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What could be more simple, or more difficult than a baguette?   It's safe to say that in the few months since I decided it was time to learn to make baguettes, I have tried around 20 different approaches.   Many of these failed, and many were pretty good.   Many followed along with strategies outlined by TFLers.    And yet a tweak here, a chainsaw there, and pretty soon I was off on my own.  

So many decisions when it comes to the humble baguette:

I adjusted the wheat to 125g and the AP 675g to have more wheat And to make up for not having rye flour. They proofed for 5 hours on the counter and in the fridge for 9 hours.  I got a nice rise.  I was afraud I had over proofed my dough.  I will never throw out dough just in case it surprises me, and it usually does.

Warm regards,

Casey

Name: Skunk Bellies (aka Cinnamon Rolls)

 Description:

 First take 3 fresh Skunks and remove the soft under bellies.  Just kidding, no animals were harmed in the preparation of this recipe.  : )

Didn't get to cut it open, these are headed to a friend along with an assortment of home made jams and jellies. What do you all do to share your bread?

Don't ever be tempted to shave off a few minutes here and there. So you are in a big rush today......... Then make a decision to bake another day (your starter will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days) or  just be a little late for that not-so-important appointment.

My time this morning was very tight and the bread had to be ready to go by 11am but as I was baking 2 loaves at the same time, I decided to shave a couple of minutes off where I could. 

Pumpkin season is in the full swing and what a better way to celebrate it than making a golden fluffy Pumpkin Bread?

Sorry, no photos as it was so popular it was gone in a day, but a full recipe is here

Last week end was lesson 5 for me: Yeasted goods. The lesson spanned over 2 exhausting days with so much to bake in so little time. Moreover, we had to mix all doughs by hand; not an easy quest for 90% of the new faces  that have signed up for only those two days. First we had to prepare our laminated dough and refrigerated it for next day. We’ve used high quality margarine for fat, but for sake of comparison, I chose plain butter. During intermittent refrigeration, we had to make foccacia, baguette, grissini (Italian flavored bread sticks), spelt loaf, and a wholemeal seeded loaf.

This bread is made using 50% Golden Temple Atta durum wheat flour (not semolina) and 50% King Arthur bread flour.  In the past I have used King Arthur durum flour.  For this bake I decided to try Golden Temple Atta.  The main difference I noticed between the King Arthur and Golden Temple durum flour, is King Arthur durum gives a yellowish color to the crumb, whereas Atta gives the crumb a light- golden tan color.  Other than color, I think the flavor of the two flours are comparable in taste/flavor.  After I finished baking this bread, I was putting away the Golden

As previously advertised, I turned to the rye side this week. I baked a couple loaves of Greenstein's Jewish Sour Rye, which is still a favorite, especially toasted. The loaf in the photo is a 4 lb loaf of Hamelman's 3-stage 80% Rye Bread. It was baked this afternoon and is presently cooled and wrapped in baker's linen, "curing." I will not slice it for at least 36 hours. Crumb photos will follow.