A baking thread

[omaniphil]

Since many of us are inside nowadays, what are people baking? Over the last couple of weeks, I've made a few sheets of rough puff pastry that I used to make these goat cheese /caramelized onion things, as well as a loaf of (what I would think is good) rye bread. We're at the house until the end of the month, so I'll probably make some sourdough starter.

II'm glad I picked up a 25lb bag of flour a couple of months ago, because our grocery store hasn't seen any in weeks. I've been baking a loaf of bread a weekend typically. Mostly a lean bread with just flour, yeast, salt and water. I've experimented with baking it in loaf pans, but I think I like the texture it forms when it is just a blob on a jelly roll pan.



The recipe is

460gr of flour
2tsp yeast
2tsp sea salt
360gr water.

Do a first rise for 2-3 hours, then shape, and do another rise for an hour.

My wife did a challah bread this week that was delicious. The best french toast is made with challah.

THis weekend, I plan on trying my hand at pretzels. Has anybody tried that before? DId you do it with baking soda? I've heard that lye gives the best results, I just don't know where I can procure that quickly here.

[rjharris]

Looks delicious.

I've done pretzels a few times before. I used baking soda. I forget the exact ratio I used, but it was something like 2/3 of a cup in what probably amounted to a gallon of water in the pot. It worked out well. I've heard the same thing about lye, but no way in hell was I going to try to use that.

[Savs]

I’m glad I picked up a 25lb bag of flour a couple of months ago, because our grocery store hasn't seen any in weeks. I've been baking a loaf of bread a weekend typically. Mostly a lean bread with just flour, yeast, salt and water. I've experimented with baking it in loaf pans, but I think I like the texture it forms when it is just a blob on a jelly roll pan.

<pic>

The recipe is

460gr of flour
2tsp yeast
2tsp sea salt
360gr water.

Do a first rise for 2-3 hours, then shape, and do another rise for an hour.

My wife did a challah bread this week that was delicious. The best french toast is made with challah.

I have started learning how to bake. I wanted to make some Greek Easter bread (tsoireki) for sentimentality’s and delicoiusness’ sake, but now that we're stuck indoors I have, like many, decided to go all in.

So far, I'm sticking to two easy recipes from the King Arthur Flour website, and I think once I have those nearly perfected I’ll try some more complicated things. my loaves have been delicious so far (except one of the first ones came out a little beery tasting). It’s fun, and there is a lot to learn!

omaniphil, you’re scored that loaf before baking, right? I can’t get it (scoring a pattern in the top) to work. Hmmm...

Guess I’ll read this thread now...

[rjharris]

The rye loaf ran out today, so I'm thinking of making something different. I've got a shitload of caramelized onions and a bunch of goat cheese, so I'm probably going to make a slightly enriched dough and then basically make like a cinnamon roll thing except replacing the cinnamon / sugar filling with the onions / cheese / maybe poppyseeds?

Savs, that tsoireki looks pretty interesting. I see a bunch of different variants from the googles. Going to make it with the mastic?

[Savs]

Savs, that tsoireki looks pretty interesting. I see a bunch of different variants from the googles. Going to make it with the mastic?

Yeah, it’s a sweet bread (maybe like challah, I don’t think I’ve ever had challah so I don’t know). I remember my Mom making the tsoureki when I was a kid. Damn, that was some good bread. I asked my sister if she had my Mom’s recipe, but she doesn’t. I’m going to have to experiment, I guess. I don’t know about the mastic, but my sister said to use mahlep (don’t substitute it with vanilla extract).

[Savs]

I started reading the thread... so many delicious-sounding recipes. Fuck, I’m gonna get fatter again.

[rjharris]

Made the thing I was talking about up thread, the buns with a caramelized onion/goat cheese filling. They tasted pretty good, though the filling got a little dry in the heat of the oven. I think i mighy try it again, but with the filling completely encased in the dough, rather than the cinnamon roll-esque topology.

[omaniphil]

Made pretzels today. Turned out great and yummy. Baking. Used the recipe at Sally's Baking Addiction. Recipe didnt call for it, but I brushed them with melted butter. Heavenly.

[Hanley]

That's an amazing looking homemade pretzel.

[Savs]

Hey rjharris, quick question: When kneading dough with the KitchenAid (I just got one, too!), do you always use the hook and speed 2? (I mix/incorporate with 1 and then switch to 2 for kneading. Don't know if this is correct, though.) Thanks!

[rjharris]

Hey Savs.

do you always use the hook

Yes for yeasted doughs.

and speed 2? (I mix/incorporate with 1 and then switch to 2 for kneading

That sounds reasonable. The speed can vary, but I usually do that (i.e., 1 for mixing/2 for kneading); sometimes I go to three or four, but I don't really know that it makes a whole lot of difference (modulo the time of course). I would be afraid to go above 4 for anything like that because I'd worry about burning the motor out.

[Savs]

Cool. Thanks!

[GrainsAndGains]

Waiting on my dumb sourdough starter to wake up and got bored. Made biscotti with orange, cranberry & almond.

[rjharris]

Looks fuckin tasty. I've made almond / cranberry biscotti one time. I recall them not being as crunchy as I would have liked, despite the double bake. I'll need to make them again.

[GrainsAndGains]

Looks fuckin tasty. I've made almond / cranberry biscotti one time. I recall them not being as crunchy as I would have liked, despite the double bake. I'll need to make them again.

If you're looking for crunchy biscotti, check out Paul Hollywood's recipes:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/bisc ... ocha_60995

Use only variations 1 or 2, the one with chocolate is good but not crunchy. He cuts out the butter and adds in more sugar and nuts than most other biscotti recipes I've seen. It ends up being possibly too crunchy to eat on its own, but it goes perfectly with coffee or a dipping sauce.

[rjharris]

If you're looking for crunchy biscotti, check out Paul Hollywood's recipes:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/bisc ... ocha_60995

Use only variations 1 or 2, the one with chocolate is good but not crunchy. He cuts out the butter and adds in more sugar and nuts than most other biscotti recipes I've seen. It ends up being possibly too crunchy to eat on its own, but it goes perfectly with coffee or a dipping sauce.

Thanks for the pointer. That really does look like it has a lot of sugar relative to other ingredients, so I'm a little surprised. I'll try to get some pistachios and make #1.

[plaguewielder]

Wife made these. Small pieces of ham and cheese in a dough. Next time we add a bit of ketchup. They were really goood.

[5hout]

omaniphil, you’re scored that loaf before baking, right? I can’t get it (scoring a pattern in the top) to work. Hmmm...

Guess I’ll read this thread now...

Use a razor sharp knife (I use the tip of my fillet knife), with pretty good angle, maybe 30/45 degrees up from flat along the surface of the loaf. The angle is the key. A shallow angle "opens" up and fills out. A perpendicular cut tends to erupt more.

[GrainsAndGains]

omaniphil, you’re scored that loaf before baking, right? I can’t get it (scoring a pattern in the top) to work. Hmmm...

Guess I’ll read this thread now...

Use a razor sharp knife (I use the tip of my fillet knife), with pretty good angle, maybe 30/45 degrees up from flat along the surface of the loaf. The angle is the key. A shallow angle "opens" up and fills out. A perpendicular cut tends to erupt more.

Scoring my bread is a skill I haven't yet mastered. I always seem to end up with too tough a surface on my loaves that prevents the razor from doing anything but digging into the dough rather than slicing it.

[5hout]

Scoring my bread is a skill I haven't yet mastered. I always seem to end up with too tough a surface on my loaves that prevents the razor from doing anything but digging into the dough rather than slicing it.

Are you using a razor or knife? How are you letting them sit after forming? If it's a sticking issue you can lightly grease the blade with oil, but this will slightly change how the score works. I've never had much luck trying the disposable razors, but a lot of people like them. The blade needs to be clean, I would wipe or clean it after every score. Hopefully others will chime in. After going keto my baking skills have faded so I can't offer more tips.