What are You Baking the Week of July 25, 2021?

[BakerAunt]

It is too hot to bake a pie—maybe Friday--but I need a dessert in the meantime, and I have a lot of blueberries. I thought that a blueberry quick bread would be nice, but it turns out that I do not have a recipe for one. I did a quick google search for ones that do not use butter, but the pictures I saw did not look appealing. Frankly, they reminded me of early efforts by new bakers. I searched blueberry bread at Nebraska Kitchen and found the thread where S. Wirth gave the link to Shaboom’s website, in response to Kimbob’s mentioning a blueberry bread recipe she had from her. According to the headnote, Shaboom got the recipe from PJ at KAF, who got it from a good friend, “Nonny” in Maine, and it was a hit on the (old?) baking circle although Shaboom says she did some adapting (as I did).

I decided to bake it Tuesday evening. I used Siggi’s yogurt (Icelandic yogurt that is close to Greek yogurt), substituted in 1 cup white whole wheat flour, reduced the salt by 25%, and chose avocado oil as the vegetable oil. I included the optional pecans. It baked for 50 minutes, and perhaps I might check it slightly earlier next time. I had to use a spatula around the top of the pan (next time I will grease there) but otherwise the loaf came out easily after resting for 15 minutes. I look forward to having a slice tomorrow.

[Janiebakes]

That is quite the pedigree for a recipe! This is one of the things I love about baking BA. How it connects to cooks/bakers in our past, both family and friends.

[BakerAunt]

The blueberry bread is excellent: lots of blueberries suspended in a tender, not too sweet cake without any spices detracting form the sheer blueberrieness. It did have a slight sinking in the center on top. I might decrease the baking soda by about ¼ tsp., since I recall Cass saying that is often the reason for sinking. I will definitely be baking it again.

On Wednesday afternoon, I baked Ellen’s buns as twelve rolls, and we had some with the soup I made for dinner.

[chocomouse]

I made garlic knots today. I couldn't remember what recipe I used for the dough, and found nothing in my files for garlic knots. So I looked at KABC recipes and saw their Soft Garlic Knots which I had looked at several times previously and decided to not use. This time I thought I'd give it a try. They are OK, not as good as my usual. I think I used Ellen's buns recipe, which for me is a basic starting point for any dough. I'll use her recipe next time.

[skeptic7]

I did the White Sugar Sponge Cake again. This time I tried cooking it in a water bath in a slow cooker as if it was Boston Brown Bread. Took about an hour to cook and turned out very nicely, same appearance and texture as if it had been steamed, but I didn't have to watch it as closely.
Its the sort of dish to be made during the winter when the air is dry and additional moisture is to be enjoyed not avoided.

[RiversideLen]

I made a pizza using KAB's Ultra Thin Pizza Crust. It call for both Semolina and Durum flours (a cup and a half cup, respectively). I don't have any durum flour so I asked if Semolina could be substituted, they suggested I use AP instead. So I used whole wheat. It came out pretty good, nice color, flavor and texture, nice and chewy. I am going to get some durum flour next time I place an order so I can make it the way it is intended.

[BakerAunt]

That's my favorite pizza crust, Len, but my husband prefers my sourdough crust, so I do not make it as often as I once did.

[BakerAunt]

A note on the blueberry bread I baked earlier this week: it needs to be consumed within two days (particularly in hot and humid weather) due to the high moisture content. When I make it again, I will either freeze half or try to make it in two smaller pans.

I have been sorting through piles of recipes that I photocopied or cut out of magazines. On Friday, I baked Soft Sandwich Bread with Flax, a recipe that King Arthur put out in its 225 anniversary year when they were still emailing subscribers recipes. It is on the website, and I looked at it there--and discovered that my copy contained an error, as the bread calls for 2 Tbs. of honey. I also read the reviews, where many people were saying it had too much water and is too salty:

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/soft-sandwich-bread-with-flax-recipe

I proceeded to make changes: I substituted 1 cup of whole wheat flour for that much of the AP flour. I used half water and half buttermilk. I reduced the salt by one-third. I used about 1 Tbs. of honey. (I use the water for the yeast to clean out a jar with crystalized honey on the bottom, which I estimate as about 1 tablespoon.) I also used olive oil and reduced the oil from 1/4 cup to 3 Tbs. I added 2 Tbs. of special dry milk to increase the nutrition. I let the bread machine do the mixing and kneading. I agree with reviewers who thought that bread should be baked in an 8x4 pan, so that is what I used. I ended up with a nice, high-rising loaf and look forward to slicing it tomorrow at lunch. If we like it, I will work out a double recipe so that I can bake two loaves at once.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by BakerAunt.

[cwcdesign]

Will decided he wanted to make hoagie buns. He looked at lots of recipes including King Arthur's but none quite had the profile he wanted. He found a recipe and watched the video.

The instructions were a little difficult to understand. I'm still trying to get my head around why the author felt it was necessary to proof instant yeast. He also said to proof with diastatic malt but it was optional. No mention of using sugar instead. Of course it didn't proof, but I know that the SAF yeast in the freezer is good and I also bought some at HT on my way home. Will had never used yeast before. I told him to go ahead and make the dough - it was instant yeast and the point was it didn't need to be proofed. The dough rose nicely. He kneaded it the way it was indicated, but it was rather rough handling.

The bottom line is they did bake up nicely, if a little dense. The flavor is really good. He will try again with the modifications he's learned. I'll keep you posted.

[Joan Simpson]

Cwcdesign give Will a high 5.

[skeptic7]

I did a double batch of blueberry quick bread -- its my blueberry scone recipe, but baked in a 9x13 pan. I'll be giving half of it to a friend for a birthday present.

[BakerAunt]

I'm glad that Will persevered, CWCdesign, in spite of the wonky instructions.

At the moment, I have only a single recipe that I bake that calls for diastatic malt, and that is the Rosetta Rolls I am trying to perfect with Cass's help. I bought mine from New York Bakers because the King Arthur diastatic malt had other stuff added. A lot of bread flour, like Bob's Red Mill artisan bread flour, includes diastatic malt. My understanding is that diastatic malt is used for a long rises. It is food for the yeast, so sugar is not needed. In my recipe, it is not added with yeast but added to a biga that has fermented 8-16 hours. When the diastatic malt is added, with bread, water, and salt, there is a 35-40 minute initial rise before shaping and stamping, then a 3-8 hour refrigerator rise before a 20 minute room temperature rise and baking. The oven spring is tremendous, and the rolls so very light inside.

I am guessing, but I think that if the rolls do not have an extended refrigerator rise, then sugar or honey rather than diastatic malt would work well.

[Mike Nolan]

Diastatic malt has diastatic enzymes in it, those help to break down the starches in the endosperm into sugars, mostly maltose.

Most yeast strains prefer glucose or fructose over maltose, though they will use maltose if that's the only sugar available. But the yeast activity is more vigorous with glucose or fructose. That suggests that a longer/slower ferment is desirable when the primary sugar available will be maltose. Whether it is best done in the refrigerator or at room temperature is debatable, both have their positives and negatives.

[Mike Nolan]

My plan is to make semolina bread today. I was going to try a mixture of semolina and durum flour, which I thought I had a container of, but I couldn't find it the other day. And I know better than to try to find it locally.

I am using a 60/40 blend of semolina and bread flour again today, and I'm using some non-diastatic barley malt instead of sugar, just to see what happens.

[BakerAunt]

I am bemused by the "Shop Local" mantra. I would shop local if local places carried what I need.

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