Where did all the bread go? An attempt at blogging about recent bakes from "Bread".....................
So, life has taken me on a charming and busy ride-no blogging time and I am therefore way behind on posting about my recent bakes. Not that there is anything to be missed since some of them did no turn out(and it seems I might not even have taken a picture of one of the breads,oh well).
Bread#1:
Irish Soda Bread
This bread was delicious! And I can barely remember what I did......I could not find white pastry flour for some reason, so I believe I substituted it with AP flour...also couldn't find wheat flakes, used oat flakes instead and 365 whole wheat pastry flour.Made my own buttermilk.The bread is a scandalous yellow color......I assume that is the whole wheat pastry flour. The color itself was stunning.
Then there are the two breads,that were disasters-or almost disasters, depending on your taste/texture preference. I am not even sure I took a picture of both and I couldn't possibly tell you what the pictures are that I do have.Helpful,isn't it?
Anyways, I think the reason my attempt at Whole Wheat Levain and Pain au Levain with Whole wheat were such bears, was that I used KA Organic Bread Flour and both breads ended up being very chewy....Bagel like in consitency.Why did I use KA Bread flour? Because I am constantly searching for a good organic flour and I hadn't tried that one yet.....well, I might just go back permanently to regular KA AP-for some reason my WHoel Foods does not carry the organic variety.
Anyways, here are pictures-I think the first one is the WHole Wheat Levain and the second two are the Pain au Levain....but I honestly have no clue!As far as I know they might all be the same bread..
Lastly there is the 70% Rye with Rye Soaker and Whole Wheat
That loaf turned out great-love the nutty flavor,the slight chewiness the rye chops give..yummy all around! I baked it in a cast iron casserole-I think I should have just used a smaller casserole so that the bread would have had a thicker profile.Well, next time...............
That's all-hopefully in the future I can be a bit more on top of this posting thing!
Happy weekend and a happy father's day to the papas out there!
Christina
Comments
Hi Christina,
I'd love to be eating the wholewheat loaves, they look truly excellent to me.
Your soda bread looks very inviting. It obviously has no keeping properties, but I'm sure it would have been eaten straightaway anyway. Some of the colour comes from the ingredients you used, some of it will come from the chemical reaction between the bicarbonate of soda and the acid in your buttermilk!
I take it the rye meal you used is very coarse, or, is that just because of the rye chops? It's obviously knitted together wonderfully well in that sourdough. We remain addicted to the HB, and I've made it every weekend recently!
Best wishes
Andy
Thank you Andy-I will be making those levain loaves again.Mayeb I had the wrong expectations-my husband and a good friend of mine both loved the bread. I thought it was good, I just didn't expect THAT! *wink*
The rye flour in the 70% rye bread is of the stone ground variety,but I think the texture you see if mostly because of the chops!
HB every weekend??? WOW I say to that!
Wishing you a great weekend!
C