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As the weather has turned cooler, my sourdough breads have become less tasty. They have  had a less complex flavor and have been less tangy than those baked last Summer. My kitchen is in the mid-60's of late, while it was in the high-70's (or low-80's)  in the heat of summer. So, in the interest of science and other noble causes, I set out to return my SFSD to its rightful tastiness.

I have recently become somewhat interested in making sourdough at home (OK, maybe slightly more than interested...). I've always loved bread but never made it seriously until recently. Last year I enrolled in Stratford Chefs School where I got my hands doughy again in pastry class, and I'm now in second year. I've made a few different kinds of breads (Baguettes, Sours, Sourdough Ryes, Pain Rustique, Potato bread, so on) but have not had any real repetitional experience, often just make the bread once or twice.  

So I was making some bread for the holidays and I decided to try using scissors to make my cuts since I had little success using a knife. I am still contemplating buying a razor.  But this is what I got with my shears...nothing fancy. The top left was basically an octagon or circle cut. He top right was intended to be a square and the bottom was a simple snip in the center and a second perpendicular snip in the middle.  

  I received a Nutrimill for a present from my wife last week....another new toy to play with!  I've ground fresh flour in small batches in my coffee grinder, but it is no comparison to using the Nutrimill.  I have yet to purchase any drum sieves to sift the flour and I definitely want to buy some bulk grains as soon as I can find a good source.

For my first attempt I used whatever I had on-hand which was Kamut, Hard Red Whole Wheat and Hard White Whole Wheat.  I used the Kamut to make the levain and also made a scald with some of the white whole wheat.

Now, where were we?

I have left baking bread for a while now. I moved to the so-called big city into an apartment with a decidedly large living area but comparably small kitchen. Sharing with three other people caused issues and I really need reign over the whole thing when baking bread. I couldn't have it, so I instead gorged myself on what was locally available--and there are a decent amount of bakeries here in Halifax. I never stopped admiring and eating bread. Just stopped baking it, really.

This is really good and has an intense chocolate flavor.

Recipe can be found here:

http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/130390/Delicious-Chocolate-Quick-Bread/detail.aspx

I used Ghirardelli cocoa powder and Ghirardelli dark chocolate (60% Cacao) chips, and just as it came out of the oven I drizzled it with a quarter cup of home made caramel sauce to make like a turtle topping. Really good stuff!

I spied some chocolate hazelnut pastry in the deli yesterday and that set off the craving. I did a google search and came up with this recipe:

http://www.joyofbaking.com/biscotti/ChocolateHazelnutBiscotti.html

 I made a traditional Polish Piernik (Honey Cake) for the holidays this year and it came out as nice as I remembered them being from childhood. The whole house smelled like Christmas when I was baking too - so many fond memories!  

I love spelt but not too much of it.  My high percentage spelt loaves have turned out fine, but somehow don't get eaten up, even by me.  Today I made a Pain au Levain with added Spelt and kept the spelt to 21%.   To my taste at least, this is ideal.   The resulting loaf has that special nutty fresh taste that spelt in small enough quantities provides.