Writing this blog encourages me to bake much more interesting things than I would usually do. I get stuck making the same few things, but as that would get pretty boring on here I have to find new things (or resurrect old things) in order to be able to continue posting.
It also makes me think about my baking, the other day I posted on Shoo-Fly Pie and, though I have been interested in its origins for some time, I have never looked into it in any depth. My research yesterday, prompted by my post, told me that it is a popular dish amongst the Dutch immigrants in Pennsylvania, USA. There they use molasses (treacle to us Brits), which I think would be a little gooey and strong for my taste. If, however, you would like to try this method then a recipe should be able to be found here.
So, though you may think that this site is purely for the thousands of bakers out there who are looking for inspiration, it is really all for my personal benefit and development as a baker (none of them have managed to find it yet anyway!).
Stay free.
Showing posts with label Associated Ramblings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Associated Ramblings. Show all posts
Friday, 25 January 2008
Tuesday, 22 January 2008
Trouble Shooting
As promised, and despite not receiving any questions on problems, I have decided to post a troubleshooting section as part of my 'associated ramblings'. Today I made my usual baps, so there isn't any point posting about those again, but these have taken some time to perfect, especially the overnight technique, which suffered from large air spaces in the rolls for a time. This was most probably caused by over rising on the first rise, as decreasing the amount of yeast I use over time seems to have sorted the problem (I now use less than half of what I started with).
This could also be associated with a problem that plagued my focaccia for a time. Here I found that the crust would often detach from the body of the bread in baking, making a loaf that looked like it had risen incredibly, but which just had a big airspace in the middle. I think this was caused by drying out of the dough during rising as I wasn't keeping it as well covered as I should have done. This is especially a problem with overnight rising as it is over a longer period of time, so covering with oiled cling film at all times is a must. Oiled film serves two purposes, it stops the film sticking to the dough, but it also creates a more perfect seal around the container that the dough is in; further preventing drying out.
Other problems are generally associated with over or under baking or proportions of ingredients and can be resolved with a little experimentation. Longer baking times produce a harder and thicker crust; shorter a softer crust. More water can make the dough difficult to work with, but also provides a looser texture to the crumb and a softer consistency (milk is good for softening the crumb too).
The longer the rising time the better in most cases. To this end amounts of yeast should be adjusted to the conditions normally found in your house to produce a rising speed that is appropriate to your schedule and, secondly, the bread type (more yeast, quicker rising, obviously). It is never going to make a bread that is inedible (unless you really put a lot in), so make the yeast work for you.
Well I hope that has covered a few of the most common problems/complaints, if you have any more then this is probably the place to leave them and I shall endeavour to resolve them.
Back to business.
This could also be associated with a problem that plagued my focaccia for a time. Here I found that the crust would often detach from the body of the bread in baking, making a loaf that looked like it had risen incredibly, but which just had a big airspace in the middle. I think this was caused by drying out of the dough during rising as I wasn't keeping it as well covered as I should have done. This is especially a problem with overnight rising as it is over a longer period of time, so covering with oiled cling film at all times is a must. Oiled film serves two purposes, it stops the film sticking to the dough, but it also creates a more perfect seal around the container that the dough is in; further preventing drying out.
Other problems are generally associated with over or under baking or proportions of ingredients and can be resolved with a little experimentation. Longer baking times produce a harder and thicker crust; shorter a softer crust. More water can make the dough difficult to work with, but also provides a looser texture to the crumb and a softer consistency (milk is good for softening the crumb too).
The longer the rising time the better in most cases. To this end amounts of yeast should be adjusted to the conditions normally found in your house to produce a rising speed that is appropriate to your schedule and, secondly, the bread type (more yeast, quicker rising, obviously). It is never going to make a bread that is inedible (unless you really put a lot in), so make the yeast work for you.
Well I hope that has covered a few of the most common problems/complaints, if you have any more then this is probably the place to leave them and I shall endeavour to resolve them.
Back to business.
Monday, 10 December 2007
Salt
I didn't post or bake yesterday as I was entertaining guests, and this left me with a cake-less lunch box this morning. I did have a short lie-in as a consequence, but I would have preferred cake. So this evening I baked another sponge, but this time there was thankfully some oranges on hand to grate the rind from, so I made my sponge of preference; the chocolate orange. This is simple and just requires adding some orange rind and cocoa to the normal sponge recipe, as mentioned at the end of the previous post.
While I was starting my bread for tomorrow I thought about salt, which is a compound that has come in for a bit of scientific and media scrutiny recently. In the recipes that I have given I have usually reduced the amount of salt from the original recipes or popular proportions. Salt is required to prevent the bread from tasting very bland, as anyone who has accidentally left the salt out will know (though my wife quite likes this), but it is surprising how little one needs to achieve this. Bringing the salt content down over time is also effective in making the change less obvious to the palate, and I often use half the quantity of salt stated in even my adapted recipes. In these times of careful diets, and especially for those on low salt diets, this is worth considering and experimenting with.
I'm off to eat cake.
While I was starting my bread for tomorrow I thought about salt, which is a compound that has come in for a bit of scientific and media scrutiny recently. In the recipes that I have given I have usually reduced the amount of salt from the original recipes or popular proportions. Salt is required to prevent the bread from tasting very bland, as anyone who has accidentally left the salt out will know (though my wife quite likes this), but it is surprising how little one needs to achieve this. Bringing the salt content down over time is also effective in making the change less obvious to the palate, and I often use half the quantity of salt stated in even my adapted recipes. In these times of careful diets, and especially for those on low salt diets, this is worth considering and experimenting with.
I'm off to eat cake.
Monday, 26 November 2007
Bread Making Machines
Another day of no baking (more freezer stocks consumed), so I thought I would post a short discussion on the merits of bread making machines. I had one of these devices bought for me by my mother-in-law, with the best of intentions, and I know a number of people who own them. I personally feel the bread baked in a bread maker is a poor, but easy, substitute for homemade bread.
The defects in the loaves, such as the whole in the middle and limited crust, made me unwilling to actually put in the time required to become proficient at baking using a bread maker (a skill in itself). I prefer to use the breadmaker as a handy domestic kneading machine, as I alluded to in my ciabatta post, and for this purpose it is certainly useful. Most breads can be adapted to have some, if not all, of the kneading done in a machine, with the shaping and baking done in a conventional manner.
I have adapted recipes that fit in with my lifestyle, and hopefully proved that it is possible to adapt breadmaking to fit around you by changing the temperature it is risen at, the size of the loaves and both the type and quantity of raising agent used. An example of this is the overnight ciabatta recipe, which shows how Saturday's ciabatta post can be simply altered to fit my daily schedule.
I hope this encourages you to get in there and bake, it's making me want to.
The defects in the loaves, such as the whole in the middle and limited crust, made me unwilling to actually put in the time required to become proficient at baking using a bread maker (a skill in itself). I prefer to use the breadmaker as a handy domestic kneading machine, as I alluded to in my ciabatta post, and for this purpose it is certainly useful. Most breads can be adapted to have some, if not all, of the kneading done in a machine, with the shaping and baking done in a conventional manner.
I have adapted recipes that fit in with my lifestyle, and hopefully proved that it is possible to adapt breadmaking to fit around you by changing the temperature it is risen at, the size of the loaves and both the type and quantity of raising agent used. An example of this is the overnight ciabatta recipe, which shows how Saturday's ciabatta post can be simply altered to fit my daily schedule.
I hope this encourages you to get in there and bake, it's making me want to.
Thursday, 22 November 2007
No Baking Today
I had a bit of a lie-in this morning as my wife didn't have to be up so early for work, and I therefore didn't do any baking. This doesn't mean I had to go without bread though, and the reason behind this is the subject of today's post.
As I said yesterday, I had made my staple bread recipe in the form of baps and, as there were some left over, I froze the rest. I have found that if one cuts the rolls as if to fill them and then puts them back together and freezes them on the same morning as baking them, then they keep perfectly well. To make them into sandwiches all one has to do is take them out of the freezer, split them along the cut and make the sandwiches with the bread frozen. As long as they are well wrapped and there is some delay between making and eating, they will be perfectly edible and still superior to shop-bought varieties.
For those of you who are rather cynical about this practice: give it a try. Some blind experiments on my ever available wife have proven it really is difficult to tell the difference.
Tomorrow I shall be baking pizza and, though not for the faint-hearted or those without the correct equipment, I shall post a detailed description (i.e. long) on how I have achieved a pizza that makes my Italian in-laws despair of pizzerias in their own country.
As I said yesterday, I had made my staple bread recipe in the form of baps and, as there were some left over, I froze the rest. I have found that if one cuts the rolls as if to fill them and then puts them back together and freezes them on the same morning as baking them, then they keep perfectly well. To make them into sandwiches all one has to do is take them out of the freezer, split them along the cut and make the sandwiches with the bread frozen. As long as they are well wrapped and there is some delay between making and eating, they will be perfectly edible and still superior to shop-bought varieties.
For those of you who are rather cynical about this practice: give it a try. Some blind experiments on my ever available wife have proven it really is difficult to tell the difference.
Tomorrow I shall be baking pizza and, though not for the faint-hearted or those without the correct equipment, I shall post a detailed description (i.e. long) on how I have achieved a pizza that makes my Italian in-laws despair of pizzerias in their own country.
Tuesday, 20 November 2007
Coming Soon
My first post and there's not even going to be a recipe in it (innit). But rest assured, coming soon will be a host of downloadable recipes as I upload the things I'm baking at the time and the recipes you should try-before-you-die. In the meantime I'm going to try and get the hang of this new site and see if I can remember any HTML. Keep baking, B.
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