Blog posts

My first blog post is about this wonderfully classic teacake with a rich tradition.  Back when bread dough was prepared at home and then baked in the village baker's oven, bara brith (Welsh translation is mottled or speckled bread) was usually the leftover scraps of dough thrown together and sweetened with dried fruit. 

It did, however, grow into a standardized loaf consumed during teatime, still filled with an abundance of dried fruit (sultanas, raisins, currants, cranberries...). 

We love pie so I made some pie to celebrate Father's Day!

These are fried pies. I used a crust that is meant to be very tender and flaky. The filling is creamy tuna in white sauce. They are also very crispy after frying with the crispness that you associate with a croissant.

Anyone who has been around TFL long enough and is suspiciously odd (or bored) enough knows that my baguette journey began with my baking the Anis Bouabsa baguette.  For the uninitiated, M. Bouabsa is a bread baker in Paris who won the quite prestigious annual city-wide competition in 2008 for the Best Baguette in Paris, and with about 30 competitors it was no small feat.  His rewards included accolades, bragging rights and a meeting with the French President.

One of my brothers asked me to make buns to go with the burgers and crab we are having tomorrow for Father’s Day. I surfed a number of recipes but kept coming back to this one. 

https://stellaculinary.com/recipes/baking-pastry/baking/bread/hamburger-brioche-buns-large

So here they are...

I called this Soon Doo Boo Sourdough!

I used only 10% levain and used kimchi liquid, silk tofu, green onions and black sesame seeds. It took around 24 hours until bake.

The flavor came out mildly savory and the soft texture was  wonderful toasted.

Hi bakers, I'm back with one of my favorite formula ever: 20 % rye. I have to admit that the last few baked breads weren't very good, and I think that a reason for it could be the fact that I have to adjust the timings with the hot temperatures that are going on here in Italy.

But finally I think I made it, with this rye dough I stared at every passage and I managed to gain the right times almost in every passage; the only issue being the fact that maybe the bulk fermentation could be pushed a little bit further.

I used 3% of bright dragon fruit powder in the dough with starter and after the bake, the color completely disappeared! So much for anticipating a pink loaf... live and learn.

I was well on my way to completing what would have been my best loaf yet. Everything was coming along perfectly as these things rarely do when you're a beginner bread baker. Had great gluten development, pre-shaping and final shaping were very good despite a rather wet dough (50/50 AP and high extraction bread flour @ 80%). This was suspect. Everything was going too well. The crucial mistake wouldn't manifest itself until hours after the fact. The heart sinking moment came after the final rise when I attempted to remove the dough from the bowl it was rising in.

I wonder if there is a bread equivalent of bombe glacée?!

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/bread-sparks-bomb-scare_uk_5b1fdc27e4b0adfb826e1c0b

I did not have any plans to post this but as a record of by baking journey, I decided to post it today.