Blog posts

A break in the action.  I'd been so busy lately with my batard thing that I neglected the simple pleasures of rolling out a few baguettes.  So I took a time-out and decided to go back to the first (and easiest) of my baguettes formulae, the one that kicked off the whole thing for my attempts at achieving a good result - Bouabsa style baguettes.

Hi everyone, have not been posting much lately due to the busy schedule I was having. Though, that does not mean I have not been baking. I have been wondering on why my bakes are still lacking on the optimum oven spring like most of the gorgeous loaves on TFL. Then one day, I tried out a recipe given by one of the active member in here, Abe. It was a Tartine Bread recipe from My Weekend Bakery. Stuck to the recipe anyway (except that I had to cut short on stretch and fold time due to the hot weather in here).

I simply have not been able to make overnight work! The last time I tried, I finished the final bulk stretch at 5:30 pm and refrigerated it until 11:30 to slow things down. Here is what I had at 7:30 the next morning:

Decided to bake a loaf of bread for a colleague, and decided I ought to make two different versions, just in case one didn't turn out properly.

I am sure many seasoned bread bakers have made very similar loaves to this one, its super easy to make, I just love the style aspect to loaves formed in this way.  By splitting the dough into balls and then placing into a loaf tin, you can produce a beautifully even loaf every time.  This spelt sultana is also nice and sweet without being rich, there is no butter in the recipe!  If you are interested in more pictures and details please stop by http://mybreadandbrot.com/spelt-sultana-toast-bread/

What happens when your must have bread fails repeatedly?   Other than tears and recriminations, a lot of head scratching and experimentation.  This generally leads to upping your game at all levels as you optimize each step of the process, but unfortunately the main problem can remain hidden.  

Almost went for another round of the sesame semolina batards, having promised one to my cousin just the other day.  But suddenly had an itching to bake my take on his Country Blonde.  These are not the same as in FWSY.  

Lucy was going to  come up with a sprouted ciabatta sandwich thins this week but after a shopping trip to Sprouts where she got some dried figs and olives, that ciabatta went in the trash like a stinky pair of old slippers.

This is an interesting bread made with both roasted sweet potatoes and roasted purple and red potatoes.  I used freshly milled whole Durum flour along with some fresh milled whole wheat and a nice helping of olive oil.

The end result was a tasty bread with a nice sour tang.  Of course the addition of the cheese didn't hurt either.

Teresa Greenway has a recipe for "Extra Sour Sourdough" in her e-book "Discovering Sourdough: Part II Intermediate Sourdough". So I thought I would give it a try.