Benito's blog

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.

I needed to get a challah baked quickly because we were hosting a last minute brunch for which I was going to bake a ham, cheese, mushroom, red pepper and onion strata.  So with little time to plan I bake this challah that relies on IDY for leavening.  I was surprised at the slight tearing that this loaf had between the strands.  At the time of baking the dough didn’t bounce back at all with the poke test.  This is usually quite a reliable sign that the challah is well fermented, but in this case it could have used a bit more time in final proofing.  Nonetheless the challah was delicious and excellent for the strata.  I cut the bread into cubes and allowed it to stale overnight, putting the strata together in the morning.

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Procedures

1. In the morning, in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, add the IDY then water, then mix in the 4 eggs, salt, honey and oil then mix until completely combined.
2. Mix in all the flour until it forms a shaggy mass.
3. Knead the dough on the bench or in a stand mixer until it is smooth and there is moderate gluten development. The dough should be quite firm.  Mix until gluten is well developed.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover it tightly. Ferment for about 2 hours. It should approximately double in size. 
5. To make one loaf, divide the dough into two equal portions, and divide each portion into the number of pieces needed for the type of braiding you plan to do, so divide each by 3 to make 1 six strand braided loaf.
6. Form each piece into a ball and allow them to rest, covered, for 10-20 minutes to relax the gluten.
7. Form each piece into a strand about 14” long. (I like Glezer's technique for this. On an un-floured board, flatten each piece with the palm of your hand. Using a rolling pin, roll out each piece to about ¼ inch thickness. Then roll up each piece into a tight tube. Using the palms of your hands, lengthen each piece by rolling each tube back and forth on the bench with light pressure. Start with your hands together in the middle of the tube and, as you roll it, move your hands gradually outward. Taper the ends of the tube by rotating your wrists slightly so that the thumb side of your hand is slightly elevated, as you near the ends of the tube.).  You can consider rolling each rope of dough in two different types of seeds at this point for a decorative effect, or only a few of the strands.
8. Braid the loaves.  Braiding somewhat loosely, not too tight. 
9. Place loaf on parchment paper on a sheet pan. Brush with egg wash. Cover well with plastic wrap (brush with oil so it doesn’t stick to the dough) or place the pans in a food grade plastic bag, and proof at room temperature until the loaves have tripled or quadrupled in volume. About 2 hours.
10. If it's quadrupled and when poked the dough only springs back a little, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.  Gauge the dough again. Stick a finger lightly in the dough. If it makes an indentation that doesn't spring back, the dough is ready to be baked. If not, wait a bit more.
11. Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF with the rack in the lower third of the oven about 30 mins before final proof is complete.
12. Brush each loaf with an egg lightly beaten with a pinch of salt.  I do this twice in total.
13. Optionally, sprinkle the loaves with sesame seeds and/or poppy seeds.
14. Bake until done – 30-40 minutes rotating half way.  If baking as one large loaf may take a bit longer, bake until sounds hollow or reaches 190ºF in the middle.
15. Cool completely before slicing.

My index of bakes.

I  wanted to try adding an egg to my country sourdough again.  I’ve seen other bakers on IG post their bakes and some of them achieve quite incredible rise and open crumb when adding an egg to their otherwise lean dough recipes.  Then again, these same bakers always post super open crumb anyways, so who knows if the addition of the egg adds to this or just adds to the rise.  When adding the egg one has to compensate for the water in the egg (74%) and reduce the water used to make the dough.

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Overnight levain 

Ferment 75°F overnight

In the morning mix egg and 265 g water.  Add salt and all the stiff sweet levain.  Break levain into small pieces.

Add whole wheat and whole spelt flours.  Then finally add bread flour and mix until no dry flour remains. 

Fermentolyse for 20  mins.

Knead dough well until at least moderate gluten development, can use French folds or stand mixer.  Bassinage remaining 18 g of hold back water.

Do a bench letter fold.  Extract aliquot jar doughs one for rise and one for pH.

Every 30 mins thereafter do coil folds until the dough is strong and holds its shape well.  Since I used my Ankarsrum Assistent and built good gluten during mixing, I only needed 3 coil folds.

Rest for the remainder of bulk until an aliquot jar rise of 40% the shape the dough.  Follow the pH to ensure that the pH isn’t falling too much allowing gluten degradation.

Once shaped place in banneton.  Allow further bench proofing until rise of 90-100% before either baking or overnight cold retard.

Pre-heat oven to 500°F with cast iron skillet in the oven and set up for open steam baking.

30 mins prior to baking, pour 1 L of boiling water into metal loaf pan with Sylvia towel and place on baking steel on the lowest rack of the oven.

Once oven reaches 500ºF turn dough out of banneton, brush excess rice flour off, score and then brush with water.  Transfer to oven.  Pour 250 mL of boiling water into the cast iron skillet on a high shelf, high enough that the dough have fully bloom.  Drop temperature to 450ºF and bake with steam for 25 mins.  Then vent oven and remove all steaming gear and drop temperature to 425ºF.  Bake for another 25-30 mins rotating as needed.  

After 10 mins at 425°F I dropped it to 400°F since it was browning nicely already. Then final 9 mins down to 350°F 

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My index of bakes

I want to maintain my skills in making baguettes.  Unlike Alan and Don who has really developed their skills for the long haul, I find unless I make them every few months my skills backslide.  I haven’t made baguettes with inclusions in a long long while so decided to add a handful of poppyseeds to the dough.

I have continued to use stiff levains as they ferment more slowly so I can better control the fermentation in the heat of the summer.  For the organic T55 flour that I have, I have settled on 75% hydration.  At this hydration, the dough has enough strength and extensibility to shape nicely.  One of the baguettes still turned out a bit longer than my tray that holds them shaped in the couche.  I had to release the dough on that one before flipping it out onto the transfer board and then do a bit of reshaping, I don’t think it was any worse for the wear.  

We had one baguette tonight shared as a ham and Swiss sandwich with Dijon mustard, Kewpie mayo and sliced dill pickles.  I also made a little tomato and roasted red pepper salad with sumach.

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Added 43 g poppy seeds

In the morning, to your mixing bowl add 347 g water, 10 g salt and diastatic malt 5.2 g to dissolve.  Add levain to water and cut the levain into small pieces in the bowl.  Next add 475 g AP flour to combine.  Allow to saltolyse for 20 mins.  Slap and fold x 100 then add hold back water 21 g gradually working in until fully absorbed by massaging and then Rubaud kneading the dough, then slap and fold x 200.

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 60% 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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My index of bakes.

Finally home and had a chance to bake a loaf of bread.  We are really enjoying this particular blend of whole spelt and whole wheat along with a combination of nuts and/or seeds.  I decided to use walnuts, sesame and poppy seeds this time and I’m glad that I did, the flavour from these inclusions really enhance the flavour of this milk bread.

I usual I used a stiff sweet levian to reduce the LAB population in the levain and thus reducing the acidity of the bread.  I also continue to be pleased with using 200% hydration in the tangzhong and using a 20% of the total four in the tangzhong.  One would think that this might have a negative impact on the rise of this bread since the gluten forming proteins are denatured during the cooking of the tangzhong, however, I have found that if anything, making the tangzhong stiffer and at a higher proportion of the flour has had a positive effect on the oven spring.  I no longer use any VWG in making these breads even when they are 100% whole grain as it seems that the changes to the tangzhong have compensated for not using VWG.

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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 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 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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We are visiting family in Newfoundland for 1.5 weeks now and I wanted to bring a loaf of bread for my brother in law.  The bread had to travel well and stay fresh for a while.  A lot of people seem to enjoy a nutty seedy loaf so decided to make a milk bread.  I had sunflowers, pumpkin seeds and walnuts and wanted to amp up the walnut flavour again by adding toast walnut oil.  Not everyone likes a 100% wholegrain loaf so I decided to use whole wheat for all the levain and tangzhong and the rest of the dough would be bread flour.  Using my usual stiff sweet levain to ensure that there is less sour tang by using the osmotic pressure of sugar to dehydrate the microbes.  The LAB are affected more than the yeast so you reduce the LAB population relative to the yeast resulting in less acids produced during fermentation of your dough.

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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.  Next drizzle in the toasted walnut oil.  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 and 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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