The bakers' thread

[Reynard]

Ah, same ingredients but the yeast gives the different flavour...okay, makes sense

I have family in Germany where apparently it’s normal practice to keep a yeast colony alive in the kitchen for regular baking.

And the much longer fermentation times... The longer a bread takes to make, the more flavour you can extract from the ingredients.

 

[Hugh Manatee]

Pizza for dinner tonight. I use 22oz of flour and then usually make four. I went for three tonight and it was much better. I also let them rise slightly for a second time on the trays as it is so warm tonight.

Vegetarian chilli sausage worked very well and I do like those mini plum tomatoes. There's even some proper tomato flavour in them this time of year!

 

[glasgowcyclist]

My neglected starter recovered well enough for me to make a sourdough on Sunday, this time another walnut number.

I forgot to lightly toast the nuts in a dry pan but I have to say that it hasn't made much difference. (I'll often toast the bread anyway.)




For this week's sandwiches I made a wholemeal loaf from a new recipe. This has too much honey in it for my liking, making it a bit claggy when chewing it so I'll be leaving the honey out next time.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

A while ago (and in another thread) I posted about a bread I had while on holiday in Sorrento. I couldn't get it definitively identified beyond being pane a legna which is just a generic reference to wood-fired bread but recently came across a very similar looking bread on social media so I asked the poster for the recipe. Turns out it's from a book by Otto Lenghi (I'd never heard of the guy but apparently he's a well-known foodie) and involves using a biga.

It's not quite the same loaf as I'm searching for but really nice nonetheless.


So here I am with another first; Italian Crusty Loaf made using a biga. There was one ingredient in the recipe that I didn't have, malt powder, so I just went ahead without it.

The crust on the loaf was amazing, with a good crunchy snap all the way around. I'm really impressed with the depth of flavour too, and I guess that's down to the 15-20 hour fermentation time.

Apparently the malt powder will help the colour and the crust so I'm getting some for the next time I make it.

EDITED TO ADD: Here's a link to the forum where I found the recipe and method: https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=29623.0

 

[Reynard]

I make a similar loaf, but french style, with a poolish as opposed to a biga. Difference is the amount of water that goes into the preferment. And yes, it's the fermentation time that gives you the lovely flavour - you could actually reduce that yeast by some margin and extend the fermentation time.

If the malt powder is there to give a darker crust and a slightly sweeter taste, might I suggest just adding a teaspoon of sugar to the dough? It'll do more or less the same thing.

 

[bluenotebob]

Biking and baking - two pleasurable leisure activities. I've been baking bread and cakes since the 1980s but it's only recently that I've managed to combine these two sensory delights.

At home after a long ride, I get even more enjoyment than usual from eating whatever I've baked - the physical effort expended has stimulated the taste buds, or perhaps it's just prolonged exposure to fresh air? If I've planned properly, the enjoyment of a long ride can also be enhanced by scoffing an 'in-flight snack' (sugar booster).

If I'm going out on the bike for 3 or 4 hours, apart from ensuring I've got enough fluids, I usually only carry a banana, some dates and perhaps an energy bar. Energy bar? I reckon the energy expended in trying to unwrap it far outweighs any benefit I get from having eaten it. But that's probably just my fumbling incompetence.

On longer rides (5 to 7 hours) I've found that I really need something more substantial to help sustain the effort. I don't know whether there's any appetite (sorry) in this forum for sharing enthusiasms for favourite 'long-haul' food - but I thought that I'd mention three of my current home-made favourites. I try and carry a bit of one of these on all my long runs:

Cornbread - I first discovered this bread/cake back in the 1980s when I was travelling in the US. It's taken me more than 30 years to knock together a workable recipe but I've finally done it. It's slightly sweet and quite heavy so I don't need much - a smallish rectangle of this is enough to give me a lift.

Pear & vanilla cake - this is a variant of the French Quatre Quarts (which I believe is 'pound cake' in English). I use a conference pear - it cooks as part of the baking process - so not too hard or too soft. If I've got it right, the end-result is 'melt in the mouth' pear suffused with the flavour of vanilla. And believe me, that tastes just perfect after a few hours' of riding

Cinnamon & chocolate cake - also a Quatre Quarts variant. Whilst trialling this cake, I discovered (quite by accident) the concept of 'immediate and delayed' chocolate. Probably only of interest if you like chocolate, but I do, I really do. Lexia raisins would be perfect in this cake but as they're way too expensive, I've found a cheaper French alternative. My neighbour's 3-year old loves this cake - I think it's his favourite food. I don't know if that's a recommendation or not but, like him, I've found it really hard to stop eating this cake once I've started. Eating a little bit of this whilst I'm out on the bike gives me a further incentive to get home - so I can have some more...

I wanted to post this in the 'Cookery' section of the forum but I discovered to my surprise that there isn't one. Dear website designer - here's a 'future enhancement request', to be added to your doubtless lengthy list.

Anyone else want to share details of a few of their favourite home-made long haul snacks?

 

[C R]

Biking and baking - two pleasurable leisure activities. I've been baking bread and cakes since the 1980s but it's only recently that I've managed to combine these two sensory delights.

At home after a long ride, I get even more enjoyment than usual from eating whatever I've baked - the physical effort expended has stimulated the taste buds, or perhaps it's just prolonged exposure to fresh air? If I've planned properly, the enjoyment of a long ride can also be enhanced by scoffing an 'in-flight snack' (sugar booster).

If I'm going out on the bike for 3 or 4 hours, apart from ensuring I've got enough fluids, I usually only carry a banana, some dates and perhaps an energy bar. Energy bar? I reckon the energy expended in trying to unwrap it far outweighs any benefit I get from having eaten it. But that's probably just my fumbling incompetence.

On longer rides (5 to 7 hours) I've found that I really need something more substantial to help sustain the effort. I don't know whether there's any appetite (sorry) in this forum for sharing enthusiasms for favourite 'long-haul' food - but I thought that I'd mention three of my current home-made favourites. I try and carry a bit of one of these on all my long runs:

Cornbread - I first discovered this bread/cake back in the 1980s when I was travelling in the US. It's taken me more than 30 years to knock together a workable recipe but I've finally done it. It's slightly sweet and quite heavy so I don't need much - a smallish rectangle of this is enough to give me a lift.

Pear & vanilla cake - this is a variant of the French Quatre Quarts (which I believe is 'pound cake' in English). I use a conference pear - it cooks as part of the baking process - so not too hard or too soft. If I've got it right, the end-result is 'melt in the mouth' pear suffused with the flavour of vanilla. And believe me, that tastes just perfect after a few hours' of riding

Cinnamon & chocolate cake - also a Quatre Quarts variant. Whilst trialling this cake, I discovered (quite by accident) the concept of 'immediate and delayed' chocolate. Probably only of interest if you like chocolate, but I do, I really do. Lexia raisins would be perfect in this cake but as they're way too expensive, I've found a cheaper French alternative. My neighbour's 3-year old loves this cake - I think it's his favourite food. I don't know if that's a recommendation or not but, like him, I've found it really hard to stop eating this cake once I've started. Eating a little bit of this whilst I'm out on the bike gives me a further incentive to get home - so I can have some more...

I wanted to post this in the 'Cookery' section of the forum but I discovered to my surprise that there isn't one. Dear website designer - here's a 'future enhancement request', to be added to your doubtless lengthy list.

Anyone else want to share details of a few of their favourite home-made long haul snacks?

You are not the only one, may want to have a look at the bakers thread in the cafe:

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/the-bakers-thread.228233/

 

[Pat "5mph"]

You are not the only one, may want to have a look at the bakers thread in the cafe:

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/the-bakers-thread.228233/

Mod Note:
Beat me to it!
Therefore, I will merge the two

 

[Poacher]

A while ago (and in another thread) I posted about a bread I had while on holiday in Sorrento. I couldn't get it definitively identified beyond being pane a legna which is just a generic reference to wood-fired bread but recently came across a very similar looking bread on social media so I asked the poster for the recipe. Turns out it's from a book by Otto Lenghi (I'd never heard of the guy but apparently he's a well-known foodie) and involves using a biga.

aka Yotam Ottolenghi - I imagine he'd be amused to be called Otto!

 

[Poacher]

I wanted to post this in the 'Cookery' section of the forum but I discovered to my surprise that there isn't one. Dear website designer - here's a 'future enhancement request', to be added to your doubtless lengthy list.

There used to be a cookery section, but it was split off to a separate website, CookingBites , administered by former stalwarts of cyclechat. Several cyclechat members post on there, some under different names, but it's also gained quite a few international posters with no known cycling connections. Worth a look!

 

[monstadog]

There used to be a cookery section, but it was split off to a separate website, CookingBites , administered by former stalwarts of cyclechat. Several cyclechat members post on there, some under different names, but it's also gained quite a few international posters with no known cycling connections. Worth a look!

Well you learn something every day!!!

 

[bluenotebob]

There used to be a cookery section, but it was split off to a separate website, CookingBites , administered by former stalwarts of cyclechat. Several cyclechat members post on there, some under different names, but it's also gained quite a few international posters with no known cycling connections. Worth a look!

Thanks @Poacher , I finally got round to checking this website out. It's remarkably similar in feel to CC - and looks like it's worth signing-up to.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I had a bit of a late night last night as I'd misjudged the timings for a new dough I was trying and didn't get to bed until 1:20am! However, I was kept entertained by the Forum Language thread started by Vantage.

As you may have seen on that thread, I made this boule (pardon my French), taken from the marvellous book The Bread Baker's Apprentice, by Peter Reinhart.




It's just listed as white bread but is made with 340ml of whole milk and 3 tablespoons of sugar. The result is remarkably similar to brioche in flavour and has a light-as-air quality and very soft texture. It's ideal for sandwiches, burger buns or hot dogs.

Toasted and buttered, it has a taste not unlike a croissant (oops, I did it again).

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I had to make a midweek loaf last night because the previous one was so good it was scoffed very quickly.

This was another traditional white loaf (recipe at bakingmad.com ) and although I followed the recipe properly, I've somehow managed to make an arse of it.

 

[Reynard]

I had to make a midweek loaf last night because the previous one was so good it was scoffed very quickly.

This was another traditional white loaf (recipe at bakingmad.com ) and although I followed the recipe properly, I've somehow managed to make an arse of it.

View attachment 420048

That's a rather fine pair of cheeks...