Blog posts

I helped a good friend plan a New Year's Eve party. We went with a Persian theme. When she suggested lavash, I was excited to give it a try. She broke out Food of Life and we found a recipe. There were two given: one was (heavily) enriched with butter and milk, the other was lean; it's basically French bread dough with sugar. We decided on the lean version.

happy new year eveyone. 

A question arose recently about the use of a couche for proofing bread. Here is a demonstration of how to use a linen couche.

Step 1: Mis en place

Equipment needed: Proofing board and a length of baker's line.

I baked a few sourdough loaves for last-minute gifts today.  Using the basic 1-2-3 sourdough recipe, my 100% hydration starter, and a mixture of 70% T-70 (from Central Milling), 15% whole wheat (BRM), 10% whole spelt and 5% rye for the final dough, the final hydration is a bit over 71%.

Blueberry sourdough scones. Thanks SusanB.

This weekend, I baked Pain de Campagne from Flour Water Salt Yeast.  I used my own levain, which I have been keeping alive for a few months now and which comes from Chad Robertson's Tartine recipe.  I dont understand why Ken Forkish uses so much flour in his starter, so I figured that I would just stick to my own levain without trying to emulate his recipe.  I only use about 150 grams of flour mix (50/50 AP and whole wheat), 75% levain, and 150 grams of water.

In the last few years I have been researching online and at the library for an authentic Schnecken recipe in the Cincinnati style.  Our local Schnecken, or sweet roll similar to a cinnamon roll or sticky bun (but not), was popularized here by German bakeries in the mid twentieth century and sold by The Virginia Bakery and other local establishments around the holidays.  Most recently I have seen renditions of the confection sold by Buskens Bakery, Frieda's, The Cincinnati Cookie Company and a few others.

There is nothing like authentic German Pretzel Rolls hot from the oven.  I made these to bring to a friend's house for Christmas Eve and everyone was raving about them all night.