We were in Portland, OR last week. While I was in meetings, my wife bounced between Powell's (the biggest book store in the US of A) and the Pearl Bakery. I got to taste a number of their breads in sandwiches my wife brought back to the hotel, but I didn't taste their "multigrain roll," which my wife had one day and really liked.

Susan often asks me to make rolls for her lunch sandwiches, so with her description of the Pearl's roll in mind I went looking for a multigrain roll to make. I've made several of Hamelman's multigrain breads and liked them all. I think any of the ones I've made would make good rolls, but I wanted to try something new. Reading through "Bread," I found the "Whole-Wheat Bread with a Multigrain Soaker." (Pg. 126) It is a 50% bread flour/50% whole wheat dough with a soaker of cracked wheat, coarse corn meal, millet and oats. I had all the ingredients but for the millet. I substituted flax seeds.

This is one heavy dough. I added quite a bit of water, which Hamelman says is often needed, to get the consistency I thought was "right." I formed the 4+ lbs of dough into 2 bâtards and a half dozen 3 oz rolls.

Whole-Wheat Bread with Multigrain Soaker bâtard crumb

I baked the rolls at 450ºF for 15 minutes. The bâtards baked at 450ºF with steam for 12 minutes, then at 440ºF for another 15 minutes followed by 7 minutes in the turned off oven with the door ajar.

The crust was crunchy. The crumb was tender but chewy. The flavor is assertively honey whole wheat, mellowed somewhat by the soaker ingredients. It's outstanding with a thin spread of sweet butter.

My wife liked it but says it's nothing like the Pearl Bakery's multigrain rolls. Hee hee. An excuse to bake more rolls.

David

Submitted to YeastSpotting

As some of you may have seen in my last few entries, I have been working on whole grain breads and particularly working on when I can tell when my loaf is ready for the oven. My last whole wheat loaf turned out to be a bit over proofed, and the time before, my whole wheat levain was underproofed. But I did not get discouraged, in fact, I made an agreement to keep on baking a loaf minimum each week, whether it is a sourdough whole wheat bread or a overnight autolyse expedition from Reinhart.

This time I went with the Multigrain Straun from Whole Grain Bread. Nothing seperates this from the formula in the book, I followed it closely, substituted the honey for agave though, mixed, let it rise, shaped and preheated the oven and stone and carefully, carefully, paid attention to the bread to find out when it was ready for the oven.

I pushed my clock aside this time and watched it on and off while studying assuring myself I would catch the loaf at it's prime and place it in the oven then! So I poked it at 30 minutes, it didn't really do much, so I went back to studying. About ten minutes later I poked it, it sprung back a bit, so I decieded to check back in five, and sure enough, the loaf sprung back about half way. So, being frantic I hastily scored the top of the loaf (resulting in what I thought to be a poor score pattern) and placed it on the stone, steamed and baked.

The end result...a loaf I am quite pleased with! And look - No finger indentations this time!

And then the crumb...

And now with my skills just a bit more sharpened when it comes to proofed dough, I think this coming week I will try my hand again at Hamelman's Whole Wheat Levain, hopefully resulting in a wonderful loaf with much better scoring.

Oh, and I managed to bake a blueberry coffee cake with a cinnamon streusel topping, delicious!

Struan is the bread that truly launched his bread baking career, Reinhart says (p. 102). In Gaelic, struan means “the convergence or confluence of streams,” a good description for multigrain breads where all kinds of grains and seeds are coming together (the combinations are, of course, endless).

Because I love breads full of grains and seeds, I have bought Peter Reinhart’s book “Whole Grain Breads.” Most of the recipes in there consist of three parts: a soaker (part of the flour, the seeds and grains and part of the salt are soaked in water or often in milk, buttermilk or yoghurt for 12-24 hours), a biga (to be refrigerated for at least 8 hours or up to three days) and the final dough.

The flour for this multigrain Struan is whole wheat (67%) and to it I added in about equal parts: sesame, pumpkin, sunflower and flax seeds, and millet (seeds and grains 33%). Reinhart says that he prefers to cook the millet, but it can also be added to the soaker uncooked. I prefer it that way since it gives a beautiful crunch to the bread that we like very much.

I made a school lunch with this bread for my 15 year-old son and thought he’d tell me upon his return to never use such a seedy bread again. To my big surprise he announced that this was the best sandwich ever.

For guests I made one of my favorite desserts. It’s a Swiss recipe called “Quarktorte” which in English gets translated as cheese cake. Most cheese cakes in the US are made with cream cheese as you all know, in Switzerland however we use a product called “Quark” which is a type of fresh cheese, much lighter than cream cheese (kind of like a firm yoghurt) and very tasty. It comes in plain form (which is needed for this dessert) or in many fruit styles. It is available in the US in some specialty stores, at about 10 times the Swiss price. To substitute I use sour cream light. I had to get used to the different taste, but it works very well. Only the base gets baked, the rest is a mixture of egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, stiff egg whites, sour cream, whipped cream and gelatin. I always import my yearly supply of gelatin leaves from Europe whenever I go there, thus I have never had to get used to gelatin in powder form, the only one readily available here, as far as I know.

It’s an elegant, fresh dessert that has a somewhat airy texture and the appearance of being very light.

I also made this typical, very common and simple French summer dessert: a clafoutis with apricots and blueberries. It is a very easy and tasty way to use up fresh fruit. The most common version is with cherries.

And finally for brunch at our neighbors this past Sunday I baked these cinnamon rolls (I myself don't like cinnamon in sweets much, I prefer it in savory dishes). They came out very light and fluffy. I used a recipe from the King Arthur site and substituted the potato flakes (which I don't have) with a freshly cooked potato (before cooking it was around 120g) that I mashed finely with a little water. This ingredient, I read, makes cinnamon rolls very soft, and it's true, as several people commented on how fluffy and light they were. 

Today I made Mark Sinclair's wonderful Multigrain. I've made it before and don't know why I waited so long to make it again. The aroma of this bread baking should be enough to get me to make it often. Ehanner posted his loaves last year and his crumb is very open and beautiful. And the crumb on his is lighter in color for some reason. To see his take on this bread go here...

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/7905/really-great-multigrain

Mark's recipe makes 4.6 lbs of dough enough for 3 good size medium loaves and one that I made into a small cinnamon raisin pan loaf. Even with a tighter crumb than Eric's the bread is still light and delicious. Toasted for breakfast or for sandwiches is my favorite way to eat it. I used mostly white whole wheat for the whole wheat called for otherwise I followed the directions as given. I didn't use a mixer.

I have multigrain English muffins with toasted sunflower seeds proofing right now.  I saw the sourdough English muffin recipe on TFL and decided I had to try some.  I much prefer whole grain breads so these have some unbleached but mostly multigrain flours, my San Francisco sourdough starter and since we love crunches I added the sunflower seeds.  I cannot wait to see how they turn out after they finish proofing and I have heated up the griddle.  Here is a picture of them proofing:

I will add pictures of the finished product later today.  Melody in Santa Fe

Hi,

I've been experimenting with several recipes to find that elusive combination of healthful grains and light enough texture for the kids (and the hubby).  I stumbled upon a combination recipe that seems to be working and wanted to share.

My husband is very picky about multigrain breads.  He wants the health benefits, but doesn't want that crunchy grainy feel.  He often finds my multigrain breads too dry.  The other day, quite by accident, I stumbled upon a solution that he'd like to see as our "daily bread".

How to start?...

Much to my experimenter's chagrin, my family love Leader's Classic Country style Hearth Loaf from "Bread Alone".  This is his learning loaf and it is a very good, easy to succeed at loaf.  Twist #1:  I usually make it in two loaf pans so that it is easier to use for lunchbox sandwiches.  My family love it.  My 7 y.o. son and husband both say it reminds them of the wheat bread we used to buy at our local store in Cape Town, South Africa, where we lived until recently.  They like to call it my "South African Bread".  

Twist #2:  I decided on a whim to make this bread by replacing the poolish with an equal weight of 100% hydration sourdough starter.  My starter has a pretty balanced flavor and isn't too sour, so this results in a wonderful tasting bread that is moist and has keeping power.

OK - so after receiving BBA for Christmas, I decided to try out the Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire recipe and mix up the soaker.  Instead of the rolled oats and wheat bran, I substituted an equal amount of Bob's Red Mill 6 grain cereal.  The next morning, I forgot which recipe I was following (had packed away the books the night before) and had to quickly mix up the dough and get out of the house.  I mixed my old standby (see above) and added in the soaker.  No change to the recipe for the Country style Hearth Loaf, save using a bit more flour than I normally do.  Voila! Twist #3.  I was so skeptical, but happily surprised when DH proclaimed this "the best bread yet"!   I have since made this many times with the same positive result, even varying the soaker ingredients.  

I've yet to try it with another bread dough recipe, so I don't know if this technique of just adding the soaker to any old loaf will work, but the results here were so positive I am definitely going to give it a try!

I only wish I were a better photographer - today's loaves turned out beautifully...not only did the starter respond beautifully in the sunny kitchen, but I'm learning to tame my lame, so the slashing worked well and looked good.

Cheers!

MommaT

The multigrain bread dough I made yesterday was turning out wonderfully. It was just the right consistency. It had risen to just the right level when it was time to shape it. I decided to make it into two loaves and four buns shaped like tabatières.

Tabatières?? I didn't know what those were either before reading Steve's (Bread cetera) post about making diadèmes (tiaras) by pushing tabatières (tobacco pouches) into a circular shape. Steve made videos, one of which clearly shows how to shape tabatières. Do take a look. In fact, take a look at his whole site! He makes the most wonderful bread!

The buns were delicious for breakfast!

To find out what happened with the loaves, read here.

Here is the recipe I used:

• multigrain bread (This time, I added 2 Tbsp buckwheat flour and omitted the sunflower seeds.)

Our multigrain bread recipe has a fair amount of rye flour in it. I still haven't found reasonably priced rye flour so decided to replace the rye flour with wheat flour and some corn flour. This is the great thing about bread recipes. They are pretty forgiving and substitutions can be made fairly easily.

The dough was somewhat slacker than it is when it's made with rye flour. But it still rose well. Ha. Almost a little too well.

After mixing it, I left it to rest for about an hour rather than the 20 minutes I thought I was going to leave it. It had risen considerably and only required about 5 minutes of kneading instead of the 10 to 15 I would have given it.

I did manage to shape it in time though. It was just starting to approach the top of the rising bowl - pretty much perfect amount of rising. Okay, maybe a little bit over-risen....

Too bad I saw dmsnyder's post entitled The effect of scoring on loaf shape AFTER the bread was already in the oven!

I almost didn't score it at all - it was on the verge of being over-risen (cough). I was going to score it crosswise but then decided I like the look of the length-wise score. However, if I'd known it would cause the bread to flatten, I would have gone with the crosswise slash - or herring bone. Next time....

Still, in spite of being allowed to overproof, the bread turned out beautifully! It was so pleasing that we decided to use it as cinnamon toast for dessert (after wonderful chicken and vegetable soup made from the carcass of our Thanksgiving roast chicken). When we sliced into it, the aroma was fabulous. I will definitely be making this variation again.

• seed and grain bread recipe

I thought this might be a nice idea for those of you looking for different ideas for your bread shaping.  I made these three breads into 12 ounce rolls.  It's a great size for freezing as it thaws relatively quickly, and also it's nice because you can eat the whole loaf before it gets stale since it's 'half sized'.  It'll also work well as a dinner loaf - just thaw, wrap in foil, then toss it in the oven during the last 10 minutes with whatever you're baking and you have a 'fresh baked' loaf to enjoy. From left to right, Multigrain, Eric's rye, Rustic White.  All three final proofed for 45 minutes and baked for 22 minutes at 410 (convection).  No bannetons were used, just free form loaves on parchment paper.
-Mark
12 ounce rolls

Hello Everyone

I haven't posted here before, but I have been lurking for many months seeing everyones beautiful breads, so I decided it was time to post some of the breads that I have been experimenting on.

A little about myself, I am a professional in the food service industry, and although I am not a baker by profession, I have worked in bakeries, and really enjoy the leisure time spent baking artisan style breads at home.

Anyways a little about the loaf pictured below. I have made countless breads before that I have made with a liquid sourdough starter (100% Hydration) that I cultivated 9 years ago, seeing as I like the extra "pucker" that you get with a liquid style levain. My wife on the other hand doesn't lke as much sour in her bread, and in an effort to appease the wife I came up with this formula for a french style pain au levain which I called Pain au Levain aux huit cereales. It is a not too hydrated eight grain levain with a small percentage of Rye, and about 25% Whole Wheat.

How was it? well we ate the entire first batard so I only have pictures of the second one. The Crust was crackly crisp, just singing as it came out of the oven, and the crumb was creamy, and a little chewy, not sour at all, but with a depth of flavor I would desciribe as "apple cider" beautifully paired with a local Camembert made a few miles from my house.

Pain au Levain aux Huit Cereales

Final Build of Levain

* Stiff Levain(refreshed 8-12 hours before) I keep mine at 60% Hydration 45g 45%
* Water (75deg) 50g 50%
* KA AP Flour 95g 95%
* Fairhaven Mills Whole Wheat Flour 5g 5%

Soaker

* Bobs Red Mill 8 grain Cereal Blend 100g
* Water (75deg) 175g

Dough

* Water 235g 47%
* KA AP Flour 350g 70%
* Fairhaven Mills Whole Wheat 120g 24%
* Fairhaven Mills Rye Flour 30g 6%
* Levain 125g 25%
* Salt 12g 2.4%
* Soaker 275g 55%

Method

I mixed the final build of the levain, and the soaker the night before the bake, and left them out to ferment at room temp. In the morning the levain was doubled, or a little more, and the soaker, had absorbed most, but not all of the water. When I mixed the dough I added everything together, except the salt, and let it rest for 20 minutes. After the autolyse I added the salt, and proceeded to knead the bread, using the "slap and fold" method for approx 8 minutes, or until moderate gluten development. I then put the dough into a bowl covered and let it rest for 30 minutes. I then removed the dough, and gave it a french fold. I repeated this process at another 30 minute interval. I then left the dough alone to ferment, it took 4 hours in my apartment, which I would say was 75 degrees yesterday. After full fermentation I divided the dough into 2, rounded them and let them rest for 15 minutes. I then shaped them into 2 batards, and left them to proof covered on a couche. It took about 1 3/4 hour for the batards to double in bulk, I then baked them on a stone in a preheated 450deg. oven with steam for 15 minutes, after I removed the steam pan I turned the oven down to 400deg. rotated the loaves, and left them to finish, it took another 20 minutes.

Anyways I hope you guys enjoy the pictures, and please post any critiques, if you see anything wierd. I am a little new to this whole posting thing, and I am sure I have forgotten some things, so by all means if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Kevin