Blog posts

I've made quite a few batches of pineapple buns by now. So much so that I've got my own nicely formatted excel spreadsheet with all the relevant information about the latest particular incarnation of the pineapple bun (including the topping, though that is on a different spreadsheet). I will attempt here to explain it in as much detail as possible. And God willing, it will actually come out, seeing as how I've only just mixed it to rest, and have yet to finish mixing it, let alone doing all the other bready type things it still requires before I can eat it. Let us begin!

I've been cooking Chad Robertson's Basic Country Bread for awhile with great success. Last week I was in San Francisco and decided to get a loaf of the real thing for comparison. This is not an experience for the faint of heart: you have to order 72 hours in advance, and it is literally impossible to find parking in the neighborhood at 5 pm which is the appointed time to pick up your loaf.

….Gosh, been really busy last few weeks and haven’t been able to post or blog for at all. A few people gave me PM/email messages, concerned about my absence (Thank you! :)), so thought I’d better re-appear once before Christmas just to prove I’m still alive and baking!

 So, here’s my last blog in 2011…..Seeded sourdough bagels.

As i browsed through Laurel's Cookbook for Wholegrain Breads, i came across a recipe that utilizes Dates! and i live in a region where Dates in most forms are abundant all year round. The recipe calls for Pitted dates, that must be simmered first, and the resultant cooled goo is to be added to the dough. I had some date paste (used for confectionary, and pastry), and used it instead, so its not technically Golden Date Bread. I also added poolish to the recipe, and adjusted the formula accordingly.

My old waffle iron was handed down to me from my grandmother.  As the one or two of you who read my posts know, I am no spring chicken.  Neither is the waffle iron – which is roughly my mother’s age.

Hi,

Has anyone come across a whole wheat bread recipe using molasses and honey? If so, has anyone ever substituted the honey with more molasses? or Has anyone a recipe that uses only molasses?

Thanks,

Doug

I have been working with my sourdough starter for a few years. I began with a recipe using the starter and commercial yeast. This year I got adventurous and decided to only us wild yeast for my sourdough bread. I worked with a few recipes without much luck then I decided to take a few tips, hints, and prcedures and use what I alreadty knew and came up with a recipe that I thought had been tweaked and "perfected". I made 3-4 batches of breaqd with this recipe and each adn every loaf came out beautiful.

Haven't been posting anything lately because we've been busy baking gifts for friends and family. Been sticking to the things I know well: my "go to" sourdough, tried and true biscotti, and Grandma's Welsh cakes. The last of the sixteen mailings of bread and cookies went out the door today. Now it's time to turn to the community cookie swap--we're the only ones who also share bread. Today I baked five loaves of sourdough: two 1-1/2 lb. loaves to restock our bread-empty freezer, and three 1 lb. loaves to share.

About two months ago, I decided I wanted to try baking bread.  I began perusing allrecipes.com, a site I have begun using quite extensively since I really began cooking a lot a half year ago.  I found a recipe for "Amish White Bread", and as it had good reviews, I decided to try it, just for a sandwhich bread.  It went very well, considering the fact that I hadn't really taken much time to learn about bread baking.  After the bread had undergone its first rise, I discovered that the outside of the risen dough was a little dry.  After it had proofed, the outside of t