foodforthought's blog

Maritozzi

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Claire Saffitz and Martin Philip both riffed on maritozzi recently, so I thought, why not? They are basically a brioche bun filled with a cream filling. I made some marscapone from the excess cream on the dairy shelf of the fridge and mixed it with vanilla flavored whipped cream. Following Clare’s lead, I soaked the brioche crumb with a vanilla-rum syrup. I found the prep to be a bit fussy. The final result was good but not great in my opinion. Those buns that got larger syrup infusions were significantly better than the more lightly-soaked ones which I found to be awfully bready.

Viennoiserie and pâte fermentée

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Been on something of a viennoiserie jag lately brought on, of course, by the holidays, visitors and deliciousness. With 7 dozen croissant, 4 dozen kouign-amann and one chausson aux pommes under my belt (gonna need a new one if this keeps up), a few brainworms have been nibbling on my thoughts.

Bialys with Sourdough Levain and Poolish

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Finally got around to making bialys based on the King Arthur recipe. I've always loved the bialys they used to make at the Mendocino Bakery which has since changed hands several times and had sadly disappeared from the menu on our last visit early in the Covid epoch. I will be looking for them when we visit again in a few months. In the meantime, these came out just great so we won't go without.

100% Semola rimacinata Batards

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A few days ago, @pul posted some lovely pics of creamy, yellow semola loaves that reminded me of the community bake of a year or so ago and my good results from that exploration. ...which got me ruminating and scheming on following @pul's lead.

So down the rabbit hole of @dmsnyder's, @Franko's and @dabrownman's meanderings on Pane Tipo Altamura I dropped, deciding eventually to follow @pul's lead with a few modifications.

Ciabatta Breadsticks

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A few months ago, Jack Sturgess mentioned that a breadstick challenge stumped most of the British Bake Off contestants. I happened to be making a batch of ciabatta at the time, so I thought, why not dedicate some of the dough to breadsticks. The results were pretty good and we love a crunchy snack with our nightly glass or two of wine. Anyway, after 4 passes, I think I finally have a repeatable process that produces attractive, munchable grissini.

Ciabatta, 50% Durum

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I have long been a fan of the Semolina version of Jason’s Quick Coccodrillo Ciabatta, which may have been my first TFL recipe attempt. @alfanso’s recent post on 80% PFF Ciabatta got me thinking it had been too long since I’d investigated alternative versions. Thinking back on the Durum community bake, I decided to apply Alfanso’s method to a hybrid ciabatta and I think it worked out ok.