The real deal.
Sometimes, I end up with large holes throughout my bread. I'm not talking about the nice irregular holes we all know and love, but a giant hole right through the middle of the loaf. I'm not very precise in my baking methods, so I can never pin down what I do differently or incorrectly to achieve this. Does anyone know what causes this (over-proofing, poor shaping technique, low/high hydration, etc.)?
Can anyone advise on what the best way to store a braided challah or other softer bread? I'm planning on baking it tomorrow (Tuesday) but would like it to still be edible on Christmas morning (Thursday). I'm usually a sourdough baker and 2-3 days is no trouble for most of my loafs.
I recently bought a copy of "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" and just made my first batch of dough. I haven't bake any of it yet, but in reading the book, I've had a number of ideas/questions/ponderings, and I wonder if anyone esle has thought about or tried any of these things.
1. It seems to me that adding some sourdough starter (or even some discard) and perhaps cutting back the yeast would give it more flavor. And it seems it could only help the texture, too.
Having baked my holiday stollen just recently, I am beginning to take a look at fruit cake. With the exception of baking soda and the large quantities of fruit it seems like a heavy duty stollen.
They say to let it ripen for 25 yrs but to take it out periodically for rewrapping. Has anyone ever gone for a year or more in aging and how often do you take it out.
What is the longest people have aged fruit cake?
All comments welcomed.
cb
About ten years ago, my wife and I participated in a study-abroad program in Strasbourg, France. We were reminiscing today when the topic of bread came up (of course!). Every day on the way home from class, I would pick up a loaf of "Pain Moulé" from the Boulangerie for my girlfriend and her flat-mates.
Holiday Pain au Levain
This is a formula shared with me by my friend, and one of the finest bakers I know. I made up a batch last night, and thought is was wonderful so I thought I would share as this seems to be a nice bread for this time of year.
Liquid Build
Final Dough
I've baked a few breads from Daniel Leader's book- "Local Breads" and they all came out wonderful. I must say theye were all sourdough so yesterday I tried to bake his ciabatta wich uses instant yeast instead. The dough is about 80% water but yet' easy to handel because of the serious gluten developing. I kneaded the dough a little less and gave it a fold one hour into fermentation. The dough rose beautifully' tripling his size. I made six medium-sized loaves instead of 2 large ones.
