Blog posts

Summer has been interesting, bread-baking-wise. I went for a largely disastrous stretch trying to make higher-hydration, relatively slack doughs into bread because moisture seemed to be the key to wonderful artisan loaves. (You will note that none of those have been posted, and for good reason!) And the heat and humidity necessitated several changes to the way I feed and process my doughs, because we only use the air-conditioner as a last resort. It'll be nice when autumn really takes hold!

Does anyone out there have a good recipe for mixed berry cobbler? I would like to find one that would work with frozen fresh berries as opposed to fresh berries picked during our summer. With the fall coming, I would like to have something that not only turns out well but is a show stopper when it comes to taste!

I had fun with shaping my rolls today! They're supposed to look like dainty little roses, but they really "rose" and became too big! They are beautiful, Roses in full bloom!



They're soft, fluffy and bouncy on the inside but "soft crispy" on the outside with a nice flavor. They are like "pull-apart rolls" in roll form.

Some say he was the son of God.  Others say he was just a man.  Others, a myth.  This thought has nothing to do with that argument, but with a moment in the story of the last supper that is worth some thought.

The other day I decided to finally try some sprouted grain flour. Mixed 200g total of Kamut, Einkorn, Spelt, and white wheat, sprouted, dried, and ground. The bread was made using the sprouted flour, 100g fresh ground white wheat, 200g AP,125g natural starter, salt and water (ended up to be 73% hydration). Mixed, S&Fs, fermented for 2 hours, retarded overnight, let warm, shaped, rose  in a banneton,  and baked in a DO. The bread is very tasty but has some very large holes in it.

Hydration.  Water.  When I was a kid one summer I fell out on a tennis court in the 100 degree Florida sunshine, my body exhausted by the heat and lack of hydration.  My childhood was spent at the beach--for this family with five children, the free beaches of Florida were a perfect summer solution.  The salt water in that wild Atlantic and its neighbor, the sleepy Gulf of Mexico, always in my imagination housed Hydra--the mythical beast who grew two heads back whenever one was chopped off. 

On Tuesday afternoon a friend popped by, and we, as you do, sat there over tea and cake putting the world to rights while the rain was hammering down outside. Next thing we know it's supper time, with more tea, bread and deli. And then, at the end of the evening, there are only crumbs on the board and half a fruit loaf in the bread bin. So there I was, at eight o'clock at night trying to rectify the situation - just as well I'm something of a night owl... And I felt adventurous to boot. So instead of reaching for a set recipe, I thought I'd try putting something together on the fly.

Earlier this week, Lucy posted her 10 things to think about when trying to make a healthier, better looking and tastier sourdough bread.  We all know that there are dozens and dozens of ways to make breads of all kinds with none being right for everyone.  But, wouldn’t you know it, the virtual ink wasn’t even dry yet and Lucy was out there trying to do something different.  Oh my!

I think, I finally figured out the best method for baking lean breads in my clay pot so it's time to move to "flavor" aspect of the bread. I refrained from putting flavors in the bread because the cooking method is my focus so I want to change that only variable every experiment, that's why for so long we're only eating white lean loaves. For a start, I chose a common ingredient that I have that seems to be a classic flavor/addition to breads; sesame! It's amazing that a little amount of a single ingredient gives the bread an explosion of flavor.

After 3 years of baking a number of breads from sources like Complete Book of Breads and Breadbaker's Apprentice, I stopped pulling the measuring gear, volume or weight, out of the cabinets when I set out to make bread.  I use the same mixing bowl every time so that the visual information I receive is always in the same format, and then I bring together flours at my whim--KA AP, KA B, rye, whole wheat . . .