Blog posts

      This is another version of the bread I made last week but I subbed out the white rye with durum flour and I added some dried Shallots reconstituted in the liquid first.

All I can say is the smell of the shallots baking in this bread was amazing and filled the entire house with its oniony aroma.  The substitution of the durum changed the flavor profile slightly, and it was hard to really tell the difference without doing a side by side comparison.

We made 3 different kinds of fruit cakes today hoping to appeal to everyone -young or old – traditional or modern. They all basically shared the same basic ingredients.  By varying the amounts and which ones went into the mix the cake changed drastically.

Something is really snockered

I got fascinated by panettone since I tasted my friend's homemade panettone. The aroma and texture is extraording. I decided to make my own panettone this year.  A friend of mine in U.S bought some beautiful panettone molds for me. I started my panettone journey this month. 

2 cups Maseca Instant corn flour

1 teaspoon salt

Mix together

2 cups hot water

Pour water over flour, let it sit until it's cool enough to knead. You will think it's going to be a goopy mess and that you must have used too much water, but keep at it, it will come together into a big soft ball about the consistency of Play-doh.

This Not So Stollen version is once againis based on a modification to a real Dresden Christmas Stollen recipe that was posted by nellapower here:  Refer to it for most of the method with a few exceptions below.

 http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/25407/dresden-christmas-stollen

 Last year’s stollen can be found here:

 Not So Stollen

Warning: This may make no sense at all, and I may be sarcastic and darkly humorous.

I enjoy a dense, tender bread. Why? you may ask. Because it holds my jelly well, and doesn't leak.

This shot features all home made jams and jellies, from left to right: Apple Cinnamon, Highbush Cranberry, Salmonberry, Wild Blueberry, and Crowberry. It forms a wonderful color palette of sweet goodness.

I live in interior Alaska, and many varieties of berry grow wild. I find them, I pick them, I preserve them, I eat them. It's as close as totally organic as I'm ever going to be!

So I made a few loaves and a lot of cookies, here are some pics…….

Toasted Wheat berries before scalding them…..

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Conventional Yeast dough divided and ready for baskets

So I made another attempt at San Joaquin Sourdough and it seems that I'm making progress.

Notes:

Made half a batch (enough for 1 batard)

Switched to Gold Medal unbleached AP flour (from store brand AP).

I chose to mix the dough and water and let autolyse overnight as the levain rose as well.

Last week, i was contemplating the idea of creating a bread that is soft, delicious, and healthy for the young ones. Pullman, and toast bread were two favorites of my kids, but those were all white breads. Looking back in Hamlemans book: Bread, I saw a few notes I have scribbled once on how to convert the Pullman recipe into a whole wheat one without losing much of the original flavor and texture. It was time to put my thoughts to the test. I’ve created a preferment , added some wholewheat flour, and increased water to make a soft dough. The recipe is as follows:

I can't believe it has been nearly a month since I've posted.  This time of year things get so busy, don't they?  Our youngest also has a birthday between Thanksgiving in the States and Christmas, so it seems like we have about a month solid of travels, dinners and parties to attend, as well as all the school and community activities.  It certainly keeps you on your toes.

I have been baking though.  Mostly just standards like the white sourdough loaves above or the Struan bread below.