The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Meat is murder...

hansjoakim's picture
hansjoakim

Meat is murder...

...but bread is alright.

I wanted to experiment a little this week, so I decided to bake two new loaves. I think both turned out rather well, and I'll probably add them to the list of loaves I'm baking quite frequently. The first one is a loaf that goes remarkably well with most kinds of fruit, preserves, a wide range of cheeses and besides your dinner plate: A sourdough rye with toasted hazelnuts and raisins.

Sourdough rye with toasted hazelnuts and raisins

This loaf is based on my favourite 40% rye recipe, with a healthy filling of toasted hazelnuts and raisins. For this loaf, I used 15% each of nuts and raisins, based on the overall flour weight.

Sourdough rye with toasted hazelnuts and raisins

Above is the crumb; the significant amount of nuts and raisins makes sure you get a healthy bite of nutty sweetness in each slice :) And as I said, this loaf is spectacular with most kinds of cheese (trust me when I recommend goat cheese and/or strong blue cheese), and they're a great treat on hiking trips if you shape them into rolls:

Sourdough rye with toasted hazelnuts and raisins

 

The next loaf on the list, is a pain de campagne-style loaf with roasted tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes:

Roasted tomatoes

I had some tomatoes lying around that I wanted to put to good use, and figured I could put them in some loaves. I cut them into cubes, tossed them in olive oil, salt, pepper and basil, and roasted them good and long... to add more punch to the loaves, I also added a bit sun-dried tomatoes. I wanted a "rustic" look on these, so I didn't shape them into anything particular after their bench rest; I simply patted them into two rectangles on top of parchment paper on my peel. Still, they sprung up quite significantly in the oven:

Roasted tomatoes

A very tender and moist crumb, with a crunchy crust. I really like how tomatoes colour the crust and infuses it with dark spots... A great loaf for salads or pasta dishes!

If you're eating at my house, there's a good chance there's dessert waiting... It's been a gruelling long winter around these parts, and, in a desperate attempt to force spring upon these shores, I opted for a "fresh fruit" charlotte. "Fresh fruit" in that I had to resort to frozen berries to make the charlotte... Hopefully there's real fresh fruit around for my next attempt at this one ;) The recipe is taken from Suas' ABAP, and below is a photo of the mise en place for the charlotte:

Mise en place charlotte

Here's a 15cm cake form lined with a ladyfinger bottom and ladyfingers along the sides (trimmings and unused, wrinkled ladyfingers on the right). That was a time consuming task - getting all those fingers standing upright at the same time... I'll admit that my piping skills are not all that, so most of the ladyfingers had some "blisters" or wrinkles to them. Still - they lined up! Over the form are the two frozen discs that go into the charlotte: A berry compote on the left and a frozen disc of lemon crèmeux on the right. Not shown is the diplomat cream that is used for filling (I had to stash the bowl with diplomat cream in the fridge while lining up these guys). The filled charlotte (after the diplomat cream is set) is topped with berries (again, I had to resort to frozen berries... still tasted good though):

Fresh fruit Charlotte

And another one:

Fresh fruit Charlotte

English accent: "I got blisters on my fingers!" Seriously, this charlotte tasted great. The berry compote insert and the diplomat cream go extremely well together, and the lemon crèmeux adds a lot of fruity summer vibes to each spoonful. Yum.

The final bake, was some Paris-Brest pastries. I've never tasted the real thing (I'll do on my next trip to France), but I was immediatelly intrigued when I read about them in my pastry book. In short, this pastry was created in 1891 by a pastry chef called Pierre Gateau (no kidding!), who piped pâte à choux in the shape of bicycle wheels, and filled them with the most rich cream you can imagine (a comination of pastry cream, butter and praline paste). As monsieur Gateau owned a patisserie along the route of the Paris-Brest-Paris bicycle race, he made this pastry to honor the riders of the race.

Praline paste, which goes into the Crème Paris-Brest, is something I've never seen in stores around here. Luckily, I found a recipe for the paste in Friberg's pastry book (I love that his book contains a recipe for basically any pastry component you'll ever need):

Crème Paris-Brest

Above on the left is the butter/praline paste mix (it's a bit spotty in places, because I had a hard time grinding the hazelnuts fine enough in my processor), and on the right is my pastry cream. So, left + right (folded together) = Crème Paris-Brest:

Crème Paris-Brest

Now, if you've ever banged your head in the wall in utter frustration of never getting large holes in your crumb, I would prescribe making some choux pastry. That'll get your spirits up and help you regain your confidence:

Paris-Brest

No sourdough in these ones however... it's all about capturing the steam. Now, piping the cream in the middle of the choux "wheels" resulted in something amazingly decadent and rich:

Paris-Brest

As I haven't had these before, I can't say if I nailed the design or the look of a genuine Paris-Brest, but the taste was incredible. If anyone here has tried them, or made them, I'd love to hear from you! There are some things I'd like to discuss about this choux business. Anyways...the Paris-Brest: Light choux pastry with that rich praline cream sandwiched in between... ohlala. Tres bien! Bon appétit!

Paris-Brest

Comments

Susan's picture
Susan

You really built your page to a crescendo.  Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful creations.  Thanks for sharing them.

Susan from San Diego

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

 Hans.......! Oh My Goodness!  This is totally over the top mouthwatering baking!  Absolutely the most gorgeous breads and pastries.  Everything, beautifully done to say the least!  I would like to say your lady fingers look beautiful and mouthwatering..I think ' my opinion' when baking pastries if everything is perfectly shaped it then takes on a commercial look and looses it's tastey home made looking goodness! 

Sylvia

 

 

LindyD's picture
LindyD

May I come live with you so you could bake for me?  I'll do the cleanup!  :-)

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Those all sound and look fantastic, hansjoakim!

I used to indulge in Paris-Brest at a wonderful French restaurant in Los Angles, which unfortunately has since closed. Their Paris-Brest looked just like yours, as I remember it. It was indeed, "decadent," but in the nicest way.

David

ques2008's picture
ques2008

I am impressed!  Have already bookmarked this blog for my "what can I make today" list.

Incroyable, je vous admire pour l'effort monumental!

 

gosiam's picture
gosiam

Thank you for posting, Hans, the creations are very inspiring.  You have tremendous talent and skill.

What is the hydration of you hazelnut-rasin rye loaf?  Could you post the exact formula or steer me to where I can find it?

Thank you again for sharing!

Gosia

hansjoakim's picture
hansjoakim

Thanks so much everyone :) The words of encouragement are very inspiring!

Lindy: So you're not a troll (I don't think you are) and you're doing the dishes? I think we'll come to some sort of agreement :) Mind you, I like to get up early... I hope you still got that rye starter? I'll need to figure out how much fridge space I'll need to clear up.

David: I'm sorry to hear that the French restaurant had to shut down. Sampling such national "specialties" can be most inspiring... Of course, one never knows how close it is to the real deal, but still. I'm glad to hear that I'm on the right track with the Paris-Brest. It was a blast to make, and the way the wheels bake up, leaving a hollow tube within, they just beg to be filled with rich cream :) I sprinkled some granulated sugar on top of the egg washed choux wheels just before putting them into the oven; this gave them a nice caramelized, brown sheen to them.

ques2008: I'm very glad to hear that and let me know if you find something you'd like to bake yourself! I'm sorry to say that I didn't have French in high school (I chose German instead... what was I thinking?), but Google helped me produce: "Avez-vous des pâtisseries françaises préférées vous pourriez me recommander? Je voudrais essayer d'autres spécialités. Merci pour vos paroles d'encouragement!"

Gosia: Thanks:) The hydration is just over 70% on the above loaf, but I believe the ideal hydration depends a lot on what kind of rye flour you are using (I used what I think is the equivalent of medium rye flour). If you have a 40% rye recipe you know and like, that would probably be the best starting point. Here's the outline of my recipe (I hope baker's % is alright?):

Overall formula:

Bread flour: 60%

Medium rye flour: 40%

Water: 70%

Fresh yeast: 0.3%

Salt: 1.8%

Toasted hazelnuts: 16%

Raisins (moistened in water overnight): 16%

Levain (15% of the total flour is prefermented):

Bread flour: 95%

Medium rye flour: 5%

Water: 50%

Stiff, white starter: 50%

I mix up the preferment and let it ripen for approx. 12 hrs at room temperature. Bulk fermentation: 2 hrs, followed by a gentle preshape and 10 min. bench rest, and final proof 1 hr 15 mins at room temperature. I hope you'll have a go at the formula, and let me know how it turns out!

ques2008's picture
ques2008

Thanks for your comments, sorry didn't mean to load French on you!  I have plenty of favourite pastries, though not all of them are French.  I used to love Madeleines and still feel weak before a good crème brulée.  I also like Middle Eastern pastries like ketayef and their versions of brioche.

Look forward to more of your postings!

pattycakes's picture
pattycakes

The Paris-Brest pastries are so enticing--they are just gorgeous, and the piped filling is so beautiful. Yum...

As before, your baking is absolutely professional quality! Thanks for the tour!

Patricia

hansjoakim's picture
hansjoakim

The language sounds so beautiful, ques2008 - it's one of those things I've promised myself to one day learn. Just to understand phrases and communicate simple ideas would be most satisfying! Oh, Madeleines!!

Many years had elapsed during which nothing of Combray, save what was comprised in the theatre and the drama of my going to bed there, had any existence for me, when one day in winter, on my return home, my mother, seeing that I was cold, offered me some tea, a thing I did not ordinarily take. I declined at first, and then, for no particular reason, changed my mind. She sent for one of those squat, plump little cakes called "petites madeleines," which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted valve of a scallop shell. And soon, mechanically, dispirited after a dreary day with the prospect of a depressing morrow, I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, something isolated, detached, with no suggestion of its origin. And at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory - this new sensation having had on me the effect which love has of filling me with a precious essence; or rather this essence was not in me it was me. I had ceased now to feel mediocre, contingent, mortal.

Patricia: Thank you!

ques2008's picture
ques2008

Mon Dieu, Hans, not only can you manipulate dough, you can wriggle that pen with as much fascination. :)

I actually saw some Madeleine bakeware at a French store here in Montreal and I was almost tempted to buy them but didn't...maybe another time.

hansjoakim's picture
hansjoakim

Actually, I've been looking for some Madeleine moulds myself, but I've only found silicone muffin forms so far... Hmpf!!! So much for culinary sophistication...!! ;)

(PS: Trust me, I'm sticking to the dough for now; the quote is taken from Marcel Proust's "Swann's Way", first volume of "À la recherche du temps perdu".)