The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Decorative dough or dead dough decorations

mido_mijo's picture
mido_mijo

Decorative dough or dead dough decorations

I'm interested in decorative doughs or dead dough decorations.

 

I'm trying to look for books more on the subject and various types of wood molds. I like those breads with the decorative tops...so...

So far I only know of breadhitz.com to carry wood molds and books/dvds on the subject.

 

thanks in advance

 

btw. i've searched the forums and only found a few without references to books or sites....or maybe i missed them..

Chuck's picture
Chuck

This very interesting tourist attraction seems related to your area of interest  (even though it isn't directly about either bread baking or decorating).

 

Start out half a block away: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM3RG5_Ruth_Asawas_San_Francisco_Fountain

walk a little closer: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM7MG8_Ruth_Asawas_San_Francisco_Fountain_San_Francisco_CA

examine a detail of a landmark: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/3981960622/

and look at another bit of detail that unmistakably shows its origin in dough: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/3982199784/

 

proth5's picture
proth5

is an excellent site. 

Mr Hamelman's book - "Bread- a Bakers's book, etc..." has excellent formulas and discussions for both live and dead decorative doughs.

For wooden molds - you may wish to type "Springerle molds" into your favorite search engine.  You will find some sites that sell either wood or resin molds for springerle cookies - these are the same things as what Mr Hitz uses for his dead dough molds.  Also,keep you eyes open in crafts stores, cake decorating stores, and home improvement stores for "texture mats" to add interest to the surface to dead doughs.  Inspiration is all around.

Decorative doughs are an interesting little sidebar of this bread baking stuff.  I enjoy them greatly.

Hope this helps.

mido_mijo's picture
mido_mijo

thanks!!!!!

those molds are exactly what i'm looking for...

 

are there any other books you'd recommend for dead doughs?

 

proth5's picture
proth5

the great good fortune to study decorative doughs with Mr Hitz.  He is a very talented baker and teacher.  I may be prejudiced on this point, but I would get books and videos from his site.  The only reason I haven't is that I saw the real deal.

Of course, to some of his techniques for dead doughs you really need a sheeter (yes, with a great amount of patience and time you can do them by hand, but a sheeter is the right tool).  Oh, I do love me some sheeter...

Mr Hitz was the one who first taught me to use a sheeter. Even he could recognize that I had found true love at last >>sigh<<

:>)

Hope this helps.

clazar123's picture
clazar123

If you go to a very large craft store, you will find all kinds of molds in all kinds of hobbies. Soap,clay,dollmaking,cake decorating,jewelry making with moldable polymer,sculpting.

Then there's the more industrial textures in a good hardware and building supply stores and garden supply centers.

Resale shops can be a good place to look for glassware that is cheap that may offer good patterns and textures. I check out the bottom of drinking glasses and use then as cookie stamps-a grape cluster, maple leaf or rosettes are popular on those. The challenge may be to make sure the mold is ok to use with a food product!

Check your cupboards at home,also, or kids toys.It's amazing where I have found the tools I need right in my own home.It's become a mindset-I look at things differently and it's lots of fun.Good luck!