Blog posts

Hello,

Lang Lang was on the radio this morning (his piano, not his presence).  The English lady, Emma Ayres, hosts a fine, fine classic FM radio show, Teas on Toast, on ABC Radio.  She played Lang Lang's Haydn sonata in Carnegie Hall, 2003.   Lang Lang, 27, is the pride of modern day Mainland Chinese.   His reputation spread so rapidly that a Chinese-language biography appeared before his 17th birthday.  I have no business joining the band wagon in praising him.   But I can feel his sensibility through his fingers (the fastest finger

Po-Lo is a Chinese antiquity name for pineapple.  It went to Japan and then from there it went to Taiwan.  In 1931, a bakery in Tokyo obtained a patent for the cookie dough on top of a bread dough.  This cookie dough is made of flour, butter, sugar and milk.  Some experts in Japan say it had its origin from Austria ("viennoiserie," rings a bell?)  This is the bun that I had when I was a kid in Taiwan.  Today, you still find them in every bread shop and pastry shop over there.  

Last week, I received the book "100% Pain" by Eric Kayser that I had ordered.

Following closely in the footsteps of Hans, I baked Hamelman's "Whole-Wheat Levain" this morning:

There is a bread style in Hamelman's Bread (page 129, A Resting Loaf) that I've been trying to emulate:

Hi all,

This is a brief follow-up to my last post about Hamelman's whole-wheat pain au levain. I was very pleased with the creamy, light crumb of the loaf and wondered how an increase in whole-wheat flour would affect it. To gauge things, I decided to bake the whole-wheat levain from the same book, thereby doubling the whole-grain flour content.

After being fustrasted with my last few loaves I was reading over this site trying to find answers. I've been baking bread for a couple of years now with some really good results and some not so good!

Have you ever had the experience of searching for some one or something high and low?  We are in the dead of winter, but I am already thinking of spring.  A few years ago we were on our way to the jacaranda capital of Australia, Grafton, in the state of New South Wales, 300 km south of Brisbane.  Every October Grafton is as beautiful as April in Japan with its cherry blossoms.                

I have learned so much watching the entries from members of this community.  Now I feel emboldened  to join in.

Yesterday I baked my first challah, using the formula in TBBA.  I got a lovely to look at loaf, with a nice crumb, but I don't think much of the flavor.  Have other people using this recipe been pleased with the flavor?  Perhaps I did something wrong. 

I would love to post a picture of the challah.  How do I do that?

Does anyone have a yummy challah reccipe t share?

Leah