[aaronatthedoublef]

We were in Iceland last week for a long anticipated family vacation. We'd been planning this since 2018 and were going to go in Dec. of 2019. We decided to wait until Summer of 2020 when it would be warmer and have longer days.

It was wonderful and only a little warmer - it hit a high of 50 a couple of days. But there was no snow and almost no night.

I'm attaching a couple of photos of a Lava Bread "baking" session. We didn't bake it or even mix the ingredients. They seal up the mix in a pot and bury it in a geothermal hotspot for 24 hours then take it out, cool it in the glacial runoff lake nearby, and unseal it. We watched as one loaf was uncovered and opened and as another was buried.

The leavener is baking powder so it is more Rye quick bread. But it also has TWO CUPS of SUGAR. So we decided it is more cake than bread. It is springy and light and, as you might guess, very sweet. It was good with butter or smoked trout from the lake.

The yeasted breads are noticeably salty. It's as if the Icelanders took all the salt the Tuscans and Umbrians don't use and put it in their bread.

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[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks for the link Mike. I know the Original Pancake house from my brothers. There was also one in suburban Seattle.

I've had Dutch Babies here in New England. There is a place - Bickford's Pancake House - here in New England that is known for them. I think Bickford's is mostly in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

My mom used to make German pancakes which, I think, are similar and probably easier than regular pancakes if you're feeding a crowd. She would make a couple in pie tins in the oven instead of standing in front of a stove.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Challah really is a fine balance. I tend to make a wetter dough because I have a better crumb that way and a softer interior. It's something my mom figured out and I picked up from her long before I knew about "hydration". And being baked just enough, not too much or too little because it shouldn't be dry and it definitely shouldn't be doughy. I've had that and it is very unpleasant.

I like loaves to be pumper in the middle but I'm coming to realize that is an ascetic too. Some people like them straight without any taper at the end.

And crust color is a topic that can go on for pages and pages and everyone has an opinion.

And, what I did not realize before Mike sent the link to the page with all the different egg washes, was how many egg washes there are and what they all do. I've lost the link but I have the page printed out.

The original recipe I started used an egg and an egg white. I just used an egg because I didn't want to waste an egg or worry about saving and then reusing a yolk. Then I added some water to loosen it.

The dark one came out dark because my oven heats from the back not the bottom and it was closest to the back.

Thanks

[aaronatthedoublef]

People are always dinged in baking challenges for not toasting their nuts these days. The one or two dishes I make with nuts call for toasting but in at least one of them that is to help remove the skins as much as for flavor.

Thanks for all your kind words about my pictures. I did not think they looked great which is part of the reason I started posting them. I see so many single, perfect things on Instagram and I wanted to show that not everything has to be camera-ready to be good and to feed people. I'm more impressed by a dozen loaves with basic scoring than one loaf with lots of intricate, fancy designs cut into it (although those are cool).

Oh, and Len, the dark loaf was gone in under 12 hours and my wife and I only had one piece. With Sam home from college, we're back to two teenage boys who boy eat tons of bread.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I thought that's where kouign amann came from: leftovers and unusable croissants.

Good luck and happy Father's Day in advance.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Hi BA. The bread sounds good. Did you toast the almonds first?

I made KAF's crumb coffeecake from their big baking book for our contractors yesterday. I use half the crumb because making all of it use way too much butter, even for me. It also makes it less sweet and highlights the cake's flavor which is very good. I may need to use more as the top looks bald. I could always make the full amount of crumb and save some out.

This morning I made apple pie pancakes. I just caramelize some apples and add cinamon. I should probably add some nutmeg too but no one in my family likes nutmeg.

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[aaronatthedoublef]

Happy birthday Cass! I have always enjoyed your writings.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made challah for the first time in about a year. It took three tries to shape one well. I put them all on one half sheet so they grew together, but I knew that would happen. And one was a little dark. But the inside is really nice. This is the closest my challah has been to what my mom made as I've ever made.

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[aaronatthedoublef]

Friends had a jazz concert/lemonade stand/bake sale yesterday so I baked some a few dozen oatmeal coconut chocolate chip cookies for that.

I baked two loaves of my sourdough that has been blowing out on me and I am proud to say I managed it with NO BLOWOUTS! I let it rise overnight in the basement - about 65 - instead of the fridge - 38 - and then left it rise upstairs - about 73 to 75 - for about four hours before deeply slashing it then baking.

My oven was too cool when I put it in - 350 - so I did not have as much oven spring as I like and the gluten was not developed enough so the loaves were flatter but the bread looks nice and my boys like it. I've started slicing these loaves in half then cutting slices the long way. It can make better sandwiches that way.

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[aaronatthedoublef]

BA, thanks for the tips on fats. What I like about coconut oil over avocado oil is that it's solid at room temp. But if it's as bad for me as butter then I'll take butter any day.

And I think I'll skip einhorn right now. it's at least $4/lb so unless there is something out-of-this-world wonderful about it einhorn is not worth the price.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Never thought about just putting it on a pan covered by a Dutch oven.

The part I like about a cloche is that I don't have to drop a ball of wet dough into a 400+ degree Dutch oven. So by flipping it upside down I can put the dough on a pan over oven lid then put the oven on as a cover. It uses a the Dutch oven as a cloch.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made a double batch of KAB potato buns. I already made a single batch earlier in the week.

Sam is home! And Henry likes whatever takes the least effort for him to eat so since he doesn't have to cut these he eats them too.

It seems like they have a lot of salt so I doubled the recipe without doubling the salt and they taste good. I also subbed out a quarter of the white flour for whole wheat.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Has anyone ever tried turning a Dutch oven upside down? I would need to figure out something for the knob on the lid but it might work.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks everyone. I have a couple of options but I think I'm done with the Taylor dial oven thermometers. Maybe the infrared pen or a probe I can hang.

[aaronatthedoublef]

They proofed for about two hours. I probably could have scored them deeper.

Next time. Thanks

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