The Inside the Jewish Bakery Challenge -- Semester One (December, 2011 - March 2012)
Hi, everyone! It's almost time to start the Inside the Jewish Bakery challenge!
We'll be baking nearly every recipe found in the wonderful "Inside the Jewish Bakery" by TFLs very own Stanley Ginsberg and Norman Berg. Not only will we get a chance to bake all the recipes -- we'll get to eat all the recipes! I can't wait!
It turns out that this fabulous book has enough recipes to keep us occupied for over a year. So, I've broken it up into 6 "semesters" of approximately 15 recipes each, spanning about three and a half months each time. Semester One begins on December 3 of this year, with the following lineup:
Item | Page number | Date assigned | Posts allowed until this date | ||||
1-2-3 dough (Use in Mohn Bars, p. 234) | 213 / 234 | 12/3/2011 | 12/10/2011 | ||||
Lace Cookies (Florentines) | 231 | 12/10/2011 | 12/17/2011 | ||||
Honey Whole Wheat Challah | 31 | 12/17/2011 | 12/24/2011 | ||||
Almond Buns | 152 | 12/24/2011 | 12/31/2011 | ||||
Honey Cake | 175 | 12/31/2011 | 1/7/2012 | ||||
Polish Potato Bread | 86 | 1/7/2012 | 1/14/2012 | ||||
Closed pockets | 143 | 1/14/2012 | 1/21/2012 | ||||
Onion Rolls | 114 | 1/21/2012 | 1/28/2012 | ||||
Mandelbroyt | 241 | 1/28/2012 | 2/4/2012 | ||||
Sour Cream Coffee Cake | 181 | 2/4/2012 | 2/11/2012 | ||||
Black and white cookies | 221 | 2/11/2012 | 2/18/2012 | ||||
100 percent cream cheese cheesecake | 203 | 2/18/2012 | 2/25/2012 | ||||
Sweet Egg Dough (for buns) | 109 | 2/25/2012 | 3/3/2012 | ||||
Bialys | 123 | 3/3/2012 | 3/10/2012 | ||||
Loaf Babka | 164 | 3/10/2012 | 3/17/2012 | ||||
I'll start off each item with a post or or near the assignment date for that item, and then the comments section of this blog will be open for anyone to post their experience. To keep us all more or less together, I ask that if you're going to participate, that you post your comments by no later than seven days after the original assignment date (which happens to be, also, the first day of the next item on the list).
There has been tremendous interest in this challenge, which is so exciting. I've decided to not keep close track of who is signed up or not -- you all know who you are, chime in as you please. If you miss a week -- or two, or three -- join back in. All are welcome. I'm hoping that the semester format will help the task seem more manageable -- there's a lot of ground to cover in this book!
I'm looking forward to the adventure with you all. And until then -- Happy Thanksgiving!
Kendra
Comments
Kendra, I might have to miss the first ones, though, being in Mexico.
Happy Thanksgiving to you, too,
Karin
Karin, we'll miss your expert advice and will look forward to you joining us when you return from Mexico. Have a lovely trip!
Kendra
Maybe I'll get a little pre-work in.
Karin
Bun dough recipe has order of egg/water and flour additions reversed. See the Errata link at http://bit.ly/vnPEbf
Good luck in the challenge! We'll be watching with great interest.
Stan & Norm
PS. Since the 1-2-3 Dough has many applications, Kendra, you should probably choose a particular pastry using that dough, say Hamantashen, rugelach, Mohn bars, etc.
Thanks, Stan.
For those who are filing the erratum pages in their book ......
I've been editing the actual recipes in the book, then gluing the erratum in the back of the book (an addendum if you like) for future reference. I'm gonna stop gluing the addendum pages in until we've gotten all the way through the book. I want the book to last a long time and, if only slightly, removing glued in pages damages the book.
Large Post-Its work well for errata. I have the ones that are about 5x7 and they're great for notes, etc. Stick right to the page, come off cleanly. Easy to update.
Downside: You have to write it by hand. Haven't figured out how to run them through a printer yet. Unless you print the page, glue it to a Post-It, then stick it in....
Try sticking the "post-it" to one sheet and loading it into the printer so the "post-it" sees the print head as the coupled sheets run through the printer. If you are in doubt of how to situate your "post-it" on the regular 81/2 x 11 sheet, just print your information out on the regular paper (using borders that don't exceed the width/length of your "post-it") and cover the text with your "post-it" before running the coupled sheets back through the printer.
You can also get labels in a variety of sizes on 8.5"x11" sheets, along with the appropriate templates. This is a more expensive solution, but if you're going the sticker route, it might make sense.
I like the idea someone put up about marking corrected recipes with an asterisk and then referring back to the printout.
I just wish none of this was necessary. I feel really bad about it ... but if you guys let us know as you encounter mistakes, we'll make sure theyre all corrected in subsequent printings/editions.
Stan
Please!
Karin
Karin, since majority rules, Mohn bars it is! ;)
gets the grease!
Thanks, Kendra, I love poppy seeds.
Karin
I'm a mere amateur, but really looking forward to this. My book should arrive tomorrow - had to Amazon it as I couldn't track down a UK distributor. Hopefully my newbie status will be gradually left behind as we work our way through!
hi all,
Some more tweaks, posted at http://bit.ly/vnPEbf
Thanks and keep that feedback coming!
Stan
It would be great if we could have an idea of where folks live when we share some of these posts... I am sure over the time of the challenge we will get to know each other quite well. I am curious as to the effects of climates and altitudes on the results of some of the recipes... Can't wait to get started!!! Thanks to Stan for all the clarifications and good words. ;-)
The first recipe we're making uses the 1-2-3 dough. It calls for "pastry flour". The only pastry flour I can find around here (SW coast of FL) is Whole Wheat Pastry Flour. Is that acceptable, or is there a formula to mix cake flour & bread flour to achieve the stated description of 9.5% protein (p.18).
Also, I've started a blog so that patrons of my recently closed bakery/cafe can follow us as we bake through the book. I grew up in Brooklyn in the 50's and many folks I know here are former New Yorkers who miss those classic baked goods. You can find it at bonnibakesbrooklyn.blogspot.com
Bonni
AP flour is around 10.5% protein and store-bought cake flour (SwansDown) is around 8.5%, so a 50-50 mix should put you in the pastry range. Since you're in FL, you also have access to White Lily AP, which is probably in the 9.5% range.
Stan
As we're aiming for a 9.5% protein, would I be right in thinking that Plain Flour is a suitable substitute here in the UK? The one I have (Sainsburys) is 9.4g protein per 100g. Is it just the protein content we need to match up?
In a perfect world, I'd also look for ash content of around 0.45% or less, but for pastry, the protein content is the key considerastion.
Stan
Urchina,
Once we have created our masterpiece =) ... do we use this post avenue to let you and everyone know the results? Is there a user friendly way to send pictures of our finished product? Please advise. Thank you.
Check your forum mail box for info. on easy way to post images for the challenge.
Hi all, I just wanted to check the recipe for the filling, please: is it correct that it's only 1/2 cup of water to start with? I'm just wondering about how to bring that to the boil with all those poppy seeds, as it doesn't seem wet enough. I know you add water as you go, but is that enough to begin with? Many thanks!
make sure the water is boiling. the idea is to keep the filling fairly dry rather than wet and runny.
Stan
105 g of water is enough. Works just fine.
I made my Mohn Bars already because we are leaving for Mexico.
Karin
So, I realize that it's not yet December 3, but will the results be a secret or will we see them before you escape across the border?
Great - thanks very much for the tip. :o)
yes, 1/2 water seems correct. add as you go as stan suggested AND as it is stated in the recipe.
Can't wait!
We almost split over the Mohn Bars (just kidding). I love poppy seed pastry, and I liked the filling. My husband detected a hint of bitterness in it (I didn't), but praised the dough and the streusel. My 92- year old mother suggested the poppy seed might have been a bit old, or I might not have ground it long enough. She also mentioned that she always found the dessert to be the best part of a meal, and sighed that she was a long flight away in Hamburg....
Anyway, I happily ate half of the bars over the next three days. Since I used a mix of white pastry flour (270 g) and whole wheat pastry flour (70 g), I even had a better conscience, sneaking out in the porch to get yet another one.
One observation: Using a whisk for creaming butter and sugar for the dough did not work for my Cuisinart, the mass just stuck to the wires (and were a pain to scrape out). I had use switch to the paddle right away.
All in all, a nice dessert - and I told my husband not to be such a whiner!
Karin
I had a lot of fun making these. My first batch of poppy filling was totally spoiled, as the poppy seeds I'd bought turned out to be off: that'll teach me to buy seeds from Sainsburys (I've had that happen before) and I should have trusted my gut feeling that they smelled a bit odd. Anyhow, a second batch bought elsewhere worked a treat. The blender/food processor/suribachi couldn't touch them, but luckily my bargain manual grain grinder made short work of 'em.
I had to bake them in a roasting tin as I didn't have a big enough tin, but that worked fine with a lining of greaseproof paper, which I used to measure how big to roll out the dough. Other than that, I followed the instructions and all went well!
As for taste, we both liked them - I think they have a strong shortbread-y taste with a touch of nuttiness from the poppyseeds. They really tasted 'foreign' in a Continental kind of way, definitely not like a British bar or biscuit - but that was no bad thing!
I love that plate! I will need to deal with pictures and the like tomorrow, but I agree that they taste "foreign" in a good way. It's not a flavor combination that I've had before -- which is one of the reasons I'm doing this challenge!
It's an old charity shop find, German I think, and has seen better days, but can't be beaten as a backdrop! Hear hear about the challenge too: new tastes are always exciting.
Mine are cooling. Too dark for pics tonight, will take some and post tomorrow!
These bars were really good. I also felt that my food processor did not adequately grind the poppy seeds. I didn't have any other grinder, so just went ahead and made them anyway and they were fine. Just didn't get the texture I would have liked in the poppy seed filling.
Carlene
Your dough base looks great with the poppy seeds mixed through - nice idea.
As a child, one of my favorite holiday treats was a slice of a poppy seed roll, and so I was very interested in trying this "close cousin". The recipe was easy to follow. The only catch was that our food processor was useless in trying to grind the seeds. I switched to a spice grinder, and that handled the job easily in batches of 1-2 ounces at a time.
My wife and I both love the bars! However, next time I'll try to accentuate the lemon flavor by adding more lemon zest or a little lemon extract to the mohn filling.
Hi all
I would love to do this challenge, but need to get hold of the book still! Would someone mind sending me a or email with the first recipe in the meantime please?!!
Cheers
Lisa
a) That would be a copyright violation
b) The recipe is made up of four different recipes (dough, streusel, poppy seed filling and the final bars) plus notes from another section (breaking the dough). Even if it wasn't illegal, nobody is going to type that up...
Hi Loyd
I was hoping someone could photocopy/scan the pages - not write them up!! It's not technically a copyright violation as I have actually (and provably) bought the book, and therefore have bought the right to a copy of it, so nope not illegal at all. The infringement of copyright comes in when you try to get a copy without paying for it, therefore cheating the writer out of their due royalty. I know this because I am a professional writer, with tons of publishing contracts! (Kindle in fact have an arrangement where if you can prove you've bought a copy of a book, they supply the e-book free, I believe.) In any case, I totally understand if it's a bit much effort - in which case I'll just bake the recipe later than the submission date, no worries.
Lisa
No. There is no exception written into the copyright laws to allow me to photocopy something for you. I know this because I am a published author with tons of publications (ok, three books, but one of them is out in a half-dozen languages), and was managing editor of a publishing company for six years in which I negotiated literally *hundreds* of contracts with writers and artists. The key point in your sentence is "Kindle has an arrangement."
You have no "arrangement" with either the authors or the publisher (truthfully, you'd probably need it just from the publisher) to photocopy a book. This is why Kinko's refuses to photocopy books for people. There is no doubt that the person owns the book -- they're standing in the Kinkos with it, after all. But they have no right to photocopy it. Nor do you.
Now, are you going to get in trouble if you duplicate a book, in your house, for your own use (print out a copy so you don't have the book in the kitchen, for instance)? No. That falls within 'fair use.' But as soon as you get someone else involved, it becomes a violation.
Recipes are statements of fact so cannot be copyrighted. A cookbook may be copyrightable because it adds a creative nature to the recipes by choosing a specific set of recipes and the words to express them.
As to copying a few pages and copyright, there is a concept called "Fair Use" in US copyright law that would consider the copying of a few pages, one person to one person to likely be a fair use. The four-pronged test of fair use considers the purpose of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount of the copyrighted work used, and the economic impact on the author.
Copying a few pages of a cookbook for personal, not profitable, use would probably be considered fair use. If one of us were to rewrite the recipe using our own words, incorporate it in our own cookbook, and sell it for profit, it would still be okay because the recipes themselves cannot be copyrighted.
For direct from the horse's mouth info (US Copyright Office) go to:
"Recipes" http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl122.html
"Fair Use" http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
I am not a copyright lawyer. I used to teach this stuff to graduate students in library and information science.
As I said in my post, you copying something for yourself falls into fair use. When I start copying stuff *for* you, it doesn't. There is no hard and fast definition of fair use, which is why there are so many copyright suits around (as you allude to in the phrase "would probably be considered fair use" -- you just don't know how a court would rule). You are correct that the list of the ingredients can't be copyrighted. That has nothing to do with photocopying pages for other people.
I too found that the food processor didn't do a great job with the poppy seeds and ended up doing small batches in my spice grinder. However I had to be careful not to overgrind using my spice grinder, as they can easily turn to a sticky paste. I also found the amount of water to be a bit sparse, so added another 10-15g. I thought the comment in the recipe that the filling should have the consistency of farina was very helpful!
I liked the Mohn bars, but my wife informed me after tasting them that she isn't a fan of poppy seeds. No accounting for taste I guess. I especially liked the honey and lemon zest in the poppy seed filling, as it added signficant depth of flavor. I also thought the streusel topping was very good and very easy!
Finally, I had just a bit of the 1-2-3 dough left over, so I made a couple of sugar cookies from the leftovers. Rolled them out, topped with sugar and baked. They were great! To me this dough definitely tasted like a shortbread.
- Greg
These bars were giving me fits. I used the spice mill to grind the poppyseeds fine enough as others have stated. The filling was a bit damp- I should not have added the last bit of water toward the end of the 15 minutes. Everything took about twice as long to bake to the desired level of doneness, but the bars themselves are exceptional in flavor, rich but subtle.
My bars were a disaster. The filling was not right. I didn't use it. After reading everyone else's posts, I bet the processor didn't grind them enough. I just gave up using that filling.
KMIAA,
I know what you mean - I processed mine in the food processor and saw NO change - switched to the spice mill (aka coffee grinder set aside for grinding spices only) and it worked much better. Also, you may want to go by weight for the water as the 1/2 cup measure seemed a little shy as far as forming a paste that would submit to boiling. Good luck!
Linda
Thanks for the tips.
Poppy seed grinders are very useful :) Also, about this nice recipe - it is very easily halved.
with all of the folks who tried them. We had an ArtWalk this weekend and I shared samples, and a chance to look at the book, with a few dozen people who stopped by. Even mid-westerners loved the delicate "shortbread" base and were pleasantly surprised by poppyseed as a filling. As for myself, I don't remember eating this particular cookie before, but the crust evoked memories of a yummy hammentashen, minus the prune filling. I look forward to produce those for myself. I loved these.
I didn't have the right size pan available so instead I baked them on a parchment lined larger flat cookie sheet. I assumed this recipe wouldn't spread much and it worked out fine. I just made the base the correct size and went from there. Our various pictures show different ratios of base to filling and I'm wondering Norm & Stan, which is more correct. Thin base/thicker filling or thicker base/thinner filling or equal amounts? Mine worked out to be a base double the thickness of the filling. To break down the poppyseeds I used a mini processor, in two batches, which did a good job and didn't need to add any additional water to the cooking filling. All together just wonderful!!
Bonni
Full entry with more pics at my blog.
Baking notes:
These bars are illustrative of why I'm in the challenge -- they have a (wonderful) flavor that I've never encountered, and would have never thought to try. I'm hoping there's still half a pan left for my wife to take to the office tomorrow, I really don't need to eat all of these :)
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