Blog posts

I put a lot of energy into flavor and feel of my bread and usually it has a look that I am happy with too. But I really love seeing loaves that are decorative and have beautiful shapes. I am so often impressed with the loaves of people like Anna Giordan.

I had to make loaves for small table settings. Since it was the holidays I did a typical boule, but paired them with a wreath shape inspired by Anna's La Spiga Francese

My first 2015 bread bake…. Wild Rice Bread.  In Minnesota and Michigan you can buy very good quality wild rice that cooks quickly and is light and fluffy.  I buy "broken" rice (not perfectly whole grains) for bread baking since it is a bit less expensive.  The rice gives a nutty flavor to this part whole wheat bread….great for sandwiches and toasting.   

My Christmas bake for Friends.

I have had a lot of fun making a five grain levain recipe over time, and I wanted to add more grains and play around with hydration and fermentation on this bake.  The recipe below is an adaptation of Hamelman's five grain levain.  This time around I added pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and poppy seeds to the other grains: bulgur, sunflower seeds, oats, flax seeds and cous cous. Maybe it's really eight grain; not sure if all the seeds count as grain!

This turned out pretty well for me.  Crumb was delicious and the toast it makes is lovely. I followed recipe to the letter using KA AP flour.  Will do baguettes with this recipe only will use KA French.  Hope pic of crumb loads.

I decided to fool around a little with the 80%biga recipe from FWSY. Used 50g of my 100% sourdough starter to build the 800g biga, subbed in 25g each of WW and whole rye instead of using all white flour, and despite the whole grain flours ended up with dough so slack that my nerve broke and I added another 21g of AP during the mix. Oh, and in a further departure from protocol all the mixing was done in a Bosch universal. Gave it a lot of stretch and folds in the bowl during the bulk ferment.

Cari Amici, Buon Anno Nuovo a tutti.

Oggi voglio deliziarvi con Una di Quelle produzioni Che io prepararo Spesso per la mia famiglia e il Che molte Volte regalo Agli amci perchè mi viene Richiesto.

Io adoro panificare !!!!

Spero Che vi piaccia, a presto, Anna

http://ilchiccoelaspiga.blogspot.it/2015/01/la-couronne-bordelaise-rustique.html

The target yesterday was to redo this grain loaf (Multigrain sourdough based on Rose Levy Barenbaum's 10 grain  torpedo) and try to do it better , including the suggestions by several other TFL folk.  Here's how it turned out - 

The Shaped loaf just before slashing (i had issues with shaping)

after baking with steam at 225oC

I recognized late last fall that my friends and family love receiving yeast breads on special occasions. 

This realization lead me to begin experimenting with fruit, nuts, chocolate, and sweeter-associated spices in my breads. I've tried a pretty expansive range of slightly sweet loaves, from molasses, to cinnamon-brown sugar, to a "sourdough take on fruitcake (with bourbon!)."

I hope everyone's new year is off to a great start.

Winter weather has lead to winter colds, which unfortunately reduces the sensitivity of my already not terribly refined palate, but I have been baking when I can.  Two of my recent efforts are worth mentioning.

Above and below are pictures of my recent attempts to make something like the Mazowiecka loaf that a local Polish bakery makes.  It has a bit of rye, a tightish crumb, and a sweet, malt-y flavour.