Blog posts

sprouted wheat, oak smoked flour and mascarpone sourdough with longan and walnut

I have a wonerful levain, its just not tangy. So, I read and left a loaf out for 24 hours to develop its sour flavor. Alas even after that I didnt get a tangy loaf. So, I read. Call KAF and ask for Jeff. Read more and more. Funny how even some posts here that say other posts are wrong are just as wrong about developing sour. So, the last 3 days I put my new knoweledge to the test and build my levain. Tonight I baked a high percentage rye and dam'it I hope its got a sour tang. There was so little gluten that you couldnt really shape it. The surface would just tear.

Hello everyone, and  Happy Canada / Happy Cañada  Day!

This is a Spanish bread called Cañadas de Azúcar, baked for today,Canada’s national holiday.

Visiting my hometown Hamburg in May, I didn't really expect to bake anything. But our little Airbnb apartment in Schanzenviertel, Hamburg's youngest and dirtiest most colorful quarter, had a fully equipped kitchen, and I had some time on hand.

Occupied house in Schanzenviertel

My last week end’s bake was from a book I haven’t baked much from, “Crust” by Richrd Bertinet. So far, I have only baked the baguettes with a preferment and it was quite delicious. My second take on the book was: Dark Rye bread with raisins.

I had my suspicions for a high a percentage Rye leavened with commercial yeast, as all my early rye bakes flopped when baked only with commercial yeast. However, I was relatively reassured  that the overnight white biga should bring the necessary acidity to help Rye perform well.

Peering over my computer monitor I can see it is still raining. My computer lurks in the smallest room in our house with a single window that allows a narrow view through to another room and then another window before a tiny glimpse of the outside world finally emerges. My computer cave seems so removed from the country roads under expansive skies that I was travelling on the week before.

After an extremely challenging work week, I needed to get my mind back to home.  Nothing does it more for me than a few country style whole grain loaves.  I tried this formula for the first time, and was pretty happy with the results.  Will make some nice veggie sandwiches for today's picnic in the park.

This is the bread I have been practicing on in the last few weeks, it came out really good, huge success with everyone who tested it. and I consider it to be my first success with 100% Whole Wheat.

Formula: 

250g of whole wheat flour 

150g of water

4g of yeast 

0.25 TBS of salt

25g Canola Oil (Corn Oil will work the same)

1.5 TBS Dark Brown Sugar

30g Whole Rye Grains

30g Flax Seeds

Technique:

So I have been mostly creating fomulas for this project with the exception of last weeks Cherry Almond which was just a slight tweak to a common formula for fruit and nut breads.  I scrolled past this formula on Yeastspotting and it looks just like a loaf I always crave titled "Peasant Bread" at a nice Artisan Bakery on the East Coast.  Unfortunately there are so many plays on the theme of Peasant Bread I couldn't just google it.  I've been meaning to contact that bakery and see if they'd be willing to share but just never got around to it.