BakerAunt
Forum Replies Created
-
I had a bag of cranberries in one of the two fruit and vegetable drawers in the refrigerator that should have been used long ago. I pulled it out and after sorting had about a cup of useable fruit. I have a favorite recipe for Cranberry Scones that came with my Nordic Ware scone pan. (It’s the same recipe that appears in Biscuits and Scones, by Elizabeth Alston, pp. 32-33). I recalled Skeptic making a faux scone with oil, and I decided to try adapting this recipe by substituting 1/3 cup oil for ½ cup butter. I usually make it with 1/3 whole wheat pastry flour, but this time I used 50% whole wheat pastry flour. I whisked the oil and buttermilk together for a minute until frothy, which is what I do for my pie crust, before adding the egg. I coated the scone pan with The Grease, baked for 25 minutes, then cooled in the pan for 15 minutes. That is how I came to have tea and a scone on Tuesday afternoon. Although it will never have the texture and taste of a butter scone, it is delicious in its own right, with a firmer texture than a muffin but still crumbly.
Clearly I lucked out with my unconventional starter over 25 years ago. Mine used 1 cup of skim or low-fat milk (cannot recall which I used), 3 Tbs. plain yogurt, and 1 cup of flour. I may not even have been using King Arthur flour at that time. I looked at the directions, and initially the warm milk (100F) was mixed with 3 Tbs. yogurt (no idea what kind; it might have been my homemade yogurt). After 18-24 hours in a warm place and a curd formed, the flour was mixed in. It was covered tightly (I use a glass jar with a rubber or silicone gasket and a wire closure) and left it in a warm place for 2-5 days until it was full of bubbles. From then on, I used it regularly and fed it, and it lives in my refrigerator. Once or twice it was neglected longer than it should have been, but I was able to bring it back. It moved to Texas with me, in its own little cooler, and it moved to Indiana in the same small cooler. My husband thought it was weird to have it in the refrigerator, until I started making the sourdough crackers and pizza crust. He's become a sourdough convert.
I've given starter from it to three people over the years, but I don't think any of them kept it going.
Thank you for posting the ingredient list, Italian Cook. It seems that Limpa bread has a LOT of variations. I ran into a similar problem with Pfeffernusse, before finally finding a recipe in the L.A. Times that produced the version I remembered and enjoyed, and still enjoy.
On the subject of new bakers, here's a link to a short (11 minute) NPR story on the science of making bread:
https://www.npr.org/2020/04/13/833428230/the-science-of-making-bread
