It has rained and rained and after a week of soggy grey we finally have a glimmer of sunshine. And with all the rain and cooler temperatures I have really noticed how intertwined my bread making is with the weather. Every feeding and levain build is a unique decision – the balance between the temperature and feed ratios.

Wandering through the kitchen I throw a glance at the thermometer resting beside my rising levain and through the day I feel subtle change of temperature between rooms in the house. I notice this most among the quiet and peaceful times for me, scattered and far between though they are.

After arriving back home from my parents we had a house emptied of bread and I left it that way until the weekend. We have all been settling into the routines of a new year. Nat and I both back at work, plus we have had two new school milestones for the kids with one starting grade one and another starting her first year in high school.

With cool morning air and some time free on a drizzly Saturday I prepared my desem starter plus milled and soaked the fresh wheat flour. To me this is the simplest, purest form of bread - whole flour, water and salt. Later that day the dough was developed using stretch-and-folds over a three hour bulk-ferment before a quick final proof and bake. There is a fascination for me by using a longer bulk-ferment and developing the dough slowly and carefully - subtle changes over time – slowly becoming alive. It slots nicely into the rythem of a rainy day at home. Relaxing ...

After a long hiatus I finally baked some whole-wheat Fig and Anise loaves. Again these were raised with the desem starter with the chopped figs and aniseeds incorporated early in the bulk ferment.

These are a special treat for us and are consumed with utter joy - toasted, with a drizzle of honey, topped with ricotta cheese. We sit at breakfast with a slice or two and appreciate our morning amongst the din of school preparations and children slurping down breakfasts.

The sun is shining again ... all the best
Phil

Mini-loaf madness continues! This is Reinhart's basic sourdough, made from sourdo.com San Francisco culture that's been fed only with KA bread flour. With the addition of 5 oz of chopped dried figs and 4 oz of walnuts, the bread is excellent, but has no real sour. I'm not sure I'm continuing with this particular starter...

 Help I would appreciate any anyone could give me. Yes I have searched recipes. 

I have searching for a recipe or suggestions for a fig something. I cannot find what I am looking for. I guess it is technically a fig bread. But it's not really a bread with figs. It's figs and nuts held together with something. It is very thick and hard and I have seen it at new seasons and whole foods. I believe it's imported from spain. Hard and about 6" long and a couple of " thick and maybe 4" high. Solid. Yummy and far more expensive to buy than I can afford. It's driving me nuts. I have plenty of dried figs and nuts, can get those and not afraid to try anything. 

What I don't know if I can even find my question again to see if anyone responded. 

Thank you all.

We have a local bakery called FlavorField in Taibei, Taiwan that used to make a nice light, fluffy white bread with figs and walnuts, nothing at all like the dense, sweet loaves I see when I search for fig bread recipes. These are small, golden brown batards, lightly dusted in spots with flour, a soft crust, cream-colored fine crumb which is chewy, not sweet, and then a sprinkling of chopped figs with a few walnuts. It keeps well for a few days, but does not taste rich. Very nice with coffee in the morning or as a light snack.

They have now stopped making it.

I wonder whether anyone can recommend a recipe for something like this; I've searched, and most fig bread recipes seem too rich and heavy. I've never made a light fluffy white bread of any kind, so a push in the right direction would be appreciated.

Hi all,