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On my Grandville Island Tour/Cooking Class this weekend one of the attendees described a recipe she had for bread baked in a turkey. She thought it was probably a Mennonite recipe named Bobart. After exhaustive search of the internet I cannot find anything. Has anyone heard of this? Attached is the recipe she sent me: Bobart - Raisin bread for stuffing turkey/fowl Soak I c. dried raisins/dried fruit of your choice in boiling water Scald 1c. cream; cool Beat 2 eggs 2 ¾ c. flour 1 tsp salt 1 pkg yeast 1 tbsp sugar Combine eggs and cream; add to flour mixture Mix by hand or in Cuisinart to a ball Add ¼ c. water, remove from Cuisinart Drain fruit and flour the fruit and knead into the dough Rise until doubled and knead again Place dough in cavity of turkey after it has roasted for ½ hour Roast until done, about 2 hours Cover with foil if browning too much

I make 2 loaves of rye bread at a time. We seem to rarely be able to finish the 2nd loaf before it starts to go moldy. I am now officially tired of throwing the half loaf away. I'd like to slice and freeze individual slices for future use, but have never done this before. Are there any tips or tricks I should know in order to have the thawed bread at it's best?? Am I pretty much limited to having to toast the thawed slices, which is fine if that's the way it is, but if there's a way to "re-fresh" the bread so as to be almost a good as fresh baked, I'd love to know that too. Oh, should I thaw the slices and then toast or is toasting them still frozen just as good? Thanks!

Hello people, I have had a frequent problem with bread shaping. I suspect the consistency of the dough may be the problem. After I chafe the loaf, I always have on the underside a "key" that does not want to come together, and thus sometimes fissures within the loaf after baking . It happens more with rye breads. THank you for your advice.

I love bread and cheese - but am usually quite full when it arrives as a 3rd or 4th course for dinner. When we went to the Pompidou on a Sunday - we were looking for a place to eat lunch - but many promising looking places were closed. OTOH - there were some great looking food stores on a street a couple of blocks away. A place that sold bread and desserts called Pain de Sucre. A lovely cheese store across the street. Some great fruit a couple of stores down. We bought a loaf of the bread of Marais - a beautiful dessert - some fruit - and - something I had never seen before - a "mini" Vacherin (which turned out to be fabulous). A veritable feast. Now - where to eat it on this rainy day? We went into the museum - and there was no place to sit down except the cafe. Which had big warnings against doing a picnic in the cafe. I am usually a law-abiding person. But on this day - with this feast - I broke the law. We bought some drinks at the cafe - and then surreptitiously ate our "picnic" (I kept it hidden under my jacket between servings). It is a good thing we were somewhat secretive - because one woman did spread out a picnic - and was promptly thrown out of the cafe. We couldn't possibly eat everything - but the solution to our leftovers appeared. A man and woman - apparently homeless - appeared in the cafe (this was a free museum day) and they were looking for food on the trays that hadn't been cleared (quite sad - but that is what they were doing). We wrapped our leftovers - gave them to these people - and they walked off with a nice little bag from Pain de Sucre. I hope they enjoy Vacherin! I do recommend this area for buying food - but perhaps there is a better way/place to eat it. Robyn

I'm working on Pane Sicilano-3 loaves each on half sheet pans. This has to be refrigerated overnight, then I get to peel the stuck plastic wrap off the loaves again tomorrow. Peel too hard, watch it deflate. No room on the pans to put a taller glass or cup in the middle to raise the wrap a bit. A bit of Pam on the loaves doesn't really help much. I've been through this many times before. This is for a potluck tomorrow. I'll be up an an ungodly hour to let these come to room temp and bake them. And I have to be AT WORK at 7am. Any guesses on my mood at that hour? Even pure Kona can't cure that zombieism. Any fixes I never heard of?

I had such fun this weekend attending a bread discussion and tasting lead by Professor Steven Kaplan held here in Los Angeles. Yes, he is professorial and not shy about his opinions. I found his attempt to apply academic rigor to bread tasting interesting and bit entertaining. He was thoroughly charming and approachable. I had a great time. My husband and daughter came with me and we all laughed the next night as we attempted to rate and score the La Brea Bakery bread I brought home from the market. (Kaplan doesn't like LBB, though he didn't say why and none of us asked him why.)

It was announced in our local newspaper (The Wichita Eagle) this morning that Wichita will be the site for a new bread cook-off next June, sponsored by the Kansas Wheat Commission and King Arthur Flour. link to the story Opening night for contest festivities will be June 15, with the actual baking contest to be June 17. The article goes on to say that the recipes must use yeast, making it a "scratch" baking contest, unlike others sponsored by food companies that require the use of processed products. I'll try to watch for more details and post them here for anyone who may be interested. I live in Wichita, and would love to meet any eGulleters who come to town for this -- or for any reason, actually. If you become a finalist and come to Wichita, I'll be more than happy to help you accommodations, etc. PM me if you have questions or need assistance of any kind. Oh, the important part: there will be eight finalists. Prizes will be "thousands of dollars" and will include an all-expense-paid trip to the King Arthur Company baking school in Vermont. The KWC is looking for additional sponsors, so I wouldn't be surprised if additional prices become available. Edited to add: Rules are now available here. Supposedly, more details will be/are available on the King Arthur Flour website.

The holidays approach fast, and it's never too early to start planning for your holiday baking. Shortbread is one of the standard baked items that many of us associate with Christmas. RecipeGullet has no less than 6 shortbread recipes, from lavender to green pea, and then there is the amazing malt shortbread made by mette in the eG Pastry and Baking Challenge number 3. I must confess that the shortbread I make year after year, the same one my mother always made, is simply butter, sugar and flour. Do you make shortbread? Do you add flavours to it or do you think simple is better? Don't hesitate to add your recipes to recipeGullet. So let's hear it folks! Edited to thank Alanamoana for the suggestion.

About 20 years ago, I took some cooking classes from a chef who was also teaching in a vo-tech food service program. One of the recipes he gave us was for a "fruit basket upset bread". Essentially, it involved making a yeast dough, rolling it out on a half sheet pan, and then putting a fruit cocktail mixture on it. I think the mixture might have had an egg and some oil in it. Then the dough was haphazardly folded over the fruit mixture, and chopped up with a bench scraper. After baking, I think we put a powdered sugar glaze on it. I had told a friend of mine about this several years ago, and now she's calling and asking for the recipe, which I no longer have. I'm thinking if I could find it again, I might like to tweak it a bit, using fresh or frozen fruits instead of canned fruit cocktail. I'm hoping someone here will have the recipe, or can tell me where to find it. Thanks!

I am the worst at baking .....especially BREAD. I even make bad bread in a bread machine, for God's sake ...unless I use a boxed mix. I can't tell you how many loaves of bread and biscuit recipes that I've ruined. And I don't know WHAT I'm doing wrong. I think sometimes it's b/c I use too warm of water for the yeast....I do test it, but I think my thermometer wasn't working the last time. What type of thermometer is the proper one to use for breads? Anyway, I stumbled across a thread about Cook's Illustrated the other day here, and found that several people listed the American white Bread (I know...I don't eat white bread either, but my dh does)as being one of their favorites and super simple to make. I was stimulated and hopeful...but now I'm having second thoughts.... Does anyone have any tips for me on baking breads? I honestly don't know WHAT I'm doing wrong. I try to get the right yeast, and all fresh ingredients and everything turns out like a freakin BRICK. I spent hours on a biscuit recipe on Thanksgiving and they seriously could have been used for brick wall construction (this is sort of a Thanksgiving tradition now...my biscuits that I spend hours on and never make it to the table ). I REALLY want to be able to whip out homemade breads, but it seems such a waste of time, money and ingredients at this point. Along with having a hard time believing I can't do something competently, LOL. So, I"m going to try this one last recipe and pray that I get a decent loaf of bread for a change. Any tips or suggestions are welcome. I'm going to try this again tomorrow morning after I visit this forum! TIA.....and I'll def. post how it turns out (one way or the other )

I was watching Mythbusters and there was a not very well done commercial for a Dunkin' Donuts flatbread egg white sandwich. That seems pretty 90's to me, promoting carbs and non-fat protein. Sure you can offer such things, but to make a campaign based on it?

I have heard that an important bakery in Montreal is trying to find/develop a local and organic flour with a lower protein content than what is currently available in Canada. The goal, as I recal, was to obtain a lighter, less dense, crumb for their baguette and other French breads. I always thought that a high protein content was a good thing when making bread. Most Canadian flour IS very high in protein and would probably be considered "bread flour" in most part of the world. Any clue as to how a high or low protein content in the flour used to make bread effect the final product? And why would a bakery avoid using a "bread flour" to make bread? Does this have any impact for home bakers? What I found online so far was more confusing than anything else but then I am a very novice baker.

Since I only buy kitchen appliances at the thrift store, my bread machines are always a decade behind in style. But i just got a brand new Breadman--a present, but welcome as there has been a dearth of them in the thrifts for some reason--I was reduced to an ancient Toastmaster that could only make a one pound loaf--the woman at customer service got the giggles when I called up to see what the pan capacity was--she said, "That's an oldie, for sure." So, this is pretty exciting--with this new one I can make zucchini bread at the touch of a button. It came with several quick bread recipes, and i have Beth Hensberger's The Bread Lover's Bread machine Cookbook, but thought I'd ask here for tips and tricks. And fav recipes, too! Zoe

Saw this in the news. bread & health study Just one study, but certainly seems to go against the conventional wisdon. Cheers, Geoff

Just when I think I've learned most types of bread and their names I keep running into new ones. Recently I found a delicious and very rustic loaf called a 'tintin', never seen it before despite buying bread all over France for many years. This is just a recent example, but there are many more types that keep cropping up. Does anyone know of a really comprehensive guide (encyclopedia of bread perhaps?) to all the types and names of bread in France? Something way beyond the posters that one sees around. All help appreciated.

Yipes. Just got off a 14 hour workday and the boss decided to call me over to his house to ask about extending the shelf life on our breads. I have a pretty good knowledge of bread and I did artisan bread for two years back in '95 to '97. I've been away from that part of the biz for a while so I'm a bit rusty. The last time I worked with any type of dough conditioners was when I was in pastry school, and that was limited mostly to nonfat milk solid type products. Apparently boss-man isn't entirely satisfied from our lead bread guy's input regarding extending shelf life, so he decided to pick my brain too. After a 14 hour workday, all I managed to get out besides "uhhhhhh", was "malt syrup?" I do believe the use of malt syrup makes for a softer and longer shelf life bread, right? We have a non-diastatic malt powder that we use in some of our doughs, but I don't believe it has the same effects on the dough as syrup. But I'm not sure. Can someone set me straight? Can you educate me a bit? Does anyone out there use a particular brand of dough conditioner they are happy with? Would you be able to give me a brand name? My brain hurts.

Hi All, I'll be in SF in late August. I'm looking for the best cheesemongers, the best bakeries, with excellent sourdough and any other specialties, and places with the best selections of Belgian or Belgian-style beers. I have had luck searching out quite a few restaurants in the eGullet threads in this forum, but I haven't yet found the above three items. Any help would be appreciated. Best, Alan

So at work the usual guy that makes the bread is taking a vacation, so they are getting me to make it while he is gone. Me and the guy that make bread (I do not refer to him as a baker because he himself said he is not one and only makes the bread because that is what the bosses ask him to do) both discusses how crappy our cheese bread is. The management has never said anything, but both me and him seem to agree that while the bread has an ok flavor (could be better though) it just gets so dry and has a bad texture. I was wondering if some of the more experienced bakers here could help us out and tweak the recipe, or offer advice. Here's the recipe. 5 oz yeast, activated in 2 cups of water 32 cups high gluten flour (I Know we should probably use weight, and this is probably one of the things we need to correct) 1 bag (it's a rather large, restaurant size bag of cheese) sharp cheddar 1/2 cup kosher salt 10 eggs 1.5 cups oil (I think we use an 80/20 blend of vege and olive) 1 cup sesame seeds. about 12 cups of warm water, depending on humidity. Pretty much we just add all the ingredients to the jumbo mixer we have and let it knead away until it seems ready to roll. Then we roll it into 5 ounce rolls and proof it in our big humidity box thing (I am not a baker, so please excuse my lack of terms, or basic knowledge of the subject). Then bake for 17 minutes at 350 degrees. Yield: about 75 loaves. If anyone could help us out with a tweak on the ingredients or a better method we would really appreciate it!

hey everyone, i am looking to source a rustic flatbread in london, pitta is too flat, foccacia generally too thick, the closest i have got is when i made my own naan but i don't want naan, i know i am being awkward, any ideas? matt

Does anyone have any experience procuring sweetbreads in the Orange County area? I'm willing to travel a distance if it's worth it, so LA and San Diego counties are both options. I've also been trying to source other cuts like pork belly, veal/beef cheeks and offal. I've gone to some Asian markets like 99 Ranch and I wasn't thrilled with the visible quality, but I might need to check back if anyone has had other experiences with their meats. 99 Ranch had pork belly, but it was precut into thin slices. I've also checked with Whole Foods and they said they can get me Lamb Sweetbreads from New Zealand, but that it would take about 6 weeks. Any help would be appreciated!

We just got back from two weeks in France, and at the local boulangerie in a Paris suburb, we got hooked on a delicious bread. I can't remember what it was called - perhaps pain du bois feuillette or something like that....I'd love to try to recreate it at home, but can't find a recipe since I don't know what it was called. It came in either a baton or a small round loaf, was dark brown in colour, had a texture like a croissant in that it had many thin layers, was quite buttery, but whole-grainy, with flax seeds. It also had sour undertones. Thanks in advance! Hannah

On a recent visit to Toronto I had for the first time Italian bread and it was the best bread I have ever tasted. I would love the recipe for this bread or does it use ingredients only obtained commercially? Any information on this would be very gratefully received. Thanks norm

I have use of my husband's grandmother's and mother's cookbooks, antiques all, and I found a recipe for "Pain Ordinaire" in a book from 1948 that had me make a "sponge" of yeast, boiled water and flour kneaded into a ball, which was then scored and placed in more boiled water until the ball floated, upon which you mix in the rest of the ingredients and its then handled exactly like any bread recipe. I'd like to understand this better, I have never seen this before but I'm not a real chef, I am just an amateur eater. The crackle when I cut this loaf was like a gunshot, and I just baked it in my Joe Homeowner JennAire.

Hi, I am making some cinnamon rolls that use baking powder as leavening instead of yeast. Can I assemble the rolls, leave them on the counter and bake them in a few hours with no ill effects? I'm not sure if there any leavening occurs once mixed. Thanks, Joe

My daughter gave me a bread machine for Christmas several years ago. I used it several times with general success but didn't like the big blob of bread that resulted. I put the machine away to gather dust and only recently started using it again, but just to make dough for items to bake in the oven instead of in the machine. Now I'm gung ho to go beyond cinnamon rolls, focaccia, and pizza dough (all of which turn out very well). Can you aim me in the direction of good recipes for breads especially? Are there any tips that make for better products? What about using gluten to allow me to use a higher percentage of whole wheat flour? Is there a flour that will make more "relaxed" dough for pizza and focaccia? Thanks. lkm