[skeptic7]

I did an apple pizza today. This is rather plain, just two layers of apples and cinnamon sugar on the pizza crust. Ingredients like nuts and raisins have been left out as they tend to roll off the pizza.

[skeptic7]

I did a fresh tomato and cheese pizza yesterday. I used Roma tomatoes from the farmer's market. They are drier than regular tomatoes and work better here, and the last of the mozarella in the refrigerator. Its been in the refrigerator for too long, I should have freezed part of it. It turned out nicely, I was afraid that the mozarella had gotten too strong tasting.
Also my cousins were visiting King Arthur Flour in Vermont and they sent me an apron! It has one of the old and prettier logos on it. I'm very pleased. Its almost in the too good to use category but I also don't want to just leave it in the closet. I guess I ought to bake my cousins some biscotti and wear the apron. Biscotti ships nicely even in hot weather.

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Chocomouse; your bread looks lovely.

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BakerAunt; Mike;
Thanks for the information. I was hoping that quick rye bread would be more like cornbread or wheat breads. I knew that it needed to be cooled before cutting but I didn't realize it needed that long. I let it cool somewhat maybe an hour or so before the first slice and tried again about 8 hours later, but I noticed a change in texture by the next day. What do starches gelling have to do with texture and sliceability. I've noticed changes in wheat bread on the next day but not as drastic. The wheat bread is slightly drier and slices slightly better 24 hours after baking.

[skeptic7]

I made "Honey-Spice Rye" from the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book. This is a rye - whole wheat quick bread whic is suppose to make a loaf. I baked it in a cast iron frying pan. Its soft and dense. Its quite nice today ( Sunday ) but when cut still warm yesterday is was gummy. The flavor is nice with honey, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves and anise. I'm wondering if the recipe was originally Jewish. The liquids are water, honey and lemon juice. Most quick breads I've made recently use buttermilk as the liquid.

[skeptic7]

I envy you the strawberries. My last purchase at the farmer's market was an heirloom tomato and a Canary melon. I'll have to cut it open soon.

[skeptic7]

I'm glad you are having fun with the blueberries and brownies. I made rosemary focaccio yesterday to have something to use with the leftover cream cheese. I wish I had pressed the rosemary into the dough before the last rise. the rosemary falls off as I pick up a piece of bread.

[skeptic7]

The Apricot sheet cake looks tasty. Good luck on a peach variant.

[skeptic7]

I found one of Ginsburg's recipes on the web. It called for 2 cups of hard cider. Wouldn't the alcohol interfere with the yeast growth? It looks like an interesting recipe but I don't know if I would sacrifice the cider to make the bread.

https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2016/12/06/normandy-cider-rye

[skeptic7]

Vermont is always being used as the "good" stage in comparison to South Dakota. They have the same size population and South Dakota has many more casulties. The difference is mainly the government of South Dakota is assuming that if they ignore the disease, and the disease will ignore them in turn. The numbers show that that didn't work.
I'm in Northern Virginia, most people are wearing masks but some aren't. I am still wearing a mask in all public spaces. I wish everyone would wear a mask, it seems so much safer.
I hope there isn't much damage from Henri. It seems to be following the same path as the 1938 New England Hurricane.

[skeptic7]

BakerAunt;
Thank you. I saved the recipe and will have to try it sometime especially as it doesn't call for a sweetner. I like the seeds and the spices to keep it from getting boring.

[skeptic7]

I'm sorry to hear that NY Bakers will no longer be selling non commercial amounts. I never bought anything from them but it was nice to know that these things were available if you could use 50 lbs of a rare flour. I like their blog and recipes.

[skeptic7]

After trying some rye yeast breads I finally read the sections on rye in King Arthur's Whole Grains, and Laurel's Kitchen bread book and realized some of the things I did wrong, and the reasons for the instructions in the desert focaccio. Most of the information explains why a sour starter is used in most rye breads, the acid contributes to the structure and reduces gumminess. A couple recipes I've used have had molasses as an ingredient. I am going to have to try the dessert focaccio again -- focaccio's are useful for bread experiments if they don't rise its easier to tell people that was planned. :).
Will adding lemon juice help with a rye bread? Will buttermilk? I need to find acid ingredients that don't have sugar so orange juice won't help.
Has anyone advice on rye quick breads?

[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.

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