[BakerAunt]

Hey, Len--if it isn't broken....

The design on the two pumpkin breads seemed a bit clearer today, although not as sharp as I'd like. I took the second loaf to a friend who injured her leg over a month ago, and had the injury made worse by an inattentive physical therapist who relies on subordinates. She, her husband, and their son were delighted to get the loaf.

[BakerAunt]

My educated guess was correct.

[BakerAunt]

I'm enjoying the bread discussion and making notes.

I baked my version of Whole Grain Pumpkin Bread (on Nebraska Kitchen site) on Friday afternoon. I used two 9x5 inch Nordic Ware loaf pans with pumpkin design. However, one pan has a darker finish than the other, and it overbaked—not badly, but since I hope to give one of the loaves as a gift, it will be the one we keep. The design did not come out particularly sharp on either, possibly because I had to use old-fashioned oats, as I am out of quick oats. I should have ground them a bit. The breads did release nicely from the pan, thanks to The Grease.

[BakerAunt]

I own two of them, but my attempt to bake a recipe from The Cake Bible did not go well, no doubt due to my ignorance about cakes at that time.

According to the latest issue of Sift, which listed five new cookbooks, it seems that Bernard Clayton's Small Breads (1998) may be being reissued, as it was listed with four other cookbooks from 2018 and 2019.

[BakerAunt]

I also got it right.

[BakerAunt]

In case anyone wants even more background on candy corn:

https://www.marketplace.org/2019/10/30/history-candy-corn/?utm_campaign=Marketplace+Midday_Newsletter_20191031_134823&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sfmc_Newsletter&utm_content=Financial%20Frights%20%f0%9f%8e%83

[BakerAunt]

Susan Reid was editing Sift. P.J. has now handed over the weekly blog to a new person. I don't know if she still does occasional articles.

I wonder if tall Frank is still among the bakers. He would pop into the Baking Circle with excellent advice.

[BakerAunt]

Aaron--I measure my flour in the KAF approved way of spooning it into a cup and leveling it off. When the recipe bombed the second time I made it--the time I used KAF's metric weights, I thought it was due to using Bob's Red Mill spelt flour rather than KAF's more expensive spelt. Nope. I went back to volume and got the great result with BRM that I had gotten with KAF's spelt.

[BakerAunt]

Thursday night's dinner was salmon and couscous with Penzey's Mural seasoning. I had the last few green beans from our garden, and my husband had the little bit of broccoli that he managed to save after the two caterpillar attacks.

Halloween has also brought us our first snow, a wet one, so it isn't sticking. The wood stove (and new insulation in the house) is keeping us cozy.

[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, 7 months 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, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months 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.

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