Blog posts

Recently I had an interview with a bakery in hopes that I'd be able to secure an internship for after my schooling. I need some technical training working in a high production environment, and this place was amazing, they had beautiful bread and several varieties of pastries besides. Possibly the best baked goods I'd seen in a bakery. 

I'm so happy to say that after so many tries of making white breads,  I finally got the taste and texture that I wanted.  Very very soft bread,  with a good slightly burnt crust.  Although without sugar,  the taste is sweet,  perhaps due to the water roux,  the overnight dough and butter.  This bread does requires time at least 12 hours waiting time,  but with good planning,  it'll work.

My wife and I have a problem with cinnamon rolls. She dislikes the gooey, too-sweet frosting found on most, and she gives me a hard time about sweet doughs with too much butter for my health. So, I'm on a new quest: A breakfast pastry we both like that is still kind to my arteries. (I'm not that concerned about the cholesterol, but my wife's persistent expressions of concern can't be good for my heart.)

These are part of my ongoing 100% whole wheat projects, originally inspired by a photograph I saw here quite some time ago posted by Jane. I am unable to find the link right now, but I recall being astonished with the beautiful slices and Jane's unaffected, matter-of-fact approach. 

Over time, I was unable to produce a fair approximation of Jane's loaf:

Yesterday I made 2 loaves of my favorite rye with caraway seeds and bread spices. I decided to skip the sugar and swap with Black Strap Molasses. It was delicious as usual and the party I brought it to devoured most until the puppy got his way when no one was watching. I'll take that as a complement I guess.

In the ever-constant quest for a sandwich bread my picky 7 year old will eat, I search and try a lot of breads.  Yesterday I came upon Farmhouse White from A Year in Bread blog.  It sounded good to me, so I entered the info into my sourdough converter (first time using it) that I downloaded from Mike on SourdoughHome.com.

Today I baked the Mixed-flour miche from Hamelman's Bread.  I really like the Miche Pointe-a-Calliere, and this bread seems similar, so I wanted to try it.  I stuck to Hamelman's instructions, except I increased bulk fermentation to 3 hours (3 folds at 45 minute intervals) because my bulk fermentations always seem to take longer than the times given in Bread.  Final fermentation was 2.5 hours.  I steamed the oven as usual after putting the loaf in (by pouring hot water into a hot frying pan on the bottom rack), but also put a roasting pan over the bread for the first 15

This is a very simple recipe 'White-Wheat Rolls' from Maggie Glezer's book Artisan Baking!  Great easy recipe for using up that little extra sourdough.  I made bun shaped rolls using King Arthur Organic White Wheat and King Arthur All Purpose Flour.  I hand mixed the dough using stretch and folds.  Adding sesame seeds and poppy seeds with the suggested sourdough gave nice flavorful buns with a crispy thin crust and a nice chew...great for sandwiches.  I doubled the recipe and also have 2 loaves baking.

The "San Joaquin Sourdough" evolved from Anis Bouabsa's formula for baguettes. Most of my deviations developed in discussion on TheFreshLoaf.com with Janedo, who first suggested adding sourdough starter and rye, and, then, leaving out the baker's yeast and making it as a "pure" pain au levain.

On top: black pepper and parmesan

Underneath: fresh rosemary and garlic

12.5% protein flour, 66% hydration, 5% olive oil, 2% salt, 2% fresh yeast, baked on a stone at 400 for 18 minutes.

Stan Ginsberg
www.nybakers.com