Blog posts

Ciabatta???

Profile picture for user Skibum

Can I call this loaf a ciabatta? Well that was the original plan and I shaped according to P. Reinhart, sort of. I only did one letter fold. Well things bloomed beautifully along the letter fold seam and this made a nice sandwich loaf. Gave half to my neighbours and made their little girl's day.

Total flour 350g. I used 35g durham semolina and the balance strong bread flour. I mixed this at 78% hydration using 7g coarse sea salt and 6g EVOO.

the proofed loaf.

Crumb.

Panettone - not my best attempt

Toast

but certainly not my worst ! This is a practice run - I intend to try again next week . It tastes delicious but did not rise as expected. I " babysat " the starter for a week , feeding it every four hours on the final day. The final proof ( in the Brod & Taylor Proofer at 80F ) took eleven hours to reach within an inch of the top of the mold ! I took it out of the oven at midnight...... Just wish I knew what I did wrong . Maybe I should ask myself what I did RIGHT the time it turned out perfectly two Christmases ago ! Merlie

Sourdough Upside Down Banana Brandy Cake

Profile picture for user Anne-Marie B

This recipe uses the starter you were going to discard when feeding your starters. It is a tasty, moist cake that is not very sweet. The bananas are placed in a caramelised sugar and brandy sauce before the batter is dolloped on top. The original recipe used bourbon, but I had some brandy on hand, in preparation for making plum puddings. I used my discarded rye starter and wholemeal flour to give it more colour and texture. I also baked it in a ring pan instead of a skillet. It is a great combination of flavours and I may try it with apple wedges or pears in future.