Dorm Room Bread
The thing I feared most about college was that I wouldn't be able to bake bread anymore. Turns out, however, that my dorm building has a kitchenette on each floor - equipped with a small oven that begins to smoke if turned to over 450 F. Good enough for me. Here are a few of the loaves I managed to bake while pursuing a dual degree in Computer Science and English Literature. I didn't have time to post them until now.
Zhavaronki (bird-shaped rolls)
Just some simple rolls, but shaped like birds.
Heirloom tomato, garlic and basil focaccia
Made with tomatoes from my garden back home - this was before my tomatoes died this winter
Pineapple Challah
Challah with pineapple juice instead of water. It has a slightly sour flavor, but is by no means bad.
Maple Rye
This is basically a deli rye with some maple syrip added. The flavor is very good, but it came out a bit flat (not dense, just a flatter shape than I wanted). I tried starting the bread in the microwave to maximize oven spring. I then transferred it to the oven to brown it.
Anadama
I used Peter Reinhart's recipe, but shaped it into a boule.
Rye and Indian bread with blue corn
I recreated a bread that has waned in popularity but was more commonplace when there was more rye production around here ("here" being Connecticut). I used only rye flour and blue cornmeal (no wheat). The bread was a bit undersalted and bland. However, toasting it drastically changed its character and made it much sweeter.
Rustic/ugly sourdough
Very standard sourdough bread. The crumb turned out nice.
Hokkaido Milk Bread
Made this with my apprentice while visiting him. He happened to have some cultured butter.
Borscht Bread
I replaced the water in this whole wheat sourdough bread with borscht and some liquid smoke (which I'll use less of next time).
2 Hydration bread
This was a little experiment of mine. I made a starter with some tomato/pepper yeast water and used it to make 2 doughs: one at 50% hydration and another at 80% hydration. I rolled the very dense dough out and wrapped the wet dough in it. I then slashed it to help it expand, let it proof and slashed it again just before baking. The idea was to help the bread keep its shape and produce a range of textures - a denser bread from the outer part and a lighter one in the center. The dense dough also formed a much crisper crust than wetter doughs tend to.
Comments
Good for you, TBB! I actually learned how to bake bread in college, back in the 70s, where we had kitchens in our dorms - something new then, where they were trying to get us more ready to go into the real world, by cooking and buying food (though they still offered the option of cafeteria food). We also had a coop, with organic flours, bulk yeast, grains, legumes, and many other things, and I started baking bread, as well as cooking almost everything else from scratch, to save money. I found out it tasted great, to, and never looked back! I haven't bought a loaf of bread since '76, though maybe a few rolls and bagels. There was no info on bread baking back then, like there is now, but it was still a hundred times better than store bought.
Keep up the good work!
I am very impressed! You might even be able to improve your grades by giving your professors bread with your papers and projects!
They have to be worth a credit or two.
How did the other students in your dorm react to the wonderful smells your bread produced, notwithstanding the smoke? Did you manage to infect any of them with the bread bug?
To be honest, no one really ever wants just plain bread. People did enjoy my rye-crusted apple/pear pies though.
Their loss.
The pies do sound good, though.
What a delightful array of breads and wonderful story to go along with it. I can imagine you one day telling your children about how you baked bread in your dorm room. Wonderful tales.
Can't believe your dorm mates didn't appreciate your loaves. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is better than a fresh loaf of bread piping hot out of the oven. When I first started baking and when I found TFL and read that breads should sit for an hour prior to being cut open I about had a mutiny on my hands….I knew that there is great satisfaction in allowing anyone to rip apart a crusty freshly baked loaf that is still steaming and soon dismissed the idea of a 60 minute wait time….never would have worked around here. I was outnumbered and, luckily, knew when to surrender new ideas that are sound in theory yet lack practicality in application in my kitchen.
Thanks for sharing and best of luck in your studies as well as with your baking.
Janet
They all look beautiful and interesting! I remembered my dorm days too! I was only armed with a microwave but I still manage to fuel my passion by baking mug cakes. Everyone is amazed and wanted to taste the cakes and asked me how I did it. Haha
I don't know why your freshly baked breads could not please them, there must be something wrong with them?! :P
I just never had butter. And when you're offered bread every other day, it can get a bit tiresome.