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On Monday, I put together the levain for Honey Spelt Sourdough Bread. I had it mixed up at 5 p.m. It sat all night in the cool house, and at 10:30 on Tuesday, I was ready to use it. I went ahead and proofed the yeast in warm water with a tablespoon of the honey, because I am more comfortable seeing the yeast activate. I then stirred it into the levain, along with the additional tablespoon of honey. I put all of that into the pan of the bread machine, then mixed in the additional spelt a cup of KAF all-purpose flour, and the salt. I put it on the dough cycle. It mixes for 5 minutes, then rests for 5 minutes. As the rest was ending, I added the 2 Tbs. of melted butter. Although the recipe had said 1 to 1 1/2 cups AP flour, I did not need that half cup, although the dough was slightly sticky when the bread machine finished the kneading cycle.
I let it rise in a covered bowl for an hour, then I greased the bottom half of my new Emile Henry long bread baker and liberally coated it with semolina. I formed the dough into a rough oval, then covered it on the mat for 10 minutes. I then shaped it by folding the oval in half lengthwise, sealing the edge with my hand, flattening the oval again, then folding it in half lengthwise again, sealing the edge, then rolling it into a cylinder, which I plopped into the baking dish, at which point I had to do a bit more shaping. I covered it with its domed lid. After an hour, it did not seem to have risen quite enough, so I let it go another 20 minutes but slashed it three times after 15 minutes. I then followed the directions for baking, but I moved the oven shelf down one rung, so that the bottom and the top of the baking dish would be centered in the oven. I followed the directions, although my oven may have been 25F hotter on the first ten minutes, since an oven thermometer showed me that it runs 50F hotter from the lower rack. I adjusted accordingly for the lowered bake time for the next 25 minutes, and the additional 5 minutes with the lid off. I baked to 198F. It's cooling on the rack, and it is a beautiful loaf. My husband asked when we can eat it, and I told him it should be cooled by dinner time.
Here is the Emile Henry Covered Loaf Baker that I used:
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/long-covered-baker-glazed
It had been on sale for 20% off, and I had a Baker's Buck coupon, so it was a good deal. I used a recipe that was used in the King Arthur catalog for their 9x5 inch Emile Henry baker. With that 9x5 baker, however, people commented on how it was difficult to turn out the bread since its bottom section had no handles. The long baker has handles on both top and bottom, and I like its shape.
I'll add a note to this post about crumb and taste after dinner tonight.
Added Note: It's a wonderful bread with a chewier crust (did not reach crispy) and some of the larger holes that we like to see in "artisan" breads. I'm amazed that a bread recipe with 4 cups of spelt to 1 cup KAF all-purpose produced such a light interior texture. The levain was certainly a factor, but the dish likely helped as well, as it kept the steam in.
On Tuesday morning, I baked Pumpkin-Oat Muffins with a streusel topping. The muffin recipe was adapted from a Taste of Home recipe, and the topping was from another pumpkin muffin recipe in a an old Pillsbury cook booklet. For some reason, the warm muffins stuck to the muffin papers, although usually I do not have that problem with this brand of muffin papers. Perhaps they will come off more cleanly after the muffins cool completely.
Added Note: Yes, the muffin papers come off almost cleanly when the muffins are at room temperature. I'll make a note to save them for muffins that will be eaten when cooled.
On Sunday, I mixed up the dough for a double recipe of my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers. I'll bake them later this week. Today, I mixed up the levain for Honey Spelt Sourdough Bread. The recipe was in a recent KAF catalog, but it is also on their website. I have a new Emile Henry long bread baker that I will be trying out tomorrow.
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/honey-spelt-sourdough-bread-recipe
KAF sometimes talks about the "bakeable capacity" of some of its Bundt pans. I believe that they say 6 cups of batter for a 10 cup Bundt pan.
See:
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/original-classic-bundt-pan
On Saturday afternoon, I baked Pecan Lime Cookies, which is my version using pecans of "Macadamia Lime Cookies," which appears in Nick Malgieri's Cookies Unlimited, p. 188. When we moved from Texas, we brought the lime tree that I've had for over twelve years, and it had one lime on it this year, just enough for one batch of cookies. I still have plenty of pecans.
This Thursday evening, I have been baking two loaves of my Buttermilk Grape Nuts bread. One will be for lunches over the next week, and the other one will go into the freezer for now. My husband does not mind my experimenting with other breads, as long as I regularly bake this one, as it is his favorite.
Thursday morning, I baked "Onion Parmesan Cracker Bread," from Sift (Fall 2017), p. 9. The recipe was entered by Rosemary Leicht of Bethel, Ohio, in The National Festival of Breads, a competition held every other year, in Manhattan, Kansas. Although the recipe stated to bake at 450 on a baking stone for 8-10 minutes, the first one burned, mostly around the edges, but even further into the center. I baked the second and third ones for 7 minutes each. The second one did well, but the edge of the third one burned. I baked the last one for 6 minutes and 45 seconds, and it came out very well. I should note that I'm currently baking with an old, avocado green oven that does not regulate heat as well as it might, and which does NOT have a window. I also used my Superstone Baking Stone. It was my very first stone, and is about 1/2-inch thick, and only just big enough for these 12-inch flat breads. Perhaps I should have heated up the large Emile Henry one I use for pizza, but cutting the time did produce an unburned product. These are good with soup, and would be good with spreads or dips.
I wish that I could say that I will be baking recipes from the recently released Holiday issue of Sift, but as of Nov. 6, KAF is sold out (it was only released at the end of October), and none of the stores in the next town had it when I looked yesterday. Barnes and Noble is a much longer drive away, and they do not sell it on the internet site.
