Finally I am finding (or rather taking) the time to post about my recent baking activities. And since I am still on vacation, but the semester starts next week, I'd better not rely on having more leisure then...
I have baked quite a bit with my sourdough starter (which is now about 4 months old, but has already spent five weeks straight in the fridge when I was in Switzerland - seems to have survived it well) and we all love the resulting breads. Here are some examples:
The classic Vermont Sourdough (Hamelman):
Susan from San Diego's "Original Sourdough":
Sourdough Walnut and Sultana Bread (recipe by Shiao-Ping):
This bread was absolutely delightful. I put all kinds of dried fruit (the big black spots you see are prunes). The only change I will make next time is to include a tiny amount of sweetness, a spoon or two of honey probably.
Pain de Provence (Floyd's recipe; herb bread, no sourdough):
Delicious! I made it with all sorts of fresh herbs from the garden, chopped very finely.
King Arthur's Monkey Bread (no sourdough):
By the time I got the camera, the kids with the visiting neighbour kids had already torn into it ...
And for good measure, two desserts.
Blueberry Pie with fresh Michigan berries:
And finally, Eclairs filled with Vanilla Pudding and fresh strawberries. They certainly didn't last long!
As I said in my introduction, I LOVE a certain Swiss bread and have been trying to recreate some kind of copy of the patented original. I'll do a separate post on how that is coming along.
