Blog posts

Yes, posted before and guilty as charged!  However, I'm here to sing the praises of this extraordinary bread.  And can't think of a better way than to put it in front of your eyes again.  After these came out of the oven and cooled, and we'd had a few slices, I said to my wife - if I had only one bread that I would be able to bake forever, I think this would be the one.

Loosely based on (i.e. "inspired by") this formula: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Scottish_Wheat_Bannock_Bread

My take:

Our recent babka community bake gave me a hankering for what my grandmother would call 'bulkas/boolkes/bulkes' - yeasted cinnamon buns made with milk.

They are simple, soft and buttery, and not too sweet or as complex as babka. Lovely to eat when spread with butter. We also like to have them as the perfect food for breaking the Yom Kippur fast.

This is a Hamelman’s recipe that I’ve baked a few times. It is 75% Whole-Spelt flour that I stone-milled the day before baking. The Pate Fermentee is made 14 hours before mixing. I love the taste of this bread as it is full flavoured and quite different from our everyday Vermont sourdough loaf.

This latest bake is Pane Con Pepperoncini, Olive, E Pomodoro from Living Bread by  Daniel Leader.

I liked the overall consistency of the bread. It has a nice crust and the 00 flour has a nice creamy taste to it. My only modifications when making it next time would be 1) to increase the amount of red pepper flakes to maybe twice the amount, but then I have a real taste for spicy foods, 2) a little less hydration. Recipe and process are below for those interested.

Outstanding from the ease of working with it to the fragrance, glistening crumb fantastic crust. Not a complaint to be heard. 

I recently made a Brie appetizer that was topped with a combo of cranberries, pecans, orange juice, maple syrup and spices. I decided to use similar flavours in this bread. 

Recipe

Makes 3 loaves 

Add-ins

• 150 g Dried Cranberries 
• 30 g Grand Marnier
• 150 g walnuts, chopped 
• Zest of 1 orange
• 30 g maple syrup
• 1 tbsp cinnamon 
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg 

Dough

I finally got close to where I want to be with ciabattas!

I was going to a friend's flat for an Italian dinner yesterday, so decided to bring a ciabatta, although previously I only had partial success with this style of bread. However Rus Brot has a video recipe for ciabatta, and so far each and every recipe of his have been a great success, so I decided to risk it. The video is unfortunately only in Russian: https://youtu.be/beEhMiwIaHw

Rosemary & Walnut Schiacciata From Living Bread by  Daniel Leader

This is the 2nd time making this bread and it was a hit both times. It has a wonderful walnut taste and combined with the rosemary and olive oil it is delicious.

Recipe and process are below.

Apparently this bread is also known as tourte Auvergnate.  It is a 100% whole rye loaf and mine was made without any commercial yeast although I’ve seen recipes that use it in as a sponge along with the rye sour.  Those who are familiar with baking rye sourdoughs know that they ferment very quickly.  From building the first stage of the rye levain until the loaf is out of the oven only took 18 hours.  However, you’re also likely aware that rye breads need time to “cure” after baking so I think they are best if you wait 24-48 hours before slicing.