This past weekend I was dreaming of a bread that I had at a local restaurant a while back. It was a hearty sandwich bread studded with raisins with a hint of cinnamon in the background. I had it as toast with my breakfast, and it held up really well to a thick layer of butter and … [Read more...]
The Baker’s Percentage
The baker's percentage or formula is very important for the professional baker, but it can be very helpful for the home baker to know and understand how to use it. A professional baker rarely would use a recipe, instead he would call it a formula because it is more exact and can … [Read more...]
Deli Rye Bread
This recipe is adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Bread Bible. This was the first bread baking book that was ever purchased for me, and it was and still is a great go to guide for me. I appreciate her dedication to getting her recipes so exact that they are almost … [Read more...]
Traditional Bagels
Ingredients: 2 cups (16 oz) warm water 1 ¼ tsp. instant yeast 2 TB malt syrup or sugar 1 TB vegetable oil 7 cups (32 oz) bread flour 1 TB salt Toppings of choice 1. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer place the water, yeast, and malt syrup. … [Read more...]
Shaping your dough into loaves
Learning how to properly shape your dough will result in beautiful finished loaves that you can proudly show off to family and friends. The different shapes of breads are usually done because of a long standing tradition, but don't be afraid to try out different shapes. If you … [Read more...]
Cooling and storing your freshly baked bread
Most people don’t realize that the final stage of baking bread is to let your bread cool properly. Slicing into a hot loaf of bread can cause bread to tear instead of slicing cleanly through, or it can be gummy on the inside . To cool your loaves properly you need to transfer … [Read more...]
Blueberry Scones
Muffins and scones are such different baked goods, but so often the scones I find out are much more like muffins than a traditional scone. A scone is much more like a biscuit and half as sweet as a muffin. It is the perfect snack to accompany an afternoon tea or cup of coffee. I … [Read more...]
Baking Bread
After you have allowed your loaves to fully proof you will need to transfer them to your oven quickly and carefully. You don't want the oven to lose too much heat, but you also don't want to damage your loaves while you put them into the oven. The easiest thing to do is to line … [Read more...]
Cheese Filled Babka
This babka is very different from my Easter babka. The Polish style that I make for Easter is laced with raisins, but this babka is a richer butter dough that is filled with a creamy cheese filling. When you cut into this loaf you will see the swirl of thick cheese filling … [Read more...]
Scoring Loaves
Scores or cuts in the tops of loaves are there for a baking purpose as well as for aesthetics. Scoring controls the rise of the dough as it bakes. The dough needs to expand when it begins to heat up and if you did not score the tops then the crust would split open wherever it … [Read more...]
Challah Bread
Ingredients: 5 tsp instant or active dry yeast (2 pkgs) 1 cup (8 oz) warm water ½ cup (4 oz) sugar 3 large eggs 4 ½ - 5 cups (22 ½ - 25 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour 2 tsp salt ½ cup (4 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature In a large bowl dissolve … [Read more...]
Ciabatta Bread
Ciabatta bread is a very high hydration dough and this makes it particularly hard to work with, especially if you try to make it by hand versus stand mixer. I would recommend using your stand mixer if you own one. If you don't though you can still make this bread you just have … [Read more...]
Turning Your Oven into a Hearth
For great rustic hearth breads that have crisp crusts and silky interiors you will need to make a hearth out of your home oven. While we can't all have professional bread ovens in our homes we can mimic them. The first essential piece of equipment is a baking stone. A baking … [Read more...]
Scaling and Benching Dough
Scaling and benching refers to the step that comes after fermentation where you divide your dough into separate loaves (if doing so), pre-shape them, and let them rest for a period of time. When you divide your dough into equal pieces you want to take care not to over-work the … [Read more...]
Retarding Loaves
Retarding is a technique that slows the fermentation process of your dough. This allows you the flexibility to bake your loaves at a later time. If, for instance if you want freshly baked bread in the morning you can schedule your bread baking around that by letting your shaped … [Read more...]
Proofing your shaped loaves
Proofing is the term used for the second rise of your dough, which will now be in its shaped form. Proofing times depend on different conditions such as the temperature of the room, the type and amount of yeast used, and the humidity of your kitchen. The tricky part of proofing … [Read more...]
Turning Dough or Folding
Not every recipe calls for a turn or a fold halfway through its initial fermentation but some do. Think of it as a better way to punch down dough, because it does not destroy all of the precious air pockets within the dough. There are a couple of methods that I use the first is … [Read more...]
Fermenting your dough
Fermenting your dough or letting it rise the first time is critical to having a light and airy loaf of bread. If you were to knead you dough and then immediately shape it and bake it would turn out like a hockey puck, very dense with little to no oven spring. During fermentation, … [Read more...]
Windowpane test
When you get really familiar with a particular dough you can sometimes tell if it is kneaded enough just by the feel of the dough underneath your hands, but this test isn't foolproof. So I prefer to use the windowpane method of testing the gluten development of my dough. After … [Read more...]
Resting the Dough or Autolyze
This resting of the dough occurs just after you have mixed your ingredients together. In France the term for this is called an autolyze period. All recipes can take advantage of a resting period, but some recipes will specifically say to let your dough rest after mixing for ten … [Read more...]
The Creaming Method Technique
The creaming method is commonly used when making cakes, this method gives the cake a light and airy crumb. The goal of the creaming method is to aerate the batter. When you properly cream, your butter will become very light in color due to the inclusion of millions of tiny air … [Read more...]
Making a Sponge Technique
A sponge is a quick way to add an extra flavor profile to your bread. I use a sponge especially when I am pressed for time or need to make a loaf of bread and did not make a starter or preferment the night before. Sponges are easy to create even if your recipe does not have … [Read more...]