If you've ever made French bread at home, you've made pizza dough. Traditional, DOC (Denominazione de Origine Controllata) designated pizza dough from Italy contains nothing but flour, salt, water, and yeast.
The dough at most neighborhood pizza joints contains a few more ingredients. Fats are added to make the dough more supple, and sugars are added to feed the yeast and give the bread a touch of sweetness.
Hi,
Can i bake doughnuts instead of frying them? If so will i get good results? what about the ideal tempreture of the oven?
:-?
I've been mucking about with whole wheat loaves for a while, but doing them all wheat has for the longest time basically meant winding up with a brick. Which can look very cool, but doesn't really satisfy the sandwich need.
Of course, most of the flour I tried...Pilsbury, Hodgson's Mill, etc. was really Graham Flour, which is very chunky, and while flavorful, has a very low gluten quotient. The only survivable way to make it into tolerable wheat bread was to do a 70/30 ratio of bread flour/wheat flour, or even higher on the bread flour side.
Recently I've wondered, short of getting up at 2 AM to begin making the dough, what is the best way of having a fresh, hot loaf of bread ready first thing in the morning?
I've experimented with delayed fermentation techniques a couple of times in the past week, and been pretty successful with it. Read more for info on the techniques I've tried as well as the recipe for this wonderful buttermilk bread.
Time & Temperature Redux
As I talked about in Lesson Three, two of the most important variables the baker has control over are time and temperature. Longer, slower rises using less yeast result in a more flavorful loaf of bread. Refrigeration is the most common way to retard the rise. Most bakers agree that rustic bread doughs with few ingredients beyond flour, yeast, salt, and water benefit the most from being allowed to rise in the refrigerator overnight, though other breads may benefit as well.
Two interesting bread related stories in the news:
The South Dakota State State Affairs Committee approved a bill 8-1 that will list the American Indian staple Fry Bread as an officially designated symbol that represent South Dakota's diversity. Both residents of South Dakota cheered this news.
Also, there are more indications that the low-carb diet craze may be beginning to fade. About time.
As Lewis Black said on The Daily Show: "The Atkins diet tells us that bread is bad. Bread is evil. Huh. So apparently, we've been doing it all wrong SINCE THE DAWN OF CIVILIZATION!"
I recently found a copy of Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads at the local library. I've only baked three or four of the recipes in it, but I definitely like this book.
If chocolate bread isn't to your sweetheart's liking, how about something buttery like Brioche?
Brioche is rich. It can vary from somewhat rich, with about 25% butter to flour, to extremely rich, with as much as equal amounts flour and butter. For this recipe I took the middle path, with approximately 50% butter to flour. This is still extremely buttery.
Below is recipe for a simple brioche with a chocolate surprise inside.
It's almost Valentine's Day, a perfect time to bake a chocolate bread.
I plan on trying two different styles of chocolate bread this week. The first one is a Pain Rapide au Chocolat, a chocolate quick bread that can prepared and baked in about an hour.
My first sourdough article generated a fair number of questions from readers and acquaintances of mine. I thought it would be a good idea to answer some of these questions in a place where everyone can read them.
I've baked with my starter a couple of times now. I've learned a few things worth passing on, some of which may be of interest to bakers of yeasted breads too.
You know the routine: click "Read More" to read the full story.
As a part of my search for the light, crusty brotchen that brightened my mornings in Germany I am going to try the following recipe this weekend. I have high hopes for these!
INGREDIENTS:
* 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
* 1 tablespoon white sugar
* 2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
* 2 tablespoons shortening
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 7 cups all-purpose flour
* 3 egg whites, stiffly beaten
* 1 egg white (for egg wash)
* 2 tablespoons cold milk
DIRECTIONS:
