What are you Baking the week of May 31, 2020?

[aaronatthedoublef]

I am a firmer believer that any recipe for home bakers should have an option for mixing by hand.

[Joan Simpson]

Aaron you're a busy baker and good for you!Sounds wonderful.

[BakerAunt]

Aaron--It's only a matter of time before one of us says, to heck with it, and tries Ms. Parks' recipe with a stand mixer.

She also has a Yeasted Pumpkin Bread Recipe. I posted the link here at Nebraska Kitchen and started a discussion thread about it. Len and I both made the bread, and darn it, we used our mixers, not the food processor on which she insists. I even substituted in 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour, and made up the rest of the weight with the bread flour the recipe specifies. Both Len and I were pleased with how hour loaves turned out.

So, one of these days....

As for all the orders, clearly the word is getting around that you have superior baked goods!

• This reply was modified 3 years, 10 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

When I was at the grocery on Sunday morning to get bananas, an essential fruit in our house. I saw a bag of five Bosc pears for 99 cents in the clearance section. While they had splotches, that is not out of the ordinary, and Bosc pears are a favorite of mine, and I have been missing fresh fruit. I bought them, having no idea what I would bake with them. I found a recipe at the KAF website for Pear and Cherry Almond Streusel Pie. I had all the ingredients, including dried cherries. I baked the pie on Monday evening. I used my oil crust (recipe posted at Nebraska Kitchen) in a 9-inch Emile Henry deep pie dish. I was a little short on the pears (2 lbs. 10 oz. rather than 3 lbs.). I used 170 g dried cherries rather than 142g because I wanted to use up the bag. (These were from Bob’s Red Mill, and they stopped carrying most dried fruit almost 2 ½ years ago.) I reduced the sugar from ¾ to ½ cup. Pears are naturally sweet, and there is a streusel topping. I replaced the 6 Tbs. of instant Clearjel with 2 tsp. tapioca and allowed the fruit, sugar, and tapioca to rest for 20 minutes. While I parbaked the pie shell for 12 minutes, I par-cooked the filling in a skillet on the stove top. I do so with all my fruit fillings with streusel toppings in parbaked crusts. I stirred in a scant tsp. almond extract at the end. (I didn’t want to fetch another bottle for the full tsp.) I halved the topping ingredients, except that I cut the butter down to 2 Tbs. I sprinkled the bottom of the pie shell with a bit of Panko to soak up excess juice and keep the crust crispy. I baked at 425F for 10 minutes, then reduced to 375F and baked for about 35 minutes. We shall cut into it tomorrow.

[aaronatthedoublef]

BA, the pie sounds wonderful.

I made a sourdough again. Last time it looked dry so I added extra water. I had a softer crust but a very high oven spring. This time I resisted the urge to use water and had very little oven spring. I'll see how the crust is later. But it looks like I have to find the balance in hydration.

As for Ms. Parks recipe, I may try an experimental batch this weekend just to see if I can make it in a mixer. Some of the commenters/questioners on the site swear they've done it.

I'll probably use the paddle instead of the dough hook since it's very loose.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 10 months ago by aaronatthedoublef.

[skeptic7]

I baked a new bread today. It was "Yeast Raised Honey Cornbread". from "Great Whole Grain Breads" by Beatrice Ojakangas.
This has the same ingredients as a Yankee style cornbread with 1 cup cornmeal, 1 cup whole wheat flour and 2 tablespoons honey. However it also calls for 1 package yeast. I used white all purpose flour instead of whole wheat, and buttermilk instead of 2/3 cup dried milk and 1 cup of water.
I changed the recipe procedure slightly. I proofed the yeast in the buttermilk, and then added 1 cup of cornmeal and let this sit for maybe half an hour as a quick sponge. I added the other ingredients and then baked this in the slow cooker for about 2 1/2 hours until it reached 190 degrees. Nice bread, not sweet.

[BakerAunt]

I have that baking book (or think I do!), Skeptic. I'll have to check out that bread.

Temperatures reached the 90s this Tuesday, but we were out of bread, so I started the dough around noon. I made another attempt at Bernard Clayton’s Dark Grains Bread, from his revised New Complete Book of Breads (223-225). I have made it before, but each time, I had a bit of sag in the middle of the loaf. I followed my usual changes, although I reduced the yeast to 3 ¾ tsp, but I replaced the 1 ½ cups of bread flour with 1 cup high gluten flour (have it and need to use it) and ½ cup plus 3 Tbs. bread flour. It took about nine minutes of kneading on speed 3 of my Cuisinart 7-qt. stand mixer to get a windowpane. The first rise took 58 minutes. I shaped, then let rest 5 minutes, then did final shaping. The second rise took 50 minutes. I baked it for 47 minutes and it was at 203F and maybe a little dark. There is still some slight dimpling, but the loaves look good. We will slice into one for lunch tomorrow.

[BakerAunt]

I highly recommend that Pear and Cherry pie filling recipe. We cut into it for dessert this evening, and it is delicious. I'm glad that I reduced the sugar in the filling to 1/2 cup and used just half the streusel. It is the perfect degree of sweetness.

[kimbob]

Baking one our favorites from the KAF Whole Grain Baking book -- sour cream muffins.

[kimbob]

Decided to make some cake donuts, too.

[BakerAunt]

I'm very pleased with the Dark Grains Bread I baked yesterday. The texture is good--firm but soft. It will be great on open-face sandwiches. I am not always a fan of molasses in bread, but I like how it worked with my combinations. Using that cup of high-gluten flour gave the bread the structure it needs.

[Joan Simpson]

I baked a pan of brownies from scratch and they are pretty good.

[skeptic7]

Has anyone had their buttermilk become more sour? I've had one jar in the refrigerator for several months. I used it in cornbread the other day and I could taste the sourness. This cornbread was lower in sugar than other recipes.

[RiversideLen]

I didn't know you could keep buttermilk that long. If I don't think I'm going to use the buttermilk before it hits the exp date, I portion it in one cup servings and freeze it.

[BakerAunt]

I've used buttermilk past the expiration date without issue. How long is too long may depend on the brand of buttermilk. I always shake it before using.

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