breadsong's blog

Hello,  

I've seen so many beautiful loaves here on TFL, with beautiful open crumb. When making dough by hand I know I'm adding too much flour to overcome stickiness when kneading. Guess what? No holes. I have shied away from the really wet doughs not really knowing how to handle them.

I recently saw a video by Richard Bertinet where he demonstrates his method for working sticky dough:
http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/video/2008/03/bertinet_sweetdough

Hello, My 20th wedding anniversary is this week so I wanted to bake something special for my husband!

Hello,

I was looking a library book this past long weekend - Amy's Bread - and this one piqued my interest. We've had some drizzle and it looks like we're going to have a wet week ahead here in the Pacific Northwest - I thought it might be nice to bake a little sunshine.

Hello everyone,

This bread is Whole Wheat Bread, from Eric Kastel's Artisan Baking at Home with the CIA.

This is a straight dough which includes whole wheat and honey. After shaping the boule, it was sprayed with water, gently picked up, turned over & rolled around in a bowl full of sesame seeds; then gently placed seam side-up in a cloth-lined banneton for final proofing.

Hello everyone,

These buns are from CIA Artisan Breads at Home by Eric W. Kastel.
I replaced some bread flour with whole wheat and topped with sesame seeds.
The egg glaze gave them a nice shine! ...mmm...burgers...can't wait!

Regards, breadsong

Hello,

Here are today's efforts (gifts for a friend, so I can't cut them to take a crumb shot!):
Rose Levy Beranbaum's French Country Sourdough Boule
Jeffrey Hamelman's Oatmeal Bread (straight dough)

Hello,

I've enjoyed the lovely bread served at the Grand Lux Cafe; I think this bread has outstanding flavor and a gorgeous crust.
I was wondering if anyone had ever tried reproducing it at home.
If yes, I would just love it if you were willing to share what you did, and how it turned out.

Regards, breadsong

Hello, This is from Eric Kastel's "Artisan Breads at Home". I baked this bread and froze it, and we tasted it tonight with dinner. YUM. With many thanks to the author!!! I tried slashing the bread in a starburst, as I saw someone else do quite beautifully on this site. I wish I could remember who that was, so I could go back and take a look at their handiwork and pay them a compliment here - I will keep trying until I can make mine look as nice!

Hello,

I picked up the CIA book "Artisan Breads at Home" by Eric Kastel from the library and was delighted to find a recipe for Chipotle Sourdough, using pureed chipotle chiles in adobo as an add-in.

For 48 ounces of dough, the recipe calls for 2.6 ounces of pureed chipotles combined with 1.3 ounces whole wheat flour as the add-in; I kneaded this in by hand at the end of mixing.

I was inspired by a Banana bread featured on farine-mc.com (link: http://www.farine-mc.com/search/label/Banana). This lady makes loaves that are works of art!

This humble loaf is a single recipe of Rose Levy Beranbaum's Banana Feather Bread, and when I slashed the top I tried a slight, reversed S-curve - to see what might happen.
I thought the result looked kind of like a banana!