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FRANCE: This is unlike any bread you’ve every had. It manages to be full of chocolate flavor with out the cloying sweetness. You need time, though, because it calls for an overnight rise, which is actually perfect because you can prepare the dough in the evening, then shape and pop them in the oven next morning after a 30-minute rise. Chocolate in yeast doughs can be tricky, but Victor has figured it all out and gives detailed instructions AND links to his regular baguette which is a great place to start if you’ve never baked them before.

Chocolate Baguettes recipe from Victor Vitaly

• 500 g all purpose flour King Arthur brand is recommended
• 20 g Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 150 g bitter-sweet dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
• 425 g water
• 10 g salt
• 3 g active dry yeast or quick rise yeast
• 2 Tbsp honey

Follow instructions here.

This is an excellent demonstration of the “stretch and fold” method.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1timJlCT3PM&feature=emb_logo

SEATTLE: (Manca’s Cafe): So quick, so easy and so delicious! Make it in five, eat it in twenty. Serve with jam and plain yogurt, or powdered sugar and lemon. OR, skip the sugar and add canned chilies (or jalapenos) and serve with grated cheese. YUM.

Continue reading “Week 25: Dutch Baby” →

GERMANY: Buy a pretzel in Germany, and it most probably won’t come with mustard unless you’ve ordered a sausage to go along with it. Instead, it might be served sliced in half with butter, or with some obazda, a cheese-based dip made with an unusual combination of ingredients (recipe below). It’s also most probably been dipped in a lye solution just prior to baking, (which is what gives pretzels their charteristic deep mahagony color), but baking soda works too.

Continue reading “Week 24: Laugenbrezel” →

NEW ORLEANS: This unique bread, like a cross between a baguette and a hot dog bun, is also known as New Orleans French bread, and is what makes the famous Po Boy one of the best sandwiches in the world. You can get po-boys outside of New Orleans, but it won’t be the same if it’s not made with this one-of-a-kind bread.

Continue reading “Week 23: Po-Boy Rolls” →

This nutricious loaf, made from oats, rye, whole wheat, white and brown rice flour is super easy to make and can be made in a single day (no overnight soak, which many methods call for when using flours like rye and whole wheat). It has a soft, dense crumb, crisp sturdy crust, and is so delicious you can just eat it on its own – no butter, etc. required!

•  60 g rye flour
•  60g brown rice flour (just grind brown rice in a blender)
•  45 g quick-cooking oats
•  338 ml lukewarm water
•  150 ml warm milk

Mix all the above and let soak for 1 hour.

•  330 g all-purpose flour
•  210 g whole wheat flour
• 2 Tablespoons vital wheat gluten
•  5 g instant yeast 
•  1 teaspoon salt
•  3 Tablespoons honey

1. Mix the dry ingredients together in the bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Add the wet mixture and the honey
3. Using the paddle, mix everything together until combined
4. Change to a dough hook and knead on low speed for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough comes away from the sides and forms a ball. Should feel like play-dough, a little tacky, but not sticky on you hands
5. Take dough and knead a few times on the counter to shape into a ball. Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled, could take 45 – 90 minutes, depending on the temperature of the room

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1. When the dough has doubled, remove it from bowl, flatten it out and shape into a loaf, using the “head and shoulders” method.
2. Make 3 diagonal slits on the top, and dust with oatflakes. Cover with a damp tea towel and let rise for 1 hour.

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1. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees
2. Bake about 40 – 60 minutes, until golden brown and internal temperature is 190 degrees.
3. Cool on wire rack.

This is an uncomplicated, straight-forward loaf. I was aiming for the simplest, shortest method, with the most basic ingredients (no dairy/eggs) without sacrificing taste and texture. And this is it! A soft, chewy, absolutely delicious loaf. It’s a perfect for “working from home” loaf because the short steps are worked hours apart.

Continue reading “Week 21: 100% Whole Wheat” →

ITALY: This is Sullivan Street Bakery’s signature loaf, using the famous no-knead method made popular by the owner, Jim Lahey. His technique involves an overnight fermentation, which is how you get the gluten strands to develop that would otherwise form during the kneading process. It’s a wet dough, so kind of hard to work with, and you need a heavy pot with a lid (Pyrex works), to mimic the steamy, high temperatures of a professional baker’s oven. But, other than the fermentation, it takes no time at all to make, and is very forgiving in it’s method. It’s the perfect loaf.

Continue reading “Week 20: Panne all’Olive” →