Category: Breakfast | Pastries

Week 105: Chocolate Sourdough

Leave a comment

This decadent loaf is reminiscent of Cadbury’s popular Fruit & Nut chocolate bar. It’s got a soft, chewy crumb, a sturdy, crisp crust and is loaded with raisins, almonds and chocolate chips. I’ve adopted it from the Chocolate Sourdough Noir I found on Emilie Raffa’s website, The Clever Carrot. The website and her book, Artisan Sourdough Made Simple, are highly recommended for anyone with even just a passing interest in sourdough.

As with most sourdoughs, you have to feed your starter the night before, and it’s best if you use a Dutch oven, or some similar heavy-duty pot with a lid.

Step 1: Make dough

  • 500g bread flour
  • 50g cocoa powder
  • 9g salt
  1. In a medium bowl, measure the flour, cocoa powder and salt and whisk to combine. Don’t worry about the lumps of cocoa powder just yet. Set aside.
  • 350g room temperature water
  • 150g active sourdough starter
  • 50g brown sugar
  • 4g vanilla extract (that’s about 1 tsp)
  1. Measure the water, starter, sugar and vanilla into a large bowl, then whisk to combine.
  2. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the liquid. If you don’t have a sifter, you can use a mesh-type colander.
  3. Mix together with the handle of a wooden spoon, using wet bits of dough to scrape the dry bits off the sides. It’s a bit of a stiff dough, so kind of hard to mix.
  4. Use your dough/bowl scraper to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Then, place the scraper under one edge of the dough, lift it up a bit and then fold it over itself, as you use your other hand to squish any dry spots to ensure they get incorporated.
  5. Cover and set aside to rest for one hour. Meanwhile, prepare the fruit, nuts and chocolate chip mixture.
Squeeze
Scrape
Fold over
  • 65g raisins
  • 65g chopped almonds
  • 150g chocolate chips (not chunks, or mini chips)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • pinch of salt
  1. Measure raisins, nuts, chocolate chips and pinch of salt into a small bowl.
  2. Add extracts, stir to coat, then set aside.
  3. After the dough has rested an hour, fold in the raisin/nut/chocolate mixture.

Step 2: Stretch & Fold kneading and resting

  1. Cover bowl and let rest in a warm place (72 degrees) for 30 minutes.
  2. Next, do a round of 4 stretch and folds (view the Stretch and Fold video under the heading “Kneading During Proofing” on the Video page for a visual). Turn over and tuck in sides.
    • Repeat #1 and #2 three more times for a total of four stretch and folds, and four 30-minute rests.
  3. Cover and let rest until it’s doubled in size and is puffy and wiggles a bit when you shake the bowl. The amount of time this takes is varied, and depends on the temperature of the room, anywhere from 3 (very warm, like summertime without A.C., to10 hours (very cool, like in the kitchen at night without the heater on).

Step 3: Shape dough

  1. View the Shaping a Boule tutorial on the Video page for a visual.
    • Remove dough to a floured countertop.
    • Lift an edge, stretch it out a bit (it’s tighter than most doughs) and fold it in toward the center. Do this all around until all sides have been folder over.
    • Turn over, and cup the dough with your hands and rotate, pushing the the sides down and under a bit to make the surface taut.
    • On a non-floured surface, slide the dough towards you a bit to make the surface taut. Rotate and slide again.
  2. Place dough in a lined and floured basket, seam side up.
  3. Cove and let rise 30 – 60 minutes, until puffy (not doubled). If you want, you can put it in the fridge overnight instead of baking right away.
  4. Meanwhile, preheat over to 450 degrees, with your baking receptacle inside.
  5. Bake 30 minutes at 400 top on, 30 minutes top off, until it reaches 205 degrees.

Week 97: Pan co’Santi

Leave a comment

ITALY: Just when I think I’ve settled on my favorite loaf, another one comes along that moves it down to second place. This Italian sweet(ish) bread is tradionally made around All Saints’ Day during October and November. It’s packed with raisins and walnuts (the Saints) and flavored with cinnamon, black pepper and red wine. Serve it with a green salad, some cheese, a vin santo, and call it dinner!

Step 1: Make dough

  • 400 g bread flour
  • 25g sugar
  • 7g salt
  • 2g cinammon
  • 3/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon yeast
  • 125g raisins
  • 150g chopped walnuts (they taste better if you toast them, but it’s optional)
  • 125g water
  • 75g red wine (like a Cabernet Sauvignon)
  • 50g  extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 egg yolk for brushing on surface just prior to baking
  1. In a med-large bowl, measure the flour, sugar, salt, spices and yeast together and whisk well to combine.
  2. Add the raisins and mix with the whisk, breaking up any clumps
  3. Measure the water, wine and oil into a separate container and stir to mix.
  4. Add to the flour.
  5. Mix with one hand until a soft, but fairly stiff dough forms. You don’t want any dry bits of flour. If it doesn’t come together fairly quickly, after about a minute, then make sure you’ve poured in everything from the container that had the water/wine/oil, and add just 1 Tbsp of water. That should do the trick. Don’t worry about any bits of flour stuck in the walnuts, it’ll get absorbed.
  6. Scrape off any bits that are on your hand into the bowl. Pat it down so the surface is fairly flat, i.e. not a ball.
  7. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight, 12 – 16 hours.

Step 2: Shape and proof

  1. Next day, remove dough from bowl and do some stretch & fold kneading. It’s a tight dough, so it won’t stretch a whole lot.
  2. Flip it over and let rest 2 hours in a warm place
  3. Remove the dough ball onto an oiled countertop.
  4. Stretch the sides out, then fold over into the middle. Turn over and shape into a ball. Place on a baking sheet, cover and let rest another 1 hour.
  5. Preheat oven to 350°F.

Step 3: Bake

  1. Brush with a beaten egg yolk, then score with a cross.
  2. Bake 50 minutes until dark brown and glossy.
  3. Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool thoroughly. It’s best if you can wait a day before opening.

Week 93: Pączki

Leave a comment

POLAND: Fat Thursday (Tłusty Czwartek) is celebrated in Poland on the last Thursday before Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent. Poles celebrate by eating pączki, doughnuts filled with rose jam or plum preserves. The tradition has carried over to Polish-American communities across the country, and many bakeries have long lines Fat Thursday mornings, with customers waiting to get their pączki fix. Unique to pączki is the addition of a small amount of alcohol that’s added to the dough before frying, supposedly to prevent the dough from absorbing too much alcohol.

Continue reading “Week 93: Pączki” →

Week 91: Mardi Gras Babka

Leave a comment

Last year, during Week 43, we made a traditional King Cake, which is more like a yeasted cake than a bread. This year we’re doing a take on the most popular version that is sold in bakeries today, with a rich, sweet, brioche-type dough, a cream cheese filling, and covered with a butter and cream cheese frosting on the top.

Step 1: Make dough

  • 115g (1/2 cup) milk
  • 70g (5 Tbsp) butter, softened/room temperature
  • 1 egg
  1. Warm the milk to about 100 degrees
  2. Add the butter in small pieces and stir until melted
  3. Add the egg and whisk to combine.
  4. Set aside
  • 260g flour
  • 50g sugar
  • 5g yeast
  • 2g (1/4 tsp) salt
  1. Measure dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer, and whisk to combine.
  2. Use the paddle attachment, and on low speed, add wet ingredients into dry ingredients until combined.
  3. Mix on high for 30 seconds, then low for 30 seconds.
  4. Dough should be soft, but not sticky, when you press your fingers on it. If it’s really sticky, add flour, one tablespoon at a time. Shouldn’t need to add more than 1 or 2.
  5. Scrape dough out and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 2 hours. It won’t double in size like other bread doughs, but it does need to have risen a bit.

Step 2: Make fillings

  • 8 oz cream cheese (1/2 packet) You need the solid block type.
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup blueberry jam
  1. Put cream cheese in a bowl and warm it just a bit so that it softens and is easier to spread, but don’t melt it.
  2. Add sugar and mix until well combined. It’s kind of hard at first, but it’ll happen.
  3. Once it’s all mixed in, use a whisk to soften it up a bit more.
  4. Measure out the jam.

Step 3: Fill and Shape

  1. Line a 8″ x 4″ loaf pan with parchment paper
  2. On a heavily floured surface, roll dough into a 16×12-inch rectangle. If your household is warm, do this on a piece of parchment on an upside-down cookie sheet, so that you can put it in the fridge to stiffen a bit.
  3. Spread cream cheese mixture onto dough, leaving a 1-inch border on one short end, then add jam on top.
  4. Starting at the other short side, roll up dough, jelly roll style, pressing the edge to seal.
  1. Trim ends if they don’t have filling in them.
  2. Using a bench scraper or sharp knife, cut roll in half lengthwise.
  3. Overlap one roll onto the other to form an “x” with cut sides up.
  4. Carefully twist dough pieces around each other, then lift and place in an 8 x 4″ loaf pan, cut side up. It’ll seem like you can’t lift it, but just do it. It’s okay if it’s messy – once it lands in the pan it’ll be just fine.
  5. Tuck the two ends underthemselves.
  1. Cover and let rise in a warm place about 30 minutes.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Step 4: Bake

  1. Bake for 30 – 45 minutes, covering the top if it starts to brown too much. Inside temperature should be 190 degrees.
  2. Let cool on a wire rack completely before icing

Step 5: Decorate

  • 4 oz butter, softened
  • 4 oz cream cheese
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • purple, green ane yellow sugars*
  1. Mix butter and cream cheese until combined
  2. Add powdered sugar and mix
  3. Beat by hand with a whisk to fluff it up a bit
  4. Spreead on top of babka, and decorate with coloured sugars

Homemade coloured sugars

  • 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • purple, green, yellow liquid food coloring
  1. Use 3 zip-lock bags to make coloured sugar, placing 1/2 cup sugar and 8 drops food colouring in each one. Shake to combine.

I adopted my recipe from Charlie Andrew’s New Orleans Cream Cheese filled King Cake. I highly recommend it, if you want to give it a try!

Week 83: Nutmeg Apple Bread

Leave a comment

This makes a nice change from cinnamon raisin bread. It’s based on King Arthur Baking’s version here, and I’ve made a few adjustments, and added some suggestions to avoid some of the problems I encountered when I made it first time around.

Continue reading “Week 83: Nutmeg Apple Bread” →

Week 80: Thanksgiving Loaves

Leave a comment

Representing the three pies we make at Thanksgiving: Apple, Pumpkin and Pecan. This is a good use of any leftover pumpkin or applesauce you might have, so you can use any combination of the two. Or, just one if that’s all you’ve got. I use mini loaf pans so that I can freeze them and have them at the ready over the holidays when folks drop in for tea, or as hostess gifts.

  •  4 large eggs
  •  1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1-1/2 cups applesauce
  • 1-1/2 cups canned pumpkin
  •  2 sticks unsalted butter
  •  3 cups flour
  •  1 Tbsp baking soda
  •  1 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp cinammon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 36 pecan halves, or sliced almonds
  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Butter and flour 6 mini loaf tins, or 2 loaf tins.
  3. Melt butter, and allow to cool.
  4. WIth the paddle attachement, on high speed, (increase speed in increments so that it doesn’t splash all over the place), mix the eggs and the sugar until light and fluffy and a very pale yellow.
  5. Add the applesauce and pumpkin and mix to combine.
  6. Add the cooled, melted butter, and mix to combine.
  7. Measure the dry ingredients into a separate mixing bowl, and wisk to combine
  8. Add the dry tingredients to the wet in batches, mixing until incorporated. Do not over beat.
  9. Pour into prepared tins. Decorate with nuts.
  10. Bake about 25-35 minutes. Same baking time for mini vs loaves, but watch them towards the end.

Week 77: Hard Rolls

Leave a comment

These versatile rolls are a nice alternative to squishy dinner rolls, are great for sandwiches, and are also good for breakfast with butter and jam. Another fine recipe from one of my favorite bakers, John Kirkwood.

Below are the ingredients. Measure them all out beforehand, and then you can bake along with him. I suggest watching the video all the way through before you get started. This makes 6 rolls.

  • 340 warm water
  • 4g yeast (1 tsp)
  • 6g sugar (1 tsp)
  • 500g bread flour (or 400g bread, 100g whole wheat)
  • 8g salt (1 tsp)

Week 75: Farmhouse Sourdough

Leave a comment

My oh my, I don’t think a bread can get much better than this! I adapted it from Ken Forkish’s Pain au Bacon recipe in Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast, one of my all time favorite bread making cookbooks (see all my favorites here). After ditching a successful 20-year tech career, he opened up Ken’s Artisan Pizza and Ken’s Artisan Bakery in Portland, OR. and hasn’t looked back. He’s got quite a lot of video instructions for pizza and bread making on his website that every aspiring baker should view.

Step 1: Make the levain

  • 25g active starter
  • 100g white flour
  • 25g whole wheat
  • 100g warm water (85-90 degrees)
  1. Mix the starter, flours and water until incorporated.
  2. Cover, and let rest 9~10 hours.

Step 2: Prep bacon

  • 1/2 lb bacon
  1. Chop bacon into small pieces, and fry until nice and crisp
  2. Drain on paper towels
  3. Reserve 1 Tbsp bacon grease

Step 3: Make the autolyse

  • 432g white flour
  • 8g whole wheat
  • 342g warm water (85-90 degrees)
  1. Mix the flours and water together in a large bowl until incorporated
  2. Cover, and let rest for 30 minutes
  • 10g salt
  1. Sprinkle the salt onto the top of the dough and fold it in.

Step 4: Make dough

  • Levain
  • Autolyse
  • Bacon
  • Bacon fat
  1. Add the levain to the autolyse and use the pincer method to mix it in. See Ken demonstrating this method in the “Mixing By Hand” video here.
  2. Let rest, then spread the bacon fat over the top, and sprinkle the bacon over that.
  3. Mix again with the pincer method.

Step 5: Proof and knead

  1. The dough needs to rest for about 2 hours. Knead the dough using the stretch & fold method every 30 minutes. See the “Kneading during Proofing” videos on the Video page.

Step 6: Shape dough

  1. Gently remove dough onto a floured countertop, using a dough scraper.
  2. Dust flour around the perimeter, then lift sides just a bit and scoot the flour under.
  3. Lift sides up, then over to form a circular shape and tighten it up a bit.
  1. Flip over and push sides down and under with cupped hands to make the surface taught. See “Shaping” video on the Video page.
  2. Dust a proofing basket, or a tea towel placed in a bowl with a generous amount of flour.
  3. Gently lift than lower the dough into the basket, seam side down.
  4. Cover and proof about 3-1/2 to 4 hours.
  5. Cut a sling out of parchment paper to use for lowering the dough into your baking receptacle.
  1. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 475 degrees, and place a Dutch oven with lid (or any heavy pot that has a lid) inside to heat up as well.

Step 7: Bake

  1. When dough is proofed, place the paper sling on top of the basket/bowl, then a cutting board on top of that.
  2. Carefully invert so the dough is on the cutting board, and out of the container.
  3. Remove the Dutch oven/pot from the oven, remove lid, and carefully place dough inside.
  4. Replace the lid, then return the Dutch oven/pot back in the oven and bake for 30 minutes
  5. Uncover, reduce heat to 450, and bake for 30 minutes more, until it’s a medium dark brown.
  6. Let cool on a rack before slicing.

Week 67: Angel Biscuits

Leave a comment

Angel biscuits are made with three leavening agents: baking powder, baking soda and yeast. The unusual addition of yeast creates a texture that is a cross between a biscuit and a soft dinner roll. A perfect foil for Chef David Bull’s Sawmill Gravy.

This dough is very forgiving, and can be stored in the fridge for up to five days, or you can cut the dough into rounds, place them on a cookie sheet to freeze, then pop them in a zip lock and freeze until ready to bake however many you like.

Most recipes use a combination of shortening and butter, but biscuits were originally made with lard, and because of the low water content (compared to butter) it does produce a superior biscuit: fluffy, flakey and airy.* Don’t want to use lard or shortening? These biscuits were made with ghee which makes a really tasty substitute (but not necessarily any healthier*) Here’s a great video showing you how to make it at home.

  • 2-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
  • 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp yeast (add 1/2 tsp more if you’re planning on freezing the batch to cook later)
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt

Parmesan Herb Biscuits: Mix in 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, (save 1 Tbsp to sprinkle on top just before baking), 1-1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme and 3/4 tsp chopped fresh rosemary.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, yeast, sugar and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl), and whisk to combine.

  • 1/2 c fat: all lard, shortening, butter (or a combination: 1/4 lard or shortening + 1/4c butter) OR 1/2c ghee
  • 1 cup buttermilk at room temperature (make your own: put 1 Tbsp vinegar into a Pyrex measuring cup, then add room temperature milk to the one cup line)
  • Optional: Cream to brush on tops before baking
  1. Add the ghee/lard/butter (whatever combo you’re using) into the flour mixture in pieces.
  2. With the paddle attachment, mix (on low speed) until crumbly. (Or, use your hands to incorporate the butter into small pebbles, until the mixture resembles coarse meal.)
  3. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the buttermilk, and continue mixing until the liquid is incorporated and you’ve got a smooth dough. OR, gently fold the until ingredients are moistened. Don’t overmix!
  4. Cover bowl and let rest 1 hour.
    • At this point, you can store this dough in the fridge for up to five days, to shape and bake at a later time.
  5. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead 3 or 4 times.
  6. Gently press dough out into a circle, fold in half, then fold again. Push sides inward to shape into a circle.
  7. Gently roll to a 1/2″ thickness, then cut with a floured 2” cutter. Don’t twist the cutter when lifting it. Press the scraps together, pat then roll into a circle and continue to cut out biscuits until it’s all used up.
  8. Now you’ve got two options:
    • Bake now: Place rounds with sides touching in a 10-1/2′ cast-iron skillet lined with parchment paper,
    • OR Bake later: Place on a cookie sheet, spaced apart, and freeze. Remove to a zip-lock bag and freeze for up to two months.
  9. Remove biscuits from freezer and preheat the oven to 400.
  10. Brush tops with cream, then bake until golden, 16 to 20 minutes.
  11. Serve warm with Sawmill Gravy
Press into a round
Fold the bottom half up
Fold the left half over
Shape into a circle
Roll out to be smooth & even
Cut with a 2″ biscuit cutter

*Why lard bakes a better biscuit:

  • Gluten strands in dough form strong bonds when baked, which makes a tougher crumb. When lard coats the gluten strands it weakens their structure and keeps them from bonding (fluffy),
  • Lard melts more slowly than butter, creating air and steam (flakey), and
  • The fat crystals in lard are larger than butter, so when it melts, tiny, airy holes develop (airy).

You shouldn’t be deterred from that ingredient (unless you’re vegetarian, of course). When Crisco shortening launched in 1911, it very quickly became the favorite with it’s netural taste and long shelf life — and it’s heavy marketing campaign that told consumers it’s healthier than lard. We now know that shortening’s partially hydrogenated fats (trans fats) are associated with higher health risks than the saturated fats (such as lard) they were designed to replace. In addition, lard has 20% less saturated fat than butter, and is higher in monounsaturated fats, which are good for cardiovascular health fat. Just make sure you find a brand that is 100% non-hydronated.

Week 54: Hot Cross Buns

Leave a comment

(Since we’re still waiting on our starter, here’s a bread for Easter weekend!) ENGLAND: These yeasty, heavenly spiced buns are typically eaten on Good Friday, celebrating the end of Lent. There are a multitude of references to the cross representing the crucifixion of Christ, and suggestions that the spices signify those used to embalm, but as food historian Ivan Day says, “The trouble with any folk food, any traditional food, is that no-one tended to write about them in the very early period.” Which is to say, most of this is conjecture, and it is just as likely that the cross is a way to separate the bun into sections. Back in the day, folks would grate, then save the bread that was baked on Good Friday to use as a medicine in later years, and some believed that the buns would never go moldy, so they nailed up in the house as a good luck charm.

I found many versions of hot cross buns (12M results on Google!) and tested three. I am happy to report that Bake with Jack’s Hot Cross Buns is the clear winner — and he just today posted an accompanying video with tips and updates, since that recipe was originally posted on his blog in 2017.

Bake with Jack’s Hot Cross Buns Recipe

My tips:

  1. Sultanas are golden raisins
  2. Yeast measurement is 14g total (seems like a lot, I know)
  3. Caster sugar is very fine granualted sugar. Go ahead and use granualted sugar (not light brown sugar which would be too wet).
  4. I used 2 medium lemons and 1 large orange which equaled about 1 Tbsp zest for each.
  5. I got 3/4 cup juice from the lemons and orange, so added 3/4 cup granulated sugar to that for the syrup. I simmered it for 15 minutes. It gets thick as it cools.
  6. Mixed spice is very similar to our pumpkin pie spice, and that would make a fine substitute. But the mixed spice is a little more complex, so I’ve listed the ingredients below if you’d like to make your own.
    • 1 Tbsp ground allspice
    • 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
    • 1 Tbsp ground nutmeg
    • 2 tsp ground mace
    • 1 tsp ground cloves
    • 1 tsp ground coriander
    • 1 tsp ground ginger
  7. I had a hard time piping the flour/water paste in even thickness/straight lines. I did one strand all the way around, and then ended up using a wet table knife to cut the individual strands before moving on to the next bun.
  8. Gas mark 180°C is 400°F

Video below has tips that would be useful in making this recipe.

Links to some of his videos that would be useful for this recipe

Video 150: Incorporating Dried Fruit in Real Time – https://youtu.be/TEa-D0yoHfc​
Video 149: Do You NEED to Soak Dry Fruit for Bread? – https://youtu.be/j9_KuJ0voq0​
Video 131: Kneading Bread Dough in REAL TIME – https://youtu.be/BBRmfxumyh0​
Video 87: FIVE signs your Bread Dough is Fully Kneaded – https://youtu.be/rHgtvDMrffc​
Video 148: Make it EASY for yourself – https://youtu.be/_FTA2maeqh8

P.S. I really wanted to like Dan Lepard’s Spiced Stout Buns recipe — link here — because they seemed like a grown-up version, and feature the no-knead method. But the special ingredients, the length of time with it’s overnight ferment, and tricky method if you’re a beginner, just didn’t seem worth it in the end. They are tasty though, and it’s a no-knead method, so have at if you’re interested!