What are You Baking the Week of May 17, 2020?

[BakerAunt]

It's raining outside on this Sunday, so I'm thinking of baking cookie today. What about you?

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[BakerAunt]

I did bake on Sunday: Bob's favorite Scottish Oatcakes. I baked this recipe from the Bob's Red Mill site last December and posted about it. This time, I used a combination of 1 Tbs. melted butter, 1 Tbs. canola oil, and 1 Tbs. buttermilk, rather than 4 Tbs. butter. I increased the cane sugar from 3/4 tsp. to 1 tsp. I had forgotten that the recipe on the website uses more water than the recipe on the bag, and I was following the one I printed from the website. So, I mixed in the greater amount of water and had a dough too sticky to roll out. At first, I thought perhaps I'd used too much water, as the Snackasaurus (aka my husband) was foraging in the kitchen, which distracts me. However, I then found the bag recipe and realized what had happened. Instead of trying to roll the dough, I used a Zeroll #40 (1 Tbs.) cookie scoop and made 17 mounds. I then flattened them slightly with a glass and put just a bit of large crystal white sugar on top. That may be what I do from now on, as it is certainly easier than rolling out and using a cookie cutter. These are not designed to be sweet, per say, but to serve as a base for lemon curd and berries or cheese, smoked fish and herbs. I may try to take the recipe more in the direction of a cookie next time I bake it. That will have to wait until I obtain some more Bob's Red Mill Scottish Oatmeal.

[Italiancook]

My major accomplishment today was that I managed to put the filter into the cantankerous furnace. Took 45 minutes and a call to the HVAC man. It was late afternoon before I made a revised loaf of my grandmother's banana bread. I used light olive oil in place of the shortening (equal substitution), and added cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. It smells great, but it's for the freezer. Some days, the freezer eats better than we do.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made another double batch of whole wheat bread. The last two times I have just made a double batch of the autolyzed flour/water. This time I made the whole doubled batch at once. Since Ms. Park insists this be made in the food processor I divided the flour/water into thirds when I ran it through the food processor. Next time maybe I'll divide it into quarters as it was still pretty full. I also subbed the second addition of water with orange juice and it is a nicer, less bitter flavor (or maybe that is my imagination).

I made a 100% starter sourdough loaf again. This time I doubled the batch. I let it rest in the fridge overnight then let it warm up for a couple hours this morning before shaping. I probably should have let it rise another hour in the loaf pan before baking and I definitely needed to do a better job sealing the seams. The bottom seam is loose and, despite three slashes on the top I had a side blowout. But I had a great oven spring. The side blowout doesn't bother me but the separation on the bottom may make it not work for sandwiches. But we'll see when I cut into it.

[Mike Nolan]

Did you try to shape/seal it while the dough was still cold? That NEVER works for me.

[BakerAunt]

Aaron--King Arthur's Whole Grain Baking Book often used 1/4 cup orange juice to "tame" the whole wheat flavor. I've never done that, as whole wheat taste does not bother either my husband or me.

[Mike Nolan]

I assume it's the sugar in the orange juice that 'tames' the bitterness of whole wheat flour, though the acid might increase the amount of enzyme activity which would break down more of the starches in the flour. My honey wheat bread uses 1/3 cup of honey (in about 55 ounces of dough that makes 2 loaves) so that'll take care of any bitterness too.

I"ve made the Park food processor recipe several times, I can't say we had any problem with bitterness with it. However, it isn't what I would call a 'sandwich' bread so we don't eat it quite as fast. The next time I make it, I'll freeze half of it so that it doesn't go moldy on us before we eat it all. I think of it as more of a 'wintertime' bread.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks Mike. I do not think it was cold but that might have been the problem. The dough sat in the oven with the light on for over two hours but next time I'll wait longer. I still don't understand why the slits didn't open but the side blew out but there is always another loaf to make.

Thanks BA. I used about 1/4 cup and I've seen that in KAF recipes. But when I've made their breads they were bricks so I'm excited this one is still light.

[Mike Nolan]

According to several experts, side blowouts are usually the result of under-proofing of the dough.

The last time I made the honey wheat bread, I had planned to have it ready for the oven by about 7:15, but we were making a short trip to pick up some plants that wound up running longer and it didn't get into the oven until well after 8:00. But it rose nicely and wasn't over-proofed, and the loaves were big and soft, with no blowouts even though I didn't score the top. (My wife says it is a little too soft, which makes it harder for her to slice thin.)

[aaronatthedoublef]

I probably under proofed it then. I could have waited longer before I put it in the oven. Thanks

[aaronatthedoublef]

This loaf is very different from my first in terms of texture. I think I could have baked it a little less. I doubled the size and this is what gave me a bigger loaf with a big crown over the edge the bread pan. This gave it a crisp crust and the whole loaf is chewier. Might also be because I under proofed it.

Learning every loaf!

[Mike Nolan]

When I've made the Stella Parks food processor recipe, I bake it in an 8 inch pan, because it won't fill up a standard (9 inch) one pound loaf pan.

I really prefer free-form breads, but that recipe would probably produce a flatbread. (Maybe I'll try it as one some time.)

[skeptic7]

What honey wheat bread were you making? Is this a KAF recipe?

[RiversideLen]

Inspired by the KAF blog about using less yeast, I made a starter for my Rye/Semolina/Wheat buns. I took 1 cup of the flour (a mix of rye and whole wheat), 3 grams of yeast and a cup of warm buttermilk and mixed it together and let it proof at room temp for about 30 minutes then I put it in the fridge. I did that yesterday. Today I pulled it out for about 30 minutes, it was still cold, and proceeded to make the bread adding 1 additional gram of yeast. The first rise was very nice, filling up my KAF proofing bucket. I have formed it into 8 buns, 4 topped with the KAF everything bagel topping. I am waiting for them to rise and then to bake. It all looks good and next time I think I will reduce the yeast by 1 gram, only using 3 grams.

[BakerAunt]

On Tuesday, I baked Pumpkin Toffee Snacking Cake. It uses spelt, buckwheat flour, chia seed, some AP flour, and of course pumpkin, which I had in the freezer. I cut back on the toffee pieces, since 1 Tbs. is 2.5g saturated fat (!) to just 2 Tbs. in the batter. I put chocolate sprinkles on top. I forgot to add the nutmeg, but the other spices are fine without it.

I also made another batch of my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Cracker dough, which I will bake in four or five days.

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