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Butterkuchen is a classic German cake that you can find in any German bakery, often eaten in afternoon with a cup of coffee. Whenever I feel homesick here in the American diaspora or get invited over to a German friend's house for Kaffee und Kuchen I bring a Butterkuchen. A sheetcake full of butter and topped with sugar it can often be dry. But this recipe makes a quick and delicously moist cake.

400g flour

1 tsp salt

100 g sugar (or more depending on your taste)

2-3 packages of vanilla sugar

225 g butter

125 ml milk

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/painauxraisins

Followed the recipe above from Floyd,  I had a lot of fun doing this, especially the shaping of the dough.  Somehow the 1st method of shaping caused the middle to rise more than it should, perhaps I shaped it too tightly.

The 2nd with raisins,  I think I put too much raisins,  all the raisins started to spill out.  

So,this is off topic and I am somewhat sorry.  I've hit baking deprivation in a big way (which is demonstrated by the fact that I just bought a cute little pullman pan with the rationale that I have already committed to having to ship a few things from the Ryukyu to home and that I've never seen one that size in the US) and I'm only one month in.  Sigh.

But, yesterday my wakeup call was the shaking of the earth and the tsunami warnings.  This is not my favorite way to wake up.  But I figured that the weekend's excitement was over.

So I worked my first eight hour shift today, and I had some difficulties, learned some interesting things, and in general came home smiling. The two main things that I learned deal with double hydration and venting an oven. When I was first shown oven venting, my eyes were pretty glazed over; I'd never heard of venting, and pretty much didn't know what it was, why you might do it, and in general was confused. A few days later (today, as it were) it was explained to me. Venting is, as its definition implies, removing air, or things in the air, from a space.

Hey All,

Just wanted to share with you my attempts at Dan Leader's Pane Casereccio di Genzano from Local Breads, and my version of Muesli Bread.  Enjoy!

Tim

Hello to everyone,

I would like to share with you guys my todays loaf. I used Bacheldre Watermill's Oak Smoked Malted Blend Strong Flour plus my old good sourdough.

Tasting notes:

These scones are lovely and moist and have a wonderful flavor.  They taste great with jam and butter.  I enjoyed a wedge with mascarpone cheese.  They make for nice looking Easter scone.

My variation on a lemon scone recipe.

8 oz. plus extra for some light kneading and adjusting hydration - I used Pillsbury All Purpose Flour

2 Tablespoon Sugar

1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/4 cup Unsalted Butter

2 teaspoons Lemon zested

2 teaspoons Fresh Rosemary - clipped into small pieces

2 Medium Eggs

I'm continuing my exploration of bread baking with Gérard Rubaud's mix of flours. Today's breads were made with a firm levain, as used by Rubaud, and a high-hydration final dough. I made about 1500 gms of dough. The flour required is shown in the first chart.

For the love of bread,  I woke up 5 am,  with 4 hours of sleep just to see this bread rise and baked.  I didn't regret.  

Adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads,  I tried my hand again on this Pain de Campagne Poilane.  In addition,  I also tried using a claypot to bake this.  

Hey All,

Just wanted to share with you a very large 2.225 kg mixed levain miche that I baked on 2/23/10.  It is roughly 12 1/2" in diameter by 5 1/2" tall.  It was well worth staying up late on a weeknight to do.  We cut into it on 2/25/10 at a dinner part, and it was worth the wait...

Please excuse the crumb shot as it was from my friend's iPhone under less than stellar lighting conditions...

Tim