Bachelor's party bake II
It might seem somewhat incredulous that there would be yet another bachelor party bake within two weeks of the previous one, but yes - seems many men in our circle are getting married.
This was a somewhat small party of 5 men, so I produced but 2 durum semolina matera-type loaves and 2 five-grain five seed/nut loaves. These went down very well, with the semolinas being the clear preference.
Interesting points on the bread bake:
1. The semolina loaves had 30% levain and the multi grain/seed/nut loaves had 40% levain. Before mixing, I measured the pH of the levains. The semolina levain came in at 4.43 and the other at 4.88 (both had the same ratios and were mixed 10 hours before).
2. After mixing, both doughs ended up with the same pH: 5.13!
3. Due to the morning rush, I baked them a little earlier than I usually would. I baked the nut/seed ones, then the semolina. Both were baked at 4.45. My semolina loaves had the craziest oven spring ever!
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I also decided to reproduce a macaron bake that I had attempted a few days ago for a gluten-free party. These took me three tries! (pic above)
To make 28 single shells
1. Prepare 70g of egg whites (from about 2 eggs). Briefly warm up over bain marie.
2. Blend 93g of blanched almonds with 93g of icing sugar. Pass through a fine sieve twice.
3. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt and 55g of caster sugar until stiff peaks. Invert the bowl above your head to be sure.
4. Mix almond-sugar mixture in three parts. Use a folding movement rather than a stirring one. Keep folding until the mixture flows from the spoon barely breaking but still keeps a figure 8 in the mixture that stays for a couple of seconds. If the mixture feels like soup or if the figure 8 disappears within a second or two, it is overdone. For me, this step took about 15 folds.
5. Pipe and let the shells dry on the tray until they are dry to the touch. Bake at 145 degrees for about 12 mins.
6. For the filing: I did a lemon buttercream and chocolate coconut buttercream.
Notes for reference
1. Egg whites should be slightly warm. Do not skip this step.
2. Blending almonds and icing sugar is very important. Do not skip this step even if you're using almond flour.
3. Inverting the bowl is a great test for stiff meringues. Very important that beater and bowl are completely clean. Even if you believe they are clean, it's better to wash and dry them again before using.
4. While piping - if the mixture seems thick and doesn't settle into nice circles (e.g. tips remain visible and don't sink), give the mixture another fold or two and it should be fine.
5. Drying the shells is important. Don't skip this step.
6. Baking on a steel pan produced the best results. Aluminium failed me.
Comments
brilliant breads!
4 loaves for 5 men. Serious eating!
Rob
Indeed, Rob. Four loaves for two breakfasts and one dinner proved barely sufficient. I suppose calorie consumption on such weekends might be atypical!
Lovely read, I do enjoy your posts. Once again it must have been a happy group of customers, and pleased to see you've scaled it back to a more manageable bake!
Tell me how did you learn to do the Matera style shaping?
Also, interesting that your levain percentage is fairly high, was this because of time constraints?
-Jon
Always happy to read your comments.
The Matera is so much fun. I love shaping it. I learnt it from this video. Have you tried it?
Yes, my levain %s are always a little higher than usual. You're right, it's mainly for scheduling reasons. I tend to bake in the mornings when I work from home and I like to have it fresh out of the oven for lunch (or in this case in time for the departing party at 2 pm! Literally, out of the oven and into the car.). This usually means a long fermentation for the levain, an early morning mix wfor the final dough, and a BF+proof of maximum 5 hours. I find that apportioning most of the whole grains in the levain, or even doing a double levain coming to 70% of the dough (with the second levain at a much smaller inoculation so it's "not ready" when I mix it) works very well. Most of the non PFF is white bread flour. If I feel like it, a good portion of the bread flour might also have been subject to poolish treatment.
I used to do an overnight BF with 8% levain - this works for the schedule as well - but I did not like the flavour as much as the method above!
-Lin
What a great video. What it doesn't tell us is how long you leave it after shaping for the final proof so that you still keep the definition.
Haven't tried the Matera, for me in South Africa I can easily get hold of regular semolina flour, but the finest rimacinata isn't as easy (unless I want a 5kg bag!). And rimacinata does make a nicer loaf. Your bake (and Rene's too) have made me think more and more of the 5kg option and then I'll just have a good excuse to hand make pasta too, darn it.
When it comes to pre-ferment percentage I've oscillated up and down over the years. Had a stage when I was all for 50% plus and using a levain and multiple raising agents together such as raisin yeast water plus levain together. But I've changed my thinking over time, not to say I won't change again and I still enjoy experimenting with high preferments like the 90% biga recently.
As I use the proofer even in summer I try and keep it at around 20% or 15%, at the moment. My current thinking is that the less tangy flavour and crumb are simply better, or more like what I prefer, with a longer fermentation.
But, having said that I'm also focusing at the moment on how I prepare my levain and doing multiple levain builds and slightly more on the stiffer side and perhaps with egg in the levain. Half the fun is the constant experimentation, I guess.
Oh, one more thing, how is everyone finding the sourness of their breads if they're reserving the whole wheat for the levain. Do you find that it makes for a more sour bread, or less sour bread?
-Jon
The Matera is actually baked immediately after it is shaped! BF till almost doubled, then pre-shaped into a boule and final proof for at least 45 mins (I usually do one hour at DT 20 degrees). Will made a very nice loaf here.
I have found that with the Matera bread very finely ground semolina is necessary for a good rise in the oven. I've also learnt that the loaf performs much better when it weighs at least 800g. So if you think about it, 5kg of semolina isn't all that much...;) I've polished off 5 kg myself in 6 weeks (though yes, there were lots of experimentation and bachelors' baking).
An egg in the levain!!! Now that's an experiment. What kind of bread are you preparing that for?
I find that using all the whole grains in the levain(s) makes for less sour yet very flavourful bread. My thinking is that if I'm aiming for BF+proof = around 5 hours, then I want to really minimize the amount of whole grain that only undergoes a short 5 hour fermentation. However, I am experimenting with limiting the amount of bread flour or AP that undergoes just 5 hours of fermentation too. This morning I made a bread with 45% whole grain (einkorn, emmer, rye, spelt, wholewheat --> all in the 12 hour levain) and 45% bread flour (also fermented 12 hours with a drop of starter). Both were rather stiff, such that I only needed to add 10% bread flour and salt to make the final dough this morning. This experiment is really a follow-up to the 70% PFF rye bread, which tastes excellent. The result of today's loaf were great, definitely better crumb and crust than simply adding the remaining 55% bread flour in the final dough, and certainly not close to being too sour!
P.S. pH readings if you're interested. The whole grain levain came in at 4.1 and the white levain at 5.3. My BF began at 4.7, and it only dropped to 4.3 by the time I shaped it 4 hours later at 50% volume increase! I baked it 1 hour after final proof.
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Cute loaf and lovely interior. And of course, with your signature walnuts. Delicious! I'm pondering your method, I might just add something like this to my to bake list. Mostly to see what it tastes like, rather than for the convenience.
Recently I made txfarmer's 100% whole wheat with oat soaker , had a great texture, but it did have a sour after taste that I wasn't fond of. Might have been from the oats, or long ferment of whole wheat. So, it makes your 45% whole grain non tangy bread something that I might wish to look into.
The egg levain idea came from a link that I think Tom posted here:
https://newsletter.wordloaf.org/p/the-biggest-secret-that-is-not-secret
Lots of ideas!
My bread in progress was made with a multi build levain varying from liquid to stiff. Sometimes you know when you've got a good levain and this was it. Will share it if it works out well!
-Jon
Thanks for the ref. Might just do that if I have yolks left over from pastry baking! (Need to make a couple of joconde sponges for an upcoming birthday cake request - lots of meringue).
I was looking at txfarmer's recipe. I was wondering if moving the honey to the levain would reduce the sour after taste. The sweet stiff starter tends to be almost 1.0 higher in pH level than one without the sugar, all things remaining the same! I think Benny has written about this. And if you have an egg yolk and honey in the levain....
Looking forward to your write up. Always fascinating.
That video was so fun to watch and learn from!
Thanks for the ref and also the great example yours resulted in!!
And let us know your results when you attempt it!
I laughed quite a bit at that one! I dabble in bread, but bake more on the side of cookies and muffins. Those cookies have been on my wish-list to try for a while. Glad everything has been turning out well.
I'm glad someone laughed at that!!! Back in those days when I baked with my friends we would judge the stiffness of peaks that way. Someone would inevitably end up in a mess...
Would love to see some of your most recent sweet bakes! I, too, love baking - and I think am a little better at - sweet treats. Next on the list would be what they call La Misérable cake here: a French buttercream sandwiched by two layers of almond joconde. Need to perfect it within these few weeks for a birthday!
You are truly remarkable Lin that you’re able to pull off baking so many loaves (and other goodies) and all of them baking up so perfectly.
Benny
Thanks again for the encouragement! I always inadvertently learn a lot from these bakes due to limited oven space (which can take more proofing) and mixing capability (only one pair of hands, still no mixer!).