The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

What's your signature loaf?

karladiane's picture
karladiane

What's your signature loaf?

Hi all. I've taken on breadbaking and have been reading and baking very regularly for the past 6 months. BBA, Leader's Local Breads, and Emily Buehler's Bread Science have been my good companions and teachers. Leader suggests baking certain breads a lot to tweak them and to make them your own "signature" loaves. So far, I think that I have several that I'm working toward "signature" status. They are: (1) Pain de Campagne based on Leader; (2) Altamura Bread (a la Leader again); (3) Pane Siciliano based on BBA; and (4) Chocolate Babka (pieced together from various sources).

I'd love to know what some of your best-loved and oft-baked loaves might be!

peace & love from Atlanta,

KP

Eli's picture
Eli

I am in your city! Native at that. Anyway, glad to have you here and I think I have a couple too.

1.) Challah variation on Peter Reinhart's

2.) Sourdough

3.) Classic Whte with natural levain

4.) Blue cheese and fres herbs

karladiane's picture
karladiane

Blue cheese with fresh herbs sounds great!  I guess we Atlanta people will be baking bread at home a lot these days since we can't really drive very far.

 

Eli's picture
Eli

Yes, no gas no go! I have a half a tank and I have been walking to the store. Thankful I live close enough. Great exercise and it allows me to eat all those carbs.

 

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Hmmm ... There are so many.

One would have to be sitting on the patio, smoking a cigar and reading TFL on the laptop.

Another would be sitting in the study, eating a mango paleta and reading a science fiction book.

The breads I bake the most regularly would be a sourdough bread of the general San Francisco Sourdough type and Jewish Sour Rye. But I like novelty and variety, so the majority of breads I bake are either variations on breads I've baked before or are completely new to me.


David

Judon's picture
Judon

I like your jokes as much as your posts.

My daily breads are Pain au Levain - from Bread and 40% rye also from Bread. Lots of thanks to Suasan and Steve for their tweaking and pictures but the formulas work great for me right out of the book. I take other great bread books from the library but find I'm definitely devoted to Hamelman.

Keep thinking I'll explore new loaves but there so many other worlds to explore and these are great breads. 

That being said Eric has me itching to make Norm's onion rolls.

And with Thanksgiving coming Floyd's Sweet Potato Rolls recipe from last November is pinned to my calendar.

Judy

Larry Clark's picture
Larry Clark

 is my sourdough, which isn't sour at all but it's the one that gets all the rave reviews and is in high demand.  Next would be ciabatta because it's so much fun to make and tastes so good. My everday bread is a plain ol' whole wheat, usally in a loaf pan but lately as batard or boule.

 

Larry

karladiane's picture
karladiane

I like DMSnyder's interpretation of "signature loaf", and I would add "hanging out on the patio with some good fiction and a glass of red" to that list.

And regarding ciabiatta - I don't know why mine never quite comes out right.  It isn't the wetness factor, which I've grown accustomed to.  I think I just can't shape a slipper.

ciao ya'll.

Eli's picture
Eli

Not certain how that posted twice. My apologies to all!

bakersteve's picture
bakersteve

Hi from the UK.

My favourite is a 20% rye 80% white, taken from one of Richard Bertinet's books, filled with a green olive and Basil paste, proved and then slit through just to the filling immediately before baking. Looks and tastes terrific.

gavinc's picture
gavinc

I make two loaves every weekend.  Can't last the week without it.

 

PaddyL's picture
PaddyL

That's the first one I made my own, and now I've got the Buttermilk Sourdough bread down pat, I've made that my own as well, with additions and so forth.

possum-liz's picture
possum-liz

That really depends on the 'audience'

My family choses white sourdough.

Friends want either a plain yeasted turkish or a white sourdough with green olives, roasted red capsicum (red peppers) and rosemary.

I'd say cinnamon swirl cream bread ( a sourdough with cream instead of oil) for sweet and roasted pumpkin, polenta and rye sourdough for savory.

Liz

Soundman's picture
Soundman

karladiane, great to have you aboard and thanks for the provocative question! 

dmsnyder is a wacky punster. David, I want to know what kind of cigar you're smoking.

My regular breads to bake are Whole Wheat (around 40% WW) and Hamelman's Vermont Sourdough. I wish I had more time to bake more bread, 'cause then I'd be able to try more recipes.

My signature loaf a la David S. is listening to the waves of the Long Island Sound, under the shade of my grape arbor, and reading a good novel (really! that old-fashioned lit stuff). (The original owner of the house, and arbor, used to make wine from the Concord grapes.)

Soundman (David)

karladiane's picture
karladiane

Greetings Soundman: 

After a harrowing morning on the phone trying to resolve a bureaucratic insurance issue, it was so very nice to read your lovely e-mail.  I think one morning under a grape arbor with some quality lit would fix me up nice, but that won't be happening any time soon with my current work schedule.

Until I find time for a vacation (or even leisure reading as opposed to work reading) I think that my Pane Siciliano and maybe an occasional chocolate babka will keep me on the proper side of sane.

If you'd like a suggestion for the arbor, have you ever read "The Leopard" by Giusseppe di Lampedusa?

peace,

karladiane 

 

 

Soundman's picture
Soundman

karladiane,

I'm very impressed with your reading suggestion! What a wonderful book The Leopard is. I have read it and I loved it, and will take your suggestion and re-read it. It's a crying shame that Lampedusa wrote only the one book, with the kind of deep insights he had into historiy, human foibles and dignity, all rolling around in his head.

I hope your insurance issue got resolved to your satisfaction. Those bureaucrats can make life really problematic, can't they?

I know exactly what you mean about available time. Especially now I expect my work schedule to get more time-consuming than it has been. Well, I can see how chocolate babka and Pane Siciliano could serve one's baking needs for quite a while.

Next time I'll try to give you a reading suggestion. I won't even try to top The Leopard!

Soundman (David)