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Thanks for posting the link to the video, Mike.
In my high school German club, we had an Apfelstrudel social every year. Our teacher and club advisor had a recipe, and we would gather to make the strudels. She would have people stand around the table and work as a group to stretch the strudel dough. We sold it by the slice, except for one strudel that was auctioned off. Frau Hodjera, our instructor, usually managed to be the one to buy it!
I was only able to participate for one year because one had to be in second year German before being allowed into German club, and then in my senior year, Frau Hodjera went on sabbatical. I only peeled apples the first year, so I never got to do the dough stretching--something that I've regretted since my interest in baking increased.
After dinner on Tuesday, I put together a new recipe, Blueberry-Barley Pinwheel Scones, from Bob's Red Mill:
https://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes/how-to-make/blueberry-barley-pinwheel-scones/
These sit unbaked overnight in the refrigerator, then are to be baked in the morning. Having come this far, I found the recipe has some issues. The first one was with the website. When I printed the recipe, part of the section at the end of #1, until #4, was omitted. (I felt, in a much lesser sense, that I was in the technical challenge of the Great British Bake Off, but unlike those contestants, I was able to go to the computer, copy the portion that would not print, paste it into a word document and print it.)
The dough was very sticky--little wonder that the instructions say to make liberal use of flour. I think that 3/4 cup half and half is too much, although perhaps the barley flour will absorb more of the liquid? I've used barley flour in other scone recipes, and I can't say that it seemed to absorb an unusual amount. If I make the recipe again, I might cut the half and half, and only add more as needed. I was able to get the filled dough rolled up, by using my bowl scraper to help it along, but the sticking caused a couple of tears.
I used some of my three-berry jam (blackberry, strawberry, blueberry) for the filling. I did not coat the rolled-up dough in poppy seeds because my husband has issues with poppy seed. I used KAF sparkling sugar, in part because I thought it needs something on the outside to form a "skin". I was able to cut the rolled-up dough with dental floss, as I do with yeast rolls. I ended up cutting the roll into 16 pieces that stayed together reasonably well when transferred to a parchment-lined baking sheet. I've covered it with saran and refrigerated it. I will bake it tomorrow morning and add a note.
NOTE: These baked into wonderfully light little “biscuits” with jam swirled inside. After seeing the result, I would probably use only a smidge less half and half—perhaps 2/3 cup instead of 3/4 cup. I also wonder if letting the dough rest in the refrigerator, after forming it into a rectangle but before putting the jam on it, would give the barley flour time to absorb the liquid and make it a bit easier to roll up the filled dough.
Additional disclaimer: I did the mixing by hand rather than using a food processor.
I baked Whole Wheat Sourdough Crackers on Sunday afternoon, from the dough I made a week ago Saturday. They should have been baked on Wednesday or Thursday, but life intervened. These have a stronger sourdough flavor, so I’m surprised that my husband, who says he does not like sourdough, has commented on their tastiness.
I also baked a Blueberry Galette. I had a Fruit Galette with Buckwheat Crust that came into my mail box from Bon Appetit. The BA staff member used blueberries instead of the given strawberry-rhubarb filling, but did not say how the filling needed to be changed for blueberries. Then when I read that the person, a rookie baker, used waxed paper instead of parchment paper, I lost confidence in approaching that recipe. I have suspected for some time, based on their email recipes, that Bon Appetit, in its quest for the "Millennial” audience, has been focusing on trend foods, and perhaps they thought illustrating the human error of this baker was a good thing. I’ve not seen an issue of the magazine for years, so I do not know if it reflects their emails.
I went back online and found a Blueberry Galette recipe at Everyday Dorrie, which is Dorrie Greenspan’s website. The recipe is from her 2014 Baking Chez Moi:
Of course, I used her recipe! The doughs were almost the same, except hers used all AP flour. I substituted in ¼ cup of buckwheat flour, so consider my galette rustic! Her recipe is also designed for blueberries. I made up the galette dough in the morning. While she uses a food processor, I did mine by hand. She instructs you to roll out the dough after it has come together, instead of leaving it in a disc, and then having to bring it to temperature and roll it out later. I made a 12-inch circle (although she does not give a thickness, 1/8th-inch thick is perfect), then stuck it in the refrigerator for several hours. My husband is not a fan of ginger, so I substituted 1/8th tsp. allspice and a couple of scrapes of freshly grated nutmeg. I used Panko for the bread crumbs. After assembling the galette, I brushed the crust with heavy cream and sprinkled it with sugar.
I just took it out of this old avocado green oven, which is increasingly hard to set to a specific temperature. [If you are wondering about the kitchen remodel, so am I. The contractor keeps putting us off.] The galette did have some juices leak out, which I've read is typical and the reason why the baker should always use a rimmed pan, which I did. I'll add a note tonight after we sample the galette for dessert.
Promised Note: Delicious! The pastry is nice and flaky and the filling is slightly tart, which is fine with us. We had it with a bit of vanilla ice cream on the side.
