I have a new bread baking gadget and its name is Pullman, a right-angled pan used for shaping rectangular loaves that would make your Geometry teacher proud. You may also know Pullman-style loaves as pain de mie, French for “bread of crumb,” because loaves baked with the removable sliding cover prevents a stiff crust from [...]
View Vollkornbrot - German Whole Rye Sourdough Recipe »
Each movement of the serrated knife shoots sesame seeds in all directions, but it’s a minor annoyance that is easily justified. Baking releases the fragrance of the sesame seeds onto the crust and makes a noticeable difference. I should’ve done the same thing with the second loaf.
Inside, the flaxseed aroma is more subtle but thoroughly [...]
Injera, an Ethiopian staple traditionally made with teff flour, is a spongy flatbread made with a thin sourdough batter. Served in a communal place setting, assertively spiced sauces and stews are ladled on overlapping rounds and pieces are torn off to scoop up the chunkier bits. Additional injera may also be neatly folded into quarters [...]
View Injera Recipe - Ethiopian Sourdough Flatbread »
If, in a cheese bread recipe, you were told to deeply cut into the proofed dough to allow the cheese to ooze out while baking, wouldn’t you be interested in seeing what happens? The potential for a crusty-smoky mess in the oven is high, but don’t let that keep you from trying this recipe out.
The [...]
This whole wheat sourdough recipe takes about 3 days from refreshing your starter to baking. It takes that long because the shaped loaves are refrigerated and allowed to rise slowly for about 16 hours. The dough fully develops its flavor and sourness during this time.
My fridge keeps a temperature of 40°F so adjust the final [...]
Do you notice how these pane francese photos seem to be taken at a peculiar angle? How they show most of the loaf surface area but not quite the entire picture? There’s a reason for that. The hidden cropped areas is where the bread exploded like bats out of a cave.
The original recipe specifically advises [...]
This month’s Bread Baking Day brings us starch-on-starch action by way of potatoes on pizza. If you cook Italian food every once in a while, you probably already have potatoes, rosemary, onions, and extra virgin olive oil ready to go.
There’s just one caveat — you’ll need an active liquid wild yeast starter for the biga [...]
Do you have any recipes that use dark rye flour? A 25-pound bag from Bob’s Red Mill is taking up valuable freezer space for manly essentials such as White Castles and Eggo, so any suggestions would be well appreciated.
Buying a sack of dark rye seemed like a good idea considering that shipping costs were split [...]
No, I didn’t confuse my (non-existent) French and Italian. This formula for Italian ciabatta uses French terminology because it’s from Eric Kayser, well-renowned in Paris for his breads and pastries. In a city saturated with driven artisans dedicated to their craft, Maison Kayser still manages to consistently rank high among the best Parisian bakeries.
Even more [...]
I grinned like an idiot as I lifted the dark brown loaves from the charred baking stone with bare hands. The soft crust smiled back with its wide open slashes, a sight that every bread maker hopes for upon opening the oven door. It didn’t matter that my calloused fingertips started to burn or that [...]
View Pane al Cioccolato - Italian Chocolate Bread recipe »
I previously mentioned the combination of sesame and flax seeds in the form of unleavened honey-glazed crackers. I always keep sacks of sesame and flax on hand to fuel the addiction to the sweet and salty crisps but this hearty leavened version is showing up more frequently in my daily weekly baking schedule.
The baking temperature [...]
The shape of a bread is probably the best indicator of its provenance and ingredients, short of having the recipe in hand. Shaped like a stick and scored decoratively? Probably a French baguette with nothing more than flour, salt, water, and yeast. Flat, wide, and heavily floured? Probably an Italian ciabatta, hydrated much more than [...]
View Pan Gallego de Centeno - Galician Rye Bread recipe »
The minute just prior to loading a scorching 500 degree oven with delicate shaped baguettes is a case study in coordination and multitasking. You need to move quickly in a controlled manner — proofed baguettes can easily deflate if handled roughly and should be baked immediately to maintain its cylindrical shape. Several things should also [...]
View Eric Kayser's Baguettes Monge Recipe »
This is my bread of choice for the most god-awful stinky cheeses I can get my hands on. It’s probably not a traditional use for it but it works for me. This rough and crispy flatbread is perfect for slathering with the funkiest of room temperature washed rind cheeses. I haven’t tried the stinkiest cheese [...]
View Hapanleipä - Finnish Sour Rye Bread formula »
Red Hen Baking Company’s “Sprouternickel” is a sourdough whole grain rye loaf studded with sprouted rye berries, sprouted spelt berries, and sunflower seeds. My formula is based on the ingredients listed in Red Hen Baking’s Bread Varieties page while the ingredient proportions and baking times for this first attempt are based on Dan Leader’s Vollkornbrot [...]
View Red Hen Baking's Sprouternickel Clone recipe »
Pain Poilâne is a naturally fermented French country bread that weighs in at a hefty two kilograms. The flour used for the bread is high extraction gray flour, containing some but not all of the wheat bran. High extraction flour is not likely to be available at your local grocery store but Peter Reinhart suggests [...]
View Poilâne-Style High Extraction Miche recipe »
