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Due to a miscalculation of my own cooking ability I was left with a kilo of masa harina and some fresh yeast after the weekends Mexican cooking. So I combined the two. I made a fairly straight forward hearth cake mix then cooked in very slowly on on side until the bottom was brown and very crisp, while the top was soft, but cooked though. This was then filled with some bean chile that I made. Thus: OK, it was very good and with a bit of refinement it could be even better, but my question is, is this type of yeast cooking done in the Mexican kitchen (if so recipes or descriptions) or have I invented the fluffy taco?

Years and years ago I lived up the block and across the street from a large country store on the outskirts of a college town that sold incredible cheesecakes, Archie comic books for the devout and everything you could possibly need for baking for cheap: all in clear plastic bags sealed with twist ties, weighed and priced. There and then I first noticed different kinds of powdered milk sold next to yeast, wheat berries and rye flour. These were the days that the popularity of Diet for a Small Planet was just beginning to wane and I always associated dehydrated milk with that kind of economical, fringe cooking. Having somehow misplaced my favorite source of simple, basic bread recipes, I opened up Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (1997; sorry, no time to tend a poolish) and was surprised to see that Deborah Madison recommends the use of dry milk or dried buttermilk in several of her bread recipes. Since there are only a few recipes, it is hard to see a pattern. However, in one case, the recipe is for a whole wheat bread that includes a little gluten flour, but no unbleached white; another is for a rye bread. Does powdered milk complement heartier flours in a way that distinguishes it from fresh milk or buttermilk? Or might it be an established, superior source of protein for vegetarians? Edited to ask: Do I need to make any adjustments in simply replacing some of the water in the recipe with milk--other than, perhaps, increasing the amount of flour slightly?

Pide (Turkish Flat Bread) Serves 4. This is a Turkish flat bread that is traditionally served during Ramadan, but is also served all year round. It can be sprinkled with sesame or nigella seeds or stuffed with various fillings of meat or vegetables or cheese. This recipe has been adapted from Classical Turkish Cooking by Alya Algar. Sponge 4 tsp active dry yeast 1/2 tsp sugar 1/2 c warm water 1/2 c unbleached all-purpose flour Dough 3-1/2 c bread flour 1 tsp salt 3 T olive oil 1 c plus 1 tbsp warm water Glaze 2 eggs, lightly beaten Topping Nigella seeds and/or sesame seeds Mix the yeast and sugar in the warm water and set aside in a warm place for 10 minutes, until bubbly. With a fork, stir in the flour, cover with saran wrap and leave to rise for 30 minutes. Place the bread flour in a large bowl, make a well and add the sponge, salt, olive oil and water to the well in the middle. Add the flour, a little at a time until the dough is soft and sticky. Knead the dough on a floured board for approximately 15 minutes until the there is no resistance. Place the dough in a buttered bowl, cover with saran wrap and rise for 1 hour, until doubled in size. Divide the dough into two parts and mold into a ball. Cover with a tea towel and rest for approximately 30 minutes. Preheat a baking stone in a 550 degree oven for 30 minutes. Stretch the rested dough, using wet hands, into a 10-inch circle. Glaze the dough with egg, leaving a 1-inch wide boarder. Dip your fingers in egg and make four horizontal rows of deep indentations with your fingertips. Place the pide on the baking stone and sprinkle it with nigella and or sesame seeds. Bake for 6-8 minutes and place in a towel. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Keywords: Appetizer, Dinner, Main Dish, Snack, Intermediate, Middle Eastern, Lunch, Bread ( RG1455 )

My girlfriend just sent me this recipe.. It looks outrageous.. Honestly Paula Dean is by far the sickest person I have seen... I could see Emeril telling her to calm down a bit and maybe not use so much fat and fried foods.. Has anyone tried this or used Krispy Kremes in a recipe before.. It looks very healthy.. Here is the link.. Krispy Kreme

Natural levain bread baked in brick ovens. Yippee! A bakery outlet in Puebla and in Oaxaca City. Click on the "pan" to reveal all. Pan

Over in my foodblog, several members asked questions about this bread sculpture: I too would like to know more about that wine bottle bread. Way back upthread, Mitch (a.k.a. boulak) offered to tell more about the baking school ovens and answer other questions about the process. Since the blog will be closing soon, here's my request to him to please start a thread telling more about the school and the gear! Let's start with: how do they bake that bread with the wine bottle, without overheating the bottle and/or scorching the label? And how do the decorative bread doughs differ from regular doughs? ← I thought I'd get this started. What tips, ideas, and recipes do people have?

The local Tesco Extra is stocking La Brea bread. I bought a "Country white Sourdough Oval". Not bad at all. Good grigne, good crust,nice open crumb texture. Bread actually tastes of something with a mild sourdough tang. The crust has the little bubbles that comes from being a retarded dough. One of the bakers told me that they get the dough and then bake it off in store. The packet has a web site: http://www.labreabakery.com/ and an address in Uxbridge and in Dublin. Here the plot thickens, since the web site has a refereence to http://www.iaws.ie/default.asp also based in Dublin "IAWS GROUP plc is a major food and agri-business group with operations in Ireland, Great Britain, continental Europe, Canada and the United States." and it turns out that LaBrea is a group company, along with Delice de France, Cuisine de France and other brands. Under La Brea it says " The breads are baked 80% then flash frozen and shipped to retailers and restaurants... where the baking process is finished off." Looking at the table of ingredients there are a few surprises. Flour (contains wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, Reduced Iron,Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavine,Folic Acid), Water, Sourdough (6.84%), Salt, Wheat Germ, Semolina. The malted barley is a souce of an enzyme to help convert starch to sugars. Perfectly respectable. Wheat Germ is I guess added for flavour, and also enzmes. The sourdough (same sub-list of ingredients) looks like an old dough addition, rather than a seperate ferment, but I'm guessing. Semolina is widely used to stop the dough sticking. Nothing wrong there, and nice of them to declare it, since its in such a small amount. The thing that has me puzzled are the vitamins etc. Looks like they are added to the flour as nutrition supplements. Is this a US requirement? I don't think its needed for the bread. Nothing in the marketing says "Multivitamins added" or the like. Indeed the front of the package claims "No artificial additives".

After reading few bread books where authors explained their way of rounding and shaping, I still have few unclear points. First, what is the actual difference in technique between rounding and shaping - first is actually preliminary shaping, but, say, after rounding into boule my bread looks already pretty round - so how should I proceed with final shaping? Second, what are the most successful techniques of shaping in basic forms while retaining as much gas as possible - please, share your findings. Third, how to seal a boule properly? As I have some flour under the loaf to prevent sticking to the bench, when I'm trying to seal the loaf, that flour doesn't allow sides of the dough to stick to each other; another side effect is that some of that raw flour remains inside of the seal is, i.e. goes into the loaf. Should I use less or no flour at this stage?

My frustration has knows no bounds at this point. For several years, I have been happily making gingerbread for my restaurant in a non-stick bundt pan, and it has worked beautifully. The customers adore it. And the food cost is excellent, so I am loath to abandon it. For quite some time now, when I turn the cake out, the bottom stays with the pan, not with the rest of the cake, rendering it unusable. The pan is in good shape. I cool the cake for the same 25 minutes I always have, loosening it gently around the sides first. I have tried adjusting the oven temperature a bit, and the rack position too. I have tried reducing the number of eggs from 4 to 3. Sometimes it works, but usually not. Needless to say, the making of the gingerbread is now fraught with anxiety. I would greatly appreciate any ideas that anyone might have. The customers will sqawk bitterly if they're deprived of one of their favourites. BTW, I am reluctant to abandon the Bundt pan because it presents so beautifully on the plate.

Bread Pudding with Blueberries Serves 6 as Dessert. Bread pudding is a classic dish, an example of the kind of peasant cooking that comes of using every odd and end available in the house. It's a great use for stale bread, but it's also worth going out and buying bread just for this recipe! 8 egg yolks 3 whole eggs 2 c light or heavy cream 2-1/2 c whole milk 1-1/2 c sugar 1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 loaf challah or brioche bread 1/2 c fresh blueberries, washed and picked over Pre-heat the oven to 315 degrees Fahrenheit. Make the custard: In a large, heavy mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks, cream and milk until well-combined. Add the sugar, vanilla and cinnamon and whisk until sugar is thoroughly incorporated. Set custard aside. Prepare the bread: Slice the bread into 3/4 inch thick slices. Remove and discard the crusts from each slice and cut remaining bread into 1/2 inch cubes. Assemble the pudding: Line the bottom of a large oval baking dish (approximately 10x15) with a layer of bread, then sprinkle on the blueberries so that they are evenly distributed. Spread the remaining bread cubes on top of the blueberries. Pour the custard mixture down over the bread and berries, and allow to soak for at least 10 minutes before putting it in the oven. Transfer the oval baking dish to a large baking pan filled with enough hot water to come about halfway up the side of the pudding. Bake the pudding for 60-70 minutes, until golden brown and cripsy on top. Remove from the oven and cool on top of the stove, in the water bath, for twenty minutes. Remove from water and cool for additional 10 minutes on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Keywords: Dessert, Easy ( RG1391 )

Irish Soda Bread I got this recipe from a friend. After making a few modifications, I like to bake it to eat for breakfast. 2-2.5 cups unbleached flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/8 cup sugar (if desired) 1/8 cup butter (ab. 1 oz) 1 egg 1 cup buttermilk Mix the dry ingredients and place them in food processor. Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. This can also be done by hand, using a knife or a pastry blender. Place the mixture in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the egg and buttermilk, then add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix and place the dough on a surface dusted with flour. Knead the dough until smooth. Flatten into a disc about 1.5 inches thick, dust with flour, and cut a cross on top with a sharp knife (do not cut all the way through). Bake on a greased sheet for about 40 minutes at 375 F, or until nicely browned. Cool on a rack. This is the recipe I got. And here are my modifications: 1. I shape the dough into 2 loaves: one with caraway seed, and the other one with added Splenda and dry cranberries. 2. For the flour, I use 1/2 cup unbleached flour, 1/2 cup soy flour, and the rest is whole wheat. 3. I don’t usually keep buttermilk at home, but I always have kefir, so I substitute the buttermilk with 3/4 cup kefir + 1/4 cups water (because kefir is thicker). Keywords: Breakfast, Brunch, Bread ( RG1387 )

I'm in the middliing stages of putting together my bread kitchen and am thinking about the sorts of things I'd like the customer to know about how I make the breads, apart from specific ingredients -- that I get my bread flour locally, for example, and the mill is the oldest mill in the state, what it means that many of the breads are naturally-leavened, maybe a little something about what naturally-leavened means relative to "sour dough," something about the discrete properties of the flours as opposed to all-purpose flour, a little about my wood-burning Alan Scott oven, the sorts of long processes of fermenting the doughs, that sort of thing. What sorts of information do you like to see on a bag when you pick up a loaf of bread? And would some well-written background information (historical, local, etc.) be of interest?

I have been asked to prepare shortbread but with splenda. I have made a lot of drop cookies and loaves with splenda successfully but shortbread is a bit more fussy and has less ingredients to cover the taste of the sweetener (though I will be flavouring them with espresso powder). Has anyone here done this with success? Thanks in advance!

For those of you who love French pastry, Seattle has a wonderful purveyor of the art: Carolyn Ferguson, owner of Belle Epicurean. She sells her creations at the U District Farmer's Market on Saturdays. My favorites are the chocolate walnut bun and the ham & cheese galette. Soon (in the fall) Carolyn will be opening a retail shop in the Olympic Hotel. I'm delighted that Food & Wine Magazine read my post about her in my blog & is interested in including her work in an article about artisanal bakeries. I'd love to see her get her "due" in a national food publication! And I'm so jazzed that I could be the matchmaker! Here's the link to my post: http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_ol...-best-pastries/ (I have no commerical interest whatsoever in Belle's Buns)

Spinach, Dill and Goat cheese Bread Pudding Home Cookin 4.9 Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Spinach, Dill and Goat cheese Bread Pudding =========================================== 1 to 2 tablespoons butter 2 leeks chopped (White part) 1 garlic clove minced approximately 2 cups, of fresh baby leaf spinach (tightly Packed) 1/4 cup fresh dill chopped 5 slices of bread, buttered, crusts removed and cut into 1 inch cubes. 2 to 3 eggs 1/2 cup cream salt and pepper goat cheese (small pieces) 1/4 parmesan cheese Heat butter and saute leeks, when tender add garlic and saute for a minute or so. Add the spinach and fry until just wilted. Remove from heat. In a large bowl beat the eggs with the cream. Season with salt and pepper. Mix in the leek mixture and add the chopped dill. Add the bread cubes. Mix well and then add the goat cheese and parmesan cheese. Pour into a buttered casserole dish, or 3 or 4 ramekins, sprinkle with a little more parmesan cheese and bake in a Bain Marie for approximate 20 minutes or until golden. ( RG1358 )

Spinach, Dill and Goat cheese Bread Pudding Home Cookin 4.9 Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Spinach, Dill and Goat cheese Bread Pudding =========================================== 1 to 2 tablespoons butter 2 leeks chopped (White part) 1 garlic clove minced approximately 2 cups, of fresh baby leaf spinach (tightly Packed) 1/4 cup fresh dill chopped 5 slices of bread, buttered, crusts removed and cut into 1 inch cubes. 2 to 3 eggs 1/2 cup cream salt and pepper goat cheese (small pieces) 1/4 parmesan cheese Heat butter and saute leeks, when tender add garlic and saute for a minute or so. Add the spinach and fry until just wilted. Remove from heat. In a large bowl beat the eggs with the cream. Season with salt and pepper. Mix in the leek mixture and add the chopped dill. Add the bread cubes. Mix well and then add the goat cheese and parmesan cheese. Pour into a buttered casserole dish, or 3 or 4 ramekins, sprinkle with a little more parmesan cheese and bake in a Bain Marie for approximate 20 minutes or until golden. ( RG1358 )

After popping into Vintropolis (the B.C. wine store on W. 1st) to pick up a nice Rose (they, by the way, are surprisingly well priced with a nice selection of inexpensive B.C. wines) I decided to grab a loaf of bread at Pane From Heaven. Well, I guess Heaven has stopped delivering as they no longer sell bread and apparently haven't for the last three months. By default I thought I would try the relatively newly renovated Bread Gardens to see what they might have. Again, just mediocre take out food and no bread. Has Cobbs taken over to the extent that local bread places are having to eliminate their reason for opening in the first place? In the case of Pane From Heaven (and Pane Formaggio on W. 10th) the selection of breads and baked goods borrowed heavily from Ecco il Pane recipes that a former baker took with him when he left and perhaps he just decided to return them!!! As for the new Bread Gardens I don't give them a year.

Hello, all. I'm an avid bread baker with a recurring problem. The tops of my loaves stretch, instead of being cleanly cut, when I'm cutting their tops before putting them in the oven. I'm using a fresh, new very sharp X-Acto #11 blade, which has a point, and is triangular shaped, and holding it almost parallell to the work surface, just as I learned at the French Pastry School in Chicago, where I took a great class. Now I know my blade is not the traditional lame shape, but shouldn't that work as well, as long as it's very sharp? Thanks in advance.

Key Lime Dessert Bread 2/3 c unsalted butter, room temperature 2 c granulated sugar 4 eggs, slightly beaten 3 T Key lime juice Zest of 3 Key limes 1 tsp vanilla extract 3 c all-purpose flour 2-1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1 c whole milk Glaze 3 T Key lime juice 2/3 c granulated sugar Prepare two loaf pans by greasing well with butter or oil. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Add in the eggs and beat together well. Pour in the Key lime juice, zest, and vanilla extract and combine well. Set aside. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add a little of the milk into the dry mixture, then add a little of the creamed butter and egg mixture, and then alternate the additions until all combined into a batter. Divide into the two loaf pans and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until cakes are firm and nicely browned. Mix together the 3 tablespoons Key lime juice and the sugar. Spoon mixture over the baked breads. Cool for 15 minutes, then remove from loaf pans. Wrap, and store for about 24 hours. Slice, and serve. Keywords: Dessert, Easy, Breakfast, Brunch, Snack, Bread, Cake ( RG1339 )

Key Lime Dessert Bread 2/3 c unsalted butter, room temperature 2 c granulated sugar 4 eggs, slightly beaten 3 T Key lime juice Zest of 3 Key limes 1 tsp vanilla extract 3 c all-purpose flour 2-1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1 c whole milk Glaze 3 T Key lime juice 2/3 c granulated sugar Prepare two loaf pans by greasing well with butter or oil. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Add in the eggs and beat together well. Pour in the Key lime juice, zest, and vanilla extract and combine well. Set aside. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add a little of the milk into the dry mixture, then add a little of the creamed butter and egg mixture, and then alternate the additions until all combined into a batter. Divide into the two loaf pans and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until cakes are firm and nicely browned. Mix together the 3 tablespoons Key lime juice and the sugar. Spoon mixture over the baked breads. Cool for 15 minutes, then remove from loaf pans. Wrap, and store for about 24 hours. Slice, and serve. Keywords: Dessert, Easy, Breakfast, Brunch, Snack, Bread, Cake ( RG1339 )

This is really starting to annoy me. Where the hell can you buy bread or cake flour in sydney? I don't want bread mix with Soy Lethicin and yeast and whatever else they try and cram in there. I just want honest to god flour with a protien content above 12%. Maybe 15% if it wasn't hoping for too much. And what about cake flour? Something below 8% would be nice too. Instead, every single flour sold at every single supermarket I've ever been in is between 9 and 11%. The only things outside of that range are wierd mixes.

I would like to make a sort of walnut bread to include on our cheese plate. I am not looking for a supersweet breakfast/coffee cake type bread, rather one that is more savory, to complement the candied nuts, rhubarb chutney and quince paste currently on the plate with four cheeses. (It could also be maybe a walnut-fig bread or somesuch... you know what I'm going for...) I know I have had similar in another restaurant or two, but I can't seem to find anything even close, searching through all my books, the library, and the internet. Does anyone have any advice on where I might look, or perhaps have a recipe to share?

I can make, by my own admission , perfect sourdough, fantastic baguettes, delicious pizza (even approved by native neapolitans) but I cannot, even after multiple tries, make an acceptable focaccia. Mine always ends up overly dry or too oily. I've tried, as advised by some to use a pizza dough but this ends up too thin and crispy. Others end up as simply like a thin slab of bread. What I am looking for is a soft, delicate but slightly chewy bite with lots of open holes. The focaccia should be lightly but perceptibly oily, nicely salty and with a hints of rosemary or oregano in the topping. The focaccia should also have nice rise and be thick not thin like an unadorned pizza base. So come on egulleteers help me out and let's see those attempts for the perfect focaccia recipe!

I would love to get some authentic French bread and goodies next week when a couple friends from Paris arrive in town. Where do you recommend finding real French bread in Vancouver? What are the top French bakeries around town? Any stores that you can recommend would be greatly appreciated!

Hi, I'm a newbie to the world of baking .. being prone to "improvising" when it comes to the kitchen, I always thought of baking as too precise an art for me to be able to handle! However, I adore good bread and am always very envious when I go to peoples houses and see them serving bread they made in their own kitchen. I would really like to learn to make my own bread. I am planning to get one of the books on making bread for the home baker (I saw some really nce threads about this elsewhere on egullet). However, I have sme other questions I would like answered. Apologize if any of them are too silly but I really truly hve never ventured in this direction and practically know nothing about making bread. 1. Do I need a bread machine to be able to make my own bread ? If yes, can I get some recommendations on brand and make. I am really looking for something affordable and yet decent. 2. Any other tips on what kind of bread to start with? thanks a bunch in advance, worm@work