[BakerAunt]

Many thanks to all of you for the birthday wishes. I enjoy being a part of this group, which helps me keep growing as a baker.

I am savoring my Bischofsbrot birthday cake. It's even better than I remember it.

[BakerAunt]

I, alas, live in a Costco desert, so there is no point in having a membership.

I own a couple of the 25 pound flour containers that I bought from KAF back when they were shipping 25 lb. bags of flour. I used to keep them stacked in the kitchen and fill smaller ones as needed.

[BakerAunt]

Len--I only add baking soda for quick breads or cakes, if they do not already use baking soda. If they have only baking powder, I substitute 1/4 tsp. baking soda for 1 tsp. of the baking powder, since as Cass told me, baking soda has four times the rising power of baking powder. Of course, it disappears faster, so the batter needs to get into the oven quickly.

[BakerAunt]

I've baked Len's buns as a loaf of bread and as buns, and my experience is that the recipe is at its finest in buns--soft and delicious. I've always put in buttermilk. I usually get good browning, and I don't use baking powder.

[BakerAunt]

I'm very pleased with the Bishofsbrot. It's still a very firm cake (bring out the serrated knife to saw through the crust on the sides and bottom). The fruit stayed in place, as I thought it would given that the batter to fruit, nuts, and chocolate proportions are so high in relationship to the flour. While replacing the currants with the golden raisins changes the overall flavor slightly, I can happily eat it this way as well. The bittersweet chocolate chips are great in this recipe, as it sets off the fruits and nuts nicely.

[BakerAunt]

I recently read about raisins, so I chose the correct answer.

[BakerAunt]

My post disappeared after I edited it, so here it is again:

On Monday I baked Bischofsbrot. The recipe is posted here at Nebraska Kitchen. I began a thread about substituting oil for melted butter, read the responses from Mike and Aaron, then did a tweak. I also substituted 3/4 barley flour for that much of the AP. My experience is that barley flour gives a bit softer texture, rather like cake flour or whole wheat pastry flour. I had no currents, so I used golden raisins in their place. The cake--which is what it is--baked well, and came out of the pan easily. (I used a fresh batch of the Grease, which seems to me to work best when its freshest, although I always stir it up when it has been sitting.) I'll slice it on Tuesday and report back on the other thread.

On Monday evening, as we were out of bread, I baked two loaves of my Buttermilk Sunflower Oat Wheat Bread, substituting in an extra 1/2 cup whole wheat flour for that much bread flour. the bread rose and baked well. These are 9x5 pan loaves. I'll freeze one.

[BakerAunt]

On Monday afternoon, I baked Bischofsbrot (recipe here at Nebraska Kitchen), replacing the 6 Tbs. of melted butter with 4 Tbs. oil whisked with 2 Tbs. buttermilk. I used one cup of bittersweet chocolate chips that I bought from KAF before the high cholesterol was diagnosed. I’m allowing myself the chocolate splurge since I replaced the butter in this cake. I didn’t have currents, so I used half golden raisins and half regular raisins. The regular ones were a bit dry, so I put a little hot water over them and let them sit, then blotted them dry with paper towels. I had about eighteen maraschino cherries left in a jar, so I used all of them. I replaced ¾ of the AP flour with barley flour.

After making a fresh batch of the Grease, I used it to coat the pan, and once baked the cake released beautifully. I accidentally had the oven on convection for the first 30 minutes, but changed it back to regular baking, rotating the loaf pan at that time. The cake tested done at 90 minutes. I really like using the stand mixer for this recipe as the eggs must be beaten for a while at high speed, then the sugar added 2 Tbs. at a time, then continue until the mixture is thick. When I first started baking this recipe, I used a hand mixer, and even then, it was hard on my arm, not to mention having to stop to add the sugar.

I also am baking two loaves of my Buttermilk Sunflower Oat Wheat Bread, with an additional ½ cup of whole wheat flour replacing that much bread flour. I reduced the sunflower seeds to 2/3 cup. The bread is on its first rise, so it will be a late evening.

• This reply was modified 6 years ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I took it out after 90 minutes, having turned it around at the time I discovered the convection was on and switched back to regular. It seems to have baked well, with an aroma that wafted upstairs to my husband. I used the Grease on my pan, and the bread came out nicely after cooling for 15 minutes. We will slice it tomorrow, at which time I'll comment on taste and texture.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks, Mike and Aaron. I decided to use 4 Tbs. oil whisked together with 2 Tbs. of buttermilk. My dark raisins were a bit dry, so I hydrated them, then blotted them mostly dry with a paper towel. The Bischofsbrot is in the oven. Unfortunately, I had the convection feature on for the first 30 minutes. Sigh. It's easy to do when setting the dial, which has to be turned to the left to reduce the pre-set temperature of 350f.

However, so far, it looks good.

[BakerAunt]

On Tuesday, with three inches of snow on the ground outside, I made pea soup for lunch. I had to use green split peas, as I have not been able to find yellow ones locally or at a reasonable shipping cost, but I like green pea soup as well. My husband is not a fan, so I get to eat the whole batch myself. It goes well with the crispbread that I baked last week.

[BakerAunt]

I got this.

[BakerAunt]

I do use the Baker's Special dry milk in my yeast breads. In all my other baking, I use Bob's Red Mill milk powder, which I prefer to the granular stuff I find in stores. I don't taste the powdered milk in what I bake. I did try adding a tsp. to my oatmeal, and I did notice and not care for it. I'll only do that again if we are out of milk.

My mother liked to mix powdered milk and combine it with regular milk to stretch it. We kids drank it but preferred the straight milk at my grandmother's house. I'm not sure if it were a matter of cost or nutrition or both with my mother's mixing of the two.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks, Mike. I thought it was rather odd. I looked up the recipe I plan to bake on the KAF website:

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/raisin-pecan-rye-bread-recipe

The recipe there states "salt," not "artisan bread salt." I've noticed with KAF recipes that the catalog will often list a specific ingredient that would need to be ordered, but if I go to the website, there is usually a substitution available.

I use "sea salt," so I'm not going to worry about a special salt for this bread. I also never try to bake with Kosher salt or any large crystal salt. I save it for cracker topping.

[BakerAunt]

We're having leftover hamburger stroganoff on brown and mixed rice, with microwaved mixed vegetables from the freezer. I like having leftovers.

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