Blog posts

During a recent expedition to the local Pan-Asian grocery, I came home with 25 lbs of whole wheat atta.  Not knowing from nuthin', I expected it to be a typical whole wheat.  Thank goodness for TFL!  I checked out archived postings on using atta, and one poster had success with using Atta in TomKat's Semolina Filone, as featured in Maggie Glezer's Artisan Baking.  I started with a poolish including both yeast water and about an ounce of liquid levain for flavor and rise.  I didn't get much sour in the final bake, but that's fine with us.

Hi, we have been baking, but not posting lately due to the fact that I had surgery on my right ankle, completing the ankle reconstruction project and any forseeable body restoration!!! So this past week we just made "bread" ... Barb made her Tartine bread, Helen Sourdough and I made a Buttermilk bread from a new cookbook we are cruising through "Baking with Julia"... Tomorrow we are baking our Christmas Cakes to set aside to mellow for the holidays... time to get that going...

Marcus (wassisname) mentioned in a recent post that his favorite "aromatherapy bread" of late was a 20% rye with raisins and dried coriander. I was intrigued by the flavor combination. I love cilantro (aka coriander) and grow it in my garden. It's one of the few things that seems to grow well. I tend to let it bolt and go to seed, but I think the tiny white flowers are pretty so I don't fret over it. I like adding the flowers to my salads.

Greetings lovely bready friends:)

It has been almost 12 months since I did a blog post.

I moved from a city of 2 million to a town of 16,000 (at peak times) ...

We lived in a house for the first 7 months (after our house purchase fell through) that had an oven from hell.

Looked like a dream BUT no!! So no baking, in fact limited cooking went on as well:(

We finally found a house we liked enough to buy after 7 months looking BUT the oven is not great...

Its ok, but not at all really a bread oven, hence bread and yeasty things have been scarce.

Several months ago I took a risk and plunged. I opened a microbakery focusing on central European-style breads... in Cambodia, Southeast Asia. Crazy, ain’t it? Prior to that, I was just an amateur baker, with a mediocre office job, who was obsessed with sourdough.

Anyway, during the last 2 weekends I sold my breads at a local craft market. So far we haven’t done too well, but before I get into details let’s fill you in on what we’ve been doing to stay afloat.

Caution: Photos of delicious German food ahead.

I love any bread made with Durum flour so I figured it would be a good idea to combine some fresh ricotta cheese along with a Durum starter and a porridge made with rolled oats and pearled barley.

I am continuing my journey into mastering this one loaf - and this marks 4 in a row that have been nearly perfect. Still 20% WW, 19% Very Active Firm Starter (VAFS).

Like @pipsbread, I am using mostly instagram now to chroncile my Baking journey. 

Check me out at @amberartisan.

ALSO: After saving 2 grad from summer jobs, I am intending to purchase a Rofco B-40 oven at christmas time and tremendously expand my prodcution level to include 2 or 3 farmer's markets in the summer! I'll keep you posted on Instagram.

Formula:

100% Bread Flour
6% Malted Milk Powder
6% Shortening
1.4% Vital Wheat Gluten
8% Canned Pumpkin
0.2% Lecithin
1% Instant Yeast
60% Water

Remix
8% Sugar
1.75% Salt
0.25% Cinnamon

This batch used 18 ounces of flour (510g), and was baked in an oversize loaf pan (5” x 10” x 3”).

I think I don't have to add to much text here the pictures will do it!!

So, I have been following the formula for Roberta's Pizza Dough, as reported in the New York Times.  However, after spending a fortune on a flour mill, I could not bring myself to purchase the '00' flour (nor did I find any whenever I was looking for it in the supermarkets).