Benito's blog

I got my hands on some good stoneground whole red fife so wanted to incorporate it into my milk bread.  I haven’t used any red fife for a long while so it was due.  Because of the issues with gluten breakdown that seems to happen with red fife, I decided to use it all in the tangzhong, 20% since the gluten in the tangzhong won’t matter since it is cooked.

I had some pepitas and a handful of sunflower seeds lying around so decided to add them to this loaf.

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For one 9x4x4” Pullman pan loaf.

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76-78ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and whole red fife flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

If you plan on using a stand mixer to mix this dough, set up a Bain Marie and use your stand mixer’s bowl to prepare the tangzhong.

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flour.  I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before adding in more butter.  Again, knead until well incorporated.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane, not quite as good as a white flour because the bran will interrupt the windowpane somewhat.  Add the seeds, then mix again until they are well distributed.

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2 - 4 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape.  Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer.  Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

Prepare your pans by greasing them with butter or line with parchment paper.  

Lightly oil the top of the dough. Scrape the dough out onto a clean counter top and divide it into four. I like to weigh them to have equal sized lobes. Shape each tightly into a boule, allow to rest 5 mins. Using an oiled rolling pin roll each ball out and then letterfold. Turn 90* and using a rolling pin roll each out to at least 8”. Letterfold again from the sides so you have a long narrow dough. Then using a rolling pin, roll flatter but keeping the dough relatively narrow.  The reason to do this extra letterfold is that the shorter fatter rolls when placed in the pan will not touch the sides of the pan.  This allows the swirled ends to rise during final proof, this is only done for appearance sake and is not necessary.  Next roll each into a tight roll with some tension. Arrange the rolls of dough inside your lined pan alternating the direction of the swirls. This should allow a greater rise during proof and in the oven.

Cover and let proof for  4-6 hours at a warm temperature.  I proof at 82°F.  You will need longer than 4-6 hours if you chilled your dough for shaping. I proof until the top of the dough comes to within 1 cm of the top edge of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 350F and brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.  Just prior to baking brush with the egg-milk wash again.

Bake the loaves for 50 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190ºF, rotating as needed to get even browning. Shield your loaf if it gets brown early in the baking process. After 50 mins remove the bread from the pan and bake a further 10 mins by placing the loaf directly in the oven on the rack with the oven turned down to 325ºF

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My index of bakes

I’ve been wanting to try baking this style of bread for some time, but just couldn’t get my nerve up to trying it.  Despite its name, it seems that it is really an Asian style of bread.  I’m guessing that the Danish part of it is that it is somewhat like a danish as in the pastry.  Also, this isn’t something I could try during the heat of the summer and this week we are finally having some normal autumn weather.

To make this bread one starts by making a somewhat stiff enriched dough.  Then you make a flat square of butter that then gets sandwiched inside the dough.  This gets a series of folds resulting in 12 layers.  One has to keep the butter cold enough so that it doesn’t melt into the dough, yet when rolling it out, warm enough to roll out.

For my first attempt at this type of lamination, I’m quite pleased with the outcome.

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I’ve altered the formula just a bit to fit my 4x4x9” Pullman pan from the original recipe by Chiew See of Autumn Kitchen on IG/Youtube.

To the bowl of a standmixer add milk, IDY, sugar and salt, mix to dissolve.  Add flour and mix until the dough starts to come together.  Add butter in pats until well incorporated.  Mix until moderate gluten development, it doesn’t need to reach good windowpane.  In fact, I found this dough too low hydration so added some extra milk and ended up fully hand kneading it.

Flatten the dough with a rolling pin into a rectangular shape.  Wrap with clingfilm, leaving space for dough to expand.  Ferment at 28°C for 30 mins.  Freeze the dough for 1 hour then transfer to the fridge 3°C overnight.

Fold parchment paper into 18 x 18 cm square.  Weight out 154 g butter, place it on the parchment square, joining the pieces so that it starts to fill the square.  Fold the parchment to enclose the butter.  Use your rolling pin to strike or press the butter to soften it without warming it excessively.  Roll the butter out to fill the 18x18 square using the rolling pin ensuring that the butter is uniform thickness throughout and that the butter fills right to the corners.  Refrigerate the butter overnight.

In the morning remove both the butter and the dough from the fridge.  Both the butter and the dough needs to have the same firmness before laminating them together, if the butter is harder, let it soften first. You should be able to leave an indent in the butter if you press into it.  The butter should be pliable and be lightly bent without breaking, its temperature should be between 13-15°C.  

Roll the dough into an 18x36 cm rectangle, the dough should be twice the size of the butter.  Brush off excess flour.  Place butter in the center of the dough, fold the dough to enclose the butter pinching the dough where the ends meet to seal.  Turn the dough 90* so that the open end is towards you and the closed sides are perpendicular to you.  Gently press down on the dough with the rolling pin before rolling.  Lightly dust with flour, then roll from center to the ends with firm and even strokes.  Flip the dough and continue to roll to 21x53 cm.  Trim off the uneven ends.  Brush off excess flour.

Do a double or book fold, this brings the cut ends of the dough together folding one edge to two thirds of the length then fold the other end to meet.  Next fold the dough in half.  You now have four layers.  Wrap with clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 mins.

Remove dough from the fridge, give it a few minutes if it is too hard before rolling.  Gently press down with the rolling pin.  If there are any bubbles pop with a toothpick.  With either of the open ends towards you roll the dough to about 21x53cm.  Do a lenter fold (letterfold in thirds) giving you three layers for a total of 12.  Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Prepare your pan by greasing it with butter.

Remove the dough from the fridge allowing it to soften until it is soft enough to roll.  Again using the same methods roll the dough out to slightly larger than 30x21 cm.  Trim all four sides to achieve 30x21 cm, keep the scraps for final shaping.

We will require 9 strips that are 30 cm long so mark 2.33 cm intervals on the 21 cm sides of the dough.  Cut the dough into 9 strips 2.33x30 cm.  We will be braiding three sets of 3 strips, so starting with 3 strips, stack the ends together with the center strand at the bottom and press down so that end sticks.  Braid the 3 strands so that the cut sides of the strips face up if possible.  Pinch to seal the end.  Flip it over, place ⅓ of the trimmings you kept into this underside of the braid now facing up.  Fold the two ends together and then place this into the greased pan folded side down.  Repeat with the other two sets of three strands so that there are three sets of braided dough in the pan.  The sets are placed side by side in the pan.

Ferment between 27-28°C 80-82°F until the pan is about 80% filled (3-4 hours).  30 mins prior to baking preheat the oven at 200°C or 390°F.   Egg wash the dough when preheating starts and then again immediately prior to baking.  Optional, after second egg wash sprinkle almond flakes on the top.  Place on a lined pan to bake as the dough will leak melted butter from the tin.

Bake at 200°C 390°F for 8 mins, then drop temperature to 170°C or 340°F and bake for another 25-30 mins or until golden brown.  Allow the loaf to cool prior to slicing.

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After the first set of folds.

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Plaiting completed and arranged in the Pullman Pan.

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About 30 mins prior to baking just before the first egg/milk wash.

 My index of bakes.

I’ve tried adding an egg to my standard country sourdough but hadn’t tried adding one to a 100% whole wheat sourdough.  Given the benefits of an egg in bread, leavening, lightness of crumb, fluffiness and thin crisp crust, a bread that is 100% whole wheat should theoretically greatly benefit from the addition of an egg.  

I also wanted to try a 5 min score.  For those who haven’t heard of this before, the idea is that if your dough is possibly overproofed and at risk for collapsing upon scoring, bake the dough for 5 min without steam.  So for a dutch oven bake, do so without a lid for 5 mins, then take the bread out of the dutch oven, score it and then place it back in the dutch oven this time with the lid on and continue your bake.

For those like me who prefer an open bake, bake without steam for 5 mins, then score and put it back in the oven with the addition of steam.  I didn’t really need to do the 5 min score with this bake and one thing I don’t like about it is the appearance of the crust when done this way.  I usually score, then brush water on the crust.  When doing the 5 min score, you don’t brush water on the crust.  So I find that there is some residual rice flour on the crust that doesn’t get washed away by brushing on water that gives the crust a less appetizing appearance to me.  I think detracted from this bake.  Also, it is a waste of time doing any decorative scoring as it won’t open up since the crust is partially set by the 5 mins without steam.

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I added an additional 10 g of bassinage water so the total hydration of this loaf was 93%.

Taking all the flour, I sifted it through the #40 sieve extracting about 47 g of large course bran flakes from 470 g of the stoneground organic whole wheat flour.  I then added 97 g of boiling filtered water to the bran as a scald.  I sprinkled the salt onto the bran and it was left to cool overnight.

The stiff levain was built and left to ferment overnight at 74ºF.

The next morning the egg and water were added to the bowl of my Ankarsrum Assistent and mixed by spatula.  Next the levain was added cutting it up into small pieces with the spatula.  Then the sifted flour was added to the bowl and mixed until there was no dry flour.  After 10 mins of rest the mixer was started.  After good gluten development the hold back water was added in several aliquots.  10 g of water more than in the spreadsheet was added during bassinage since the dough felt very strong.  Once bassinage was completed gluten development was very good.  Finally the scalded bran and salt was added until the bran well well incorporated.  The pH was 5.62 at this point.

A bench letterfold was performed and the aliquot jar set up as well as an aliquot of dough for pH measurement.

Every 30 mins a coil fold was performed until the dough felt strong and was holding its shape well.

Aim to shape went rise 40-50% or pH fall of 1.0.  This dough reached 50% rise but only had a 0.83 fall in pH.  Used my starter that has been converted to a while flour fed starter.  It has greater rise with less fall in pH.

Warm final proof and aim to bake at a pH fall of a further 0.3.  In this case I allowed a rise of 96% and then placed the dough into the freezer while the oven finished preheating.

I will do a 5 mins score.  To do this the dough is turned out onto a piece of parchment and transferred to the oven without scoring baking at 450°F.  After 5 mins in the oven the dough is taken out and then scored and brushed with water.  Then steam baking starts for 20 mins at 450°F.  The steam gear is then removed and baking continues at 425°F for 20-30 mins rotating as needed.

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I believe the egg did as advertised, the loaf had great lift, the crumb was light, the crust thinner than expected and for a 100% whole wheat loaf the crumb was fairly open.  I will try this again and without the 5 min score that may have affected the bloom.

Another note, I have switched back to using my own starter which I changed to feeding bread flour.  It is now rising more than the starter I was kindly gifted by Alan when given the same ratio of feeds.  It is also displaying the same characteristics of less sour tang and more rise for the change in pH.  For this bake, this bread turned out to be far less sour than any of my previous similar bakes, granted none of them had the egg in it which does raise the pH a bit.  But still, I used to bake after a drop in pH of 1.3 and perhaps get a total rise of 80%.  For this bake, the pH drop was 1.14 and the rise was 100%.  I suspect this is mostly due to the characteristics imparted from my starter being fed bread flour.

Gary posted a little while ago about using potato flakes instead of the usual flour based tangzhong.  Although potato flakes are more expensive than flour per gram, at least the good quality ones without additives they have one advantage.  Because the flakes are prepared from cooked potatoes, the starches are already gelatinized.  Apparently even through drying to make the flakes, although the water is gone from the starches, they retain whatever change that occurred so you do not need to precook the flakes to use them. 

This is a quote from the article Gary shared the link to.

” Potato flakes as tangzhong

In both wheat flour and potatoes, amylose and amylopectin exist in about a 1:4 ratio. This, plus its lower gelling temperature, means that amylopectin is the molecule responsible for the softness and staling-preventing effects of a tangzhong paste. As Dr. Ross explains, the amylopectin in instant mashed potato flakes are in a state of suspended gelation, ready to rehydrate as soon as they see water again.

Potato flakes, instant mashed potatoes are cooked and dried, maybe spray dried, but the starch never returns to the condition it was in the uncooked potato. The amylopectin doesn't really retrograde much and when dried fast enough remains as an amorphous matrix predisposed to fully rehydrate on the next introduction to water, even without heating. The amylose probably retrogrades, but this is an advantage as it doesn't rehydrate fully on the next introduction to water and gives some structural strength to the rehydrated mash. In potatoes this is complicated by the presence of starch within cells and whether the cells rupture or not during cooking. Rupture depends on the amount of cooking and the amount of shear applied during stirring/mixing.

Back to the method: You want enough additional water to completely saturate the starches in the potato flakes, so that they can do their thing in the dough and so that they don’t suck up water that would otherwise be destined to hydrate the flour—but no more than that, or it will make the dough stickier than it needs to be. Twice the weight of the potato flakes is about right, based on the tests I’ve done.

As for the amount of potato flakes to add, I’ve tested up to a 15% substitution of the total flour, though I think that in most cases sticking to no more than 10% is probably best, especially if the goal is to retain adequate crumb structure. (If you want a more dense, custard-like, tight crumb, by all means try higher amounts, but keep in mind that you need some structure to avoid a sticky dough—so you might have to reduce the total water to keep it easy to handle.)

In summary:

• You can amend the dough with as much as 15% of the total flour—meaning adding 15g of potato flakes for every 100g of flour—but to keep the dough texture close to the original, you probably want to limit it to no more 10%
• To fully saturate the potato starches, you want to add 200% water, relative to the weight of the potato flakes (aka twice as much water as potato flakes)
• And 2% salt, relative to potato flakes, to keep the overall salt % correct
• For example: Add 50g potato flakes, 100g water, and 1g salt to a bread that contains ~500g flour, for a 10% amendment 

If the dough is going to be machine-kneaded, you can just add the flakes to the dry ingredients, they’ll get sufficiently moshed up during kneading. To prevent a lumpy dough if you are hand-mixing, you’ll want to either grind them to a flour in a spice or flour mill, or instead mix the flakes with a small amount of the water from the dough and whisk them to a smooth paste before adding the remaining liquid ingredients.

I’ve yet to prove conclusively that instant potato flakes are as “good” as other cooked starches in a tangzhong-style approach, but they are so convenient to use that it might not matter to me if you can get a slightly better result using another starch. (I’m entirely happy with them in a soft-and-squishy enriched bread application, such as the bun recipes I’ve got coming up in the Summer 2021 edition of Edible Boston.) The amount of amylopectin relative to a traditional flour-based tangzhong is close to identical, so they should behave comparably. But it is something I plan to test eventually with a side-by-side.”

So for a baker who doesn’t feel like having to cook and mess up a pot to prepare a tangzhong, using potato flakes might be a time saving step to prepare a bread that uses a tangzhong.  At the same time, you get the benefits of the tangzhong, the delayed staling and fluffiness of the crumb with less work.  Win win as long as the flavour is still good.

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For one 9x4x4” Pullman pan loaf.

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76-78ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

If you are mixing by hand, then prepare the tangzhong by cooking the milk with the potato flakes until they form a mash potato.  If you are using a stand mixer then add the potato flakes with the tangzhong milk to the bowl along with all the other ingredients.

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flour and the potato flakes.  I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before adding in more butter.  Again, knead until well incorporated.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane, not quite as good as a white flour because the bran will interrupt the windowpane somewhat.  Add the seeds, then mix again until they are well distributed.

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2 - 4 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape.  Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer.  Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

Prepare your pans by greasing them with butter or line with parchment paper.  

Lightly oil the top of the dough. Scrape the dough out onto a clean counter top and divide it into four. I like to weigh them to have equal sized lobes. Shape each tightly into a boule, allow to rest 5 mins. Using an oiled rolling pin roll each ball out and then letterfold. Turn 90* and using a rolling pin roll each out to at least 8”. Letterfold again from the sides so you have a long narrow dough. Then using a rolling pin, roll flatter but keeping the dough relatively narrow.  The reason to do this extra letterfold is that the shorter fatter rolls when placed in the pan will not touch the sides of the pan.  This allows the swirled ends to rise during final proof, this is only done for appearance sake and is not necessary.  Next roll each into a tight roll with some tension. Arrange the rolls of dough inside your lined pan alternating the direction of the swirls. This should allow a greater rise during proof and in the oven.

Cover and let proof for  4-6 hours at a warm temperature.  I proof at 82°F.  You will need longer than 4-6 hours if you chilled your dough for shaping. I proof until the top of the dough comes to within 1 cm of the top edge of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 350F and brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.  Just prior to baking brush with the egg-milk wash again.

Bake the loaves for 50 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190ºF, rotating as needed to get even browning. Shield your loaf if it gets brown early in the baking process. After 50 mins remove the bread from the pan and bake a further 10 mins by placing the loaf directly in the oven on the rack with the oven turned down to 325ºF

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I had a technical issue with this bake that I hadn’t experienced in quite sometime.  I didn’t dust the couche or the bottoms (bottoms facing up in the couche) of the baguettes sufficiently, so when I attempted to transfer them off the couche, onto the transfer board and then finally onto the parchment lined cookie tray, two of the three stuck at each point.  This resulted in some pretty significant degassing and really compromised the crumb.  The third baguette did suffer nearly as much and was much better looking.  The flavour of course isn’t affected by the degassing, but certainly the texture of the baguettes was.

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Overnight Levain build ferment 75°F 10-12 hours

In the morning, to your mixing bowl add 327 g water, 10 g salt and diastatic malt 4.9 g to dissolve.  Add levain to water and cut the levain into small pieces in the bowl.  Next add 448 g AP flour to combine.  Allow to saltolyse for 20 mins.  Slap and fold x 100 then add hold back water 25 g gradually working in until fully absorbed by massaging and then Rubaud kneading the dough, then slap and fold x 200.  Alternatively mix in a stand mixer until good gluten development.  Add seeds.

Bulk Fermentation 82*F until aliquot jar shows 20% rise.

Do folds every 20 mins doing 3 folds

Could do cold retard at this point for  up to overnight. (Aliquot jar 20% rise)

Divide and pre-shape rest for 15 mins

Shape en couche with final proof until aliquot jar shows 55% rise then (optional) cold retard shaped baguettes en couche for at least 15 minutes for easier scoring.  I often do this for convenience as the oven is pre-heating.

Pre-heat oven 500*F after 30 mins add Silvia towel in pan with boiling water.

Transfer baguettes from couche to peel on parchment

Score each baguette and transfer to oven, bake on steel.

Bake with steam pouring 1 cup of boiling water to cast iron skillet dropping temperature to 480*F. 

The baguettes are baked with steam for 13 mins.  The steam equipment is removed venting the oven of steam.  Transfer the baguettes from the baking steel to next rack completing baking directly on a rack to minimize the browning and thickening of the bottom crust.  The oven is dropped to 450ºF but convection is turned on and the baguettes bake for 10 mins rotating them halfway.  The baguettes are rotated again if needed and baked for another 3 mins to achieve a rich colour crust.

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The restaurant in Petty Harbour Nfld that always made the best lobster rolls I have ever eaten disappointed me for the first time this past July.  Because of that, I decided I wanted to make rolls that I could use to make shrimp rolls.  Lobster is crazy expensive at the moment and my partner isn’t a fan of it, so why bother with lobster.  I wanted to make the rolls so that two sides could be toasted in butter on my cast iron skillet.  The slice in each roll would be vertically cut rather than horizontally so these would not be hotdog buns.  This is what I came up with.

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Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76-78ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and whole wheat flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

If you plan on using a stand mixer to mix this dough, set up a Bain Marie and use your stand mixer’s bowl to prepare the tangzhong.

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flour.  I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before adding in more butter.  Again, knead until well incorporated.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane, not quite as good as a white flour because the bran will interrupt the windowpane somewhat.  Add the nuts and seeds, then mix again until they are well distributed.

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2 - 4 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape.  Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer.  Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

Prepare your pan by greasing it with butter or line with parchment paper.  

Lightly oil the top of the dough. Scrape the dough out onto a clean counter top and divide it into six. I like to weigh them to have equal sized buns. Shape each tightly into a boule, allow to rest 5 mins. Next form each boule into a roll by first flattening it out, then rolling it up pinching the ends if you like smooth ends.  Place them side by side in a pan that supports the side, the ends are fine unsupported by the pan.

Cover and let proof for  4-6 hours at a warm temperature.  I proof at 82°F.  You will need longer than 4-6 hours if you chilled your dough for shaping. I proof until the dough passes the poke test.  

Preheat the oven to 350F and brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.  Just prior to baking brush with the egg-milk wash again.

Bake the loaves for 30-35 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190ºF, rotating as needed to get even browning. Shield your loaf if it gets brown early in the baking process.  Cool on a rack and while warm brush with butter if you want the crust to be soft.  You can also place them in a plastic bag while they are still warm (not hot).

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My index of bakes

Inspired by Tony (CalBeachBaker) I decided to make a batch of taralli this evening.  I made minor changes such as subbing in 10% whole red fife flour and using rosemary and ground peppercorns instead of fennel seeds.  They are really easy to make and quite enjoyable to eat.  I’d reduce the rosemary from 8 g to perhaps 6 g in the next batch as the rosemary was quite strong.

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AP flour 260 g

Whole Red Fife 30 g (or any other whole grain or use all AP flour)

Sea salt 7 g

Rosemary 8 g

Ground peppercorns 1.5 g

White Wine 140 g

Olive oil 54 g

Rosemary was a bit too strong, reduce to 6 g and increase the ground peppercorns.

Boil salted water in a large skillet.

Preheat the oven to 375°F with a rack in the center of the oven.

To the bowl of your food processor, add all the dry ingredients (flours, salt, herbs/spices).  Process for several seconds to distribute everything evenly.

With the food processor running drizzle in the oil and wine in a steady stream.  Once all the liquid has been added continue to run the food processor until the the mixture forms a dough.

Remove your dough from the food processor and knead it by hand a few times to smooth it out.  You should have a smooth soft somewhat tacky dough ball.

The recipe makes about 25 Taralli.  If you wish to make them evenly sized you’ll want to weight your dough to determine the weight of each dough you’ll need for each Taralli.  Once you have divided the dough, roll each out with slightly tapered ends.  Form a circle pressing the ends together.

Once the water is boiling, add several Taralli at a time to the pot, each time swirling the water so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot or to each other.  Don’t add too many otherwise the temperature of the water will fall too much.  I boiled mine in two batches.  The taralli will float at the top of the water once they are ready to be removed.  Using a slotted spoon remove them and place them in a single layer on a kitchen towel to absorb excess water.  

Once they are all done and the oven is ready, bake them at 375°F for 30-35 mins until they are a golden brown.  Let them cool then store them in an airtight container.

 My index of bakes.

The last of my einkorn flour was used to make this loaf.  Einkorn hasn’t been easy to find, one of the places I used to go to for interesting flours has changed hands and the new owners are not selling as many varieties of flour anymore.  Since einkorn is a very weak flour I use it in the tangzhong since in its preparation the proteins are denatured so any gluten potentially from the einkorn won’t contribute to the gluten structure of the final bread.  As my usual, I use a stiff sweet levain to leaven this dough in order to avoid any sour tang that I find undesirable for these milk breads.

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For one 9x4x4” Pullman pan loaf.

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76-78ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and whole wheat flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

If you plan on using a stand mixer to mix this dough, set up a Bain Marie and use your stand mixer’s bowl to prepare the tangzhong.

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flour.  I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before adding in more butter.  Again, knead until well incorporated.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane, not quite as good as a white flour because the bran will interrupt the windowpane somewhat.  Add the seeds, then mix again until they are well distributed.

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2 - 4 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape.  Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer.  Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

Prepare your pans by greasing them with butter or line with parchment paper.  

Lightly oil the top of the dough. Scrape the dough out onto a clean counter top and divide it into four. I like to weigh them to have equal sized lobes. Shape each tightly into a boule, allow to rest 5 mins. Using an oiled rolling pin roll each ball out and then letterfold. Turn 90* and using a rolling pin roll each out to at least 8”. Letterfold again from the sides so you have a long narrow dough. Then using a rolling pin, roll flatter but keeping the dough relatively narrow.  The reason to do this extra letterfold is that the shorter fatter rolls when placed in the pan will not touch the sides of the pan.  This allows the swirled ends to rise during final proof, this is only done for appearance sake and is not necessary.  Next roll each into a tight roll with some tension. Arrange the rolls of dough inside your lined pan alternating the direction of the swirls. This should allow a greater rise during proof and in the oven.

Cover and let proof for  4-6 hours at a warm temperature.  I proof at 82°F.  You will need longer than 4-6 hours if you chilled your dough for shaping. I proof until the top of the dough comes to within 1 cm of the top edge of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 350F and brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.  Just prior to baking brush with the egg-milk wash again.

Bake the loaves for 50 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190ºF, rotating as needed to get even browning. Shield your loaf if it gets brown early in the baking process. After 50 mins remove the bread from the pan and bake a further 10 mins by placing the loaf directly in the oven on the rack with the oven turned down to 325ºF

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My index of bakes.

Time for pizza dinner again.  I’ve gone back to all purpose flour and spelt to achieve a more open crumb.  I added a cold retard overnight for convenience, extensibility and more flavor in the crust.

I marinated Kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, onions, artichokes and pickled banana peppers in olive oil, homemade red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and oregano for several hours.  When the dough was stretched and in the pan, Swiss cheese and half of the Parmigiano reggiano was applied first.  This was baked for 10 mins before applying the marinated vegetables and then the remaining Parmigiano reggiano cheese.

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For pizza on an 17” x 11” pan

Overnight levain

Duration: 12 hours (overnight) at warm room temperature: 74°–76°F (23°–24°C).

In the morning mix the dough when the levain is at peak.  To the bowl of the stand mixer add water, salt, sugar and diastatic malt, stir to dissolve.  Then add the levain, stir to dissolve.  Finally add the flours.  Mix on low speed until there is no dry flour then increase to medium and mix until the dough is moderately developed.  Then slowly drizzle in the olive oil stopping until each addition is incorporated.  Finally mix until good gluten development.

Remove the dough from the bowl and do a bench letterfold.  Transfer the bowl to an oiled bowl for bulk fermentation.  

Do three sets of coil folds at 30 mins intervals and then allow the dough to rest until it reaches 40-50% rise.

Optional cold retard.  Place the dough in the fridge until the next early afternoon.  This is done primarily for convenience.

Allow the dough to continue to ferment at a warm temperature 80°F or so until it reaches 100% rise then shape.

Shaping 

Oil the pan well and brush the bottom and the sides with the olive oil.

Thoroughly flour the top of the dough in the bowl, release it from the sides of the bowl using a bowl scraper then flip it onto the counter.  Flour the exposed dough well with flour and flour the counter around the sides of the dough well.  Using your bowl scraper push some of that flour under the edges of the dough.

Using your hands, get your fingers well under the dough and stretch it out into a rectangle.  Next using your fingers gently press them into the dough to elongate the dough.  Flip the dough over and repeat aiming to get the dough to about 75% of the area of the pan.  

Transfer the dough to the oiled pan by folding it in half and unfolding it once in the pan.  Gently stretch the dough out to touch the edges of the pan.  If it resists stretching, wait 15 mins and try again after the gluten has relaxed.

Aim to bake the pizza once the total rise is 120-130%.  About 1 hour prior to baking pre-heat the oven to 500°F placing your backing steel on the lowest rack of the oven.

Bake the pizza.

Drizzle olive oil onto the dough.  Then using a large spoon, spread a thin layer of pizza sauce over the dough from edge to edge.  Slide the baking pan into the oven on top of the baking surface. Decrease the oven temperature to 425°F (220°C) and bake for 10 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and sprinkle on the grated cheese and any other toppings. Lightly drizzle some olive oil over the entire pizza. Slide the sheet pan back into the oven on the baking surface and bake for 20 minutes more. The cheese should be melted and the bottom crust well colored.

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My index of bakes.

I love sour cherries and I love chocolate, so when I came across this cake recipe I knew I had to make it.

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For a 13x9-inch metal baking pan

This chocolate cherry cake recipe delivers the flavors of Black Forest cakebut requires a fraction of the commitment. There’s no days-long prep time or (let’s be honest) fussy icing, and you can use either your fresh summer cherry haul or that stash of frozen cherries you’ve had your eye on. Just promise us one thing: You’ll use sour or tart cherries, not sweet, as their tang will offset the rich chocolaty crumb. And by all means, avoid canned cherries, Technicolor maraschino cherries, and packaged cherry pie filling, all of which may contain sweeteners that could make the cake cloying.

To start you’ll toss those cherries with sugar and almond extract, then set them aside at room temperature until their juices form a flavorful syrup. You’ll only need ½ cup of this syrup for the cake batter, but save any extra to add to seltzer or use in cocktails.

For the chocolate, spring for good-quality cocoa powder since it’s the main flavoring in the cake batter. Pouring hot water over the cocoa may seem strange, but this action blooms the powder, unlocking its bold chocolate flavor. For the mix-ins, use chopped dark chocolate (bittersweet or semisweet) if you prefer it over chocolate chips.

To serve, simply dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar. Or if you want to get a little extra, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream along with chocolate fudge sauce and a dollop of whipped cream to each slice. For birthday cake vibes, decorate with swoops of cream cheese–chocolate frosting or a chocolate ganache glaze.

Ingredients

12 servings

1 lb. fresh or frozen (not thawed) pitted sour cherries (about 3 cups)

⅔ cup (134 g) granulated sugar

1 tsp. almond extract

1 cup boiling water

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups (240-250 g) all-purpose flour

1¼ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1¼ cups (250 g) packed dark brown sugar

4 large eggs

1 cup (7 oz.) semisweet or dark chocolate chips

Powdered sugar and whipped cream to garnish (optional)

Instructions

Step 1
Toss 1 lb. fresh or frozen pitted sour cherries (about 3 cups) with ⅔ cup (134 g) sugar and 1 tsp. almond extract in a small mixing bowl and let stand at least 2 hours. Drain cherries, reserving ½ cup cherry juices.
Step 2
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 13x9-inch metal baking pan, knocking out excess flour. Whisk together 1 cup boiling water and ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process) in a small bowl until smooth, then whisk in reserved cherry juices and 1 tsp. vanilla extract.
Step 3
Whisk 2 cups (25 g) all-purpose flour, 1¼ tsp. baking soda, and ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt in another small bowl.
Step 4
Beat 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened with 1¼ cups (250 g) packed dark brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add 4 large eggs, one egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and cocoa mixture alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing at low speed until blended (batter may look curdled).
Step 5
Pour batter into pan, smoothing top, and scatter the reserved cherries and 1 cup (7 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips evenly over the batter (they’ll sink as it bakes). Bake in middle of oven until a toothpick or tester inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool cake completely in pan on a rack, then cut into squares. If using, dust with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream.
Do ahead: The chocolate-covered cherry flavor of this cake becomes more pronounced after a day or two. Cake can be made up to 3 days ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature. 

This cake took 48 mins to be fully baked in the center reaching 205°F.  Although the recipe said that the cherries and chocolate chips would fall into the batter as the cake baked, that wasn’t my experience.  When I make this again I will press them into the batter a bit.

Everyone who had this cake loved it.  It is very decadent and very chocolately.  The cake did improve over the 3 days and was even better on day 3.  Make sure you use sour cherries as sweet cherries would just be too sweet for this cake.  I used dark chocolate chips and I think milk chocolate chips would be far too sweet.  I will definitely make this again, the combination of the sour cherries and chocolate are just wonderful.

Make sure your cocoa powder isn’t alkalinized (Dutch Process) as the acidity of the cocoa is needed in order to leaven the batter when it reacts with the baking soda.

My index of bakes.