A baking thread

[Allentown]

good god can she do things with apples.

Do tell...

[cgeorg]

Just checked urban dictionary, people use "apple pie" in some interesting ways.

[alek]

I know I reference a lot of Chef John's videos in these threads, but I made this for Thanksgiving. Again, my wife wouldn't shut up about it. I'll make another one for Christmas

[hsilman]

I forget about this thread all the time. In the past month I've made a sour cherry german cake. Came out well, but I put too much liquid in the mix so the cherries sank to the bottom. Still tasted great.

I made some ginger snaps with ground ginger + crystallized ginger. Came out pretty good, a little too much salt.

I've taken the week off and a friend got me Paul Hollywood's newest book so I've been baking bread. Made TV Rolls yesterday and a split top loaf today. Came out well, just take forever for the rise.

[rjharris]

I've taken the week off and a friend got me Paul Hollywood's newest book so I've been baking bread. Made TV Rolls yesterday and a split top loaf today. Came out well, just take forever for the rise.

Is that the book, "How to Bake?" I got that last month, and it's been pretty solid so far. I've made the pecan loaf in there (mix of white / wheat/ rye flour with some sorghum and a shitload of pecans) as well as a walnut / blue cheese bread. They were delightful.

[hsilman]

I've taken the week off and a friend got me Paul Hollywood's newest book so I've been baking bread. Made TV Rolls yesterday and a split top loaf today. Came out well, just take forever for the rise.

Is that the book, "How to Bake?" I got that last month, and it's been pretty solid so far. I've made the pecan loaf in there (mix of white / wheat/ rye flour with some sorghum and a shitload of pecans) as well as a walnut / blue cheese bread. They were delightful.

"A Baker's Life" but similarly positive reviews from me.

[alek]

I’ve made these 3 or 4 times now, and I’m a big fan. However, if you’re cutting, then I’d wait until you’re not.

https://altonbrown.com/the-chewy-chocol ... ie-recipe/

[KoolaidMannn]

@rjharris I also was partly inspired by the Great British bake off. I ended up buying Paul Hollywood's Bread book and now the How to bake book. I am working on baking my way through it and have actually done a lot since January 1st.

Current list of things completed in his book (to a decent standard) are a Cholla Loaf, Cottage Loaf, Barm cakes, Milk Loaf, Baguettes (done four times), Bloomer, Rye Ale Bread, Lemon and Rosemary sourdough Focaccia, Raspberry Danish pastry, Croissants (probably done about 6 batches of these), and I am currently doing a bunch of sourdough loaves with the starter I made.

Today I am making a couple experimental "Bloomer" loaves with lemon and rosemary flavoring.
The original recipe calls for:
500g strong bread flour
320 ml water
7g yeast
10g salt
40ml oil

My recipe:
500g strong bread flour
290 ml water
1 lemon zest
10 ml lemon juice
35 ml oil
10g salt
7g yeast
random amount of rosemary to be added after the first proof.

We will see how they turn out!

[iamsmu]

Is banana bread a bread or a cake? Discuss.

[omaniphil]

Is banana bread a bread or a cake? Discuss.

Cake. No discussion needed.

[KoolaidMannn]

Is banana bread a bread or a cake? Discuss.

Is cereal soup?

[iamsmu]

Thread:

[omaniphil]

Can the rule be as general as "if it's leavened with baking soda/baking powder it's cake"?

[iamsmu]

Can the rule be as general as "if it's leavened with baking soda/baking powder it's cake"?

I dunno. That would make corn bread cake. That's not all that implausible though. But flour tortillas? They aren't cake. Sweetness seems important.

And there's the question of unleavened bread.

There seems to be a quick bread category that might help sorting some of these things out.

I don't think I can come up with a classical definition, but we might get some cluster concepts.

Low gluten, chemically leavened, batter, sweet = paradigm of cake

high gluten, yeast, dough, not very sweet = paradigm of bread

. . .

Corn bread and banana bread come out looking a lot more like cake if we just list these 4 characteristics.

[iamsmu]

https://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2017/0 ... ana-bread/

Mark your calendars: 2/23 = national banana bread day

https://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/you-s ... -bread-day

[rjharris]

Can the rule be as general as "if it's leavened with baking soda/baking powder it's cake"?

No; soda bread and cornbread are definitely breads, and yeasted cakes are a thing. I think the dividing line should be sugar and fat content. Cakes have more of both to both soften and moisten the crumb and to sweeten, obviously.

In this paradigm, most banana breads would be cake, which seems like a pretty good conclusion.

[PuddingFace]

Made some scones this morning. Recipe from the great british baking show big book of baking. Simple and tasted good.

[BenM]

I made these chocolate chip cookies yesterday - highly recommended - https://stylecaster.com/chef-thomas-kel ... p-cookies/

I'm hoping to have a go at some 5 minute artisan bread today.

[BenM]

Well I made the bread and it turned out OK: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Qmx4fmLPgUWSvX3m6

[platypus]

I bake bread pretty frequently using this recipe:

Only four ingredients:
4 cups water
8 cups flour (I like 1/2 wheat, 1/2 white)
2 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. yeast (the video calls for 2 but I only ever need 1)

Mix up the water, yeast, and salt in a bowl, then add the flour. Let rise for 2 hours, punch it down, and put in two loaf pans. Bake at 450 for 25-30 mins. If you put a tray with some water in in in the oven with the bread, the steam will keep the crust a little bit softer.