[skeptic7]

I did the KAF Sourdough Rye desert Focaccio, and it turned out soft and gooey. I think I underbaked it. Its a very elaborate recipe with lots of wait time built in -- Make Levain and wait -- make dough and wait -- stretch and fold and wait and stretch and fold -- then let rise in peace for 4-5 hours, then form it into a cylinder and place on baking sheet and refrigerate overnight. It was soft and sticky and hard to handle but I think I manaaged that part. The difficulty came in finding enough room in the refrigerator for a half sheet tray. I didn't bake it long enough, but the plum topping probably didn't help as it added extra liquid to the dough.
I don't know if there will be a next time for this recipe, but I might just leave out the plums. It might be easier to bake with just almond honey topping. Or a half recipe in a large cast iron frying pan might cook better.

[skeptic7]

Happy Anniversary.

I did Jane Brody's Pumpkin-Rye bread again, just a single load's worth without any molasses. I think it came out well, but I haven't had any feed back. I made it for a friend who is diabetic. I also did a sugarless pumpkin cream cheese spread to go with the pumpkin-rye bread.

I also made maple-walnut granola in the slow cooker. It cooked on low for around 4 hours, and was probably over cooked. Its has a slightly smoked/charred taste. Next time I'll try to cook for around three hours.

I'm starting the sponge to to the Dessert Rye Focaccio recipe tomorrow. I'm going to let the sponge sit for around 18-24 hours to see if it gets sour enough to compensate for the lack of a sour dough starter.

[skeptic7]

That is splendid!! Are the flowers appliqued on? And you did THREE of them? One dress would be a masterpiece. Were they all the same sizes? What part are you most proud of?

[skeptic7]

Chocomouse;
For me candied orange peel is a seasonable activity -- winter season when the house is cold and dry and can use extra humidity in the air. My orange peel is in the refrigerator, I used to think it was dry enough and sugary enough that it could be stored in the cabinet. Now I refrigerated it to prevent mold.

I'm doing a beef stew from an old and tried recipe. Its the recipe for Beef Stew with Burgandy in "The Cookbook Decoder" by Arthur E. Grosser 1981. I've loved this cookbook since I got it, which was either a gift from my brother, or a theft from the same brother. Now I'm looking at it with new eyes. It asks for 4 onions and 2 carrots. Today I am using 1 large onion and 4 small carrots. This is so horribly imprecise. 4 onions could be a pound of onions or half a pound. Carrots can be small and skinny or large and fat.

The recipe calls for flouring the beef cubes and searing them to seal in the juices. This is now known not to work. I do it anyway for the flavor, and because I like the thicker juice caused by adding flour to the stew. The recipe says the stew beef should be in 1 inch cubes. I've done that before, but today I thought it too small and fussy and am using larger hunks.

I wish this recipe was more precise with respect to the ingredients, but one of the things I learned from this recipe is that stews don't need to be precise. 2 carrots make a good stew, so do 4 carrots. Some celery is a good addition, also some turnips. 1 1/2 cups of burgandy is good, 2 cups of California red is good. If I was eschewing alcohol, I could put in a couple of cups of V8.

[skeptic7]

Jane; BakerAunt;
I need to try this again but leave out the molasses, and cut the recipe down to make only one loaf. I might try a half recipe but put it in a large loaf pan to get something that looks like a normal loaf of bread. I think the rye makes it flatter and gives it a richer taste than a pumpkin whole wheat yeast bread.
I think I am using something called Dark Rye Flour from my local coop. Since I was using a sponge and it was a warm day, I only used 1 teaspoon of yeast.
I've finished eating one loaf of the bread, it was wonderful with cream cheese. I've given the other round boule away and the last is in the freezer to be given away Saturday.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by skeptic7.

[skeptic7]

Joan, hope your sister gets better.

[skeptic7]

On Sunday morning I baked a second batch of Strawberry Spoon cake and delivered it to a friend.
The day before I started mixing Pumpkin-Rye bread from Jane Brody's Good Food Gourmet. It is about 1/3 rye flour and 2/3 whole wheat flour. I chose to use this recipe instead of the Ginsburg recipe many of you recommended because the recipe is in volume not weight. I subsituted 6 cups whole wheat flour for the 6 1/2 cups all purpose flour. I also started off with a short sponge using the rye flour and milk. The rye flour dough looked so wierd. Its an odd grayish color. I was tired by the time the dough was mixed together so I put it into the refrigerator overnight.
On Sunday I kneaded the dough and formed into 3 large pans, one large loaf and 2 round boules.
I let it rise but it is flatter and denser than a wheat bread. I had originally planned to give one loaf to a diabetic friend, but the recipe calls for molasses and I can't give this friend anything with sugars.

[skeptic7]

I did cornmeal strawberry spoonbread on Tuesday. I beat the egg whites and the egg yolks until stiff and then folded them into the batter. Probably not a good idea. It rose high when baked and then gradually collapsed. I gave the whole thing away to a friend who liked it, but I don't know what the texture was like. Also I used 8 oz of frozen strawberries mashed with sugar instead of sliced fresh strawberries.

Strawberry spoon bread

[skeptic7]

I use a heavy duty flat whisk for mixing most batters. It serves the same purpose as KAF dough whisk but is easier to clean. Lets see if I can find a picture on Amazon. I'm not sure if this is the same size. If there are two sizes, the smaller is more useful.

[skeptic7]

I am back to wearing masks in public places indoors, and sometimes outdoors. I finished a batch of masks just before I finished my vaccines and thought they were going to go unused. Now I'll probably end up using them. I had just started to enjoy shopping for amusement and being free to travel when the Delta variant showed up, now I am back to only doing essential trips.

[skeptic7]

I made strawberry spoon bread from the NY times recipe. Its somewhat like a corn spoon bread, but there are some striking differences, its made with wheat flour instead of corn meal, it doesn't have any eggs and it does have lots of butter and sugar. It also has strawberries macerated with brown sugar and their juices added into it. The texture ends up very like a spoon bread. I had hoped to give it away but couldn't connect with the friend I had in mind. He likes everything strawberry. I ended up eating it myself with ice cream. The texture also reminded me of a bread pudding. Its much softer than a bread or cake. This was on Saturday.

[skeptic7]

I did a double batch of blueberry quick bread -- its my blueberry scone recipe, but baked in a 9x13 pan. I'll be giving half of it to a friend for a birthday present.

[skeptic7]

I did the White Sugar Sponge Cake again. This time I tried cooking it in a water bath in a slow cooker as if it was Boston Brown Bread. Took about an hour to cook and turned out very nicely, same appearance and texture as if it had been steamed, but I didn't have to watch it as closely.
Its the sort of dish to be made during the winter when the air is dry and additional moisture is to be enjoyed not avoided.

[skeptic7]

I don't know if this counts as "baking" but I did a Chinese steamed pastry. I remember my mother describing this, so I sent an email to my remaining uncle on that side of my family, and my cousins to ask about this desert. My cousins said that my aunts liked it and used to buy it as treats after brunch, and my uncle said it was a common desert in Hawaii. I bought the rice flour necessary some time ago, but just got the courage to try this on Sunday. It actually came out fairly well but I found it very sticky when first cooked, but its more manageable after refrigerating over night.

White Sugar Sponge Cake (Bai Tang Gao – 白糖糕)

[skeptic7]

I did blueberry scones again from blueberries from the farmer's market. I baked it in a square frying pan so I could cut it up in slices later and warm them up by grilling with butter in a hot frying pan. Horribly decadent and slices are easier to refry then wedges and offer so much more surface to have buttered and toasted. This recipe was nearly healthy with oil instead of butter before I discovered this trick.
Oh for all you rye and sourdough bakers, is there a way to compensate for lack of sourdough starter. I don't really want to keep one. If I make a starter the day before and let it ferment will this add enough acid? I am looking at this recipe. If I make the starter with 1/2 cup of water and 1 cup of flour and 1/2 teaspoon of yeast the day before will everything work?

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/sourdough-rye-dessert-focaccia-recipe

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2020/09/24/sourdough-rye-dessert-focaccia

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