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BakerAunt;
I used parchment paper on the bottom of the cloche, but I didn't do anything else. I was surprised at how well the ceramic cloche bottom conducted heat.On your pizza, do you use a very hot oven? why is that recommended for thin crust pizzas? A lot of articles talk about trying to get a very hot oven or to use a baking stone to increase the heat transfer. What good is this suppose to do?
I baked a buttermilk whole wheat bread in my cloche! It was enormous about 3 lbs and around 7 cups of flour with cut up dried apricots. It was much better than the last whole wheat bread, but it was pushing the capabilities of the cloche as a bit of the top crust was stuck to the top of the cloche. It was also a bit too soft and on what I thought was a final rise, melted down into a shapeless blob instead of a nice round super boule. I added more flour and reshaped it.
Next time I am going to do this with 4 cups or less of flour and have a boule that fits comfortably within the cloche. I am also going to let it rise in a 8 or 9 inch round cake pan to have a layer between the bottom of the bread and the baking pan. The bottom was more cooked and dry than the top and sides.
Should the dough of a bread be noticeably drier than that of rolls? The noknead bread is more hydrated and they form shapely boules.On Friday May 4th stretching into the early hours of Saturday I made King Arthur Flour breakfast cookies with oatmeal, cranberries and walnuts. This made 29 tasty cookies about two sheets worth. I made this as a present since it was tasty and sturdy enough not to crumble if eaten in the car.
I also made a double recipe of a quick bread and baked it in a 9X13 pan. This was easier than baking it in two pans but its rather short, might have made prettier slices if I had used a triple recipe. The bread was date orange and I normally bake this recipe in a 8inch cast iron frying pan and cut in wedges.
I had the idea for the pan from this site
http://heidimix.blogspot.com/2014/05/quick-bread-for-crowd.htmlI made two batches of chocolate cherry scones on Sunday which were great!
Yesterday I made A whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread which turned out be be a large flat circle and the sort of bread that is cut very thin and eaten with cream cheese. I did everything wrong and knew it as I did it, but I was so tired i let it rise too long at most of the stages and before baking. If it wasn't for a very good bread knife and a lot of cream cheese, this would be best fed to the geese. Its very dense and heavy and sort of harsh tasting. I basically made this bread to use up a lot of milk that had been accidently left unrefrigerated. The next loaf is going to have white flour which is easier to work with.
Today I made my absolutely perfect brownies in a double batch -- but what can you say about perfect brownies? These are cakey with nuts, and have whole wheat flour and oil and cocoa and walnuts.
My favorite whisk is a flat one used for roux, but I like it for mixing quick breads and doughs. It has the plastic fill to support the handle and its much easier to clean than a round whisk. I've seen it in two sizes but the smaller one is easier to use.
I like the article and the picture.
I keep my cocoa in the refrigerator or freezer. It lasts a long time if I stick to hot chocolate or chocolate scones, but brownies can use up a lot of cocoa fast.
Has anyone made chocolate yeast bread? I think I did it before and can only remember that this recipe does need sugar or honey to taste right.I like my potato ricer -- it was a gift from a friend when she was cleaning out her mother's collection. Its messier to clean and has more wastage than a round potato masher, but it does a more thorough job and produces fluffier mash potatoes.
I'm not sure it counts as "gadgets" but I have a lot of cake pans. I liked the deeper 3 and 4 inch cake pans since the idea of baking one large cake and then slicing it in layers sounded so cute and practical and then I wouldn't have to deal with trying to fit domed layers together. I have 9", 8" rounds and a 9"square all 3'' deep. I also have spring form pans of various sizes, and a couple shallow 8" rounds. I am now baking mainly bread and don't use these pans at all. My last couple of cakes were done in a half sheet pan, or a 9X13 pan.
On the gadgets, I have a glass gravy strainer which is suppose to seperate the fat from the juice. This is really only useful for large amounts of gravy. For smaller amounts like a quart, its easier to just remove the fat with a spoon.I did apricot scones/muffins yesterday with chopped dried apricots and apricot jam. Very tasty. Also did medium dish pizza with pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese and cheddar cheese. I wish I could make an apricot yeast bread or a chocolate yeast bread but that takes so much more time to mix and knead.
I am eating a bar of 72% chocolate from Trader Joe's. Its one of their pound + bars and I have plenty left. I broke it up and it fills a quart mason jar. I might melt the rest down for chocolate rabbits or chocolate bark. This was $4.99 for the bar
Baker Aunt;
Good luck with your biscotti. I like orange/ginger flavor in scones and the recent hot cross buns. I don't think dried orange peel has much flavor compared to orange extract or candied orange peel. The recipe in which I used dried orange peel, like sponge cake, have a very subtle orange flavor.
Cabot Cheddar is wonderful stuff as is the Greek yogurt. I've been to the Cabot Creamery twice when I was going through Vermont and stopping at King Arthur -- they aren't close but I was going up the Eastern part of the state. Very nice people and a wonderfully clean and modern plant. I love their history. Last time I was there I bought plenty of cheese and later a Cabot Creamery cook book. Its amazing how recipes from a dairy farmer uses much more cheese in macaroni and cheese, then my older cook books. I've seen a cheese sauce recipe that uses 1/2 cup of cheese in a white sauce, and the Cabot Creamery had 2 cups of cheese with just enough milk and flour to let it spread easily.I baked white whole wheat bread with hunks of Cabot chedder mixed in. This was based on my focaccio recipe but I cut up a cup of Extra Sharp Cabot Cheddar in 1/2-3/4 inch cupes and mixed it in. I had 4 cups of flour in the recipe. It was very good, I gave half away and ate the other half in two days. This made a rather large flat round that I baked in a cloche.
Thanks for sharing this article! There are many interesting articles on that site.
On Easter, I did my last and best batch of Hot Cross Buns. This is a large recipe from New York Times Heritage cookbook and I normally reserve it for Easter Weekend. This took forever to rise so it was baked in the evening. I also did a Ham and Cheese Pie, being inspired by the Italian Easter Pie, but I put in cabbage and onions to make it more of a balanced meal. This didn't turn out badly but it was a little bland, I wish I had put more strong cheese to give it a richer flavor.
On Saturday I did Hot Cross Scones, which were Scones with Hot cross bun flavoring and fruit. I wanted to bake something for a friend that could be baked quickly.Wonky;
What is your whole wheat cinnamon swirl bread like? I am impressed that you cooked so many loaves of bread. A large batch of Hot Cross buns can consume an entire evening if not more. Do you do much of your kneading by machine?
Your sister seems to go through a lot of bread! -
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