Benito's blog

For appetizers before dinner tonight I wanted to have some bbq pork gua bao and pork shrimp and chive dumplings.  This was a second try at sourdough gua bao and finally successful.  I’m not sure why the previous attempt at this didn’t work without the hit of IDY because this time the only real change was the addition of sweet potato.  The gua bao will get filled with bbq pork after re-steaming just prior to serving so the filling isn’t in these photos.

For the dumplings I made the filling and obviously filled the dumplings.  I hadn’t actually done this since I lived at home as a child and helped my mother with filling dumplings so over four decades ago.  They turned out quite well considering, but then again, one gets a lot of practice when you’re making enough dumplings to be filled with over a pound of filling.  I didn’t make the wrappers myself, I suspect that the major issue in making them yourself is trying to get really consistent thickness to them in order for them to cook at the same time.  So I didn’t bother making things even more complex for myself when the store bought wrappers are really good and only a couple of bucks per package.

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In a large jar, combine all purpose flour, water, ripe sourdough starter, and sugar. Cover the jar loosely and let the levain ripen overnight at warm room temperature (I keep mine around 76°F to 78°F).

Tangzhong

In a sauce pan set on med heat with about 1.5 cm of water, place the bowl of your stand mixer creating a Bain Marie, whisk the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool.

In The Morning

In a mixing bowl, add the Tangzhong, water, milk, oil, sugar and salt, mix to dissolve.  Add the stiff sweet levain and using a silicone spatula, cut the levain into small pieces.  Add the baking powder, cornstarch and flour.  Mix to form a shaggy dough.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  On your countertop or with your stand mixer  knead the dough until good gluten development. Next add your mashed sweet potato, I added 45g or about 29%.  Knead until well developed.  Remove some dough for aliquot jar to follow rise.  Shape into a boule and rest in a covered bowl at 82°F until it has increased by 40%.

Prepare six 4” parchment squares.

Remove the dough to the counter and divide into six equal portions shaping each into a tight boule.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  Roll out the dough into a 3 × 6-inch oval. Brush the surface of the dough with canola oil and gently fold the dough in half, but make the top folded part a bit longer than the bottom otherwise when steamed they won’t be equal in size. Place on a 4-inch square of parchment paper.

Cover the buns with a damp, clean kitchen towel and allow them to proof until they are 1 ½ times larger,

Cover the filled bao with a damp cloth and place in a warm place and allow them to ferment until they pass the poke test.  Using an aliquot jar they should reach about 100% rise.

Prepare your steamer setup and bring water to a boil.  Working in batches if necessary, arrange buns in the bamboo steamer spacing 2” apart.  Once the water is boiling turn the heat down to medium.  Steam over boiling water for 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat and leave the buns in the covered steamer for 5 more minutes to prevent collapsing.  (I left them in the steamer and on the same stove element turned off). Do not lift the lid of the steamer, doing so will cause a sudden drop in temperature that can cause the buns to collapse or wrinkle or dent.  Remove the buns from the steamer and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before serving.  

Buns can be kept in an airtight container (a resealable bag works great) at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Room temperature buns can be reheated in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds or steamed for about 2 minutes, until soft and warmed through. Reheat frozen buns by steaming until soft and warmed through, 10 to 15 minutes.

Make the Filling 

Filling Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
• 1 clove garlic , grated
• 1/8 teaspoon five spice powder
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 heaping cup (180 g / 6.5 oz) homemade char siu , diced (or store-bought char siu) 1.5 cups is better 
• While the dough is resting, combine all the filling ingredients in a small pot except for the diced char siu. Mix until the cornstarch is dissolved fully.
• Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until thickened, so you can draw a line on the bottom of the pot with a spatula, about 1 minute. Take the pot off the heat and let the mixture cool off. Once cooled, add the diced char siu and mix until it is evenly distributed.

Pork Shrimp and Chive dumplings

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1/2 pound of ground pork
• 1/2 pound of shrimp, shelled, deveined, dried well and chopped into small pieces
• 2 cups of Chinese chives, finely chopped
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons of sesame oil
• 1/4 cup of soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced through a garlic press
• 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper
• Dumpling (水餃) wrappers

Probably do not need the salt, reduce the soy sauce a bit.  

Instructions

• Prepare the vegetable oil. Heat the vegetable oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat for around 7 minutes. Set aside and allow it to cool. 
• Make the filling. Place the ground pork, shrimp, chives, egg, sesame oil, soy sauce, salt, garlic, white pepper and the cooled vegetable oil in a large mixing bowl. Mix, fold, whatever it takes until everything is thoroughly combined. It will feel wet and sticky and that’s okay. Allow the filling to sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes or in the fridge covered until you’re ready to assemble.
• Assemble the dumplings. In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup of water. Wet one of your fingers with water and dab it on the edge of half a wrapper. Add a scoop of filling to the center of the wrapper. With the wet edge on top, seal the dumpling by bringing the dry edge up to touch the wet edge to create a half circle. Do your best to remove any extra air trapped inside the dumpling as you’re sealing.
• Place the dumpling on a baking sheet covered with plastic wrap. Repeat until you run out of filling or wrappers. Keep the dumplings separated on the baking sheet so that they don’t stick to each other.
• Cook the dumplings. If you’re eating the dumplings immediately, cook them in a sufficient amount of boiling water so there’s room for all of the pieces to move around. Allow them to cook under a gentle boil for five minutes. Strain them from the boiling liquid, add them to a hot broth and serve.
• If you’re eating them later on, freeze the baking sheet of dumplings. Transfer them to a storage medium once frozen. They’ll be great in the freezer for up to two months, but I’m sure they’ll be gone before then!

My index of bakes.

So this is the big weekend where I have to have the three layer tropical carrot cake ready.  I baked the cake on Thursday, once cooled fully wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated until this morning.  Today I made the frosting and iced and decorated the cake.  The orange stuff on top is candied orange zest.  My cake carrier unfortunately is a bit to short for this decorated cake so some of the frosting at the center got smooshed.  I would increase the frosting by 50% so I’d have more than enough next time.  I also need to apply more frosting and right to if not past the edge of the cake layers between the layers.  I didn’t do this and it was a bit challenging to get more frosting between the layers to get a clean semi naked look.  Despite that, for me, this was a good bake since I have only decorated a cake with three layers once before so I’m happy with this overall.

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Ingredients

CAKE

• 3 cups all-purpose flour 
• 2 cups sugar 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• 3 large eggs 
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
• 1 (8-oz.) can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained about half a 540 mL can. 
• 2 cups chopped ripe banana (might be 2-3 bananas)
• 1 cup shredded carrot, pressed dry 
• 1 cup sweetened coconut, plus more for garnish 
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans, plus more for garnish

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

• 1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, room temperature 
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar 453 g
• I’d increase this by 50% so I’d have more than enough frosting. 

According to Better Homes & Gardens, the best way to soften cream cheese is by letting it sit in a warm water bath. This is a quick process, as the cream cheese shouldn't need to sit for longer than 15 minutes. Leaving the cream cheese in its foil wrapper, simply place the block in a bowl of warm water and let the softening begin. Hot water out of the tap works best because you don't want it to be boiling, Cheese Knees notes. You can simply let the block sit until it's soft, or you can flip it every few minutes -- either way, you want the whole thing to be submerged in the water (via The Pioneer Woman).

How to Make It

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and spices. Add eggs, oil, and vanilla extract; whisking until fully incorporated.

Step 2

Fold in crushed pineapple, banana, carrot, coconut, and pecans. Divide batter evenly among 3 well-greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans.

Step 3

Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely, about 1 hour.

Step 4

Prepare Cream Cheese Frosting: Combine cream cheese and butter in mixer and beat until well combined. Add salt and powdered sugar, and beat on low until incorporated, then increase speed to medium high and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Step 5

Assemble Cake: Cut domes off cake layers to create 3 even layers. Place 1 layer on a cake stand and evenly spread 3/4 cup cream cheese frosting across the layer. Place another layer on top of that one and repeat with another 3/4 cup frosting. Add final layer, and spread remaining frosting across the top. Decorate with shredded coconut and pecans.

https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/tropical-carrot-cake

For the orange peel

• 2 oranges
• 200ml water
• 200g caster sugar 
• For the orange peel, carefully pare the zest from the orange (a tool like this would be helpful). Put the water and sugar in a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the orange zest and remove from the heat. Let the zest sit in the sugar syrup until it has completely cooled.  Remove the peel and allow to dry on a paper towel.

Just a note here for the bake time, because I used cake strips the bake time was longer, it took 50-55 mins for the cakes to be fully baked.

My index of bakes.

I like to tinker with my formulas over time.  I haven’t done a country sourdough in a while and wanted to try it using a stiff levain.  I kept the hydration to a comfortable 76% since I haven’t done this style of a bread in quite a while so didn’t want to go crazy high.  

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Overnight levain 74°F for 10 hours.

In the morning add to your bowl, water, rye and whole wheat flour, mix and allow to sit for 15 mins to fully hydrate the bran.  Then add stiff levain, breaking it up into small pieces.  Then add bread flour, mix well and allow to rest for 10 mins.  Knead to build gluten.  Add salt and bassinage hold back water until the dough feels well hydrated.  Once well mixed and moderate gluten development, remove dough to bench and do a bench letterfold.  Transfer dough to a bowl.  Every 20-30 mins do a coil fold stopping when the dough feels strong and isn’t spreading quickly after a fold.  Allow the dough to rest in the bowl for the remainder of bulk.  Once the dough has risen 40% or pH dropped 1.0 then shape dough and place in a banneton.  We will aim to bake when the pH has dropped by a total of 1.4 or the dough has had a rise of 70-80%.  If doing a cold retard, can place in the freezer for 1 hour when the pH has fallen a total of 1.3 and after 1 hour in the freezer transfer to the fridge for baking the next day.

The next morning pre-heat the oven 500°F and set up for steam baking.  30 mins before ready to bake pour 1 L of boiling water into your metal loaf pan with the Sylvia towel rolled tightly inside to pre-steam the oven.  When the oven reaches 500°F flip the dough onto a parchment paper sheet, brush off excess rice flour, score and then brush water onto the dough but not the main score.  Transfer to the oven and onto the heated baking steel or stone.  Pour 250 mL of boiling water into your cast iron skillet.  Drop the temperature of the oven to 450°F baking with steam for 25 mins.  After 25 mins vent the steam and remove the steaming gear.  Drop the temperature to 420°F and bake for a further 20-25 mins, turning half way through and moving the bread to a rack instead of the baking steel.

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My index of bakes.

I am still working on my steamed buns.  Today I prepped to try again with a new sourdough gua bao recipe.  I’ve added a tangzhong to make the flavour more complex and increase the hydration without making the dough handle like a higher hydration.  There is also some vegetable oil to help with moisture and tenderness.  I have kept the baking powder in the recipe since almost all the recipes I’ve seen have either baking powder or baking soda to help reduce any sourness, I’m not sure that it is necessary or not.  I decided to use a stiff sweet levain to reduce the sour tang so again, I’m not sure that the baking powder is needed.  I’ll eventually have to try making these without, that might be the only way to know.

The stiff sweet levain was at 3 times rise in the morning so everything seemed to be fine.  However, after 4 hours of fermentation at 82°F there was only 10% rise.  This the second time this has happened, both times with the sourdough boa recipe, each recipe was different, but both had baking powder in them.  I cannot think of a reason that the baking powder would have such a negative effect on the dough.  At this point, I didn’t want to have another total failure, so I dissolved 0.2 g of IDY in 2 g of water and kneaded it into the dough and reset the clock.  After that, fermentation went along quickly.  I wonder if I was just impatient, but I hate total failures that are almost inedible.  I say that, but I always taste the failures too.

I will make these again, but will start with the small amount of IDY from the start and make these as a hybrid dough with both the sourdough levain and tiny amount of IDY.  I am making these for a birthday party next weekend along with homemade pork shrimp and chive dumplings I’ve made for appetizers.  At some point in the future I’ll have another go at a fully sourdough version.

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 Overnight Levain

In a large jar, combine all purpose flour, water, ripe sourdough starter, and sugar. Cover the jar loosely and let the levain ripen overnight at warm room temperature (I keep mine around 76°F to 78°F).

Tangzhong

In a sauce pan set on med heat with about 1.5 cm of water, place the bowl of your stand mixer creating a Bain Marie, whisk the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool.

In The Morning

In a mixing bowl, add the Tangzhong, water, milk, sugar and salt, mix to dissolve.  Add the stiff sweet levain and using a silicone spatula, cut the levain into small pieces.  Add the baking powder, cornstarch and flour.  Mix to form a shaggy dough.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  On your countertop or with your stand mixer  knead the dough until good gluten development.  Drizzle in the vegetable oil and mix until well incorporated.  Remove some dough for aliquot jar to follow rise.  Shape into a boule and rest in a covered bowl at 82°F until it has increased by 40%.

Prepare six 4” parchment squares.

Remove the dough to the counter and divide into six equal portions shaping each into a tight boule.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  Roll out the dough into a 3 × 6-inch oval. Brush the surface of the dough with canola oil and gently fold the dough in half. Place on a 4-inch square of parchment paper.

Cover the buns with a damp, clean kitchen towel and allow them to proof until they are 1 ½ times larger,

Cover the filled bao with a damp cloth and place in a warm place and allow them to ferment until they pass the poke test.  Using an aliquot jar they should reach about 100% rise.

Prepare your steamer setup and bring water to a boil.  Working in batches if necessary, arrange buns in the bamboo steamer spacing 2” apart.  Once the water is boiling turn the heat down to medium.  Steam over boiling water for 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat and leave the buns in the covered steamer for 5 more minutes to prevent collapsing.  (I left them in the steamer and on the same stove element turned off). Do not lift the lid of the steamer, doing so will cause a sudden drop in temperature that can cause the buns to collapse or wrinkle or dent.  Remove the buns from the steamer and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before serving.  

Buns can be kept in an airtight container (a resealable bag works great) at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Room temperature buns can be reheated in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds or steamed for about 2 minutes, until soft and warmed through. Reheat frozen buns by steaming until soft and warmed through, 10 to 15 minutes.

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My index of bakes.

I was working on a SD version this morning but something went wrong, I suspect I measured the water incorrectly and added way too much.  When I realized my error I started a second batch, but since I had no levain ready it was IDY to the rescue.  I’m glad I made the second batch, other than an issue of tearing of the dough during one coil fold where I wasn’t gentle enough it turned out just fine even with the increased hydration to 110%.  Another change was that I did final proof with a couche.  To be precise I lined the couche with parchment paper and then pleated the couche to support the sides of the dough during final proof.

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For 2 medium breads

250 g water (175 g for mix) then bassinage 100 g

250 g bread flour

1.25 g IDY

5 g salt

6.26 g olive oil

Mix all flour and 175 g of water then rest 15 mins.

Dissolve 1.25 g IDY in 15 g of water add to mixer and mix until well absorbed.

Dissolve 5 g of salt in about 20 g of water and then add to the mixer until well absorbed.  The addition of the salt will tighten the gluten a bit.

Bassinage the rest of the water (65g) in small aliquots waiting until the water is well absorbed before adding more.

Once all the water has been added the dough appears to be well developed, drizzle in the olive oil while the mixer is running.  Mix until well incorporated, this will not take very long.

Grease a Pyrex dish with olive oil and then pour the dough into the dish.  Do a few folds to get the dough into a nice roundish shape.

Place the dough in a warm place, 78°F and every 20 mins do a coil fold, stop when the dough seems to have good structure.  I did four sets of coil folds.

Allow the dough to rest 1.5-2 hours.

After 1.5-2 hours the dough will have risen nicely, about double volume.

Prepare your couche by placing a sheet of parchment paper on it.  We will pleat the parchment/couche to support the dough and separate them.

Flour the top of the dough especially around the edge of the dish.  Sprinkle a generous amount of dough onto your countertop.  Using a bowl scraper release the sides of the dough from the dish, then gently invert the dish so the dough releases onto the floured countertop.  Generously flour the top of the dough.  Using a bench scraper cut the dough carefully into two or four pieces (depends on whether you made a full or half batch).  Ensure the cut edges are well floured, then gently transfer the dough using bench scrapers to your parchment lined couche.  Create a pleat to separate the two doughs and pleat the outsides and support them as well.  I used a box of water to support the outsides of the dough.  I then folded the couche over the top of the dough to prevent excessive drying.

Allow the loaves to rest at room temperature for 1.5-2 hours, uncovered. While the loaves are resting, preheat the oven to 475°F with a baking stone or steel on a lower rack. 

1 hour before final proof is complete, pre-heat your oven to 475°F with a baking stone or steel on the lowest rack.  Place the other rack in the upper half of the oven.

The dough is ready to bake when it looks puffy and there are large bubbles visible in all pieces of dough on the surface.

To bake the bread: Carefully slide the two loaves (still resting on the parchment) into the oven onto the preheated stone or steel. If space is tight and the full sheet of parchment won’t fit on the stone or steel, cut the parchment between the two loaves and arrange them as best you can. Allow the other two loaves to continue to rest.

Bake the loaves for 15 minutes, then transfer them, from the stone or steel, directly onto a rack in the upper third of the oven for an additional 13 to 15 minutes. (Leave the stone in place.) Moving them to the rack allows the baking stone or steel to become hot again in preparation for the next two loaves. After a total of 27 to 30 minutes of baking, remove the loaves from the oven and allow them to cool on a rack.

My index of bakes.

I felt like having fish burgers so decided to make buns for the fish.  I’ve had some luck with using potato so decided to add some mashed potato to my milk bread for buns.  Both the potato along with the tangzhong should made very soft buns.

I was watching a YouTube video recently that sought to dispel the idea that tangzhong should be made at a 1:5 ratio of flour to liquid.  In fact, the author suggested based on studies done with tangzhong and yudane that the ratio should be closer to 1:1-1:2.  They also suggested that ideally the percent flour from the tangzhong or yudane should approach 20%.  With a 1:5 ratio and 20% flour in tangzhong would leave essentially no liquid left to prepare the dough with.  However, at 1:2 or less there would be liquid left.  So this is my first bake using a lower ratio of 1:2 flour to milk but at 10%, which is higher than my usual 7%.  I will gradually adjust the tangzhong over time to see if there is any discernible improvement to the bread.  I figured that this was a good start.

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For 8 buns about 65 g each

egg wash: 1 yolk, 1 tbsp milk and a pinch of salt, beaten…

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this stiff  sweet levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flour, I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 15 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next drizzle in the melted butter a little at a time, or alternatively add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  Slow the mixer down to avoid splashing the butter at you. The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before drizzling or adding in more butter.  Once all the butter has been added and incorporated increase the speed gradually to medium.  Add the mashed potatoes gradually.  Mix at medium speed until the gluten is well developed, approximately 10 mins.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane.

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2.5-3.5 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

Place a sheet of parchment paper on a large cookie tray.  Punch the dough down and then divide into 8 equal portions.  Form each into tight boules.  Place on a parchment lined cookie tray.  Cover them and allow them to fully proof about 4-6 hours, they should pass the poke test.

After about 30 mins of proofing time, whisk your remaining egg and milk and then brush the small boules.

About 30 mins prior to end of final proof preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Immediately prior to baking brush the dough again with the egg and milk mixture.  Next spoon some sesame seeds on the buns, spread and press them lightly onto the buns.

Bake the buns uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190F. Cover if your rolls get brown early in the baking process.

Remove the bread from the oven and transfer the buns to a rack to cool.  

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I have to say that these came out just perfectly.  They are so soft and tender, like clouds of bread, perfect for the fish burgers with kewpie mayo and pickles.  Over time I will gradually work the percent flour of the tangzhong up and hit the magic 20% and see how they turn out.  In the meantime, this first bake looks good to me.

My index of bakes.

I love baking challah breads so whenever we host a brunch recently it has given me an excuse to bake another challah in order to make a strata.  Strata for those unfamiliar with it is essentially a way of making French toast for the masses and somewhat like a bread pudding.  It is best that the challah is a couple of days old and a bit firm.  In fact, to have a firmer challah I particularly like using 50% WW for the challah used to make a strata.  The formula for my most recent challah I used for this strata is here.

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 12 cups challah cubes

 225 g cream cheese, cubed

 2 cups frozen fruit

8 large eggs

1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla

1/4 tsp (I mL) salt

3 cups homogenized milk

80 mL maple syrup

2 tbsp granulated sugar

1/2 tsp  cinnamon

1.  Place bread cubes in a large bowl.

2. Whisk eggs in a medium bowl.  Then add vanilla, salt, milk and maple syrup and mix.  Next pour the liquid mixture over the cubed bread and fold them in so that every cube gets soaked with the egg mixture.

3. Grease a large heat proof pan.  Spread half of the soaked challah cubes over the pan.  Sprinkle cream cheese chunks and half the fruit of the challah.  Then spread the remaining half of the soaked challah cubes over the pan. finally spread the other half of the fruit over the challah cubes.

4. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over top. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

5. Remove from refrigerator and let stand 30 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).  TOTAL BAKE TIME 60-65 mins.  Bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted in centre comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

I have a big birthday for my partner to plan.  So part of that is to bake one of his favourite cakes, carrot cake.  You will notice that baking cakes isn’t something I do very often, in fact I probably bake fewer than one per year.  So I thought it would be prudent to do a test bake and ensure that the recipe I’m doing tastes good and that I can turn out a decent cake.  I hope to make this a three layer cake and decorate it better, although my decorating skills aren’t that great.

I found a recipe a while bake called a tropical carrot cake in Southern Living magazine.  The addition of bananas, coconut and pineapple (which isn’t that unusual) I guess are what make it tropical.  

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Ingredients

CAKE

• 3 cups all-purpose flour 
• 2 cups sugar 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• 3 large eggs 
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
• 1 (8-oz.) can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained about half a 540 mL can. 
• 2 cups chopped ripe banana (might be 2-3 bananas)
• 1 cup shredded carrot, pressed dry 
• 1 cup sweetened coconut, plus more for garnish 
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans, plus more for garnish

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

• 1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, room temperature 
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar 453 g

According to Better Homes & Gardens, the best way to soften cream cheese is by letting it sit in a warm water bath. This is a quick process, as the cream cheese shouldn't need to sit for longer than 15 minutes. Leaving the cream cheese in its foil wrapper, simply place the block in a bowl of warm water and let the softening begin. Hot water out of the tap works best because you don't want it to be boiling, Cheese Knees notes. You can simply let the block sit until it's soft, or you can flip it every few minutes -- either way, you want the whole thing to be submerged in the water (via The Pioneer Woman).

How to Make It

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and spices. Add eggs, oil, and vanilla extract; whisking until fully incorporated.

Step 2

Fold in crushed pineapple, banana, carrot, coconut, and pecans. Divide batter evenly among 3 well-greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans.

Step 3

Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely, about 1 hour.

Step 4

Prepare Cream Cheese Frosting: Combine cream cheese and butter in mixer and beat until well combined. Add salt and powdered sugar, and beat on low until incorporated, then increase speed to medium high and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Step 5

Assemble Cake: Cut domes off cake layers to create 3 even layers. Place 1 layer on a cake stand and evenly spread 3/4 cup cream cheese frosting across the layer. Place another layer on top of that one and repeat with another 3/4 cup frosting. Add final layer, and spread remaining frosting across the top. Decorate with shredded coconut and pecans.

I made only a single layer for this test.  I made this with 8” round pan.  In order to avoid the usual hump in the center of the cake, I made a makeshift cake strip.  Essentially wet paper towels in the center of a folded strip of aluminum foil.  This prevents the rapid baking of the outside of the cake so that the whole cake bakes evenly and there is no hump.  It works really well, you also don’t get overly crispy outside of the cake, it is just evenly baked all the way through.

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The cake is quite good, but my banana wasn’t ripe enough so it didn’t really contribute enough to the tropical feel of the cake.  I may also have skimped on the pineapple in my measurements, I hate volume measurements! But this was definitely good enough to warrant a full bake.  Oh the orange decoration is candied orange zest that I made.

My family has a lot of birthdays from December to January.  My mother’s is one of them so we are having her over for brunch this weekend.  My favourite thing to make for brunch is a strata, I’ve made a few now and they are always tasty.  One thing I should do but haven’t is bake the challah a couple of days ahead so it can stale a bit.  So I decided I’d bake a slight variation of challah by adding the zest of half an orange to my sourdough challah 50% whole wheat.  I worked at getting the strands longer than usual, the challah ended up so long that it wouldn’t fit on my baking steel, so I shaped it into an S which I think looks nice.  The strata I’m going to make will be strawberry mango.  It won’t use the whole challah so I’ll be able to taste the bread on its own to see if the orange is a good addition or not.

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Zest of one small orange or zest of half a large orange.

Overnight levain 78°F 9 hours peak 2.5x 

Procedures

1. The night before baking, mix the levain and ferment it at 76-78°F for 8-12 hours.
2. In the morning, in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, add the levain then water, then mix in the 4 eggs, salt and honey and mix until completely combined.
3. Mix in all the flour until it forms a shaggy mass.
4. Knead the dough on the bench or in a stand mixer until it is smooth and there is moderate gluten development. The dough should be quite firm.  Gradually add the oil, the dough may break down, wait until it comes back together and before you add more.  Mix until gluten is well developed.
5. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover it tightly. Ferment for about 2 hours. It may not rise much.  At 82°F it rose 20-25%
6. To make one loaf, divide the dough into two equal portions, and divide each portion into the number of pieces needed for the type of braiding you plan to do, so divide each by 3 to make 1 six strand braided loaf.
7. Form each piece into a ball and allow them to rest, covered, for 10-20 minutes to relax the gluten.
8. Form each piece into a strand about 14” long. (I like Glezer's technique for this. On an un-floured board, flatten each piece with the palm of your hand. Using a rolling pin, roll out each piece to about ¼ inch thickness. Then roll up each piece into a tight tube. Using the palms of your hands, lengthen each piece by rolling each tube back and forth on the bench with light pressure. Start with your hands together in the middle of the tube and, as you roll it, move your hands gradually outward. Taper the ends of the tubeby rotating your wrists slightly so that the thumb side of your hand is slightly elevated, as you near the ends of the tube.).  You can consider rolling each rope of dough in two different types of seeds at this point for a decorative effect, or only a few of the strands.
9. Braid the loaves.  Braiding somewhat loosely, not too tight. 
10. Place loaf on parchment paper on a sheet pan. Brush with egg wash. Cover well with plastic wrap (brush with oil so it doesn’t stick to the dough) or place the pans in a food grade plastic bag, and proof at room temperature until the loaves have tripled in volume. About 4-6 hours.
11. If it's quadrupled and when poked the dough only springs back a little, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.  Gauge the dough again. Stick a finger lightly in the dough. If it makes an indentation that doesn't spring back, the dough is ready to be baked. If not, wait a bit more.
12. Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF with the rack in the lower third of the oven about 30 mins before final proof is complete.
13. Brush each loaf with an egg lightly beaten with a pinch of salt.  I do this twice.
14. Optionally, sprinkle the loaves with sesame seeds and/or poppy seeds.
15. Bake until done – 30-40 minutes rotating half way.  If baking as one large loaf may take a bit longer, bake until sounds hollow or reaches 190ºF in the middle.
16. Cool completely before slicing.

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My index of bakes.

Ilya recently started a thread linking to Martin Philip’s recipe on the King Arthur website for a IDY Pan de Cristal.  I’ve always wanted to try baking this unique bread and I’m glad that I have now.  I believe most recipes for this bread have some olive oil in them, so I added that.  Also rather than mixing all the water at once, I bassinaged the water gradually.  I used my Ankarsrum Assistent to mix since I am still learning to use it and want to get as much experience as possible.  It does an awesome job with bassinage.  It is said to be gentle on the dough and I believe it is.  I might have thought that the crumb would be tight having used a mixer to mix, however, I don’t think the crumb shows that at all. This bread has the finest crumb and a thin shattering crust.  You can see why it is named Pan de Cristal, you can shine a light through the bread, even the bottom crust can show light easily through it.  Each loaf feels like air, it weighs so little yet tastes so good and has such satisfying texture with the contrast of the crisp crust and soft open crumb.

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Light through the bottom half of the loaf!

For 2 medium breads

250 g water (175 g for mix) then bassinage 75 g

250 g bread flour

1.25 g IDY

5 g salt

6.26 g olive oil

Mix all flour and 175 g of water then rest 15 mins.

Dissolve 1.25 g IDY in 15 g of water add to mixer and mix until well absorbed.

Dissolve 5 g of salt in about 15 g of water and then add to the mixer until well absorbed.  The addition of the salt will tighten the gluten a bit.

Bassinage the rest of the water in small aliquots waiting until the water is well absorbed before adding more.

Once all the water has been added the dough appears to be well developed, drizzle in the olive oil while the mixer is running.  Mix until well incorporated, this will not take very long.

Grease a Pyrex dish with olive oil and then pour the dough into the dish.  Do a few folds to get the dough into a nice roundish shape.

Place the dough in a warm place, 78°F and every 20 mins do a coil fold, stop when the dough seems to have good structure.  I did three sets of coil folds.

Allow the dough to rest 2 hours.

After 2 hours the dough will have risen nicely, about double volume.

Flour the top of the dough especially around the edge of the dish.  Sprinkle a generous amount of dough onto your countertop.  Using a bowl scraper release the sides of the dough from the dish, then gently invert the dish so the dough releases onto the floured countertop.  Generously flour the top of the dough.  Using a bench scraper cut the dough carefully into two or four pieces (depends on whether you made a full or half batch).  Ensure the cut edges are well floured, then gently transfer two pieces onto one piece of parchment, repeat if a full batch was made. 

There is no need to cover the dough at this point, just keep it away from drafts.  The development of a thin skin is actually fine and may help with the oven spring.

Allow the loaves to rest at room temperature for 2 hours, uncovered. While the loaves are resting, preheat the oven to 475°F with a baking stone or steel on a lower rack. 

1 hour before final proof is complete, pre-heat your oven to 475°F with a baking stone or steel on the lowest rack.  Place the other rack in the upper half of the oven.

The dough is ready to bake when it looks puffy and there are large bubbles visible in all pieces of dough on the surface.

To bake the bread: Carefully slide the two loaves (still resting on the parchment) into the oven onto the preheated stone or steel. If space is tight and the full sheet of parchment won’t fit on the stone or steel, cut the parchment between the two loaves and arrange them as best you can. Allow the other two loaves to continue to rest.

Bake the loaves for 15 minutes, then transfer them, from the stone or steel, directly onto a rack in the upper third of the oven for an additional 13 to 15 minutes. (Leave the stone in place.) Moving them to the rack allows the baking stone or steel to become hot again in preparation for the next two loaves. After a total of 27 to 30 minutes of baking, remove the loaves from the oven and allow them to cool on a rack.

Repeat the process with the two remainingloaves. Cool the bread fully before slicing.

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My index of bakes.