Blog posts

These are the little loaves I have been baking for everybody leading up to the New Year. I decided to try one myself and got a crumb shot before it was all gone.

Everyone here knows the smiles and joy a fresh loaf can bring to on occasion. I wish I could try some of the amazing bread I see here on TFL. To all the wonderful people I have met here, happy baking, happy holidays and very happy New Year.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas to those that do celebrate the holiday and also to those do not!  Great site, and great people.

Zopfbrot
A simple braid made with a milk and AP whiteflour dough. 
10% butter, 3% sugar, 2% salt, 2% fresh yeast.
Milk made up 100% of the liquids, this I made extra cold by placing it in the freezer for a half hour before mixing the dough.
The target end dough temperature is approx. 22C, it's quite firm and is given an intensive kneading before adding the cold butter.

Cari Amici,

questa volta non c'è un Pane, un Panino o il dolce delle Feste, c'è soltanto il desiderio di augurarvi delle serene e gioiose giornate di festa, perchè possiate passare un Buon Natale ed una fine dell'anno strepitosa.

Ci tenevo moltissimo a ringraziarvi per la gentile ospitalità che mi avete riservato al mio arrivo in questo straordinario spazio virtuale, per me fonte di grande apprendimento grazie al lavoro di tutti voi.

A presto ed ancora tanti Auguri a tutti!!!!

Anna

Goji berry style. Let's hope it works. This is Day 1

Sort of straight dough, but with 4% over-fermented sponge which I make up ahead of time and keep in the freezer, so I guess it's really sponge and dough.

This post has been edited, dabrownman in the comments below made me realize something was wrong in the formula presentation.  My apologies for any confusion that the flawed formula may have caused.  As a result of this edit, some comments may now be out of context.

Hello and happy holidays, everyone!

The Bread Baker’s Guild of America (bbga.org) offered a course, Italian Holiday Baking, in September 2013. I was delighted to attend, the class was outstanding, and it was taught by Chef Biagio Settepani of Pasticceria Bruno in New York.

SJSD is a wonderful loaf of mildly acidic sourdough with a most excellent crust and a lovely open crumb from a long cold bulk ferment and minimal handling.  It also works very well for me since I'm limited on space in the fridge.  I can reduce the 24-36 hours in a cold fridge and leave at a slightly warmer temp outside overnight.  Right now that is in the high 40's low 50's.  As winter pushes along it will be colder and I simply just mix it earlier in the evening to give it extra time.

Even though I haven't been blogging, I have been baking quite a bit. Other than my weekly loaves, lately it's been mostly non-bread. Like these spicy ginger molasses cookies. The cookies contained grated fresh ginger and dried ground ginger. Other spices in the cookies were green cardamon, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon.  Super spicy and gingery. Not for the faint of heart.

...into the holidays. A practice pie (okay, so I wanted pie) apple-pear with brandy-soaked raisins and cranberries. The vent hole began as a heart shape and the top crust was a bit thin at the edges, so juices leaked through. But the crust is flaky and crisp - 25%WW, and the fruit held its shape and is quite flavorful, so no complaints.

To all of you who read and contribute to this site, thank you for helping us all take our interests and knowledge to a higher level.

Happy Holidays!

Cathy