The Bread Topic (2016–)

[Ann_T]

Sliced this morning for breakfast.

[ElainaA]

12 hours ago, cakewalk said:

@ElainaA How is the shaping done? It looks somewhat like a brioche nanterre. Very nice looking bread.

The dough is spread into a rectangle, the filling (cinnamon and sugar) is spread over it and the dough is first rolled up and then pulled out to be about 12-14" long. That piece is cut lengthwise in two. The two pieces, cut side up, are then made into a two strand braid (twist?).  The shaping does leave some of the cinnamon/sugar exposed - that creates the very dark areas on the bread. I like it both because it is pretty but also because it distributes the filling well. 

The recipe in the CI cookbook simply rolls the dough and filling into a loaf. 

Edited January 18, 2017 by ElainaA (log)

[Ann_T]

Yesterday's bake.

 

Rye Bread.

Baked one baguette for cocktail rye.

[lindag]

I have some Irish flour from KAF that looks similar to what is show above

 

[Anna N]

 

Small loaf of white sandwich bread from Deborah Madison's The New Vegetarian..... 

[ElsieD]

Spicy Cheese Bread, recipe courtesy of Cook's Country.  It is somewhat briochey, those holes are from cheese cubes.  I find the bread a bit sweet.  It called for 1/4 cup sugar.  Does anyone know if I can cut back the sugar without harming the bread?

[MelissaH]

@ElsieD, I would certainly think you could cut down on the sugar without a problem. It might just take a little longer to rise.

 

Even if it's a bit sweet, it looks lovely. What kind of cheese did you use that you didn't think worked well with the sweetness?

[ElsieD]

@MelissaH I used Provolone and Monterey Jack, 6 ounces of each.  I made a sort of a loaded potato soup for our supper tonight and the bread was to go with it, but I didn't particularly like it because of the sweetness.  Normally when I make bread I use little to no sugar and much prefer it.  Nice looking loaf though, and I liked the texture so I will make it again with maybe at most 1 tablespoon of sugar.

[ElsieD]

In case anyone is interested, I toasted some of this bread today.  It is really good as toast and not eaten with anything.  The sweetness is much more subdued.  

[kayb]

21 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

In case anyone is interested, I toasted some of this bread today.  It is really good as toast and not eaten with anything.  The sweetness is much more subdued.  

Oddly, when I made a quickbread recently that I thought was too sweet for its savory add-ins, the sweetness seemed subdued in successive days as well. Wonder if there is something that causes the sweetness to be more intense when the bread is fresh? There didn't seem to be a significant change after it abated the first time, but that change WAS significant.

 

[Franci]

Daughter's birthday is approaching and I am thinking about something not too complicated...I like the idea of very cute little rolls

10g of dough

 

 

 

 

 

[chefmd]

Attempted to make these

http://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a51134/soft-pretzel-bites-recipe/

The taste was OK but they did not look like the picture.  My husband and our guest approved.  Should have used parchment paper as the recipe suggests but did not have any.  I generally suck at baking so your mileage may vary if you try this recipe.

 

Edited January 29, 2017 by chefmd (log)

[liuzhou]

Just pulled this baby from the oven. I haven't tasted it yet (it's still piping hot) but I'm pleased with the look of it. The slight lop-sidedness was, of course, deliberate to suggest a modicum of artisan, rustic authenticity. Cough.

 

 

It's normal flour, yeast, salt, water no-knead with added chia seeds (because I have some).

Edited January 30, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[Anna N]

@liuzhou

 

Interesting!  The bread and the philosophy re perfection. Click  although the bread of course is missing the subtlety and I did not wish to ascribe to you the religious connection.. But tell me what vessel did you use for the bread that would fit into your toaster oven?

[liuzhou]

19 minutes ago, Anna N said:

@liuzhou

 

Interesting!  The bread and the philosophy re perfection. Click  although the bread of course is missing the subtlety and I did not wish to ascribe to you the religious connection.. But tell me what vessel did you use for the bread that would fit into your toaster oven?

 

The vessel, the cradle that brought this baby into the world, the stork of bread, the fount of life was this wonder of faith over reason and hope over probability.

 

 

A non-stick cake tin I bought for something else and never used until today. It is 14cm wide at the bottom, tapering lightly outwards towards the top where it is 17cm wide. 8 cm deep. I just stuck the dough in there on a whim because I was bored with my loaf-tin shaped loaves and wondered if it would work.

My flawed perfection theory, such as it is, believe it or not, derives from lexicography rather than the spiritual, although I know lexicographers who think they are high priests. But that is off-topic and a story for another day!

[Anna N]

Thanks for sharing your special vessel.   I have a one track mind as far as no knead bread is concerned and had expected you to produce a small, lidded Dutch oven.  

[liuzhou]

3 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Thanks for sharing your special vessel.   I have a one track mind as far as no knead bread is concerned and had expected you to produce a small, lidded Dutch oven.  

 

I know where you are coming from but I have this stubborn resistance to thinking that my toaster oven is anything other than a regular oven, only a bit smaller. I know that's delusional but it seems that these days you can go far on being delusional. I wish the oven could get a bit hotter than it does, that's all. I've tried pizzas more than once but to no standard I want, so I gave that up.

 

I wish my hands were up to kneading but, sadly, it isn't going to happen so no-knead has been a saviour and I'm happy with my modest results. I do envy yours, though.
 

[Anna N]

19 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

I know where you are coming from but I have this stubborn resistance to thinking that my toaster oven is anything other than a regular oven, only a bit smaller. I know that's delusional but it seems that these days you can go far on being delusional. I wish the oven could get a bit hotter than it does, that's all. I've tried pizzas more than once but to no standard I want, so I gave that up.

 

I wish my hands were up to kneading but, sadly, it isn't going to happen so no-knead has been a saviour and I'm happy with my modest results. I do envy yours, though.
 

 I have absolutely nothing but admiration for what you accomplish with the limitations that you have. 

[liuzhou]

Cut into my lop-sided loaf. Had a slice just with butter. Very happy with the result.

 

 

 

Then I had a bacon sandwich. The ravages of greed and hunger got to me before the camera did, so there is a bite missing.

[chromedome]

On 30/01/2017 at 7:14 AM, Anna N said:

@liuzhou

 

Interesting!  The bread and the philosophy re perfection.

 

My classmates and I at culinary school constructed an entire lexicon of euphemisms for such occasions (or "alternate facts," if you will). Anything that turned out butt-ugly was, of course, "rustic," burnt translated to "deeply caramelized," and so on. As students, of course, we had ample opportunity to work on this vocabulary. 

[Ann_T]

@Franci, those little buns are just adorable.   I will have to borrow your idea. 

 

Last night's bake.

Dough was made on Tuesday and refrigerated until late yesterday afternoon.

 

Baked two baguettes

and two pizzas.

 

 

[Franci]

On 2/2/2017 at 11:02 AM, Ann_T said:

@Franci, those little buns are just adorable.   I will have to borrow your idea. 

 

 

thank you @Ann_T it's your recipe! The one for hot dog buns! It has become my standard ;)))

Your bread is always beautiful!

[liuzhou]

Having eaten the first one, I made another round loaf and managed to get it to come out non-lopsided. Relatively.

 

 

A friend said, "It looks like a mushroom". I'm taking that as a compliment.

Edited February 5, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[BeeZee]

@liuzhou, as I like a nice dark crust on bread, your little loaf looks very appealing to me.

[liuzhou]

11 hours ago, BeeZee said:

@liuzhou, as I like a nice dark crust on bread, your little loaf looks very appealing to me.

 

Thanks, but I wouldn't describe it as 'little'. I'd say it's an average size loaf. 836 grams (1 pound 13 oz approx). Here it is beside a normal chicken's egg for scale.

 

 

I do like a bit of a reasonably dark crust, too. However, the toaster oven I have has weird hotspots which seem to change every time I use it, so sometimes things aren't easy to control and results aren't even. But it only has an aesthetic effect. The bread tastes just fine.