Blog posts

Funny how these things happen,  RobynNZ in a response to JCrising recommended the Bourke street bakery as a good Aussie bread book and i concur, In fact after thinking that i had loaned my copy and was not going to be getting it back, my wife unearthed it under some piles of papers and to celebrate its return i decided to use it for some breads that i was going to be making with a bread enthusiasts group that i formed at work from staff and students whereby we bake some interesting breads for use in a retail outlet/training centre down in the West end of Fremantle.

Just a few pics of breads that I took to the fair this year.  I had a lot of fun, earned a few ribbons, and got a lot of bread out of it! 

The idea seemed a good one, in my mind at least. The nuttiness of spelt, combined with the sweetness of corn. Never tried anything like it before, so it was a complete shot in the dark. I missed spectacularly, and yet, I have hit the mark at the same time. Weird ey? 

Since I have never baked a corn bread before, I used a recipe from FloyM, and altered it to my liking/ingredients available. Here's what I did.

Every year my parents receive many gifts of mooncakes in the days leading up to the Mid-Autumn Festival. Most of the time they are the traditional mooncakes filled with lotus seed paste and salted egg yolks. I thought I would try baking a different sort of mooncake to bring to my family's gathering. I call them American-style mooncakes. I made a trail mix inspired one and a coconut one. Mooncakes need to be baked at least a day (and preferably 2 days) before serving. Freshly baked ones do not have the correct texture since the pastry shell is still too crispy.

Bonjour tout le monde,

So, after an almost 2 year hiatus on baking I finally am back in the game. This is my first bake since that time so long ago, so critique it to death. Dusting off those old skills is no easy feat, but manageable. Anyways, I followed this recipe to the p, not quite the t because I changed some minute details:

I've been wanting to do this for a few months now, since we are living in a yurt and the only oven I have is a Coleman 12 inch square oven that sits on a burner of our 2 burner Primus camp stove.  I finally got up the nerve to try the San Joaquin Sourdough formula from Dave Snyder in our 'primitive' digs here on Orcas Island.    

In the swing of the bread thing now.  

i Kick these babies out like clockwork.

It's really very simple, so simple that I tended to overthink it.

70% h2O

2% NaCl (salt)

to bring the flour to 100%, depending on what I have in the drawer:

30% semolina -I try never to run out of semolina love it 

40% All Purpose - AP makes a fine loaf if thats all that's around.

10% rye - this is kinda nice when it's available,

20% bread flour- this fluctuates. 

A 20% starter at 100% hydration kicks things off. 

When on the breath of autumn breeze,

From pastures dry and brown,

Goes floating like an idle thought

The fair white thistle-down,

Oh then what joy to walk at will

Upon the golden harvest hill!

What joy in dreamy ease to lie

Amid a field new shorn,

And see all round on sun-lit slopes

The pil’d-up stacks of corn;

And send the fancy wandering o’er

All pleasant harvest-fields of yore.

This is a exciting time for me because there is so much to learn about making bread.

I am learning about The Fresh Loaf after I found a book by Richard Bertinet.

The handbook is helping as well. I have made a few loaves and pizzas, and just starting my first sourdough experiments. My plan is to have some lessons as soon as I can.

Is your site able to direct me to other home bakers in Melbourne, because there are so many variables I am looking for some experience. Is there a book works well in Australia ie brands and grams?

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the 2014 Grain Gathering in Mt Vernon, Washington.

Formerly known as the Kneading Conference West, the Grain Gathering is the preeminent gathering of bakers, millers, farmers, malters, and breeders in the Pacific Northwest.