[skeptic7]

I got this. It seemed very strange when I first heard about it.

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I didn't know the answer and my guess was wrong!

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I did a correct guess.

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I did cornbread today. Its basically the same recipe as last week, the yeast risen Northern style cornbread. This time I did an overnight sponge with 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup buttermilk, 1 cup cornmeal, 1/4 tsp yeast. The next day I mixed in the rest of the ingredients, poured it in a cast iron frying pan, let it rest while the oven preheated -- more than half an hour. and baked it. The previous time I was cooking in a slow cooker. Its lighter and fluffier than last time with bigger holes. I can still taste a hint of sourness from the buttermilk.
I like it and its interesting to make a cornbread with yeast instead of baking soda and baking powder. I am not sure its worth the extra time necessary.

[skeptic7]

I messed this one up.

[skeptic7]

The local grocery store is now well stocked with toilet paper, there are no empty spaces on the shelves any more. There is flour in the flour section, and even 5 bags of KAF all purpose flour, and lots of more common brands of flour. No whole wheat flour unfortunately of any brand.

[skeptic7]

I redid the buttermilk cinnamon swirl bread, this time letting it rise and rise and rise. I used 1/4 tsp of yeast in the sponge. but let it sit for 3 1/2 hours in a hot kitchen. Yesterday was sweltering. Then I mixed in all the other ingredients into the dough and kneaded it a bit, and then refrigerated the dough overnight. The next morning after the dough was warmed up, I finished kneading the dough and kneading in the butter and about 1/2 cup more flour as the dough was still very soft. I rolled it out and spread with cinnamon sugar. Then rolled it up and put it in the loaf pan. I let it rise almost to the top of the bread pan about 2 hours. I then baked in on high in the slow cooker for 2 1/2 hours to 190 degrees. The bread is soft and high and light. The top crust is unpleasantly pale but the sides are actually a nice light brown.

[skeptic7]

I did buttermilk cinnamon swirl bread today. I didn't particularly like any of the buttermilk bread recipes I had so I made one up. I wanted to push the envelope of baking in a slow cooker so I mixed the dough, kneaded it, rolled it flat, sprinkled the cinnamon on it and then put it in a loaf pan. From there it went into the slow cooker and I baked it on high without giving it a chance to rise. I was hoping the slow cooker would heat up slowly enough that the bread would rise before baking. It baked for about 3 hours. It would probably have worked better if I baked it on low for 5 hours.
It did rise to not quite double but its a very dense bread. If this was whole wheat it would be almost inedible, but this is an AP white flour -- Gold Medal Brand. Its soft but dense and possibly like Pan de Pie bread as the top dried out before it could really rise.
I'm going to do this tonight while I still remember the ingredients and see what this is like if I let it rise before baking.

Ingredients
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon yeast
3 cups all purpose ( Gold Medal Flour )
1 tablespoon potato flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons butter

3-4 tablespoons brown sugar /cinnamon mix

[skeptic7]

Has anyone had their buttermilk become more sour? I've had one jar in the refrigerator for several months. I used it in cornbread the other day and I could taste the sourness. This cornbread was lower in sugar than other recipes.

[skeptic7]

I got it.

[skeptic7]

I thought I would have oodles of spare time during the lock down, but I really didn't. I was working from home, and not doing martial arts or shopping and visiting friends. The time I saved from not commuting was taken up on cooking meals and cleaning up afterwards, and my extra time was used in sewing projects; mainly masks but I also fixed a cloth bag whose handle had worn through. I tried some baking /cooking projects but not that many.

[skeptic7]

I missed it.

[skeptic7]

I baked a new bread today. It was "Yeast Raised Honey Cornbread". from "Great Whole Grain Breads" by Beatrice Ojakangas.
This has the same ingredients as a Yankee style cornbread with 1 cup cornmeal, 1 cup whole wheat flour and 2 tablespoons honey. However it also calls for 1 package yeast. I used white all purpose flour instead of whole wheat, and buttermilk instead of 2/3 cup dried milk and 1 cup of water.
I changed the recipe procedure slightly. I proofed the yeast in the buttermilk, and then added 1 cup of cornmeal and let this sit for maybe half an hour as a quick sponge. I added the other ingredients and then baked this in the slow cooker for about 2 1/2 hours until it reached 190 degrees. Nice bread, not sweet.

[skeptic7]

Italian Cook; I read in one cook book that old recipes used to have the baking soda dissolved in water because the baking soda used to be lumpy instead of finely ground, so the cook would dissolve the baking soda instead of risking soda lumps in the finished product.

[skeptic7]

I did "Mother's Raisin Bread" from the "Beard on Bread" cookbook. The recipe as written makes 2 loaves of raisin bread, I did a half recipe to make one standard loaf. I also changed the recipe to use an overnight sponge instead of a straight dough. I put the loaf pan inside a cold cast iron dutch oven. and baked the whole thing at 350 degrees for an hour.
It turned out very nicely except the top was rather flat. I think plumping the raisins in sherry added too much liquid or perhaps too much alcohol. Does alcohol soften the dough? This was my first all white flour bread in quite some time. My brother had been playing with the South Beach diet in 2002 or so and I started using whole wheat flour at that time.

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