Benito's blog

I know panettone really does require quite a lot of planning and research as well as knowledge, so my first time doing it and attempting it last minute probably wasn’t going to turn out well for all involved.  On top of that, I didn’t use a well-regarded recipe.  Also, I didn’t create a LM and didn’t get good panettone flour.  So many strikes against this turning out well.

I did want to test out whether using a stiff sweet starter to create the levain could work to reduce the LAB and acidity.  My understanding of what characteristics of an ideal LM are completely lacking, so this is likely the first mistake and will have downstream consequences.  I decided to try this out anyhow, at least as a learning bake and getting my hands dirty in making a panettone.

Gluten Morgen on YouTube has a video that appealed to me because he used his active 80-90% hydration starter rather than a LM, and the panettone he produced looked good enough.  I think in retrospect one issue (I’m sure there are many) is that the primo impasto is only fermented to doubling before cold retard.  Perhaps if I had increased my fridge temperature to 5°C as his was, the primo might have increased to triple in the fridge.  Not that he said to use it once it had tripled, but many recipes I have since read suggest that.  So with the reduced microbial activity of my primo impasto, the final fermentation took an agonizingly long 24 hours.  However, because of the other two bakes I had going, I started the secondo impasto at a low temperature for several hours before putting it into the 84°F proofer.  Then when I had to go to bed, I dropped it down to 74°F in the fear of it overfermenting.  In the morning, I was able to increase the temperature, and it completed a rise to about 1” of the edge of the mold.

The panettone has now baked, and actually looks alright.  However, it feels a bit heavy for its size.  It may only look OK because it has huge tunnels in it though, which could explain its feeling of weight.  It is now hanging upside down and after 30 mins hasn’t fallen out of the mold.  I haven’t decided if I will bring this to a family gathering out of town yet or not.  If it falls out, I certainly will not.

Another issue was when I inverted it to place it upside down in a pot, the skewers weren’t strong enough to support the panettone and one broke and the panettone hit the bottom of the pot.  I was able to get it out and reskewered and inverted.  

I thought I would share my experiences since I am obviously just starting to learn a tiny bit.  I’m not sure I’m ready to go down the route of creating and maintaining a LM yet.

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https://youtu.be/pb6LuJ6Yzvk?si=Keec-WsxS0CjODzu

Recipe makes 1kg dough right size for one of my moulds. 

Day 1 overnight stiff sweet starter build.

Stiff sweet starter build - needs 12 hour at 76-78ºF

Starter 9 g (80% hydration)  (water 4 g + flour 5 g)

white sugar 8 g

Water 11 g

Bread flour 24 g 

Initial pH 4.88 end pH 4.23 at 3x rise at 720 am day 2 morning

Day 2 morning 

Levain build

Stiff sweet starter 52 g

Water 50 g

Bread flour 52 g 

pH 4.93 at mixing. pH 4.1 near 3x rise

For the strong flour I added VWG to Robin Hood Bread Flour to bring it to 16% protein.

Dough weight: 1000 grs

Ingredients:

Primo Impasto - Day 2 afternoon

•⁠  ⁠(33%) First Dough - Strong Flour 16% protein: 95 g

•⁠  ⁠(50%) First Dough - Sourdough Levain: 145 g (80-90% hydration)

•⁠  ⁠(26%) First Dough - Eggs: 75 g

•⁠  ⁠(7%) First Dough - Sugar: 20 g

•⁠  ⁠(11%) First Dough - Butter: 32 g very soft

Secondo Impasto Day 3

- all of Primo Impasto and 

•⁠  ⁠(67%) Second Dough - Strong Flour 16% protein: 195 g

•⁠  ⁠(22%) Second Dough - Butter: 64 g very soft

•⁠  ⁠(26%) Second Dough - Sugar: 75 g

•⁠  ⁠(13%) Second Dough - Whole Egg: 38 g

•⁠  ⁠(16%) Second Dough - Egg Yolks: 46 g

•⁠  ⁠(7%) Second Dough - Honey (optional): 20 g and Vanilla 1 tsp 

•⁠  ⁠(2%) Second Dough - Salt: 5 g

•⁠  ⁠(33%) Second Dough - Chocolate or Raisins/sultanas: 95 g

•⁠  ⁠(9%) Second Dough - Rum: 26  g, will need more if using the raisins.

•⁠  ⁠(22%) Second Dough - Orange: 64 g

The consistency of the secondo impasto was firmer than I expected so I added an unmeasured amount of milk to it.  It is likely I over compensated for the protein and went too far by bringing it up to 16% protein.  Also, there are other characteristics of an ideal panettone flour that go beyond just protein that I don’t have a clue about with this flour.

Honey orange zest.

Zest the orange and add it to a small jar of honey 20 g along with the vanilla, stir and the zest will infuse the honey.  Prepare day before secondo impasto.

Soak the candied peel in rum overnight.

Chop the chocolate into chunks or use sultanas or raisins soaked in rum.

Glaze - prepare near end of final proof 

Powdered sugar 65 grs

Almond flour 32 grs

Corn starch 10 grs

Neutral oil 5 grs - I needed a bit more oil

Egg whites 25 grs - I needed a fair amount more egg whites otherwise it was too thick to spread.

Mix until smooth and use to top proofed dough prior to baking.

Primo Impasto - day two afternoon

For my Ankarsrum Assistent start with egg, then levain, cutting the levain.  Then add flour and mix, then continue as written.

In mixer add levain and flour then mix.  After a minute or two gradually add the egg.  After a minute add the sugar.  Once the gluten is moderately developed add the butter a pat at a time until fully incorporated. Complete with full gluten development.  

Remove dough for aliquot jar. 

pH at this point was 5.27

Shape into a boule and allow to double in size.  4-6 hours at 77°F (I will do 82°F).  Then cold retard until next day at 5°C. I didn’t increase my fridge temperature and left it at 3°C.  

Secondo Impasto - day three

Drain the fruit. Pat dry before adding to dough. 

Primo Impasto pH was now 4.23

Place Primo Impasto into mixing bowl along with the flour. Mix briefly then gradually add whole eggs.  Mix and then add ⅓ of the sugar and the egg yolks one by one.  Next add ⅓ of the sugar.  Mix a few minutes more and then add the rest of the sugar.  Once at least moderate gluten development  add the

 honey, vanilla and zest blend along with the salt.  Then gradually add the butter.  Mix to full gluten development, very important.

Next step will add the inclusions via lamination.  Lightly oil the countertop and stretch the dough out with lightly oiled hands.  Spread the inclusions on the dough.  Fold the dough over the inclusions until you form a mound.  Then do gentle French folds.  Aim to get a nice boule shape.  Next do pirlatura, in which you turn the dough in circles in one direction on a central axis quickly using lightly greased hands (can use butter for this). This tightens the dough giving it more tension to rise upwards. Then place in the mold. Cover with plastic wrap. 

Proof until the dough doubles in size.  It should be within 1” of the edge of the mold.  After final proof in mold - top with glaze using a small spatula and then top with some finishing sugar. 

Then bake 325°C convection for 40-45 mins for 500 g dough.  For 1 kg dough 350°F for 50-55 mins.  Check that internal temperature between 190-200°F. 

Once baking is complete the panettone needs to be hung upside down, so it will need to be skewered just above the base of the mold and can hang inside a large clean pot.  Using a clean pot ensures that you can still eat the panettone if it comes apart or out of the mold. Allow to cool upside down for a few hours or until the next day.

Baking temp 325°C (convection) 350°C no fan

Bake for 40-45 mins (this was for 500 g weight of dough) so may need a bit more time for 1 kg dough.

A friend of mine on Instagram was kind enough to share her formula for sourdough and hybrid sourdough cruffins/croissants.  My first attempt at making a laminated dough was my Danish loaf.  I unfortunately fermented the shaped dough in its pan at slightly too high a temperature so the better melted and was absorbed by the dough.  With that in mind, I chose a season with cooler weather, kept my range hood exhaust fan on, and opened my balcony door a bit to keep my kitchen temperature around 72°F.  I also kept the final proofing temperature of the shaped cruffins down to between 74-76°F instead of 82°F.  

For a first attempt at cruffins, I have to say I’m super happy with these.  They are so crispy on the outside, yet soft on the inside with wonderful layers of pastry.  I just love Donna’s idea of coating them with cinnamon and ground black sesame, a flavour combination I hadn’t considered.  I have made some changes to the recipe, but the main things such as the ingredient ratios are all from Donna.  You can follow her on IG @thedonnakim she does a lot of fabulous baking and chocolate treats, really artistic work.

These are a fantastic way to try making a laminated pasty, you can do so many things with them by changing the sugar coating and or filling them with preserves or creams.  Perhaps I’ll try croissants at some point now that I’ve been able to fairly successfully make cruffins.

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BUTTER BLOCK 

• 250g unsalted butter, 82-84% fat, EU butter has minimum 82% fat.

ENRICHED HYBRID CROISSANT DOUGH

• 425g AP flour
• 192g water//or scalded whole milk
• 50g caster sugar
• 28g butter
• 50g egg, 1 large *subtract from water total if over 50g*
• 60g levain
• 5g-10g instant yeast (gold saf) (I’ll use 7.5 g, this moves very quickly so use less next time)
• 10g fine salt

ENRICHED SOURDOUGH CROISSANT DOUGH w/STIFF SWEET LEVAIN

• 388g AP flour
• 126g water//or scalded whole milk
• 50g caster sugar
• 28g butter
• 50g egg, 1 large *subtract from water total if over 50g*
• 170g sweet stiff levain
• 10g fine salt

Stiff Sweet Levain - for hybrid dough

13 g starter

11 g white sugar

15 g water

34 g AP flour 

Stiff sweet levain for sourdough (non-hybrid)

30 g starter

26 g white sugar

35 g water

79 g AP flour

Donna’s Cruffin flavoured sugar coating.

200g sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Around 2 tbsps ground roasted sesame seeds

EGG WASH (for croissants or pain au chocolat, not needed for cruffins)

• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp Whipping cream/milk
• 1 tsp honey

METHOD  

Mix Your Dough

Weigh and scald the milk, if using (needs to get to 180°F - 185°F), then set aside to cool down.  If not, weigh water.

Mix all ingredients together using stand mixer - knead the dough until it becomes cohesive, about 5 minutes. Look for a rough/shaggy dough that forms into a ball.

*Don’t knead for long as you don’t need to develop gluten at this stage*

Set up aliquot jar, form dough into nice taut ball, place into a covered container and proof until doubled.

***First Proof: 80-82°F (I did this at 82ºF )

1.5-4 hours for Hybrid (dependant on added yeast weight + temperature)

10-12 hours for Sourdough (dependant on temperature)

Once doubled, gently degas and fold 4 corners in (a little stretch and fold over). Then work into an 17cm/8”ish square.

Wrap loosely in plastic/in ziploc and chill overnight.

Prep your butter block!

Cut a sheet of parchment so it’s big enough to make a folded over 17cm square. 

Cut the butter while it is cold and place into your prepared parchment square and fold to cover. Allow it to warm to room temperature, approximately 1 hour, and then flatten the butter to fill the 17x17 cm square right to the corners.  Try to get this an even thickness.  Do not allow the butter to get too warm and melt. Refrigerate until needed.

Lamination

Next day, if possible, get your kitchen to a cool 70-72°F. 

Pull butter block from fridge about 10 minutes before starting to roll out dough. Butter needs to warm up a bit first! 

Butter block temp should be about 55°F/13°C for lamination. 

**55 to 61°F (13 to 16°C), butter should be malleable, stiff yet bendy but not overly soft. Should be able to make a finger indent. Ideal dough temperature will be slightly cooler, at 36 to 43°F (2 to 6°C)**

Once it is at 55°F /13°C, grab dough from fridge and quickly start shaping into a 26 x 26 cm square. Lightly dust the counter and the dough with flour.  Once your dough square is prepped, the butter temp should be right in the zone!

Rotate your dough regularly while rolling it out to ensure that it isn’t sticking to the countertop.  Once it has reached the desired size 26 x 26 cm brush off the excess flour.  

Transfer your butter square from the parchment by opening the parchment and placing the butter square so it looks like a diamond in the square.  The edges of the butter square will be at 45° angle from the sides of the dough square.

Next enclose the butter fully with dough by lifting and gently stretching the corners of the dough into the center of the butter square.  Try to avoid trapping bubbles of air while doing so.  It is OK if the dough overlaps a bit.  Pinch the dough closed and your butter should be fully covered by dough now.  

Time to start rolling out your dough!  Aim for a long trimmed rectangle of about 20 cm x 80 cm.

Have a cookie sheet with two sheets of clingfilm ready.  After each fold you can place the dough on the clingfilm, wrap it up and transfer it into the fridge.  You can keep this in the fridge to keep it cold.

First fold is a double/book fold.

Aim for a (trimmed) rectangle around 20cm x 80cm.

Trim dough short ends and (optional) recycle them back into your dough by placing them underneath your folds. They will roll out with your next turn. The trimmed ends can also be used to fill any gaps when doing the first fold of the book fold.  Brush off excess flour.  First fold covers 2/3 of the bottom then the second fold covers 1/3.  This is so the seam isn’t centered under the fold.  Brush off excess flour.  Then ‘close’ the book by folding in half to complete the book fold.  Place your now book folded dough onto your cookie tray and cover it with plastic wrap.  Rest dough for 30 mins in the fridge.

Next, is a single/letter fold.

After the 30 mins rest, roll your dough out with one of the open ends facing you aiming for a trimmed rectangle of 20 cm x 60 cm.  Brush off excess flour.  Then do a single/letter fold.  Place your now letter folded dough onto your cookie tray and cover it with plastic wrap.  Rest dough for 30 mins in the fridge.

While the dough is resting in the fridge, butter you muffin pans.

Time for your final roll out!

Basically will be rolling dough out to a trimmed rectangle 17 cm x 60 cm, hopefully with 4-5mm thickness.  Trim one end and both long sides.  At 2.5 cm intervals, make a mark with a pizza wheel down each of the long sides of the dough.  Next cut from one marked side to the other creating twenty four 2.5 cm x 17 cm strips of dough.

Alternatively you could roll out to trimmed 34 cm width x 30 cm length, 4-5 mm thickness.  Give dough a quick fold in half to mark 17 cm.  Trim the 30 cm sides and one 34 cm side.  Mark dough at 2.5 cm intervals on each of the 30 cm side.  Then cut from one marked side to the other creating twelve 30 cm strips of dough.  Then cut then all at once down the marked centre to create 24 strips of dough 2.5 x 17 cm.

Shaping

Prepare your muffin pans by buttering them. 

Each set of two strips will form one cruffin.  Place one strip lengthwise over another leaving about 1-1.5 cm of the bottom strip exposed at one end.  Pinch the end of the top strip with the surface of the exposed strip to adhere them.  Starting from that same end placed furthest from you, gradually roll the two strips of dough up into a disk.  This doesn’t need to be super tight but it shouldn’t be really loose.  

Once fully rolled, place it down on one of the flat sides.  We will be using the free ends of the dough to close the disk on one side which will become the base of the cruffin.  First pull one of the free ends, just enough so that it covers half of the disk.  Pinch the strip down to the edge of the disk to keep it in place.  With the other free end, do the same to cover the other half of the disk.  Pinch the strip down to the edge of the disk to keep it in place.  Pinch the two strips together where they meet to close it up completely.  Flip the disk of dough over so that the exposed laminated dough is facing up and your newly closed part is facing down on your countertop.  Gently rotate the disk of dough to tighten it and ensure that the ends do not come apart during proofing and baking.  

Transfer your shaped cruffin into one of the buttered spots in your muffin pans.  Repeat with each set of two strips until you have 12 cruffins in their pans.  Finally, using a floured fingertip, press down through the centre of each cruffin until you tough the bottom of the pan.  Still will help keep the cruffin from opening up while baking.

Proofing

Proof at 74-76°F, with humidity. Butter will melt at or above 82°F so it is important to keep the temperature of the final proof well under that, otherwise the butter will melt and be absorbed into the dough.  When baked, they will still taste great but you will lose the layers you worked so hard to create during lamination.  The steam will help them expand and prevent a crust from forming on the skin.  I placed a wet warm cloth inside each bag that I put my cruffins into, that way they would rise without forming a skin.

Proofing times:

For hybrid croissant variations, around 2-6 hours

For sourdough, around 12 hours

Fully proofed cruffins will pass a gentle poke test and have a bit of a jiggle when you shake the muffin tray.  About 30 mins prior to being fully proofed  preheat oven @ 375°, convection.  But will bake at 350ºF convection.  

When ready to bake, drop the temperature down to 350°F convection.  Place the muffin pans on a lined baking sheet to bake since there may be some melted butter especially if they are under-fermented.  Bake the cruffins on the lowest rack preferably on a baking steel for 25-30 mins rotating halfway through.

For Cruffins

Once you put your cruffins into the oven to bake, prep any toppings if you’d like.  No need to egg wash cruffins especially if you are going to cover with flavoured granulated sugar.

It seems the most popular is to toss them in cinnamon sugar, or dust with some icing sugar.

When you take your cruffins are out of the oven let them rest in the pans for 5 mins.  Then carefully remove them from the pan and roll immediately in cinnamon sugar mix (while warm). Then place on cooling rack to fully cool.  The warmth of the cruffin will help adhere the sugar topping to the cruffin.

Let them cool on a rack placed on a cookie tray to catch falling sugar.

They are delicious slightly warm.  Store them in an airtight container.  They can be refreshed by reheating them at 300°F for a couple of minutes.  There is some effort to making cruffins, but it is well worth the effort.

My index of bakes.

I believe I found this recipe in Bake From Scratch if I’m not mistaken.  I love the idea of emulating a jelly filled dough in a cake.  The filling is homemade and although I increased the fruit in the recipe significantly and dropped the sugar by 50%, the filling I think could still be less sweet.  I like making extra jam for my morning yoghurt which is why I doubled the amount of fruit.  I also used frozen fruit since fresh is very expensive this time of year.  I haven’t sliced the cake yet since it is for a dinner party tonight.  However, based on my tasting of the jam, it is sweeter than it needs to be.  I also reduced the sugar in the batter by 10%.  Since the whole cake is coated with cinnamon sugar, I didn’t think the cake itself needed a ton of sugar.

Hopefully this will delicious, we’ll find out tonight and I’ll come back and post the photos of the slices.

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Makes 1(8-inch) cake

Ingredients

Wet ingredients

¾ cup (180 grams) whole milk

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons (198 grams) unsalted butter, melted and divided

2 large eggs (100 grams)

½ teaspoon (3 grams) vanilla bean paste or ½ tsp of vanilla extract

Dry ingredients

2½ cups (313 grams) all-purpose flour

1¼ cups (250 grams) granulated sugar (used 215 g)

1½ teaspoons (7.5 grams) baking powder 

1 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher salt 

1 teaspoon grated fresh nutmeg

¾ cup (240 grams) Quick Blackberry-Blueberry Jam (recipe follows)

Cinnamon-Sugar (recipe follows)

1.   Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan; line pan with parchment paper.
2.   In a large bowl, whisk together milk, ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (141 grams) melted butter, eggs, and vanilla bean paste. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Gradually add flour mixture to milk mixture, stirring just until combined
3.   Pour half of batter into prepared pan. Spoon remaining batter into a large piping bag. Pipe a ring of batter around inside edge of pan. Spoon Quick Blackberry-Blueberry Jam into centre of ring. Pipe remaining batter on top of jam, and smooth with an offset spatula.
4.   Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 55 minutes to 1 hour, covering with foil during last 30 minutes of baking to prevent excess browning, if necessary. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes.
5.   Run an offset spatula around edge of pan to loosen cake before turning out. Turn cake back over (so dome is on top). Brush top and sides of cake with remaining ¼ cup (57 grams I only needed about half of this, so about 28 g) melted butter. Sprinkle top with Cinnamon-Sugar, and press into sides of cake.

QUICK BLACKBERRY-BLUEBERRY JAM

Makes 2 cups

½ pound (225 grams) fresh blackberries (I couldn’t fine blackberries so substituted strawberries)

½ pound (225 grams) fresh blueberries 

2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar (way too much sugar, maybe try ½-¾ cups)

2 tablespoons (15 grams) lemon juice

1.   In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon, and let stand for 2 hours.
2.   Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring frequently and mashing berries with a potato masher, until mixture thickens, 20 to 45 minutes. (See Note.) Remove from heat, and let cool for 1 hour before transferring to a clean jar. Jam will keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Note: The ripeness of berries can affect the cook time of jam. This jam could take anywhere from 20 minutes for very ripe berries to 45 minutes for less-ripe berries. To test your jam for doneness, scrape the bottom of the saucepan with your spoon - if the jam parts for a few seconds, it is ready.

CINNAMON-SUGAR

Makes about ½ cup (I only needed about half of this)

½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar

2 teaspoons (4 grams) ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher salt

1. In a small bowl, stir together all ingredients.

My index of bakes.

I loved my last loaf but when I made it, my starter hadn’t been refreshed enough times to rev it up after my time away.  I loved the bread but thought it would be better with a more vigorous fermentation.  Things went much more as expected with this bake.  This took a total of 3 hours less time despite the same temperatures for fermentation. As well, the rise was much greater despite the shorter time, no surprise.  The final rise at the time of baking was 115%.

This bread is enriched only with honey and the toasted sesame oil.  Having said that, the addition of the ground black sesame seed should be considered an enrichment since there is a good amount of fat from the seeds that are released when the seeds are ground.  There is no dairy in the dough at all.  Instead of black sesame seeds in the dough, I used ground black sesame seeds.  I expect the crumb to have that lovely grey tone from the ground seeds and every bite will have the nutty notes from the ground black sesame seeds.  I haven’t sliced it yet, I’ll be back to post the crumb when I do.

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I didn’t update the spreadsheet, if you’re interested in baking this, substitute the same weight of ground black sesame seeds for the weight of the black and golden toasted sesame seeds in the spreadsheet.

For 1 loaf in a 9x4x4” Pullman pan.

Build stiff levain, ferment at 74°F for 10-12 hours overnight.

In the morning add the salt and honey to the water and dissolve.  Then add the levain and break down the levain as well as you can.  Add both the flours and mix well until no dry bits are left. After 10 mins of rest start gluten development with slap and folds or use your mixer.  Once the dough is well developed, while the mixer is running, drizzle in the toasted sesame oil until well incorporated.  Next gradually add the toasted ground sesame seeds until well incorporated.   Bench letterfold, remove aliquot, then at 30 mins intervals do coil folds until good structure is achieved.

Once the dough has risen 40% then shape the dough into a batard and place in prepared pan.

Final proof the dough until it has reached 1 cm of the rim of the pan.  pre-heat oven at 425°F and prepare for steam bake.

Once oven reaches 425ºF score top of dough and then brush with water.  Transfer to oven and bake with steam for 25 mins.  Vent the oven (remove steaming gear) rotate the pan and drop temperature to 350ºF.  Bake for another 25-30 mins rotating as needed until browned.  Remove from the pan and place directly on the rack baking for another 5-10 mins to firm up the crust.

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I didn’t like the prominent hump in my last loaf and wanted the slices of bread to be a bit more even in size.  I slightly modified my batard shaping in that there is less overlap in the initial “letter” fold of the dough prior to rolling it up.  I prefer this more even shape now and I’ll have to remember to do the same in the future.

My index of bakes

More Christmas baking today, I baked a pair of apple cranberry holiday cakes with lemon icing for more gifting.  I had a little extra batter that didn’t fit in the loaf pans so put that in two ramekins so we could taste this cake.

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For two loaf pans - 8 x 4” and 9 x 4 x 4” pullman 

5 cups ap flour

1 ⅔ tsp baking soda

0.833 tsp salt

2.5 cups vegetable oil

5 eggs

2.5 cups granulated sugar

0.833 cups packed brown sugar

1 ⅔ tbsp cinnamon 

0.833 tsp nutmeg

2 tbsp rum

1 ⅔ tsp vanilla

5 apples ¼” diced

2 cups cranberries coarsely chopped

Lemon drizzle icing - 1 ½-2 cups of icing sugar and juice from just over ½ a large lemon.

Place a rack in the middle position and preheat oven to 350ºF.  Butter and flour the pans.

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

Whisk together oil, eggs, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, rum and vanilla in a large bowl until just combined.  Fold in flour mixture until just combined, then fold in apples and cranberries.  The batter will feel thick and heavy.  Spoon batter into pans.

Bake until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean.  If baking all three loaves at once it may take up to 1 hour 50 mins.  For one loaf about 1 hour 15 mins.  Remove to rack to cool for 30 mins and then remove from the pans and allow to fully cool on the cooling rack.

Make a lemon drizzle icing and pour onto each fully cooled loaf.

My index of bakes.

Now that I’ve finished my last locum of the year I finally have time to get some Christmas baking done for the people I like to thank each year.  Today’s bake was for the staff in our condo.

I’m using my standing sweet roll dough, which doesn’t have any added sugar to the mix other than that in the Stiff Sweet Levain.  As usual I use a stiff sweet levain in order to reduce the sourness of the bread.  The filling has cinnamon along with Chinese five spice and my homemade miso.  The frosting is a cream cheese frosting with a bit of miso for colour and umami.

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For 12 rolls

Filling

153 g brown sugar

9.31 g cinnamon 

½ tsp Chinese five spice

38 g flour (bread or all purpose flour)

Mix the sugar and flour with the spices

73 g butter softened and mixed with the miso

1 ⅓ tsp miso

Miso Cream Cheese Frosting 

113 g cream cheese softened

73 g softened butter

1 ⅓ tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp of miso or salt

170 g icing sugar

Make the frosting. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat all the frosting ingredients (except the sugar) on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Sift in the sugar, in increments, and beat until smooth.

Instructions for dough and baking

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 76ºF, 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 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 flours.  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.  Once all the butter has been added and incorporated increase the speed gradually to medium. Mix at medium speed until the gluten is well developed, approximately 10 mins.  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.  Next add the zest of two oranges, that way they do not interfere with the gluten development. Mix until they are well incorporated in the dough.

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

Optional cold retard overnight or just 1.5 hours to chill the dough for easier shaping.

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

This dough is very soft. Act quickly to roll, spread the filling, and cut before the dough warms and softens further. If it begins to soften, place it in the fridge to firm.

Remove your bulk fermentation container from the fridge, lightly flour your work surface in a large rectangle shape, and the top of the dough in the bowl. Then, gently scrape out the dough to the center of your floured rectangle. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour, and using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 15″ x 18″ or larger rectangle.

Brush softened miso butter on rolled dough.  Then sprinkle the brown sugar, cinnamon and Chinese five spice  onto the dough, then sprinkle flour on top.  The flour will help absorb any water drawn out of the dough by the sugar in the filling.

Starting at one of the long sides of the rectangle in front of you, begin rolling up the dough as you move across. Be sure to tightly roll the dough by gently tugging on the dough as you roll.

Once finished rolling up the dough, divide it into twelve approximately 1 1/2″ pieces using dental floss. Transfer the pieces to the prepared baking pan and cover with a large, reusable bag, place in a warm spot.  I use my proofing box set to 82°F.  Final proof may take 3-6 hours, be patient and wait until the dough passes the finger poke test.  Using my aliquot jar the dough should reach a total rise of 120-130% or more.

Be sure to start preheating your oven about 30 minutes before you feel the rolls will be fully proofed. For me, the final warm proof time was about 3 hours at 77°F (25°C).

Bake

Preheat your oven, with a rack in the middle, to 400°F (200°C). After the warm proof, uncover your dough and gently press the tops of a few rolls.  The fully proofed rolls will look very soft. The texture of the dough will be almost like a whipped mousse. Be sure to give them extra time in warm proof if necessary. If the dough needs more time to proof, cover the pan and give the dough another 15 to 30 minutes at a warm temperature and check again.

Once your oven is preheated, remove your pan from its bag, slide it into the oven, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes rotating partway through.

The rolls are finished baking when the tops are well-colored and the internal temperature is around 195°F (90°C). Remove the rolls from the oven and let the rolls cool for 5 to 10 minutes in the pan.

Once a somewhat cooled spread the frosting onto the rolls slightly warm rolls.  Using a spoon or spatula, place a dollop of frosting on each roll.  Then spread the frosting over each roll.

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My index of bakes.

I mentioned in my cake post that I was making purple sweet potato sourdough milk rolls, here they are.  Utilizing a stiff sweet levain to reduce the sour tang once again and adding a tangzhong to ensure fluffiness and to delay staling.  These turned out really well.  I love the colour of the soft shreddable crumb along with the small blisters on the crust.  For convenience I did a cold retard at the end of bulk so I could start these the day before our dinner party and then bake them the day of.

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24 rolls in a 9 x 13” pan 

egg wash: 1 yolk and 1 tbsp milk, beaten…

Prepare the stiff sweet levain overnight or the day before and refrigerate when ready.

Prepare the butter paste by blending very soft butter with flour.

Cook Tangzhong mixing flour and milk constantly until it becomes a thick roux.  Let cool before adding to final dough.  Or add to cold milk and egg to cool it down.  Add the levain and break it up into small pieces with your spatula.  Add and dissolved IDY if using.

To mix by hand, add the flour to the wet ingredients (milk, tangzhong and egg) to dissolve.  Next add the flour and mix with a silicone spatula until no dry flour remains.  Rest 10-20 mins.  Next perform French folds until the dough is well developed.  Smear the butter onto the dough and then fold to incorporate and then perform further French folds until well developed.  Gradually add the mashed potato and knead to incorporate it well into the dough.  Form into a tight ball and place in a bowl covered with plastic or a damp cloth @ 82°F for 3-4 hours, some rise will be visible. Alternatively, you could mix the mashed potato and butter and then add the mixture to the developed dough until well incorporated.

Butter a large baking pan or line the pan with parchment.  Punch the dough down and then divide into 24 equal portions.  Form each into tight boules.  Place in the buttered baking pan seam side down.  Cover them and allow them to fully proof about 4-6 hours, they should pass the poke test.

About 30 mins before the end of proofing time, whisk your remaining egg and milk and then brush the small boules.

About 30 mins prior to end of final proof preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Immediately prior to baking brush the dough again with the egg and milk mixture.

Bake the rolls uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190F. Cover if your rolls get brown early in the baking process.

Remove the bread from the oven but not the pans, brush the tops with the melted butter while hot, and then let cool for 10 minutes before pulling the bread from the pans. You may need to slide a butter knife down the sides of the pan to loosen the bread, but I have found parchment paper to be unnecessary.  Sprinkle with fleur de sel if you wish after brushing with butter. 

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My index of bakes

We are hosting some of our friends for dinner tonight.  In addition to the purple sweet potato SD milk rolls I have fermenting, I made this gingerbread layer cake with cream cheese frosting.  This recipe is care of Bake From Scratch.  The cake recipe that follows is for one 8” round cake, so I doubled it for this layer cake.  The frosting recipe would be more than enough for a three layer cake, so I halved it for this two layer cake.  I love a skim coat frosting for the sides of the cake because I typically find that much frosting less cloying than a fully frosted layer cake.

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GINGERBREAD CAKE

Makes 1 (8-inch) cake

This soft and moist stir-together cake blends warm spices with rich molasses, adding aromatic depth of flavor. It comes together quickly and easily, needing only a dusting of confectioners sugar, to be a fitting finish to any holiday gathering.

Ingredients

2 ½ cups (313 grams) all-purpose flour

2¼ teaspoons (4.5 grams) ground ginger

1¼ teaspoons (3.75 grams) kosher salt

1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking soda

1 teaspoon (2 grams) ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¾ cup (165 grams) firmly packed dark brown sugar*

¾ cup (255 grams) unsulphured molasses

½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs (100 grams)

2 teaspoons (8 grams) vanilla extract

¾ cup (180 grams) hot water (128°F/53°C to 130°F/55°C)

Garnish: confectioners' sugar

1.   Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with baking spray with flour. Line pan with parchment paper, letting excess extend over sides of pan.
2.   In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
3.   In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, molasses, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk in flour mixture just until a few dry streaks remain. Whisk in ¾ cup (180 grams) hot water until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
4.   Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Remove from pan, and let cool completely on a wire rack. Just before serving, garnish with confectioners' sugar, if desired or frost with cream cheese frosting.  Recipe follows below.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Makes about 6 cups

Half recipe would make enough for a two layer cake.

2 (8-ounce) packages (454 grams) cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, softened teaspoon (3 grams) kosher salt

8 cups (960 grams) confectioners' sugar

2½ teaspoons (10 grams) vanilla extract

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese, butter, and salt at high speed until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape bottom and sides of bowl. With mixer on low speed, gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating until combined and stopping to scrape bottom and sides of bowl. Beat in vanilla. Increase mixer speed to high, and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Use immediately.

My index of bakes.

My first fruitcake was a Bara Brith, this is a fruitcake that Southern Living says is for those who don’t like fruitcake.  I like the variety of fruit that it has in it along with the nuts.  The recipe calls for apricots, dates, raisins, tart dried cherries, candied cherries, cranberries, apples, candied peel, slivered almonds and pecans.  I used extra apricots and cranberries and didn’t use dates or apples.  

I did two things that compromised the crumb.  First I used a 9x4” pullman pan instead of the 9x5” loaf pan so the batter was taller and more weighted down than it should have been.  Where the recipe says to smooth the top of the batter down, I went a bit overboard with that compressing the batter.

All in all thought, this is a delicious fruitcake and better than store bought for sure especially since making it yourself, you can control the quality of the ingredients. 

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Ingredients for 2 cakes

Soaked Fruit:

• 1 1/2 cups (about 8 1/2 oz.) chopped dried pitted apricots
• 1 1/2 cups (about 8 oz.) chopped pitted medjool dates
• 1 cup (5 oz.) golden raisins or raisins
• 1 cup (5 3/4 oz.) dried cherries
• 1 cup (6 3/4 oz.) glazed red cherries
• 1/2 cup (2 3/4 oz.) dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup (about 1 1/4 oz.) chopped dried apple 
• 1/2 cup (about 1 oz.) chopped glazed orange peel (optional)
• 1 cup (8 oz.) dark rum or brandy

Batter: for 2 cakes

• Cooking spray
• 1 cup (8 oz.) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp. grated orange zest (from 1 medium orange)
• 1/2 cup unsulphured molasses
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups (about 8 1/2 oz.) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground allspice
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 cup (4 3/4 oz.) slivered almonds, toasted
• 1 cup (4 oz.) pecan halves, toasted
• 1/2 cup (4 oz.) dark rum or brandy, for brushing

Directions

Prepare the Soaked Fruit: 
Combine all ingredients in a large shallow dish (such as a 9- x 13-inch baking dish); toss to coat.

Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until fruits have plumped and absorbed rum, at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours.

Prepare the oven and loaf pans: 

Preheat oven to 300°F. Light coat 2 (9- x 5-inch) loaf pans with cooking spray, and line pans with a double layer of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on each side.

Mix the Batter: 

Beat butter, sugar, and orange zest with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed until smooth and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add molasses, vanilla, and almond extract; beat on medium speed until blended, about 30 seconds. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating on low speed until just combined after each addition, about 1 minute total.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves in a medium bowl.

Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating on low speed until just combined, about 1 minute, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed.

Fold in fruits and nuts: 

Transfer batter to a very large bowl. Fold in almonds, pecans, and Soaked Fruit until evenly distributed.

Add batter to pans: 

Spoon batter evenly into prepared pans (about 5 cups per pan). Smooth top of batter with a small spatula, and gently tap pans on counter to release any large air bubbles.

Bake fruitcakes: 

Bake in preheated oven until tops are golden and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour and 30 minutes to 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Cool and brush with rum: 

Cool cakes in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Using parchment overhang as handles, lift cakes from pans; place cakes on wire rack. Using a pastry brush, brush all sides of cakes with rum. Let cool completely on wire rack, about 6 hours, continuing to brush occasionally with rum as cakes cool.

My index of bakes.

My starter was fed only once after returning from our trip to Florida when I made the levain for this bread.  As a result the fermentation was much slower than usual.  However, this bread baked up just fine.  This dough was enriched with the addition of some wildflower honey and toasted sesame oil.  I added both black and golden toasted sesame seeds, thus the triple sesame seeds.  This has 20% sprouted whole Spelt which adds a great flavour and extensibility to the dough.  I’m quite happy with the bake especially considering the slowness of my starter which I’ll have to feed a couple more times before my next bake.  I haven’t sliced it yet, but given the oven spring, I think it will be just fine.

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For 1 loaf in a 9x4x4” Pullman pan.

Build stiff levain, ferment at 74°F for 10-12 hours overnight.

In the morning add the salt and honey to the water and dissolve.  Then add the levain and break down the levain as well as you can.  Add both the flours and mix well until no dry bits are left. After 10 mins of rest start gluten development with slap and folds or use your mixer.  Once the dough is well developed, while the mixer is running, drizzle in the toasted sesame oil until well incorporated.  Next gradually add the toasted black and golden sesame seeds until well incorporated.   Bench letterfold, remove aliquot, then at 30 mins intervals do coil folds until good structure is achieved.

Once the dough has risen 40% then shape the dough into a batard and place in prepared pan.

Final proof the dough until it has reached 1 cm of the rim of the pan.  pre-heat oven at 425°F and prepare for steam bake.

Once oven reaches 425ºF score top of dough and then brush with water.  Transfer to oven and bake with steam for 25 mins.  Vent the oven (remove steaming gear) rotate the pan and drop temperature to 350ºF.  Bake for another 25-30 mins rotating as needed until browned.  Remove from the pan and place directly on the rack baking for another 5-10 mins to firm up the crust.

For those who are interested in pH data.  I found the following.

pH after mixing 5.36

pH 4.39 when bulk fermentation complete and rise 35%

pH 4.0 and rise 90% at time of baking.

This follows what I have usually done aiming for about a 1.0 drop in pH at the time of shaping and then another 0.4 drop for a total of about 1.4 at the time of baking.  

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My Index of Bakes