[BakerAunt]

I thought that Sift was becoming increasingly glitzy in trying to appeal to the demographic that Zen (now Pyewacket) dubbed "boutique bakers." I find that ironic in that this group is the most unlikely to pick up the magazine. The former publication, The Baking Sheet, in its last two iterations before ceasing publication, were more focused on the practical baker. With those publications I felt that I belonged to a group of bakers that wanted to learn and grow. I never felt that with Sift, which had a bit for beginning bakers but seemed to focus more on less everyday items.

I don't think King Arthur will have another regular publication.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

We prefer smaller buns and rolls as well. I use metric for dividing them for shaping--much easier to do the math!--and usually have a bun that is around 70 grams. The last time we grilled hamburgers--summer of 2018!--I used Ellen's (Moomie's) recipe and made them a bit larger.

[BakerAunt]

I'm not sure what KAF uses for converting its recipes to metric weights, but when I made a mostly spelt bread, I discovered that it only comes out well if I use their volume measurements. When I checked, volume against grams, the grams listed were much lower than what the flour actually weighs. Thus, the bread didn't work with the gram measurements and the dough was too wet, but when I used the volume measurements, I had a nice loaf of bread. Here's the recipe.

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/honey-spelt-sourdough-bread-recipe

I posted a comment, but KAF did not respond to it. Although another person mentions no problem with weights, I wonder if that person was using the English (used to be listed) rather than the metric weights. I seem to recall that I noted a discrepancy with metric measurements in another recipe as well. So, for KAF recipes, I don't trust the metric weights, and I measure by volume.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Not only does baking brownies while waiting for the loaves to rise keep you from sitting idle, it also gets the oven warmed up so it is ready for the loaves. Good thinking.

I admire your ability to shuttle ingredients from one location to another. When I took along my bread machine and ingredients for cinnamon rolls for my husband's cousins reunion, I premeasured all the ingredients, except for the oil, and packed each into its own rising bucket. I worried about not having a bit of extra flour, in case it was needed, but the weather cooperated.

Thanks for the link to The Rye Baker. I have Ginsberg's book, but I had forgotten that there is a blog. I've now subscribed.

[BakerAunt]

Then there is whole wheat pastry flour, but Bob's Red Mill is 8-11%. KAF whole wheat pastry flour, which I don't have, has 8% protein.

I might use the white whole wheat, since it tends to have a finer grind.

[BakerAunt]

I guessed incorrectly.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks for finding the recipe and doing the math, Mike. I've printed it for reference.

I did some googling, and King Arthur AP flour has a protein content of 11.7, so I'd use that instead of bread flour. I looked at whole wheat. I have KAF white whole wheat (13% protein) and Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat, which both appear to have 13% protein.

I'm not going to try that Jack-o-lantern stamp. I compared it to two Kaiser stamps that I have (one heavy plastic and one acrylic), and it's a lot smaller. I think starting with the regular one might be a better plan. I will let you know when I bake these and how they turn out.

[BakerAunt]

Wow! That's a neat cake, Mike!

On Wednesday, I made up another batch of my Lower Saturated Fat, Whole Wheat, Sourdough, Cheese Cracker dough. I’ll bake them sometime next week.

I also experimented with “Easy Italian Whole Wheat Honey Breakfast Cookies,” a recipe that I’ve been adapting since last year. This time I used ¾ cup white whole wheat flour and ½ cup barley flour. I used the full teaspoon of vanilla, but I had no orange zest, and so omitted it. After I mixed the dough, I refrigerated it, covered, for about 2 ½ hours before I could get back to it. I divided it into 9 sections, formed each into a ball, then used my Nordic Ware Halloween heavy cookie stamps. The designs came out clearly, and I didn’t have an issue with the dough sticking to the stamps. I baked for 14 minutes on a parchment covered sheet. The designs held up, although the pumpkin is a little faint. That stamp is not as deep as it could be. It may be that the dough was a bit warm, since I stamped the three pumpkins last. I seem to recall reading in a molded cookie book that cookies sweetened with honey hold designs better than cookies that use sugar. I’ll have to look that up. I’m pleased that I could bake a special Halloween cookie and could again use my stamps. I may try this recipe with cookie cutters as well.

[BakerAunt]

For dinner on Wednesday, I made my adaptation of my mother’s hamburger stroganoff, which we had over a blend of wild and brown rice, with microwaved broccoli as a side dish. Instead of low-fat sour cream in the stroganoff, I used Fage 2% Greek yogurt (on sale at store), and it worked well.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks, S. Wirth. The recipe looks good, although I don't have any old dough available to use. In looking online, I noted that Fleischmann's has a recipe that like this one uses bread flour.

[BakerAunt]

I answered incorrectly, but I have learned what I need to do when using garlic.

[BakerAunt]

Alexa doesn't bake. 🙂

[BakerAunt]

Those who missed it were probably mislead by the old adage: "A pint's a pound the world around." Clearly popular thought was wrong about that.

[BakerAunt]

I selected the correct answer in spite of my husband's lecturing me on why the metric system is more valuable since 1 milliliter equals 1 gram. I pointed out that was not the question I was asked to answer. (I may have also said something about do you want to cook your own dinner....) 🙂

• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I made an experimental soup for lunch today (and into the week). I used Penzey's beef base and hot water, and the liquid left from cooking the lima beans last week. I sautéed some onion, celery, and carrots, before adding the liquids, a scant cup barley, and rosemary, thyme, a bay leaf, and a dash of sweet Paprika. As it turns out, I didn't have enough substance in the soup, so I pulled out 15 oz. of garbanzo beans that I had frozen and added them. It's an ok soup and will get me through the next few days, which are supposed to be rather chilly.

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