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I have read so many bread baking books and viewed so many videos on shaping boules, but I didn't really "get it" until I saw our instructor, Miyuki, do it in the SFBI Artisan I workshop I attended a couple weeks ago.

I will attempt to show what I learned in still photos with descriptions. I hope that viewing these and then reviewing some of the excellent videos available might help others who are struggling with this technique.

Mis en place

This past year has been very interesting for me. I made learning rye breads a goal at the years end, and while I now know enough to understand it's going to take a lot longer, I'm making progress. Recently I did an experiment with scalding rye that worked out well. We have had some great threads here on the benefits of autolyse and mixing patterns. I was reminded of a post from Shiao-Ping where she  made a Gerard Rubaud bread and another one from James Macguire that utilized long cool ferment at high hydration.

Almond Milk Bread with Dried Cherries

This recipe was inspired by a friend who gave me some dried cherries to bake something with, my recent success with brioche, and a box of unsweetened almond milk that just doesn’t taste very good to drink straight…

Recipe:

1000g Bread flour (Gold Medal)

600g Liquid (3 eggs + almond milk to make up amount)

200g Liquid levain (100% hydration storage starter from fridge)

150g Granulated sugar

I baked two sourdough loaves yesterday, using my recently acquired, and fed KAF starter (reported to come from starter that began 250 years ago in New England). 

We visited Nashoba Brook Bakery in West Concord MA and had a chance to see the oven - up close and personal. It was quite an experience. We do bakery tours for fun but this was the first time I ever got close enough to touch the oven. (Yes, it was hot.)

Mimi

Hey All,

I’ve been having lots of fun with my new tools.  They have brought additional peace of mind to the bread making process and have put an end to my frustration about oven temperatures. More importantly, they’ve delivered good results. Loaves in this bake all turned out crackly with a color that was neither too dark nor too light, and was just right to my liking. They were light in feel and the superb oven spring made them puff like a cute blowfish. 

Hi all,

I promised I'd share my honey white/wheat bread recipe with you so here it is.

What this recipe yields is one loaf of soft crusted soft crumbed sandwich bread that is really great and very easy to make and created for us old folks that can't eat hard crusted tough crumbed breads anymore.

Now, since I start with 3 cups of flour then add the liquid, it doesn't even need to be measured all that closely.

So, here goes;

Spätzli is a speciality in Switzerland. It is a type of dumpling that is almost always served with game. The hunting season starts in a few weeks for about 3 weeks and restaurants and those of us who love game will be preparting a lot of Spätzli.

http://turosdolci.wordpress.com/2010/08/26/spatzli-and-game-a-swiss-specialty/

This is mostly for amusement's sake.

Every so often, I want to make a recipe that calls for fresh yeast and I don't have fresh yeast. Of course, I have nothing against using fresh yeast. It's just not that easily found around here. Instead, I use the active dry yeast we always have on hand. (Why do I always choose active dry yeast? Because that’s what my mother always uses.)