Blog posts

Today's bake:   Frisian Black Bread -  Fries Swartbrood (Holland)

Source:   The Rye Baker by Stanley Ginsberg

Notes: 

From  TDW: 1311gr - 1 Pan(s)   Pan Size: 9x4x4 In / 22.86x10.16x10.16 CM  
To  TDW: 2294gr - 2 Pan(s)   Pan Size: 7.88x4x4 In / 20x10.16x10.16 CM
 

Substitutions: 

9Jul

My Pullman was collecting dust, so I finally put it to work!

I used some fresh milled Rouge de Bordeaux whole wheat from Barton Springs Mill along with some fresh milled spelt. Both were sifted once with a #30 drum sieve and re-milled at the finest setting in my MockMill 200.

I wanted to make some soda bread but didn't have any buttermilk. There are recipes that use baking powder or cream of tartar/bicarb, but I got to thinking that lactic acid might be closer to acidic dairy flavours, so why not use some of that? - especially as I had a bag of it (food grade), bought for another project, but not yet used.

A bit of ChatGPT investigation suggested for every gram of baking soda, to use 0.65g lactic acid powder, so this was my recipe:

That’s how  I rolled yesterday. Outside then run in and do some turns. Me and the bread survived. 
 
600g flour ( Kamut 300g from Tom and 300g Stardust milled) 

300g water

13 g salt 

150 g Trinity ( EVOO, homemade yogurt, Date Nectar)

360g levain ( 100% hydration Arrowhead BF)

375° 25 min lid on/ 20 min lid off

Made everything from scratch—the turntable, the box, the ingredients… even the frosting and piping were my own.
This is only my second cake (the first was mango!), and while there’s still so much to learn, I’m thrilled to be baking again. Something new, something fun, something pretty.
Best part? I get to pack in as much fruit as I want. Honestly, that beats any fancy design on the outside.

4Jul

I made these a few weeks ago while I was waiting for my Mom to pass. I have spent the past month or so driving back and forth to the hospital and then her home, spending as much time with her as possible. She finally lost her battle with pancreatic cancer after battling it for over a year.

4Jul

Fresh-milled spelt, along with one of my favorites, fresh-milled Star Dust Whole Wheat, created an amazing flavored loaf.

I decided to do a scald, which provides added plasticity to the crust and crumb. It also tends to make the crumb softer.

The crust came out boldly baked and tasted nice and malty. The fermentation was excellent and created a nice open crumb, especially for a 73.5% fresh-milled flour bake.

4Jul

I love using fresh-milled durum and combining it with some fresh-milled Marquis whole wheat, which makes for a tasty bake.

I added some black sesame seeds to the top, which added a wonderful nutty flavor.

The bake ended up perfectly with a moderately open crumb and made for excellent grilled bread with some olive oil, topped off with some fresh cheese.

Continuing with the twin themes of Cream Of Wheat and Pullman loaves, here is a yeasted Pullman loaf made with a yudane that used Cream Of Wheat for the flour. I included the COW in the total flour weight for baker's percentage calculations.

Recipe
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- 450g - flour
   -  90g - (20%) - Cream of Wheat (Yudane)
   - 360g - AP