I've made English Muffins in the past and I thought it was time to try them again but with a few twists.
Today it's snowing. Not enough to bring out the snow-blower but enough to enjoy a nice cup of soup with a sandwich made with my hearty multi-grain bread. I've made similar breads before and I followed the basic procedure but I varied the soaker/scald ingredients and the combination of flours in the main dough.
I used some Vermont maple syrup infused with vanilla to add a touch of sweetness to offset some of the bitterness from all the whole grains used in the recipe.
I was asked to make some rolls for Thanksgiving again this year so I decided to try to turn my Sweet Potato Maple Pecan bread into rolls. In the original bake I had discovered that I used way too high of a hydration in the dough so this time since I was making rolls I cut down on the hydration considerably. My calculations say 53% total dough hydration and 78% with the add-ins but since the sweet potato variety I used this time was a red variety with white flesh I think the moisture content of the potatoes may have been less than calculated.
My pretzel rolls have become one of my wife's and friends favorites so I figured it was time to make some more. I stuck to the same basic formula and procedure as before but changed up some of the flour using some potato flour in the starter and some First Clear flour in the main dough.
I decided at the last-minute to make a few rolls with a surprise inside and added some bacon cheddar cheese I had picked up while in Vermont a few weeks ago. All I can say is...."Cheese and Bacon"..enough said!
Last weekend I was lucky enough to journey back to one of my favorite states Vermont and visit King Arthur Flour as well as some other local attractions. We enjoyed some great meals at the Norwich Inn and Simon Pearce Glass which blows their own glassware.
This is very close to the Coffee Potato Sourdough I posted last week but I replaced the coffee with water and replaced the cheese powder with a mix of shaved Asiaggo and Parmesan cheeses and bumped up the percentage greatly. I also eliminated the balsamic vinegar and added some garlic infused olive oil.
The end result was a bread that was even tastier than the last with a nice open crumb and chock full of cheesy goodness. I highly recommend you try this one as it makes great sandwich bread and grilled bread as well.
Warning...if you don't like the flavor of coffee you will not like this bread. I have used coffee in my breads before and usually it is very subtle since I use a higher percentage of whole grain flour and add-ins but since most of the flour in this bake was on the white side the coffee flavor was very strong.
In hindsight I should have baked this bread as a Ciabatta since it ended up such a slack and wet dough. While I was working on the final formulas and trying to figure out what hydration level to use for maple syrup and sweet potatoes I discovered that sweet potatoes are extremely high in water. In fact they are around 85% water which I now know is the main reason why this dough ended up so wet. Next time I bake this one I would definitely adjust the water content to get it down to around 70-75% hydration or cut down some of the sweet potatoes.
One of these days I will sprout my own whole wheat berries and grind them into flour, but for the time being I will use the KAF flour version. The combination of the Sprouted Wheat flour along with the KAF European flour, spelt and potatoes made this a moist bread with a nice open crumb and chewy crust.
The KAF European Artisan flour is one of my favorites and contains a small amount of white whole wheat flour and comes in at 11.7% protein level which is ideal for artisan loaves.
Karen from Brot & Brad and the Fresh Loaf posted an exciting baking challenge to create a German style multi-grain rye bread called an Urbrot. This was based on her recent trip to Germany while visiting Fredrick the Great's Sanssouci. Please read her excellent write-up on her travels and a recap of all the challenge bakes from fellow TFL members here.
