Blog posts

Today's bake: Madras Curry and Raisin Loaf

Based on - Bake Magazine - Chef Julien Otto, faculty instructor at The Fresh Pastry School

This bread is made from a majority of  bread flour, some 100% Stone Ground Organic Durum 100% Extract and a bit of whole rye which is in the culture. The Madras Curry and Raisins add-ins really dominate the flavor of this bread with the durum flour mostly contributing to the crumb texture.

This is my 1st attempt making this bread and I am still trying to dial-in the following:

We are back in Toronto and I’ve just gotten a couple of feeds in and the starter is looking good.  However, I needed to get these rolls done for our family dinner at my sister’s quickly.  So using IDY I made these rolls.

Ok, it isn’t all bread, but bread is prominently featured. My husband has been talking up my baking to his family so I couldn’t disappoint them. Most of this is now packed up in a suitcase on its way to Bangalore. Fingers crossed there is something left other than crumbs!

Breads, left to right:

Ginger plum loaf from the Rye Baker with triple the ginger and 1.5x the prunes

I own all five books written by Chef Grégoire Michaud, the owner and founder of Bakehouse in Hong Kong, but I didn't have his autograph. So when travel restrictions in Hong Kong are relaxed, I return to Hong Kong around Thanksgiving to visit family and ask Chef Michaud to sign my book.

Today's bake: Hazelnut and Fig Levain

Bread - A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes - Jeffery Hamelman 2nd Ed.

This bread is made from a majority of  bread flour, some 100% Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour and a bit of whole rye which is in the culture. The Hazelnut, Fig, and Anise add-ins really dominate the flavor of this bread.

This is my second attempt making this bread and I am still trying to dial-in the following:

All - just wanted to thank this site for the great information - have been referencing this as I worked through a method on making baguettes that are crowd pleasers at my home:

Although my overall baking activity is less than it used to be, I have made some breads recently.

First up, cranberry-orange cream cheese braids. These were donated to a fundraising cookie walk that our local Friends of the Library held.

I also baked some small sweet vanilla challot yesterday that will be gifted to friends:

Paul

I need some lard for baking. Instead of buying hydrogenated lard at the supermarket, I air fry strips of (lightly seasoned) pork fat @ 200°C x 13 minutes to render lard. Re-fry the strips @ 200°C until crispy and use them in soup noodles, fry rice, or eat them as is as a snack.

I've tried making a single baguette a few different times.  Each time was a different recipe and each time it was a last minute "Let's throw this together and make a baguette" approach.  Got really lucky the first time with nice spring and an open crumb.  Told myself that baguettes were easy.  The next couple of tries had no spring at all and turned out dense enough to be used as dowel rods.  This is the first time I went into it with a plan.  I based the approach off Boubasa's recipe, but I used a flour blend that I had recent success with on a regular yeasted

Haven't posted anything for a while, thought to rectify with this quick and easy recipe for sourdough deli rye bread.

Here is the formula: https://fgbc.dk/2rfu