Blog posts

Recently I posted about baking the Borodinsky 1940 bread.  This bake is the Borodinsky Supreme based on the recipe in a TFL post from February 2014.

I have been struggling with crumpets for a while. I've tried several recipes and always ended up with blind crumpets (no holes).

So I gave up for a while but not liking to be beaten, I decided to have another go. This time I tried Andy's (Ananda) TFL recipe from way back.

To my surprise I had success! Nice tasty crumpets with open holes, crispy exterior and good flavour. One thing that stands out with Andy's recipe is the large amount of yeast used - 6%! But it does seem to work.

Inspiration

My wife saw Yippee's stunning kouglof and she asked me to bake one. 

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/69728/20220117-le-cordon-bleu-lemony-kouglof-clas

Having no experience with this kind of bread, I chose a simpler instant-yeast-based version to see if I could pull it off.

Modifications

I modifed the recipe as follows

[UPDATE]

#1 Rugbrod by Jennifer Lapidus from Southern Ground

Reproducibility, my Chemist husbands says,  is the key to a fine bake. This is definitely a winner. Did exactly what worked for the loaf I posted yesterday and darn if it didn’t work perfectly again! Who da thought ?? 

The loaf actually sang as it slid out of the pan. Fragrance is intoxicating. Serving it for my Chef son’s 47th birthday today!! Pictures later. Next up a German apple cake . c

I have a bucket of buckwheat groats that’s been sitting around for a bit. Time to use some up. 

Recipe

Makes 3 loaves 

Porridge 

150 g buckwheat groats

400 g water

50 g honey

50 g butter

Dough

700 g strong bakers unbleached flour

200 g freshly milled whole grain Red Fife flour (200 g Red Fife berries)

100 g freshly milled whole grain Einkorn flour (100 g Einkorn berries)

675 g water

23 g salt

30 g yogurt

I’ve been gradually making adjustments to my formula and in this case I’ve increased the hydration via increasing the proportion of flour in the tangzhong from 5% to 7.5% keeping the ratio of flour to milk in this tangzhong to 1:5. The resulting dough is a bit stickier to work with, however, I’m hoping that the crumb will be even more soft and tender yet still shreddable.  You probably have noticed that I love black sesame seeds so that was always going to be a good inclusion for this bread.

Jan. 21, 2022. 81st bake.

Talk about beautiful and easy ! I have another started as soon as I saw  and smelled this one! It’s got RYW and white levain and rye levain . It’s got honey/EVVO/buttermilk in equal parts. It’s in my big Pullman . It’s almost hands free except dropping it into the rising bucket and then the buttered Pullman. 

335g T65 

335g Rouge de Bordeaux fresh milled

70g Semola Rimacinata 

28g rye

150 YW

310 H2O

42g each honey/ EVOO/buttermilk 

126g levain ( combo rye and white) 

13 g salt

All set for the next two months (+-)