starter plus biga or...

And just in case you are wondering if my dog story is a bit too shaggy...

Does this look like a shaggy dog?

 

 

Laura T.'s picture
Laura T.

My last sourdough starter had an unfortunate accident in which it ended up all over my kitchen floor, along with pieces of its glass container. So, I started a new one and yesterday it was ready to use. I fed it about 2 hours before making this recipe. It turned out really great! Nice and reasonably light with a good amount of sour flavour.  

  • 150g 100% hydration starter (mine is mainly rice and sorghum flour, with a little red teff)
  • 400g water
  • 21g psyllium husks
  • 11g salt
  • 110g corn starch
  • 110g stone-ground white rice flour
  • 150g sorghum flour
  • 40g very coarsley ground quinoa (I just bashed it up in a mortar and pestle)
  • Brown rice milk, for glazing (optional, but gives a more attractive finish)
  1. Dilute the starter in the water and whisk in psylliu until emulsified.
  2. Leave covered for 30 minutes.
  3. Sprinkle over salt.
  4. Mix together the flours and quinoa.
  5. Add to the starter mix and knead until it comes together to form a dough.
    Note: You only need to knead until it comes together, as gluten free bread does not require development of the gluten strands through kneading - just make sure it's well mixed and smooth.
  6. Form a ball and leave to rise in the fridge overnight in a covered and oiled container.
  7. The next day, knock back the dough and form into two bâtards.
  8. Cover and leave to prove for an hour.
  9. While the bread is proving, preheat the oven with a stone to full temp (This is 250c on my oven).
  10. Uncover the loaves, brush with a little brown rice milk, slash and transfer to the oven.
  11. Bake for about 25 minutes, turning halfway through if neccassary, until a dark reddish brown colour is acheived.
  12. Leave to cool COMPLETELY before cutting the bread, otherwise the texture will be gummy.
dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Breakfast on bun day

These were very good buns.  We didn’t make a poolish or a YW levain since we didn’t have time on our side.  It was already 11 AM and no time to grind flour or an autolyse it either.  We used 40 g of YW and a pinch of ADY for the leavens.  This was an all AP bake so not very healthy.  But brats, Italian sausage and Boudin aren’t all that healthy either.

 

We just mixed everything together, did 10 minutes of slap and folds and 3 sets of S& Fs on 45 minute intervals and then let the dough rest for 1 hour.  We shaped the buns pulling them taut and let them proof for 3 hours on parchment paper, on the top portion of the mini’s vented broiler pan, on the counter.

 

We fired the mini oven up to 400 F convection and egg washed the buns.  We baked them without steam for 4 minutes and turned the oven down to 375 F convection  and baked the rolls another 4 minutes before spinning the pan 180 degrees and turning the oven down to 350 F convection.

 

The Last of Sylvia's inspired Key Lime Pie

After 8 more minutes the buns were done and we moved them to the cooling rack and brushed then with milk while still oven hot to keep the skins soft. They came out brown and blistered.  So, blisters aren’t from a cold retard or mega steam or a combination of both - since there rolls didn’t have either.  They were soft, moist and open on the inside.

 

We are getting close to a fine enriched bun recipe with this batch.

A magnificent sunset tonight

Formula

Leaven

Build 1

%

Pinch of ADY

0

0.00%

Yeast Water

40

11.94%

Total

40

11.94%

 

 

 

YW % of Total

6.16%

 

 

 

 

Dough Flour

 

%

Durum

110

32.84%

AP

225

67.16%

Dough Flour

335

100.00%

 

 

 

Salt

5

1.49%

Milk

166

49.55%

Dough Hydration

49.55%

 

 

 

 

Total Flour

335

100.00%

Total Water and YW

206

 

T. Dough Hydration

61.49%

 

 

 

 

Hydration w/ Adds

77.18%

 

Total Weight

653

 

 

 

 

Add - Ins

 

%

Butter

24

7.16%

Cream Cheese

20

5.97%

Olive Oil

5

1.49%

Egg

53

15.82%

Sugar

5

1.49%

Total

107

31.94%

Isand66's picture
Isand66

My wife made some Sangria for the 4th of July and had a ton of fresh blueberries and raspberries left over so I decided to use some of them up.  My fellow baking friend Evon inspired this bake with her use of blue berries, cherries and cranberries in her recent sourdough breads.

I wanted to use my Cherry Yeast Water instead of a my sourdough starter.  I also wanted to incorporate some whole grains in this bake so I used some Spelt and Dark Rye (Pumpernickel) flours in the main dough.  I used some lower protein 00 style Italian flour and French style flour from KAF in the starter and the main dough.

In hindsight it may have been better to skip the 00 style flour in this one and have a little more dough strength.  The final dough was wet as expected but I did not get much oven rise and this one was more difficult to handle than Ciabatta I have made in the past.

In the end though, the bread came out just fine although a little flatter than I would have liked but it tastes terrific with a little nuttiness from the spelt and rye and the blueberries and raspberries add a whole other dimension.

This one is worth giving a try if you are up to the challenge.

Closeup

Blueberry-Raspberry-CherryY

Hydrangia2

Levain Directions Build 1

Mix all the levain ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 7-8 hours or until the starter has doubled.  (Note: I used my proofer set at 83 degrees).

Levain Directions Build 2

Add all the ingredients listed to the levain from Build 1 and mix well.  Let it sit in your proofer or a warm place about 83 degrees for 4-5 hours until the starter is nice and bubbly and has doubled in size.

Directions

Mix the flours together with the water for about 1 minute.  Let it sit in your mixing bowl covered for about 15 to 30 minutes.

Next, add the Yeast Water and salt and mix on medium low for 3 minutes. You can now add the blueberries and raspberries and mix for another minute until they are incorporated.   Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl using a dough scraper or spatula. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface or you can do the S & F's in the bowl itself.  . Make sure you oil your hands and do a stretch and fold on all sides of the dough and flip it over and form it into a ball. Put the dough back in the bowl and let it rest for another 10 minutes at room temperature. Do this stretch and fold process three more times over the next 30 to 40 minutes.

After you do the last stretch and fold put it back in the bowl and cover it. Then let it sit at room temperature for 2 hours and cover it tightly and refrigerate overnight.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 1.5 to 2 hours.   Place a large piece of parchment paper either on your work area or the back of a baking pan and dust with flour to cover it completely. Using an oiled or wet dough scraper gently remove the dough to the work surface. You want to be very careful so you don't degas the dough and kill the big air holes you want to achieve.

Flour your hands and lightly dust the top of the dough. Use your hands and a metal dough scraper and form the dough into a 9" square and be very careful again not to manhandle the dough and degas it.

Next, cut the dough into either 3 small Ciabatta or 2 larger size loaves. I opted to go with the 2 larger size but probably would have been better making 3 smaller ones.

Gently fold the individual dough pieces into thirds like an envelope. Make sure to be very careful and not to apply any pressure. Roll the folded dough in the flour to coat it and lift it onto the parchment paper and roll it in the flour again. Rest the dough seam side down and repeat with the other piece(s) of dough.

Spray the tops of the dough with oil (I use a baking spray) and cover the pan with plastic wrap very loosely. You can also use a clean lint free kitchen towel.

After 1 hour of resting, roll the dough pieces very gently so the seam side is now facing up and lift them with your floured hands to coax them into either a 7" rectangle if making the larger size or 5" rectangle.  Try to get them to be as close to a rectangle shape as you can when you put them back down on the parchment paper.

Let them rest covered loosely again for 1 hour.

About 45 minutes before baking, pre-heat oven with baking stone (I use one on bottom and one on top shelf of my oven), to 550 degrees F.

Place an empty pan in bottom shelf of your oven or a cast iron skillet.

Pour 1 cup of boiling water into pan and place loaves into oven. I also spray the side walls of the oven with water 2 to 3 times for added steam.

Lower oven to 450 Degrees and bake for 12 minutes and rotate the bread and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes until bread has a nice golden brown crust and the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees. The bread should have puffed up a little and should be hard when you tap it.

Let it cool on a wire rack for 45 minutes (good luck waiting that long!) and enjoy!

The bread should have nice large irregular holes and should be soft after cooling.

Crumb1CloseupCrumb2

Flowers1

Here are some photos of the pretzel rolls and hot dog buns I made for the 4th of July party we went to along with a cherry pie my wife made.  I also made 7 racks of ribs and a big brisket but didn't have a chance to take any photos.

HotdogbunsPretzel-Rolls1

Gardenia

ConeflowersGroup5

YellowConeflower

HydrangiawithBee
Hungry Bee!

 

Song Of The Baker's picture
Song Of The Baker

Since my recent first attempt at making pizza on my grill using unglazed quarry tiles, I have been anxious to try again but with Ian's (isand66) tip of using parchment paper as the transfer tool.

The system worked perfectly.  Thank you Ian for your suggestion.  My pizza system is now complete.

Today I made a shrimp and pesto pizza.  Whole wheat crust.  Shrimp, pesto, asiago cheese, feta cheese.  Sounds odd but works so nicely together.  Learned this one back in my restaurant days.  It was one of the most popular pizzas.

Ian this za's for you!

JDYangachi's picture
JDYangachi

Well, I decided to try to make baguettes.  I loosely followed dmsnyder's instructions and Anis Bouabsa's formula (scaled to 80%) from here, with some adjustments based on my schedule and my laziness.  Specifically, I mixed the dough but did not knead it, let it rest at room temperature for about 45 minutes, then parked it in the refrigerator for about 12 hours without any folding.  I portioned the dough and did a very cursory pre-shaping step consisting of simply forming some rough rectangular blobs.  After a 30 minute rest, I formed the loaves and let them rise for about 1 hour.  I attempted to score the loaves without much success (I guess my knife wasn't sharp enough).  Then I baked with some steam at 450F for 20 minutes.

Super lazy pre-shaping step.  I did not find the dough to be too sticky or unmanageable.  These were 175g (~ 6 oz.) portions.  I figured smaller loaves might be easier to handle.

After watching a couple of videos on youtube, I was ready to go. There may be better/more helpful videos out there.  These are the two I happened to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEpedY__hsM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d0dzpJAbbU

I did these very quickly, as I didn't want to obsess and end up overworking the dough.  The smaller amount of dough made it slightly difficult to form a good seam with the side/heel of my hand. 

I proofed directly on a parchment lined baking pan, without couching.  The loaves spread out sideways as a result and  the spacing of these was awful.  I should not have loaded more than three on this pan.

Scoring was a disaster.  First I tried with a paring knife, then tried 2 different serrated knives.  As as you can see, the blades were dragging and pulling the dough.  I finally gave up.

Yikes! After 15 minutes at 450F, the tops were golden brown but they didn't look quite done.  I decided to go for 5 more minutes.  In retrospect I should have dropped the temperature.  The loaves look a LOT darker in the photos than in person.  I guess the lighting was too cool and my phone's camera picked up too much blue.

I had to run out the door, so I left these to cool and then sliced one open 2.5 hour later after I got home.

Despite the problems with scoring and the overly browned crust, I'm pretty happy with the results.  The crust is somewhat crispy (maybe not cracklingly crispy) and has a nice chewiness.  I didn't get a ton of oven spring, but the crumb is still somewhat open and tender with a slight chew.  I must have liked it, because I finished a loaf within a few minutes.

greedybread's picture
greedybread

Yummilicious!! NZ Classic…Cream buns… Gorgeous and fresh!

Gorgeous and fresh!

 

Bite!

Bite!

Greedyboy approved!

Greedyboy approved!

 

Cream Buns…

An old classic memory from most of our childhoods here in NZ.

Still sold today, not quite the same, but pretty good.

A Bakery just outside of Manganui does a mean cream bun..

But if you feel like some at home..

Why not make them?

Pretty quick and easy for a yeasty beasty:)

And if you have any left over uniced or uncreamed, great for the next day brekkie.

Lovely slightly sweet breakfast roll.

Yumbo, what more can I say?

Feeling Greedy???

 

Cream bun dough...

Cream bun dough…

 

What will you need?

1 bottle of cream , 300 ml, should do it.

4 cups of Bread Flour

3 tsp of dried yeast

1 cup of milk

1/2 cup of warm water

1/2 cup of raw sugar

100g of butter

 egg yolk and a little milk for egg wash

pinch of salt.

Jam

Icing sugar for dusting.

 

Ready to prove

Ready to prove

Bit longer!

Bit longer!

Ready for the oven...

Ready for the oven…

 

Place flour and salt in a bowl and rub in butter until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Add milk and water together and warm slightly.

Add in sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved, heat a little more if need be.

Add in yeast and allow to stand until frothy, usually ten minutes.

Add frothy yeasty mix to the dry ingredients and form a dough.

Knead for about 6 minutes until smooth and pliable.

This is a very soft dough.

Place in a lightly oiled bowl and leave , covered for an hour.

 

all done

all done

cooling...

cooling…

 

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured bench.

Cut dough into 12-16 pieces and roll into balls and place in a greased tray.

I used a deep dish roasting pan, the one I use for Chelsea buns.

The  buns will all come together when proving and become pull apart buns which is what you want:)

Plus nothing beats the old roasting dish.

Brush the buns with egg wash (egg yolk and a little milk) and cover lightly with a tea towel and leave for 40 minutes, until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 210 Celsius.

 

)

ready for the cream and jam:)

From all angles...

From all angles…

 

Place the buns in the oven and bake for 6 minutes at 210 Celsius.

Turn down the heat to 180 Celsius and make for a further 10-15 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes then place on wire racks.

Allow to cool fully before icing.

 

full on!

full on!

another angle?

another angle?

 

Once the buns are cool, slice on a slight diagonal (as shown above).

Whip 300 mls of cream.

I left the cream plain but you can put icing sugar or vanilla in it.

Pipe the cream into the sliced bun cavity and gently press lid down.

Place a dollop of jam on the bun as shown above and dust with icing sugar.

Voila….As good as the local bakery BUT better:)

ENJOY, ENJOY, ENJOY while you can.

 

side on?

side on?

back up!

back up!

Another?

Another?

 

Feeling a little bunish?

Have you tried?

Rocking Raspberry Buns

Rosewater, Marzipan and Pistachio Sticky Buns

Brown Butter, Vanilla and Choc sticky buns

 

Rocking raspberry

Rocking raspberry

 

 

mcs's picture
mcs

Hey there everyone.  It's been a couple of months since my last update so for those who haven't been keeping track on Facebook, here goes.

The farmers' market season is just getting rolling.  There are plenty of events here in the Gallatin Valley, plus some in nearby towns and counties.  I decided not to pick up any wholesale accounts until after the market season has slowed down later in the season.  Today was my third time selling at the Gallatin County Farmers' Market, and Wednesday was my 5th evening market in Livingston, MT.  Livingston is just north of Yellowstone National Park and just under an hour east of Belgrade, MT.

And just so you don't think I'm just standing around taking pictures of the scenery, here's some filled rolls that I sell at the evening market.  The ones with the white sesame seeds have shredded beef in them, the mixed seeds designate chicken teriyaki filling.  Thanks Michelle for the suggestion on the toppings :)

 

This is the cross section of some croissant dough I made that I was particularly proud of.  Nice, huh?  When it comes out like that, you just go 'aaaaaaaahhhhhhh'.


Here are some strudels I was making yesterday morning while it was still nice and cool.

Below are some croissants I baked up at the market today in Bozeman at the fairgrounds.  "Quick, I need to get a picture before the customers come!"  A vendor came to get one before the market started.  I told him they were currently in the oven, and when he asked how long he'd have to wait, I turned the timer around so he could see it.  "Two and a half minutes," I said.  How's that?




Buckwheat Flax and Sour Rye 400g mini loaves

 

Next week, I'll be trying the market at Big Sky and possibly testing the waters here in Belgrade at the evening market they have on Thursdays.

After a short hiatus from the baking world because of my move, it's nice to be back in the mix and to be hearing things like, "I used to live in Paris, and this pain au chocolat is better than any I ever had there!" 

I had one customer two weeks ago who told me, "My wife is very particular about her baguettes; she's French.  I'll take one and if she likes it, we'll be back next week."  This week he came back with a smile on his face and his wife.  "Well, I told you I'd be back if she liked it.  We'll take two!"  His wife chimed in, "Three."  :)

Another woman, probably in her late 70's, and with a thick accent came back and bought three baguettes.  She told me, "Last week I got one of your long breads, and it was the best bread I'd ever had, so this week I'm getting three!"  I asked her, "Do you mind if I ask where your accent is from?"  She said, "Switzerland.  Basel"  I told her "When I was a teenager my family and I traveled to the Engadin Valley and I enjoyed the bread and pastries so much, I decided I was going to become a baker."  She smiled.

Anyway, that's the short of it; word is spreading fast and all of the good bread and pastry loving people are coming out of the woodwork.  If you'd like to see more pictures, you can check out the bakery Facebook page here.  All of the photos are set to public view, so you shouldn't need a FB account to see them.

Happy Baking everyone.

-Mark

golgi70's picture
golgi70

The Bounty:  Local Greens, Sicilian Garlic, Italian Sausage, Fresh Flowers (for the lady), local pears, raspberry jam (again its so good particularly with this bread), purple carrots, goat cheese ricotta.  Fun.  

 

Formula:

Total Flour 875  Total H20: 664.5   Hydration: 75.9% (I'll make this 80% next time around)

Levain  DDT 76-78 degrees
------
Starter 75g
H20 167g
Wheat 75g
Artisan 75g
Hazelnut Flour 16.5g (not counted as flour)
-----------------------

6-8 hours (I made this on the warmer side to move it along quickly and not get too much twang)


Artisan 562.5
Wheat 125
Hazelnut Paste 31
H20 460
Caremlized Hazelnuts, chopped 75
Sea Salt 20
-----------------------

DDT 76 degrees
1682 total (2 @ 841g)

Autolyse Artisan, Wheat, and H20 for 2 hours
Add paste and levain and mix for 5 minutes on speed 1. Add salt. Mix for five more minutes. Add nuts. Mix until distributed.
3 1/2 hour bulk with 4-6 french/s+F's
Shape and retard immediately.
Bake 480 Cold with heavy steam for 15 minutes Vent and bake 20 more

Notes/Changes:  Hazelnut Paste might be doing something but not enough and being pricey as it is might be fine to skip on.  Same goes for hazelnut meal in the levain, might not be needed and save money to cut.  You can skip the caramelizing of the hazelnuts and just roast and remove skins(i sprinkled lightly with salt after roasting).  If and when I make again I will raise hydration and add some cocoa nibs for sure.  

And we're off again playing with one of my very favorite flavors.  I'll post formula later on scaled down to 2 loaves with updates and notes and all.  But for now before I head down to the market some photos.  Quickly though.  I had some troubles with the top shelf of my fridge is apparently too cold and blowing the cold air so the best loaves were those I put down below.  This is an easy fix for the future.  It's simple salty wheaty sour with toasty hazelnuts.  

Happy Baking and More to come later, 

 

JoshCrumb is from the colder slightly underproofed loaves.  Not so bad though.  

 

Laura T.'s picture
Laura T.

Wrote about this on my blog the other day and thought I may as well post it her too :)

Bread Flour – 450g
180g corn starch (often called cornflour here in the UK)
125g sorghum flour
85g stone ground white rice flour
60g red teff flour

And there you have it! Blended together, these make a really great versatile flour. This much flour will require around 20g psyllium dissolved in 450ml water, 10g salt, and 7g of yeast to make a basic loaf. My favourite additions to this at the moment are sundried tomatoes and basil.

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