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They're alive!!!!!!

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After 7 long days, Thing 1 and Thing 2 are looking and acting like living, breathing starters. Thing 1, the indoor starter almost tripled itself today, and Thing 2, the outdoor starter doubled.

As I expected, they are behaving differently, but I actually expected Thing 2 to be more energetic than Thing 1. I guess I expected the outdoor microflora to be more lively than the ones in the house.

I'm going to keep them at 100% hydration for a few more days and then switch them to 50%. I want to see if I can expand them both enough to bake with them this weekend.

Recipes for Hokey Pokey

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Hokey , When you want to branch out to other recipes, you might like to try Sourdough Pancakes, a recipe from my daughter, Nancy, when she was in college at Santa Cruz.  These are very nice. I also have a sourdough waffle recipe. Enjoy!

Basic Batter

 1 cup starter, 1 cup warm water, 1 1/4 -1 1/2 cups flour.  Put in large glass or pottery bowl and cover.  Put in warm spot. 

Night before prepare basic batter.   Next morning, add 1 egg, 2 Tbl. oil, 1/4 cup instant dry or evaporated milk.  Beat thoroughly. 

Loaves and puppies

white mountain, whole wheat, shortbreadsLoaves and puppies have this in common, that more is invariably better, so long as you find good homes for them all. An attribute that doesn't hold for everything- mice and snakes are best in sedate groupings of no more than two or three, for example, and I suspect that even bunnies have their tipping point. (Nah, prob'ly not...) I had the remarkable good fortune to find myself handing out bread to nearly a dozen people this weekend.

PAIN RUSTIQUE

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PAIN RUSTIQUEPAIN RUSTIQUE: PAIN RUSTIQUE: Today I made Hamelman's Pain Rustique and I'm very happy with it. It is creamy and delicious. Thanks TTonka and Susan. I made 3 loaves, one for my neighbor, one in a bread tin for my grandaughter (brushed with butter) and one for us. I will make this again for sure. I'm also going to finally buy Hamelman's book so I don't have to struggle to read the recipe from a pdf.

No knead bread

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I have made this bread at least 5 times.  I usually make two loaves each time.  I have one in the oven now and it smells delicious, as usual.  Have had no problems with it.  I would like to know if any one has made it with all whole-wheat flour. 

My First Challah

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I've been learning how to bake breads the past month or so (without much luck with the artisan bread types). BUT, today I decided to try my hand at a Challah. Here is the pictures of the results. Needless to say I am extremely happy with this recipe! Great "crust and crumb" on this one! I LOVE Challah, and this one tops any I've had from the bakeries.

and cut: (excuse the darkness)

Cinnamon Raisin Hoagies

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I just finished baking the Cinnamon Raisin bread from BBA. It had no oven spring at all. The only changes I made to the recipe...oops, formula, were to omit the walnuts and use whole wheat flour for 25% of the flour.

 





























 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My leaning curve Part 2

Well after reading some posts on here comparing different books recipes on a given bread, I gave one a test.

I have been using BBA's recipe for Poolish Ciabatta, with wonderful results in outward appearance.  The crumb was not as open as I hoped though.

the little starter that could - Rosemary Olive Oil Sourdough

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rosemary sourdough

This is Rosemary Olive Oil Sourdough from Nancy Silverton's book. I used the starter that I have been growing since Feb - my first one (not Nancy's formula) and I have to say I am proud of this little starter! Oven spring!

I tried the La Cloche top on a preheated stone for 20 minutes. I sprayed the top of the loaf and the inside of the La Cloche top when I put it in and boy did it get crispy!