Laminated Sandwich Loaf
Always up for a challenge (except when I’m not) I recently came across TxFarmer’s fantastic Laminated Sandwich Loaf blog entry from Dec. 2011. As I am now a new inductee into the Lamination Game via my two recent forays into croissant making, I though that I’d give this a whirl as well. I'm also a sucker for trying other things that she's displayed on TFL.
And there is much to be mastered in learning the minutiae of laminating breads, both step-wise as well as the necessary skill set acquisition. I decided to jump into the Lamination Game too.
A word of warning – trying to equal TxFarmer’s skills at these breads will be a bit of a frustrating situation. We may approach her incredible output, even equal it occasionally, but in general it is the shiny star that probably will always remain just out of reach.
As usual she is quite detailed in her descriptive steps, including how to do the intensive mix necessary for this bread. I had to scratch my head a few times as I was attempting to transcribe her steps into my standard format. Added to that was the game plan for creating the braids that comprise the bread. I eliminated all iterations except for the 8” x 4” x 2 1/4” tin and went about diagramming the final details. I’ve included my version of her detailed steps as well as the diagram.
Some of the trickier aspects that I will need to take special note of are how to create my laminated layers without having small blocks of butter incorporated – to have the butter more consistently distributed within the layers. Also how to be gentle with the final rolling out of the dough to attain the 3/4” depth of the dough while still getting it to roll out to a 16” x 9” rectangle.
The dividing of the rectangle was pretty straight forward, thanks to my pizza wheel and using my hand peel/flip board as a repurposed measuring tool and straight edge. This formula makes two 8” x 4” 2 1/4” loafs. The second half of the dough is dozing in my freezer right now.
Testing the intensive mix - not windowpane enough.
Photo snapped just after the pane broke. Windowpane enough? Check!
Diagram of the dough for dividing. My repurposed hand peel with measurements.
The braids will sit one atop the other inside the loaf pan. Here's where my wife's expertise came in handy. Here is also where it is critical to have the appropriate depth of the dough so that the laminated layers can be oriented upward. My dough did not completely make the grade here. Better luck next time...
Unproofed with egg wash. I will probably forego the first egg wash next time.
4 1/2 hours later. Now proofed and a second coat of egg wash is applied. You can see some lamination here, but it is a world away from TxFarmer's version.
Just out of the oven. The top browned really fast, so I had to tent the dough for the last 30 minutes of the bake. The lighting on these few could have been better.
Some of the braiding is also visible from the side view.
Not nearly as open a crumb as she gets, but a pretty decent first attempt. The flavor is sinfully rich and buttery, and the crumb is as tender a silken handkerchief - but way tastier!
As long as I mentioned trying my hand at croissants, these are the result from a collection of inspired sources, most notably The Weekend Baker and (wouldn't ya just know it) TxFarmer. Still a work in progress, especially the honeycomb interior. But I seem to be getting a handle on these pretty quickly.
alan
Comments
croissants both look fantastic.. Really well done all the way around Allan. That's some great baking
Still very much a work in progress, on both counts. But I am pretty happy with the quick progress. The croissants show some level of opening, but while the crumb was quite tight it was also very consistent across the interior. A good sign to me.
On vacation recently, and we had a few croissants that were quite sub-par, save for one exceptional almond croissant. And I thought that I could probably do better. Hence my recent activity. It goes hand in hand with removing the batteries from the bathroom scale ;-) .
Those both look wonderful. Good luck continuing you sure have a good start.
I'm not a pastry guy, and these skills seem more along those lines, and a little dicey getting acclimated to. But pleased so far with the progress.
Well done Alan.
Great post and instructions. Laminated doughs are always a challenge to get it right and you are certainly on your way. As you said, TxFarmer is a maestro and we are can only hope to listen to her symphony and try to come close.
Ian
I'm sure that I'll get comfortable enough with it over time, but that even distribution of the butter throughout the lamination is something to figure out. Already seeing improvements along the lines of a relatively quick roll and fold before I get any melted butter leaking through. A quick hand and the refrigerator are definitely our friends here.
I suppose a sheeter would help too, ya think?
alan