What are you baking the week of August 12, 2018?

Home Forums Baking — Breads and Rolls What are you baking the week of August 12, 2018?

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  • #13173
    Mike Nolan
    Keymaster

      Here's a thread for the week's baking.

      Spread the word
      #13175
      BakerAunt
      Participant

        I baked Whole Wheat Sourdough Crackers on Sunday afternoon, from the dough I made a week ago Saturday. They should have been baked on Wednesday or Thursday, but life intervened. These have a stronger sourdough flavor, so I’m surprised that my husband, who says he does not like sourdough, has commented on their tastiness.

        I also baked a Blueberry Galette. I had a Fruit Galette with Buckwheat Crust that came into my mail box from Bon Appetit. The BA staff member used blueberries instead of the given strawberry-rhubarb filling, but did not say how the filling needed to be changed for blueberries. Then when I read that the person, a rookie baker, used waxed paper instead of parchment paper, I lost confidence in approaching that recipe. I have suspected for some time, based on their email recipes, that Bon Appetit, in its quest for the "Millennial” audience, has been focusing on trend foods, and perhaps they thought illustrating the human error of this baker was a good thing. I’ve not seen an issue of the magazine for years, so I do not know if it reflects their emails.

        I went back online and found a Blueberry Galette recipe at Everyday Dorrie, which is Dorrie Greenspan’s website. The recipe is from her 2014 Baking Chez Moi:

        Of course, I used her recipe! The doughs were almost the same, except hers used all AP flour. I substituted in ¼ cup of buckwheat flour, so consider my galette rustic! Her recipe is also designed for blueberries. I made up the galette dough in the morning. While she uses a food processor, I did mine by hand. She instructs you to roll out the dough after it has come together, instead of leaving it in a disc, and then having to bring it to temperature and roll it out later. I made a 12-inch circle (although she does not give a thickness, 1/8th-inch thick is perfect), then stuck it in the refrigerator for several hours. My husband is not a fan of ginger, so I substituted 1/8th tsp. allspice and a couple of scrapes of freshly grated nutmeg. I used Panko for the bread crumbs. After assembling the galette, I brushed the crust with heavy cream and sprinkled it with sugar.

        I just took it out of this old avocado green oven, which is increasingly hard to set to a specific temperature. [If you are wondering about the kitchen remodel, so am I. The contractor keeps putting us off.] The galette did have some juices leak out, which I've read is typical and the reason why the baker should always use a rimmed pan, which I did. I'll add a note tonight after we sample the galette for dessert.

        Promised Note: Delicious! The pastry is nice and flaky and the filling is slightly tart, which is fine with us. We had it with a bit of vanilla ice cream on the side.

        • This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by BakerAunt.
        • This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by BakerAunt.
        • This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by BakerAunt.
        • This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by BakerAunt.
        #13185
        navlys
        Participant

          I think BA has changed in the last few years. For some reason I think that their current recipes are un-American which is not the right word. But I think you know what I mean. They do not appeal to my taste.

          #13187
          BakerAunt
          Participant

            Navlys and anyone else--I'm going to start a new thread in which we can discuss the changes in Bon Appetit.

            #13195
            BakerAunt
            Participant

              After dinner on Tuesday, I put together a new recipe, Blueberry-Barley Pinwheel Scones, from Bob's Red Mill:

              https://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes/how-to-make/blueberry-barley-pinwheel-scones/

              These sit unbaked overnight in the refrigerator, then are to be baked in the morning. Having come this far, I found the recipe has some issues. The first one was with the website. When I printed the recipe, part of the section at the end of #1, until #4, was omitted. (I felt, in a much lesser sense, that I was in the technical challenge of the Great British Bake Off, but unlike those contestants, I was able to go to the computer, copy the portion that would not print, paste it into a word document and print it.)

              The dough was very sticky--little wonder that the instructions say to make liberal use of flour. I think that 3/4 cup half and half is too much, although perhaps the barley flour will absorb more of the liquid? I've used barley flour in other scone recipes, and I can't say that it seemed to absorb an unusual amount. If I make the recipe again, I might cut the half and half, and only add more as needed. I was able to get the filled dough rolled up, by using my bowl scraper to help it along, but the sticking caused a couple of tears.

              I used some of my three-berry jam (blackberry, strawberry, blueberry) for the filling. I did not coat the rolled-up dough in poppy seeds because my husband has issues with poppy seed. I used KAF sparkling sugar, in part because I thought it needs something on the outside to form a "skin". I was able to cut the rolled-up dough with dental floss, as I do with yeast rolls. I ended up cutting the roll into 16 pieces that stayed together reasonably well when transferred to a parchment-lined baking sheet. I've covered it with saran and refrigerated it. I will bake it tomorrow morning and add a note.

              NOTE: These baked into wonderfully light little “biscuits” with jam swirled inside. After seeing the result, I would probably use only a smidge less half and half—perhaps 2/3 cup instead of 3/4 cup. I also wonder if letting the dough rest in the refrigerator, after forming it into a rectangle but before putting the jam on it, would give the barley flour time to absorb the liquid and make it a bit easier to roll up the filled dough.

              Additional disclaimer: I did the mixing by hand rather than using a food processor.

              • This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by BakerAunt.
              #13200
              BevM
              Participant

                Last week I was browsing my old recipes and decided to make the Quick Apple Strudel from years ago. It was all eaten but I wasn't happy with the crust. Did some internet research and discovered some used puff pastry. So I gave it a try with Pepperidge Farms puff pastry from the freezer section. It was also good but I find I prefer the crust over the puff pastry. I will next be trying Bakeraunts buttermilk pie crust.

                #13201
                BakerAunt
                Participant

                  Apple Strudel is a wonderful dessert. One day, I need to try baking it. Happy experimenting, Bev. You might want to add 2-3 Tbs. sugar for a sweet crust. (I cannot recall if I put that in the recipe.)

                  #13205
                  Mike Nolan
                  Keymaster

                    I've never tried making strudel dough. My wife says she made it once with her mother and a huge table.

                    This video almost makes it look easy, but there's years of experience at work there!
                    strudel video

                    #13206
                    BevM
                    Participant

                      Interesting video, Mike! I will not be making that kind of Strudel! I watched the episode of The Great British Baking Show where the bakers made the dough. Mine is a "shortcut" type. With the crust (instead of puff pastry) it's more like Apple pie. My family likes it so I'll not vary too far from that. I will try adding a little sugar to the next crust as Bakeraunt suggested. Thanks for the information and encouragement.

                      #13207
                      Mike Nolan
                      Keymaster

                        I like the all-butter piecrust recipe I learned at pastry school, but I also like Darina Allen's Irish Apple Cake recipe, which uses butter, egg and milk, and it goes very well with the apple pie filling recipe I learned at pastry school. It has the advantage of being somewhat faster to make, too.

                        The last two times I made it I made a 1.5 X batch using 2 eggs, which filled 9 ramekins, with the extra egg the batter comes out so moist you can't roll it out, but I really like how it bakes up.

                        I've been using pastry flour for it as well.

                        #13208
                        BakerAunt
                        Participant

                          I've also been making the buttermilk pie crust with all butter (subbing measurement for measurement with the shortening). The first time I did it, I had put in all butter by mistake. The dough baked up beautifully, and I thought, well, why not keep doing it?

                          I've been using pastry flour. Instead of an egg wash, I brush with heavy cream.

                          #13209
                          BakerAunt
                          Participant

                            Thanks for posting the link to the video, Mike.

                            In my high school German club, we had an Apfelstrudel social every year. Our teacher and club advisor had a recipe, and we would gather to make the strudels. She would have people stand around the table and work as a group to stretch the strudel dough. We sold it by the slice, except for one strudel that was auctioned off. Frau Hodjera, our instructor, usually managed to be the one to buy it!

                            I was only able to participate for one year because one had to be in second year German before being allowed into German club, and then in my senior year, Frau Hodjera went on sabbatical. I only peeled apples the first year, so I never got to do the dough stretching--something that I've regretted since my interest in baking increased.

                            • This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by BakerAunt.
                            #13211
                            Mike Nolan
                            Keymaster

                              Some years ago we visited a friend in El Paso and he recommended a German restaurant that had the best apple strudel I've ever had. The waitress said they made about 50 pounds of it every day and most of it got sent out to their mail order customers.

                              #13212
                              BakerAunt
                              Participant

                                It's amazing how many Germans settled in Texas. Before living there, I always thought the Germans went to the Midwest.

                                #13215
                                BakerAunt
                                Participant

                                  I had three peaches left from yesterday’s jam session, so on Thursday afternoon, I scoured various recipes and settled upon Peach Apricot Crumb Crostata from Ken Haedrich’s The Harvest Baker (p. 277). For the crust, however, I used my buckwheat flour adaptation of Dorie Greenspan’s crust that I used for the galette on Monday. I also substituted peach jam for the apricot jam that is spread over the center of the crust before the peaches are arranged on top (with a bit more put onto the peaches), since I had some left over from canning yesterday, and I do not have apricot jam. Although the recipe called for 1 to 1 1/4 cups of jam, I just used the scant half cup that I had available. I only made half of Haedrich’s streusel recipe (and substituted in 2 Tbs. of whole wheat flour), and I only used half of that reduced amount of streusel on the crostata. (I’ll save the rest for muffins or coffee cake.) We each had a slice for dessert tonight, with a bit of vanilla ice cream. I will certainly bake this recipe again.

                                  • This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by BakerAunt. Reason: clarity
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