I baked a sourdough loaf using Kamut for the first time. It wasn’t the easiest thing to find here in Toronto, but I recently came upon a new organic market that carries Kamut grown in Canada. The colour the whole grain flour is a lovely butter like yellow.
This is a 20% Kamut, 80% strong white flour. 9% pre-fermented flour.
Really proud of the rise and crumb on this one - I had been on a quest for a light, springy whole wheat loaf as I remained stubbornly opposed to the fact that 100% whole wheat meant necessarily dense and heavy crumbs.
Pleased to say this recipe worked out well (adapted from Full Proof Baking's wonderful blog) - she recommended doing a cold, overnight bulk fermentation and I think that really did the trick here. Very minimally handled overall.
Recipe as follows:
50% Red Fife
50% Whole Wheat White Flour
I have been baking often but have settled on a handful of breads that I most enjoy eating. I have posted on all of them here over the years, in some cases multiple times documenting minor variations. But this week I saw a bread on another online forum that grabbed my attention and instantly went to the top of my ridiculously long "To Bake" list. It turns out that my intuition was spot on. This turned out to be an extraordinarily delicious bread.
Buttermilk-Spelt Sourdough Bread
from Cecilia Agni Hadiyanto on Facebook
This is my most successful attempt at Ken Forkish’s Overnight Country Brown (30% WW, 70% KA AP). I followed his formula and directions, with only a few deviations.
I've posted before about using a tiny amount of commercial organic yeast in my sourdough bread recipes, and got some good feedback and information on that post. I've continued to tweak my methods and have arrived at what I think is a happy compromise, making the most of the benefits of both sources of yeast in the same recipe. I'm just using a pinch of organic yeast in my everyday sourdough recipe, and have probably baked some of the best bread I've ever made, even with skipping an autolyze and pre-shape steps. I plan on trying this method next with a higher percentage of
On a whim, I decided to see if I could bulk ferment baguette dough in the fridge overnight and have it come out perfectly fermented for shaping in the morning. Well, I think I came pretty close honestly!
Recipe is below for two 180g baguettes:
KA Bread Flour........220g
Lukewarm Water.....143
Instant Yeast...........2g
Salt.........................4g
Method:
9pm - Mixed all ingredients and kneaded by hand for one minute until there was some gluten development. Moved to the fridge for bulk fermentation.
Well I took a few years off there! Hey everyone, nice to see the pros still baking on TFL. I have learned so much from you guys over the years.
I am baking again now that I'm settled in San Jose, California, and no longer a monk. Let's get to what you want to know...
I tried to start my own starter without luck! Even after 5 different test trials with all different flours and two types of water... so a neighbor luckily shared some healthy bugs with me because I was getting impatient. (Monks get impatient???)
Cakes are one such food item that is everybody’s favourite! They don't receive any hate, just love. One such cake that has been the talk of the baking town is “Semi-Naked Cake”. These beautiful sponge cakes are layered with frosting and more frosting because it's never enough!
Here’s how to bake a red velvet semi-naked cake:
Look at this beauty friends! This is the best loaf of bread I have ever baked. Why? A fresh bag of the finest bread flour bought from our local bakery and fresh Durham Semolina to sweeten things up. Great bread!!!!! Recipe:
95g starter at 100% hydration
1/2 t instant yeast
177g milk scalded
42g Durham semolina
328g strong bread flour
41g honey
55g butter, melted
36g egg, beaten
1+ t salt
Prior to the bake, I brushed some egg wash on to the top of the loaf and sprinkled with Durham semolina flour, then scored.
Beginning to get more comfortable baking! Decided to experiment with Figs and Walnuts (figs freshly dehydrated)
Started with 50% Red Fife, 10% Rye, 10% Spelt, 30% All Purpose, with a 2 hour autolyse and then a 5.5 hour bulk fermentation. Laminated once 45 minutes after adding leaven and salt to get the mix-ins incorporated (maybe should’ve chopped the walnuts a bit smaller) and then did 3 coils folds separated by about 45 minutes each. Retarded overnight for ~12 hours and then baked 20 minutes at 450, then uncovered at 425 for 25 more minutes.
