Blog posts

Abe posted this bread, it looked great, and because hubby is Swiss I just had to have a go.  I used my existing Raspberry yeast water instead of building a new raisin yest water as in the recipe.

Yep...I am still  learning to bake this formula trying different stiff or wet starters and also have been a bit more

scientific in measuring the amount of rise....so on this one I really 'focused' and only let it go to 30% with that domed look as well as bubbles and activity....and then straight in to the fridge for 12 hours at 5 - 3 C....

I love to get a 'balanced' looking loaf at the moment with good oven rise, crumb, crust and ears....(but boy would I love a 'big' ear!!!

It started with an Einkorn Poolish.  What was I thinking?   Should drink my morning coffee first before doing this.  Desperate to try out my new crown cane banneton, threw the last of my Einkorn flour onto the scale, 138 grams.  Matched that with equal weights of water. Whoops! A tad too much, no biggie, Einkorn loves to soak up water if given the time and gee whiz, only 10 extra grams.  Then found a 7 g package of instant yeast, tore open and tapped in a gram or two saving the rest for later.

A fond adieu to Portugal with this light semolina loaf, pao Alentejo, from Nelson Carvalheiro's recipe. It starts off with two different starters, one made with bread flour and one with rye. Left them overnight to bubble and mixed the bread the next morning. I got busy in the garden, so it overproofed a bit. I gently knocked it down and shaped the loaf according to Berndt's method and let it rise in a bowl lined with well-floured cheesecloth.

An old friend, Field Blend #2.  But with a new twist.  I recently returned to Mr. Hamelman's all AP 125% hydration levain (from my all rye version of it) and had a hankering to combine this with Mr. Forkish's FB#2 formula.  A Hamelkish or Forkelman Frankenstein.

She's got a gray face now but she is still pretty spry for her age!

It's that time of year again for grilled burgers which demand some tasty buns like these!

Fresh milled durum and whole wheat with some Caputo 00 style flour and sweet potato made the perfect soft and flavorful burger bun.

After working with sprouted wheat, it makes total sense to start venturing into the zone of sprouted spelt. This time, I decided to make it fully-loaded rather than leaving it plain.

20% Sprouted Spelt Sun-dried Tomatoes Cheddar Sourdough

Dough flour:

150g     50%       Whole wheat flour

made these flat breads today..not real happy with the crust. Think I’ll use some starter next time. Wanted a blistered chewy base. These were crunchy. Any suggestions?

A year ago, I found some smoked pastrami hanging out in the freezer so Lucy came up with a modern twist for an old classic, Jewish Deli Rye, to compliment the smoked meat in a slightly non traditional style of bread.