What are you Baking the week of November 17, 2019

[Mike Nolan]

Still haven't made my Vienna bread, been distracted a lot lately. I plan to make it today, and I'm going to use some of that dough (the Clonmel Kitchens double crusty recipe) to experiment with bread sticks.

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[chocomouse]

Chocolate Chip cookies!

[Joan Simpson]

Made up pizza dough as per Len and Aaron's advice it was great!I brushed the edges with melted butter and garlic powder mixed after it came out of the oven and it was so good.My husband didn't want pizza so I made it like I like it sauce,sausage,onions,mushrooms,black olives,pepperoni,green pepper,banana peppers and cheese.It was almost like deep dish a fork was needed.Then I like to top what I'm eating with crushed red pepper.

The dough rose to top of bowl with just the one fourth teaspoon of yeast as Len said and no punching down as Aaron said,thanks ya'll.I've got 3 or 4 more lunch or breakfast.We usually eat around 10 am then again at 4 pm for supper.

[Mike Nolan]

You should try a Chicago-style stuffed pizza. I make it in a large and deep cast iron skillet, I think Lodge calls it a chicken pot. Divide the dough into 2/3, 1/3 portions. Use the larger piece of dough to line the skillet all the way to the rim. Fill to half way or so with sauce and toppings, including cheese. Cover with the smaller dough portion, making sure it touches the sides. I usually cut a few vent holes, but that's optional. Add the rest of the sauce, toppings and cheese. Bake until crust is crisp and fairly dark at the top.

One slice is a meal!

[Joan Simpson]

Mike that sounds so good,will keep that in mind.

[Mike Nolan]

We often put a mixture of ricotta cheese and finely shredded (nearly pureed) spinach in the bottom layer. The biggest issue with that is ricotta cheese and spinach both will make the bottom a little watery, so you need to let it sit longer before you try to cut it. We usually let it sit 15 minutes anyway.

I have the first batch of test breadsticks in the oven, using the Clonmel recipe, I rolled them out to about pencil size and brushed them with melted butter. I'm baking them at 400 degrees and will check them at 10 minutes, though I think they'll take about 15.

I also made a bigger one dividing some dough into two parts, one of which I rolled in cheese powder. Then I twisted the two together and divided it into three pieces. I'll bake this with the Vienna bread, but it may need to come out earlier.

[Mike Nolan]

Well, the ones that were plain breadsticks needed more salt, and there wasn't enough cheese in the twisted ones, but enough to tell me that the idea works.

I'm setting several aside for testing in a day or two to see how well they age.

I think I'll try making a full batch of dough and divide it into 3 or 4 parts, with a little extra salt in the recipe. I use less than what it calls for, that's OK for something you're going to put margarine or jam on, or a sandwich bread, but I think for breadsticks it needs more salt, either in the recipe or on the outside of the bread.

I may try mixing in a little rye flour with one part and cheese with another.

[Italiancook]

I made Allrecipes.com Irresistible Irish Soda Bread for the second time. First time was part of a meal to another family. They reported it is, "Delicious." For them, I used the melted butter. For myself, I subbed 3 tablespoons light olive oil, and the bread is, indeed, delicious. I had a slice with LOL Butter/Canola spread and chili. In the afternoon, I had a slice with strawberry jam. I enjoyed the bread both ways. Froze half of it. Hubby likes it, too. This bread doesn't have any fruit in it, which is why I chose to give it away with a meal. Next time I make it, I'm going to reduce salt by 1/4 teaspoon.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/7095/irresistible-irish-soda-bread/?internalSource=hub%20recipe&referringContentType=Search

• This reply was modified 4 years, 5 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

Last night, I tried a new recipe for banana bread. The bananas are sliced instead of mashed. It baked the correct amount of time, but there were holes that had soft banana in them. Looked unappetizing. Eating was unpleasant, because the bread around the bananas was cooked, but the bananas were mushy. Too much change of texture. I threw away the bread. Maybe I needed to slice the bananas thinner. Or, maybe I needed to separate each slice before I put them in the bowl, instead of pushing them off the cutting board together. Maybe this is a cook's error and not the recipe, but I won't try this again.

[BakerAunt]

I've seen such recipes, Italian Cook and wondered about them, since banana is such a soft texture. I tried a fresh peach bread once, with chopped fruit, and these breads are wetter and don't hold up more than a day or so. Even baking apples in breads tend to be better the first day or so.

Thanks for posting about trying this recipe and the results. I'll stick to my mashed banana recipes.

[Mike Nolan]

I found a recipe for 'eggshell rolls' in Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads, I'm planning to try it today to see if it produces something similar to the incredible rolls I had in NYC years ago. (I think those had some rye flour in the dough, but I'll save that for a second attempt.)

You whip some egg whites and mix them into the dough before putting in the second half of the flour. There's also a small amount of sugar and shortening, creamed together before adding. He says the recipe came from a booklet put out by General Mills 40 years ago (which would make back in the 30's or 40's) for commercial bakers.

Surprisingly enough, it does not require refrigerating or freezing the dough before baking, something that PJ Hamel had suggested I try.

[Mike Nolan]

The eggshell rolls are pretty close on texture, I think after they are allowed to cool and are reheated they'll be even closer. Most of this batch I plan to set aside for Thanksgiving.

I wound up adding a lot more flour than the recipe called for, but I think that's consistent with Bernard Clayton recipes I've tried in the past.

The flavor isn't quite where I want it, I think a little rye flour would bring the flavor up a bit. Another possibility is some whole wheat flour, maybe sifting out the bigger pieces of bran.

Increasing the salt a little might help, too, because of all the extra flour I had to add it wound up at about 1.35% salt.

I will cut back on the yeast next time, they rose way too fast. I'd be tempted to take some of the flour, water and yeast and make a preferment to give it more character. (I suspect the ones I had in NYC were made with a starter.)

I'm thinking they might benefit from an egg white glaze, they have kind of a matte finish. I don't know if that would affect the crispness of the surface.

[chocomouse]

I made pie crust using Mrs M's recipe from the old baking circle; it is my go-to, never fail recipe, although it seems to be pretty basic and just like all the others. I'll make it into a cream pie, an old recipe from my husband's family, for Thanksgiving dinner.

I also made KAF's recipe for blitz puff pastry for the first time. It was a bit dry, but I think it will hydrate a little in the refrigerator. I plan to use it for cookies filled with cherry pastry cream and nuts, similar to rugelach or kolache.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 5 months ago by chocomouse.

[BakerAunt]

On Thursday, I baked a new recipe, “Whole Wheat Apple Muffins,” which appeared on p. 24 in the Fall 2019 issue of Sift. I made some changes, as most of the King Arthur Flour muffin recipes are more cupcakes than what I consider muffins. I replaced ½ cup butter with ¼ cup of oil. While I usually use 1/3 cup of oil to ½ cup butter, most muffins are too oily, and this one uses 1 cup of applesauce as well as fresh apple, I knew they would be moist with the lesser amount of oil. I reduced the brown sugar from ¾ to ½ cup, and I cut the salt in half. I added ¼ cup Bob’s Red Mill milk powder and 2 Tbs. flax meal. I increased the fresh apple from ½ to 1 cup and used a Jonathan. I omitted the raisins and reduced the walnuts to 1/3 cup. I sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and some autumn colors decorator sugar. I baked it as six large muffins rather than twelve small ones, in lightly sprayed muffin papers on the middle shelf of my oven for 30 minutes. I had one with my tea at lunch, and my husband also had one with tea. We both like them.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 5 months ago by BakerAunt.

[Mike Nolan]

I've made blitz puff, but to be honest, once you've practiced it, it really doesn't take that much longer in terms of active time (ignoring times the dough is chilling) to make a true laminated dough.

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