Blog posts

Mixed Leavens, Mixed Flours; 9th December 2011.

What follows is my attempt at passing on what I've learned from watching a Youtube in a language I do not speak.

Some new toys. Both the dough whisk and the silicone scraper are great. AP and WW, poolish, milk, sugar, butter, and salt.

Here are some sourdough loaves of Mission Fig Almond Anise & Medjool Date Cashew.

These are all rifts of Nancy Silverton's Fig Anise Bread from The Breads of the La Brea Bakery. In the fig bread, I add about 1.5x her quantity of figs and honey-roasted almonds. In the date bread, I add about 1.5x her quantity of medjool dates and roasted cashews. In both, I adjust the hydration as necessary.

1. Ingredients for Mission Fig Almond Anise

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I'm revisiting my Pulled Pork Sourdough Pizza. I toned down the heat a bit -- I still used habenero bbq sauce when I pre-heated the pork, but use a sweeter sauce on the actual dough. And instead of serranos, I used jalapenos for the pico. It still had a kick to it, but didn't leave my wife in tears...

At long last, i've baked a challah, a 100% whole wheat version from Peter Reinhart's Whole grain breads. I have to admit, i'am new to braiding, and daring to braid four strands was a little too much for me, especially with a high hydration dough.

I have made several mistakes:

 1 - I did not mix in more whole wheat flour to reach to the desired consistency for a challah. This lead to a very sticky dough (feels like 80%).

2 - I screwed up the braiding pattern.

3 - I over-browned the crust.

Following on from the single loaf dough that i posted yesterday i am posting todays effort which was slightly bigger than the normal batch (EXTRA 500g ryemeal) which resulted in 10 x 500g loaves and 4 x 750g loaves which made the sharing a lot easier.

Tasters all liked it, i could have used a bit more water as the ryemeal and wholemeal both sucked up some of the moisture during the over night stint in the coolroom.

After seeing these amazing looking rolls posted by Freerk ...

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/26242/levine039s-divine-speculaas-rolls

...I couldn't help but try making them. Unfortunately, I didn't do justice to the recipe - mine are more style than substance, thanks to some foolish tweaks.

Today I made my first baguettes. I have shied away from the intimidating baguette - the shaping, the proofing, the scary, scary slashing! But I have made enough boules, batards, and rolls to gain confidence in my skills. I am quite pleased with my first attempt. Like all things baking, improvement will come with experience and practice. The recipe is from Hamelman's Bread: Baguettes with Pate Fermentee. While the crumb is not as open as it should be, the flavor is delicious and the texture light and airy.