Blogs

Just a photo, with no recipe, and for no reason.

Lately I've been making my favourite winter sourdough. Shorter days and cold weather always seems to call for heartier loaves so I laminate mine with tons of crunchy whole hemp, nori flakes and house made rice or oat koji. I shape these into a boule or batard, retard outside overnight and just before baking smear them with tons of good quality EVOO and kosher salt. Then I bastardize them by turning them into smaller shapes I can freeze. This is mainly so we don't devour an entire loaf in one setting. These breads are somewhat addictive ( if I do say so myself)!  Below are links to 3 of my instagram reels that demo these techniques....I hope you enjoy!

Boule to buns

Fougasse

How to deal with a bastard

I managed to get my starter tripling so I figured it was time to attempt another bake. 

It's looking good but not quite right yet. Good ferment/sour notes in it, but the crumb was not as even as I'd like. I was having to do a lot of adjusting of times on the fly and having to go by feel. We are just coming out of a cold snap where I am and the temperature in the house has not been consistent as well as being pretty cold at night in particular. 

I mixed 50g of starter with 150g AP flour and 150g water and that sat overnight. But it was not behaving the way I expected and had not doubled after 12 hours so I gave it another couple of hours in the sun. It wasn't looking great so I added 200g flour and 100g water and gave it yet another few hours in the afternoon sun. I then added 800g flour, 580g water and 20g salt after supper. Kneaded it up and let it rise for an hour and a half, then gave it a few letter folds, then let it rise again... It was still really not rising, so I left it for almost 6 hours before I divided and shaped it. Then I popped them into the fridge for an overnight proof and baked them up this morning!  Was approx. 36 hours start to finish.

20211208_144929.jpg

Pardon the terrible knife work. 

20211208_145021.jpg

Dec. 8, 2021.  74th bake.

The goal is to make at least 1300 g of dough, of approx 90% whole grain.  1300 to 1350 of WW dough fits nicely in the lid portion of my Lodge 3.2 qt combo cooker.

I want to try out this whole grain rye flour, just to get a taste of it.  And I have this roller milled whole grain durum I need to use up.  

• 75 g Sher Brar Fiber Wala whole grain durum. 
• 75 g whole rye, Malsena brand from Lithuania. 
• 14 g salt, mostly Himalayan pink salt. 
• 572 g bottled spring water. 
• 456 g Bob's Red Mill stone-ground whole wheat, from red wheat. 
• Let it soak for 90 minutes. 
• 35 g bottled water. 
• 67 g Gold Medal Bread Flour. 
• 46 g of refrigerated starter, 100% hydration. (16 g of "Red" homebrew. 30 g of CHF San Fran.) 
• 2 tsp of ground toasted bread spice. [1] 
• 1 tsp of dry whole caraway seeds. 

75 + 75 + 456 + 67 + 23 = 696 total flour.

572 + 35+ 23 = 630 water.

75 + 75 + 456 = 606 whole grain.

This came out to 1340 g (calculated) less whatever sticks to bowl, utensils, and gloves.

3.3 % pre-fermented flour. 23 / 696.

90% hydration. 630 / 696.

87% whole grain. 606 / 696.

Dough weighed 1322  g at time of shaping and putting in banneton. 

---- 

Notes:

1. Bread spice formula (courtesy of Hanseata): 2 parts (by volume) whole coriander, 1 part whole caraway, and 1 part whole fennel. Toasted in a dry frying pan until fragrant, then cooled, then ground.

---

The pan that it was baked in is the lid of the combo cooker. The dough did not fully expand out to the sides, or else if it did, it shrunk back during baking. The paper plate is 9" in diameter.

"These traditional French butter cookies are a snap to make. They positively melt in your mouth and make a great addition to any holiday cookie lineup. The cardamom-and-orange combination is perfect for the holidays, but if you aren’t a fan, you could simply omit those flavourings and add a bit more vanilla."—Giselle Courteau, co-owner, Edmonton

8193E583-4129-44A7-859D-7B9CA4CFABC2.jpeg

6988CBF0-248F-4830-BE40-1E133A50A92F.jpeg

I’ve only heard of Sablés before and never had them.  When my brother in law sent me this recipe in interested me and since I have some cake flour that I seldom think of using I thought it was a good time to put it to use make these.  The most challenging part of making these is transferring the dough onto the cookie sheet and spreading it evenly onto the cookie tray particularly since I do not have the recommended size cookie tray.  I eventually prevailed and was able to get a pretty decently even sheet.

**I found the instructions a bit odd in that the butter and sugar aren’t creamed as is the usual method of these sorts of recipes so I put in asterisks what I did**

Prep 20 min 

Total 1 hour 50 min 

Makes 16 cookies 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cake and pastry flour , (180 g) 

2 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp  ground cardamom 

1/2 tsp salt 

3  large egg yolks 

2/3 cup granulated sugar , (128 g) 

1 tsp vanilla 

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp unsalted butter 

1 tsp orange zest 

Topping

1 egg yolk , beaten 

2 tsp , sanding sugar 

Nutrition: 

INSTRUCTIONS: 

Line a 9×9-in. baking pan with parchment, leaving overhanging edges on 2 long sides. 

Sift flour, baking powder, cardamom and salt into a large bowl. 

Combine 3 yolks and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until thickened and pale yellow, about 2 min. Beat in vanilla until combined. Beat in flour mixture, butter and orange zest just until combined. 

                                ********************************

I’m not sure about the instructions, I think the dry ingredients as above are fine.  But the order in the mixer should be cream butter and sugar, then add eggs, vanilla and orange zest.  Next add the sifted flour, baking powder, cardamon and salt mixture.

                               *********************************

Transfer dough to prepared pan. Press down with your hands, working dough into all corners. (You may need to sprinkle a little flour on
top so it doesn’t stick to your fingers too much.) Using the flat bottom of a cup, smooth top. Refrigerate for 1 hour. 

Position rack in centre of oven, and then preheat to 350F. 

Topping: Brush top of cold dough with beaten yolk. Run the tines of a fork across dough horizontally and vertically to create a design. Sprinkle generously with sanding sugar. 

Bake until cookies are golden-brown, 25 to 30 min. Remove from oven. Immediately run a knife between parchment and pan. Lift overhanging parchment and transfer sablés to a cutting board. Cut into 16 squares. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool completely, about 30 min. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. 

These are quite delicious and they do melt in your mouth to some degree.  I would definitely make them again.

Benny

Dec. 6, 2021.  72nd bake.

The previous batch of these muffins, #71, came out pretty good. So I scaled it up to four pots from three. And made some slight adjustments, including adding 60 grams of whole rye flour.

Soaker:

• 20.5 g old-fashioned rolled oats, the thick kind. 
• 19.9 g quick oats, not instant. 
• 16.9 g whole dry chia seeds. 
• 8.6 g whole dry poppy seeds. 
• 20.8 g corn meal. 
• 28.2 g shredded coconut, unsweetened. 
• 1 tsp whole fennel seeds, 2.1 grams. 
• 270 g water @ room temperature. 
• added after 20 minutes: 
• 70 g honey. 
• 50 g water, room temp. 
• 25.4 g powdered fat-free milk. 

Dry ingredients:

• 50 g Sher Brar Fiber Wala whole grain durum flour, roller milled. 
• 110 g Bob's Red Mill stone-ground WW flour. 
• 50 g Arrowhead Mill's organic AP flour. 
• 40 g almond flour, blanched. 
• 60 g whole grain rye flour from Lithuania, Malsena brand. 
• 6.6 g salt. 
• 2 tsp pumpkin-pie spice, Kroger brand. 
• 1 tsp ground ginger. 
• 3 tsp baking powder, Rumsford brand. 

Wet:

• 133 g water. 
• 17 g peanut oil. 
• 13 g grape seed oil. 
• 16 g regular olive oil.

Pre-oiled the 4" diameter clay pots. Pre-heated oven to 350 F. Did not pre-heat the pots.

Baked at 350 F for 62 minutes, pots sitting on aluminum foil, shiny side up, until tops seemed brown enough and a knife inserted in the test muffin did not come out gooey.

D6653F42-4B4E-41DB-9671-41AABDCF21E8.jpeg

Ingredients

Dough

• 
  1 cup whole milk 240 g
• 
  ½ cup unsalted butter melted
• 
  ½ cup granulated sugar 100 g
• ¼ cup water 75 g
• 
  1 (¼-oz.) envelope active dry yeast 7 g
• 
  4 cups unbleached bread flour, divided, plus more for work surface 480 g  (180g, 100 g 200g)
• 
  1 large egg, at room temperature
• 
  1 teaspoon fine sea salt 5.69 g

Filling

• 
  1 cup fresh or thawed frozen cranberries
• 
  1 cup pecan halves (Walnuts)
• 
  ¾ cup chopped unpeeled orange (from 1 orange) 
• 
  ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
• 
  ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

Additional Ingredients

• 
  1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 
  ½ cup powdered sugar
• 
  2 - 3 teaspoons whole milk, as needed

Directions

Instructions Checklist

Because the dough goes directly into the fridge after mixing start night before.

Step 1 Prepare the Dough: Stir together milk, butter, and ¼ cup water in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low, stirring often, just until butter is melted. Remove from heat. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until mixture cools to 120°F, 10 to 15 minutes. 

• Alternate Step 1:  Melt butter.  Add  milk and ¼ cup water to the bowl with sugar, yeast and 1 ¼ cup flour in the bowl and mix.  Then add egg and another ¼ cup of flour beat until incorporated.  Then add salt, butter and remaining flour and mix until fully developed. 

• Step 2 Stir together sugar, yeast, and 1¼ cups of the flour in bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add warm butter mixture, and beat on medium-low speed until well combined, about 1 minute. Add egg and ¼ cup of the flour. Beat until incorporated, about 2 minutes. With mixer running, gradually add salt and remaining 2½ cups flour, beating until mixture forms a stiff and sticky batter, about 1 minute. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Chill at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours. 
  
  Step 3 Prepare the Filling: Pulse cranberries, pecans, and chopped unpeeled orange in a food processor until finely chopped, 10 to 12 pulses. Transfer to a small saucepan; stir in brown sugar and salt. Cook over medium, stirring often, until mixture begins to bubble around pan edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, stirring often, until thick and jammy, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool completely, about 1 hour. 
  
  Step 4 Turn Dough out onto a very lightly floured work surface. Divide evenly into 2 pieces (about 1 pound, 2 ounces each). Working with 1 Dough piece at a time, roll into a 14- x 7-inch rectangle. Spread half of the cooled Filling (about 1 cup) on top of Dough rectangle, spreading to edges. Starting with 1 long side, roll up jelly-roll style, and pinch each end to seal. Shape into a ring (about 7 inches in diameter), and pinch ends together to seal. Place ring, seam side down, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Repeat process using remaining Dough and Filling, placing ring on a separate greased baking sheet. 
  
  Step 5 Using kitchen shears and keeping Dough ring on baking sheet, make cuts around 1 ring at 1½-inch intervals, cutting from outer edge and in toward center, leaving about ¾ inch attached at the center. Turn each cut section, in the same direction, to lie on its side with the Filling side exposed. Repeat process with remaining Dough ring. Cover rings loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place (75°F to 85°F) until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. 
  
  Step 6 About 30 minutes before Dough is finished rising, preheat oven to 350°F with racks in top third and lower third positions. Meanwhile, whisk together egg yolk and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl. Brush Dough rings lightly with egg mixture. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating baking sheets between   top and bottom racks halfway through bake time. Do not remove from oven. Cool completely on baking sheets in oven, about 30 minutes.
  
  Step 7 Whisk together powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons of the milk in a small bowl. Add remaining 1 teaspoon milk, ¼ teaspoon at a time, if needed to thin glaze to a pourable consistency. Drizzle glaze over rings; let stand 10 minutes. Serve warm.

EBB53F8D-2D63-43CE-B783-494AE580D159.jpeg

AAB7DD52-9CE1-42BD-AFB7-5B375F97066B.jpeg

https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/christmas-sweet-roll-wreath

This cake, a Jamaican Christmas tradition, came to my attention from a very strange direction.  

Back in October, my wife and I, along with my sister and her boyfriend, spent a long weekend in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula.  That's the “horn” pushing up into Lake Superior at the western end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  We happened across The Jampot, a bake shop operated by the Holy Transfiguration Skete Society of St. John, a Byzantine Catholic monastery.  Seriously, where else would one go to find out about a cake that is beloved on a Caribbean island?

The Jampot's version is a large, loaf-shaped cake with a $54 price tag.  My interest was piqued, even though my pocketbook was unmoved.  After some on-line research, I settled on this recipe. 

If you look at it carefully, you will note that it calls for just over 5 pounds of fruits and nuts.  Add to that a pound each of butter, sugar, and eggs.  And close to a quart of booze.  Only one pound of flour is allocated to bind all of that together and just 4 teaspoons of baking powder to leaven it.  This is not a dry, light cake.  

The recipe says that the fruit should soak in the rum and wine for at least three days.  I let it soak for close to a month, thinking that it would allow for a better marriage of the flavors.  I’m happy with the results. 

On baking day, I made the caramel color, then ground the fruit and almonds in the food processor as directed.  The rest of the process was fairly straightforward but I was very glad for my 7-quart KitchenAid mixer, since the batter and fruit filled the bowl nearly to the rim.  If you have a mixer with a smaller bowl, plan to combine the batter and the fruit in a large mixing bowl by hand.  

The recipe makes three 9-inch cakes.  I used two regular cake pans and one spring form pan, which turned out well, since it would have overflowed a third regular pan.  These cakes have a long bake time.  The cakes in the regular cake pans took two hours; the thicker cake in the spring-form pan baked for 2.5 hours.  

The cake is very rich and filling.  The flavor is deep and complex, with both the fruit and the booze figuring prominently.  There's lime zest and cinnamon in the mix but those contribute undertones to the flavor, rather than being noticeable as distinct flavors.  The texture is predominantly that of the fruit.  If you will, this is a cake made of fruit rather than a cake that contains some fruit.  Not surprising, considering the ratio of fruit to flour.  

I would make this cake again but I will want to make sure that I have plenty of helpers to eat it.  It’s a lot of cake!

Paul

Borodinsky the Sequel

A couple weeks ago I made a Borodinsky bread with sprouted rye kernels, homemade solod and toasted caraway. Delicious flavour, moist texture and tasted great with homemade mascarpone but pretty strong to eat with anything else.

The second time I do anything I like to change things around and start learning conceptually what happens. This often means I break something the second time around in order to learn from it going forward.

New Solod

Last week I made a big batch of solod and changed the process. First time, I malted rye, fermented at about 45C 12 hours, then saccharified at 55C for 12 hours. I dried it on low, then toasted. It smelled amazing throughout, a combination of sweetness and fermentation,

Last week I doubled both the fermentation and saccharification times, dried it fast and hot, and toasted it. It never had the same strong fermented smell, more of a hint of it. Same with baking.

9E804E77-A90C-4316-9454-1E462E4D436B.jpeg

Here are my solod and coriander toasting. I decided not to mill my solod until I needed it.

F1D9ADFF-A2F7-4803-90A2-A2AA7C8577E0.jpeg

Varied Recipe

I kept the Rye Baker recipe for Borodinsky but changed some of the ingredients.

1. Last time I sprouted rye kernels, dried them and milled them and used them as all grain flour. The bread was sweet and delicious. This time, I used dark rye flour from Bulk Barn. The bread was missing something. It was never bitter but it certainly had a hint of rye edginess. Conclusion? Sprouted is better. 
2. Last time I used sugar. This time I used honey at the same weight. Not sure if I noticed a difference in anything. It might've softened the rye flour flavour
3. Last time I used toasted caraway. This time I used toasted coriander. I prefer the flavour of caraway for bread on its own or with mascarpone. But coriander was fine when I ate the bread with egg salad on it. No conclusion on this one. Might try aniseed next time.
4. Last time I did 100% rye. This time I subbed in 15% all-purpose white to make it a little more bready for slicing and chew.
5. Last time my scald was allowed to cool at room temp. This time I maintained the scald at 55C for about 4-5 hours before letting it cool inside an insulated box. Not sure it helped anything.
6. Last time I did not dock or slash the top and it kind of separated a bit. This time I slashed a diamond pattern and the bread was able to expand a bit more without popping its lid. Repeat or similar next time.

Breadier Result

While baking, the bread had a lot less intense aroma (vs the solod caraway of the last one). I think I messed up my solod. Perhaps drying it too hot and fast?

The bread texture was a moist but firm sponge that was strong enough for thin slices. It had rye and coriander flavours but nothing as intoxicating as the first. It held up nicely as squares for open faced egg salad. It tasted good with the egg salad.

I wanted to bake up some rye breads to use during the holiday break with a giant prosciutto and mature cheeses. This version may actually work better for that task than the last one.

272DBCFB-8845-45F5-968C-3636FFD5F931.jpeg

A slice of the loaf...

98CCB035-977B-473D-B049-DD1B38C7C225.jpeg

Conclusions

I loved my first Borodinsky but the labour was a bit crazy. The second one is probably better for putting stuff on it. Interesting dilemma... superior bread with sprouted grain flour on its own, or lower labour bread that is not magical but also doesn't fight with toppings.

I also made a Black Rye from The Rye Baker site. I'll slice it tomorrow after noon.

Someone needs to explain to me why my doughs with only fruit in them move so slowly and feel super heavy? I can add the same quantity of porridge in a similar recipe and my bulk is done within a few hours. Whenever I use fruit, the dough takes forever to rise and feels really heavy. I decided not to rush this one and give it all the time it wanted. It did feel a lot better during shaping but once again, they are not light and airy loaves after baking. 

Recipe

Makes 3 loaves

Add-ins

220 g sultana raisins

44 g Bourbon

12 g cinnamon

Dough:

740 g strong bakers unbleached flour

300 g freshly milled red fife flour

780 g filtered water (divided into 730 g and 50 g)

22 g salt

250 g levain (done over 2 builds)

The night before:

1. Mill the required amounts of Red Fife berries on the finest setting possible. Add the unbleached flour to it and cover. 
2. Soak the raisins in the bourbon and cover. Let sit overnight.
3. Take 10 g of refrigerated starter and feed it 20 g of water and 20 g of wholegrain flour. Let that rise at cool room temperature for the night.  

Dough making day:

1. In the morning, feed the levain 100 g of water, 50 g of wholegrain flour and 50 g of unbleached flour. Place in a warm spot to double (I use my oven with the lights on). This takes about 5 hours.

2. Mix the dough flours and 730 g of the water together in a stand mixer on the lowest speed for a minute or two, and then autolyse for a couple of hours.

3. After the autolyse, add the salt, the cinnamon, the extra water, the Bourbon soaked raisins, and the levain and mix for a minute on the lowest speed. Then mix on the next speed for 9 minutes. Cover the dough and let rise in a warm place.

4. After 45 minutes, give it a set of coil folds. Then, 3 more sets, 45 minutes apart. This dough moves very slowly. 

5. Let rise until the volume has expanded by just a bit more than 40%. This took another hour and a half. 

6. Tip the dough out on a bare counter, sprinkle the top with flour and divide into portions of ~790 g. Round out the portions into rounds with a dough scraper and let rest covered with a tea towel for an hour on the counter. This is a heavy dough so I tried to give it as much fermenting time as I could. 

7. Do a final shape by flouring the rounds and flipping the rounds over on a lightly floured counter. Gently stretch the dough out into a circle. Pull and fold the third of the dough closest to you over the middle. Pull the right side and fold over the middle and do the same to the left. Fold the top end to the center patting out any cavities. Finally stretch the two top corners and fold over each other in the middle. Roll the bottom of the dough away from you until the seam is underneath the dough. Cup your hands around the dough and pull towards you, doing this on all sides of the dough to round it off. Finally spin the dough to make as tight boule as you can.

8. Place the dough seam side down in rice floured bannetons. Cover, let rest an hour, then refrigerate overnight.

Baking Day:

1. The next morning, heat the oven to 475F with the Dutch ovens inside for 45 minutes to an hour. Turn out the dough seam side up onto a cornmeal sprinkled counter. Place rounds of parchment paper in the bottom of the pots, and carefully but quickly place the dough seam side up inside. 

2. Cover the pots and bake the loaves at 450 F for 25 minutes, remove the lids, and bake for another 22 minutes at 425 F. Watch that they don’t burn. Internal temperature should be 205F or more.