Birthday bread (Polish Cottage Rye) + Anniversary Cake + other stuff
This past weekend was big for our household - July 30th is my birthday and our 5th anniversary, July 31st is my husband's birthday, lots to celebrate. Made some baguettes and the following Polish Cottage Rye from "Local Breads"
This bread has been well documented and recommended on TFL, see here for formula.
I don't know why I waited so long to make this one, it definitely lives up to the hype. The rye flavor is surprisingly noticable even though there aren't that much rye flour in the dough.
Even with the long kneading (13 mins!), the crumb is surprisingly open, I guess the high hydration made up for intensive mixing.
With such dark and crackly crust, it's big and beautiful
I will join others to highly recommend this bread!
For our 5th wedding anniversary (year of "wood"), I made Yule Log cake, with chocolate swiss roll + chestnut cream filling + cream cheese chocolate frosting, yum!
Love the cute meringue mushrooms
Hey, it's all about the details, I don't feel guilty carving this tree!
For DH's part, he gave me hand-made tree leaf bookmarks and card, with patterns he designed himself. He used peach tree leaves for their natural heart shape.
Also gave me an anniversary ring, with 5 diamonds. Designed the ring himself. to match the wedding band and engagement ring.
All around a great weekend, we spoiled each other silly. I found time for a birthday run as well, with my trusty running partner! This is after a 15 miler long run, it was hell-ishly hot. Trust me, you don't want to know the temperature.
Comments
Happy birthday and anniversary!
David
Fantastic looking rye bread and Yule log!
Nice work, and all the best on your birthday and anniversary. Wishing you many more to come.
Franko
Your breads and you ! How did you make the chestnut filling ? I have made the Yule Log for years and always use plain sweetened cream, would love a change. I will give the Cottage Rye a try...I have my starters all ready for tomorrow. I love to read your posts.
I have been a trailrunner/road runner for 32 years and know what you mean about the heat. It has been 100 here every day. I have to go before dawn to get in the miles. Getting too old for the high temps I guess :) Congratulations on all fronts . c
PS I don't see the formula anywhere for the rye...I don't have that leader book...can you post it ?
I also do almost all my runs early - starting at 5am, finishing before 8 even for the longest training run, usually before 7.
Filling: 300ml heavy cream whipped lightly, mix in 250g of chestnut puree and some sugar.
I don't have the cottage rye recipe with me, will update later!
-Starter
rye starter (100%), 30g
water, 175g
white rye, 175g
1. mix and let ferment at room temp for 8 to 12 hours
- final dough
starter from above
water, 325g
bread flour (high gluten preferred), 500g
salt, 10g
2. mix everything together, knead in KA at speed 4 for 12 to 13 minutes until smooth. The dough will be sticky and not clear the side of the bowl.
3. ferment the dough for 2 to 2.5 hours, 1.5 of original volume. (I did 2.5 hours, and one fold)
4. shape into a large round or oval, smooth side down into a basket, rise for 1.5 to 2 hours, until double. (I did 1.5 hours)
5. bake at 450F for 40 to 50min, with steam.
Congratulations all around! The rye is wonderful looking - and so are the Yule Log and ring!
Larry
and gifts to celebrate your happy occassions. Happy Birthday and Anniversary!
Sylvia
I am amazed at the creative talents between you and your husband! What a blessing and way to keep things exciting. Great job!
And the book worth buying. You did a lovely job with it! The celebration cake is also clever and fun! Happy good times to the three of you!
Mini
The bread and cake and ring are all beautiful, thanks for sharing! And congratulations!
HAPPY B.DAY TXFARMER!, yummy bread, i have to try it someday!
how you can get away with baking so much! It's the running! Gotta have all those carbs for fuel.
Congratulations on your birthdays and anniversary!
Paul
Gorgeous loaf and such a cute cake! Congratulations on your anniversary.
I hate being the spoiler here, but living in Phoenix and working with dogs as a vet makes me a bit more sensitive. Most people don't realize dogs don't sweat like we do. They sweat through their paws and heat exposure is the leading cause of emergencies in my practice. Please have fun, but consider leaving Fido at home when you run. He can't tell you he's in stress and in trouble.
I understand where you are coming from, but I think it depends on the dog. We've been running together in TX for 5 years now, through summer and winter and every season in between. I always take necessary precautions: do it as early as possible in the summer (often starting at 4 or 5am), take water frequently, and I do watch out for signs. He loves to run. We've together finished many races, not to mention many long or short training runs. He has no problem telling me he does not want to run anymore (bathroom break etc), and I'd like to think I know his cues pretty well by now. For one year I left him at home and walked with him instead because I was injured myself, he was NOT happy. He has been running 5 days a week with me most of his life. When we leave town, and send him to a doggie care center, he races cars along the fence all day long. He just seems to love running and tolerate it better than anyone I've known.
Thank you for your reply. I am so glad you're keeping an eye on him and he's obviously used to it. I didn't want to come off as a "know it all", but when it comes to animals, I do worry. Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.. I can stop worrying now! LOL
It was a great weekend!