What are you Baking the Week of November 12, 2023?

[Mike Nolan]

I will need to make semolina bread soon, possibly tomorrow.

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[cwcdesign]

I made my second loaf of the semolina rye bread today.

I didn't have enough rye so I added in sprouted wheat as it has the same level of protein as the rye. Otherwise, I did not change the recipe. I greased the pan per Baker Aunt, except I used avocado oil and sprinkled semolina. The bread came out of the pan beautifully.

I have not cut it yet, but I was wondering why many of you wait until the next day to cut into your loaves.

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[Mike Nolan]

There are many rye breads that need to mature for several hours for all the starches to gel properly. Some need 24 hours or longer.

[cwcdesign]

That makes sense for rye breads, but, for example, Baker Aunt and sometimes other people wait a day to cut into other breads and baked goods.

[BakerAunt]

We were mostly out of bread, except for two sub rolls in the freezer, which I want to save for chicken salad sandwiches later this week, so on Sunday, I baked bread. I chose the Pumpkin Rye-Whole Wheat Bread that is my recipe, based on a radical adaptation of one that Jane Brody includes in her Good Food Gourmet. Mine has twice the whole grain, I am still playing a bit with the recipe. I mixed it differently this time by including more of the bread flour in the first flour addition that I then allow to rest for 15 minutes before adding the rest of the bread flour with the salt, and then the oil. I also used avocado rather than olive oil. I used 15 oz. of homemade pumpkin puree frozen two years ago when I had my first and only fairy tale pumpkin. I kneaded the dough for 9 minutes on the third speed of my Cuisinart stand mixer, and I allowed for longer rising time, about 90 minutes for the first rise and 70 minutes for the second. I bake the recipe as two 9x5 loaves. The loaves look good, and I look forward to slicing one tomorrow at lunch. The other goes into the freezer.

[BakerAunt]

CWCdesign--I'm glad that your Rye Semolina Bread came out well.

I agree with Mike about rye breads. As for other yeast breads, I think it may be more a matter of practicality. once the loaf has cooled. The bread making process takes 4-5 hours, and then the loaf needs to cool completely before cutting, which means another 3-4 hours. My chances of timing that for a mealtime are not great unless I start very early in the morning and plan to have it for dinner.

As for cutting warm bread, Peter Reinhart once wrote that a warm loaf of bread is like a teenager on the verge of adulthood: the bread looks done, but inside it is still baking.

I will bite into warm rolls, although they have a much softer texture. However, rolls cool faster than a loaf of bread.

With my quick breads or cakes that are oil-based, I read an article from Bon Appetit or Epicurious (back before they erected the paywall), that gave hints for oil cakes, and one of them was to bake it the day before to give the spices time to infuse the bread. On the occasions when I have cut one the day I baked it, I have noted that the flavor and texture gets better with time. That is not true of butter cakes, which can begin to dry out.

[Mike Nolan]

Fresh baked bread really should be allowed to cool so that it fully sets, but it just smells and tastes SO good when it's still warm!

It's funny, my wife and I will fight over who gets the heel of a freshly baked loaf of bread to eat warm, but once the bread is cool the other heel is the last part that gets eaten.

I think that's why we love epis de bles so much, each segment is like another warm heel.

[BakerAunt]

When I was growing up, we used to fight over who got the heels for making toast. That was store-bought bread. My mother would sometimes save up heels in the freezer, so that we could all have them toasted. I still like toasting the heels; indeed, I like it even more now that I bake my own bread.

[Mike Nolan]

My mother used to save the end slices of store bread for making croutons.

[Joan Simpson]

Cwcdesign your bread looks nice. I love the end piece of too, my favorite.

[BakerAunt]

On Monday, I baked my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from dough that I made last week.

[Mike Nolan]

I've been building my sourdough starter up to get ready for another batch of cracker dough, probably tomorrow. This time I plan to roll them out to 1mm.

[Mike Nolan]

I think there has to be a lot of rye in the dough (at least 50% of the flour) before there's much benefit to letting it age beyond the point where it is cool. 100% rye breads are more likely to call for a 24 hour wait.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I've made ciabatta rolls for sandwiches so far. This is also a dozen week for challot (plural of challah). I have two KAs so I am bringing one with me and I am thinking about making some cookies while the challah does its second rise. Need something in the slack time.

[BakerAunt]

I baked my first apple pie of the season, using some of the Winesaps that we bought at the orchard last week. The recipe is from Bernard Clayton's pastry book and is titled French Apple Pie. Instead of a top crust, it has a streusel crust. I have perfected a streusel crust that uses avocado oil rather than butter (3 Tbs. oil in place of 1/2 cup butter). I also cover the pie with foil for the first 45 minutes, so that the streusel does not get overbrowned. We will slice into the pie tomorrow at lunch.

Aaron--yes, nothing is worse than sitting around waiting for bread to rise. Another project needs to fill the time.

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