Looking for Bread suggestions
I volunteered to provide an item for a silent auction at a local event. I planned to do a cake in fondant to look like a gift package and some fancy cupcakes. The speaker at the event is the owner of a cupcake shop in a large town, about 2 hrs from us and winner of a 'Cupcake War' show. I was just told that having cupcakes on the tray was in bad taste due to the speakers business. (I am a new bakery business now baking from a rental kitchen) I got the idea they didn't want anything 'cake'. Aside from that, I just thought about doing a 'Bread Basket', literally.. a basket made of bread and filled with several 'artistic' breads.
The event is Friday. I bought a paket of ready sourdough culture, says to just add it to bread dough, intended for make at home one shot sourdough, says it's enought for 10-35 oz of flour - imported from Germany. Can I make a larger sourdough starter from this? How? (I think I will post this question ein another forum also.)
Which type bread would be best to make a basket? Would I braid bread and wrap it around a cake pan or stainless bowl and then bake it that way to retain it's shape? I am looking for some 'wow factor' breads to put inside the bowl... suggestions? Maybe things I can use the same starter/poolish for? I am thinking about 5-6, 1 lb items?? The remainder I can sell at a Farmers Market on Saturday. But I have to bake this Thursday.
Thanks a lot!
Hi, I'm a newbie so my commenting powers are limited but this recipe here is very easy and straightforward, and uses cornmeal which adds a twist to it http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2008/11/by-very-special-request-great-grandma.html I only put in 1 teaspoon of salt to the specified amount of dough, and spice it with caraway seed (I add it to the dough when shaping the loaf, plus some on top).
As for the basket, have you thought about a lattice pie type construction? You could line a large bowl with a lattice and bake it. i'm no specialist but if seems to me that if you braid bread and put it on some sort of a frame, it may puff up so much during baking that your basket will end up with very little room inside. Otherwise you need a really big bowl to put it in, would that fit in your oven?
Hope this helps but I'm sure some more experienced folks will jump in soon.
If you can borrow or already have J Hamelman's "Bread", you'll find that he devotes an entire chapter on "Decorative and Display" projects. In this chapter-chapter 10, he has formulas for the dough and suggestions for how to use the dough in projects. I'm not at that skill level or presently interested in such projects so I'm not qualified to offer any evaluation of the information.
However, I have been donating breads to sales for the hospital volunteer organization that my wife participates in so I'll comment on what has worked well in that situation. People do respond quickly to a well made loaf that is big enough to make them feel their donation is worthwhile but not so big as to worry that it will go stale before its time. Loaves of 1-1.25 pounds, have sold the quickest. A local supermarket gave me some of their clear bakery bags and ties which helped a lot in presentation.
http://chaosamongstthefloursandflowers.blogspot.com/2011/04/bakers-bail-out-loaves-do-boffo-bake.html
Then I used my word processing software to make a label for each loaf, describing the type of loaf and the ingredients. I admit to putting a little bit of artistic license to the name, Yankee Farmhouse Loaf, but since the maple syrup I used originated in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, there was enough shaky ground to base the name. All the ingredients were were listed as well on the label to make sure that no one thought it might be gluten free.
It worked out for everybody. The patrons got good bread, the loaves sold out quickly, and I got to pat myself on the back for what I learned.
There is an orange and turmeric pain au levain on this website that I think is novel and delicious. The juice and the spice together make the crumb orange, and the bread is fragrant. If you want to make it as one of several loaves of a similar type, just substitute orange juice for half of the liquid in that recipe, and add the turmeric and orange zest as flavorings. It is like eating bread with orange marmalade baked into it.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/14395/orange-turmeric-pain-au-levain
How about letting us know what you finally decide on and how it turned out. Also the response to your work.
Good luck, Jean P. (VA)
Orange Tumeric Rustic (round in back) and a Orange Tumeric (same dough) fougasse, using Rustic Bread - I made a boule w/stencil and starfish shape, sweet roll dough to form a butterfly type danish w/almond filling and a loaf w/chocolate filling, gibassier, bialys, and an epi from french bread (it lost the points - maybe overproofed? I retarded it in refrig overnight).
And they sound delicious, too.
I was to intent on getting the breads ready, I didn't have enough time to 'make a basket' out of dough. I hope to make a cornucopia out of dough before the holiday season sets in.
I will fill it with 'edible' breads I can easily duplicate as a farmers market item. Where does all the time go! Any suggestions what I can use as a mold?? nothing expensive please, I work on a shoestring budget.
http://www.notyourmotherscookbook.com/cornucopia-of-bread/