Benito's blog

For our final dinner party we are hosting down here in Florida I wanted to make pulled pork sandwiches so I needed to have a large enough bun that while soft would hold up to the sauce, pulled pork and roasted pineapple.  So I decided that increasing the whole wheat would make the bun a bit firmer while the addition of the sweet potato would enhance the flavour.  I unfortunately didn’t get photos of the sandwiches, however, I do have some pulled pork and buns leftover so I’ll try to remember to take some photos of the assembled sandwiches.

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For 8 buns

egg wash: 1 yolk, 1 tbsp milk and a pinch of salt, beaten…

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 stiff  sweet 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.

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 15 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 drizzle in the melted butter a little at a time, or alternatively add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  Slow the mixer down to avoid splashing the butter at you. The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before drizzling or adding in more butter.  Once all the butter has been added and incorporated increase the speed gradually to medium.  Add the mashed potatoes gradually.  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.

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2.5-3.5 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.

Line a large cookie tray with parchment paper.  Punch the dough down and then divide into 8 equal portions.  Form each into tight boules.  Place on a parchment lined cookie tray.  Cover them and allow them to fully proof about 4-6 hours, they should pass the poke test.

After about 30 mins 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.  Top with sesame seeds.

Bake the buns 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 buns from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool.

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These buns were a success, they definitely stood up well to the saucy pulled pork while still being soft and flavourful.

My index of bakes.

OK last dinner party of the Fort Lauderdale season for us as hosts.  One last pie that I’m making here in Fort Lauderdale until next visit whenever that is.  I loved the simplicity of the lime coconut pie but wanted to make it with the Ritz Cracker crust for a bit of saltiness to contrast the lime coconut flavor.  Also with the Ritz Cracker crust instead of the graham cracker crust I can control the amount of sugar and reduce it which is better in my mind.  I do find the graham crackers down here are very sweet so the crust turns out too sweet for me.  Ritz Crackers aren’t so sweet so the crust is a bit more neutral in sweetness which is great.

A great way of making very stable flavored whipped cream is adding jello powder.  Yes jello powder.  Unfortunately I couldn’t find coconut jello here, so I had a vanilla jello box sitting around so my whipped cream is vanilla flavored.  To 1 cup of whipping cream add 2 tbsp of jello powder +/- 1 tbsp of sugar.  Mix to dissolve and then whip as usual.  You will find that this whipped cream is super stable for several days and really holds the shape of the piping tip you use. 

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Ritz Cracker Crust

• 175 g Ritz Crackers, crushed. 
• 1 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 cup (4 oz.) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Crush the crackers finely, but not to dust. You can use a food processor or your hands. Add the salt and sugar, then sprinkle in the melted butter tossing with a fork until the mixture starts to clump evenly.  Ritz Cracker Crust

• 5 ounces round buttery crackers (such as Ritz) (about 40 crackers), crushed.  (Original not enough increased to 175 g)
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar (reduce greatly to 1 tbsp)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (reduce to ½ tsp)
• 1/2 cup (4 oz.) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Crush the crackers finely, but not to dust. You can use a food processor or your hands. Add the salt and sugar, then knead in the butter until the crumbs hold together like dough. Press into an 9-inch pie pan. Freeze for 30 minutes, then bake for 20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. 

In the meantime prepare the filling.

• 250 ml (1 cup) heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons icing sugar (sub 2 tbsp sugar)
• (2/3 cup) unsweetened coconut milk
• 14-ounces (1 can) sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed or bottled Key lime juice
• Zest of 1 lime, finely grated

To garnish:

• Whipped cream (optional)
• Toasted coconut (optional)
• lime slices or lime zest

Instructions:

• In a bowl, using an electric mixer or a whisk by hand, beat heavy cream and sugar until creamy. Add the coconut milk, condensed milk, lime juice, and lime zest and whisk until fluffy and thick. Pour into crust and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to set.
• Before serving, top pie with whipped cream, sprinkle some toasted coconut and/or lime slices (if desired). Slice and serve.

My index of bakes

A close friend is having a dinner party today down here in Fort Lauderdale so I offered to bring rolls.  I’m almost out of bread flour to in order to ensure that I have enough for one last bake I’ve been adding some whole wheat to my bakes, even for company.  I switched Alan’s starter to whole wheat and it seems fine with it.  Instead of a bread flour tangzhong I used whole wheat.  Another change I made is that I added the butter to the tangzhong while cooking it.  Although the tangzhong’s consistency obviously changes, by adding the butter to the tangzhong I have so far found that I am able to reduce the number of slap and folds while developing the dough by hand in half.  That is a big savings in work and time.  This may be what I do going forward, at least when hand developing enriched doughs that use a tangzhong.

For this bake I decided to add the dried herbs, rosemary and thyme directly to the dough rather than just from melted butter infused with herbs.  I hope that there will be more herb flavour this way.

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For four by six rolls in a 7.5 x 11.5” pan

Dried Herbs 0.5% each 

Rosemary 1.8 g

Thyme 1.8 g

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

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

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.

Whisk together dry ingredients flour sugar salt herbs and yeast (optional). 

To mix by hand, add the dry ingredients 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 2-3 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 seem 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.

Did you know that the price of pecans is much less here in the south compared with in Canada?  So I decided I’d try making pecan sticky buns that I’ve seen but never eaten.  To bring a bit of Canada to them I’ve added maple syrup to the topping.  The rest of the bun is pretty standard cinnamon rolls.  I’ve used my usual stiff sweet levain to keep the sourness in check.  I’m still fully hand developing the dough so decided to try an experiment.  I added the butter that would go into the dough, usually late in development, into the saucepan with the milk and flour while preparing the tangzhong.  This changes the tangzhong making it looser and somewhat greasier.  However, this change reduced the number of slap and folds by 50% to get full dough development.  Having more KA WW flour than I can use up before my stay here ends I’m adding WW to everything.  I figure most people won’t notice the small amount that I’ve added here since it is only in the tangzhong and with the strong flavours they won’t taste it.

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Filling 

PREPARE THE BROWN SUGAR CINNAMON FILLING: In a medium bowl, whisk together the 140g dark brown sugar, 12g flour, 6g cinnamon, and small pinch of salt. Cover and set aside.

Topping for 9x9” pan

170 g chopped pecans

70 g unsalted butter

57 g packed light or dark brown sugar

41 g whole milk

41 g maple syrup

1 g salt

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. 

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2 - 3 hours at 82ºF.  There may 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.   Meanwhile, make the topping:  Spread chopped pecans in an even layer in the pan. Set aside. Combine the rest of the topping ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the butter has melted, then bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, give it a quick whisk, then pour over pecans. Set aside.

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 15″ square or larger rectangle.

Brush melted butter on rolled dough.  Sprinkle brown sugar cinnamon filling mix on top.

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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 nine 1 1/2″ pieces using a sharp knife. 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.

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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 40 to 45 minutes.  Once fully baked remove from the oven and then invert pan onto a serving platter.

My Index of Bakes.

I’ve always loved the appearance of a fougasse but had never baked one.  Since Mr. And Mrs. Alfanso are going to be our guests tonight and I know how Alan loves crust, I decided it was time to bake a fougasse.  We love Kalamata olives so decided that my fougasse would have chopped Kalamata olives and oregano in it.  I found this recipe in Maurizio Leo’s new book The Perfect Loaf and got it into a spreadsheet.  I also made modifications to the method based on what I thought would work well.  In particular I add the olive oil early on rather than developing the dough and then dealing with adding olive oil to a developed dough.  My thinking on this is that since the dough has a low hydration of only 64% that the gluten will be easy to develop even in the presence of the olive oil.  That was the case and adding the olive oil early on didn’t negatively affect the dough development.

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MIX THE LEVAIN: Warm or cool the water to about 78°F (25°C). In a medium jar, mix the levain ingredients until well incorporated (this liquid levain will feel quite loose) and loosely cover. Store in a warm place for 12 hours.

Strain and dry the chopped Kalamata olives.  Add 2 g of dried oregano to the Kalamata olives.

When the levain has peaked, to the water, add the levain and dissolve, then add salt and olive oil, then whole wheat flour and mix, finally add bread flour. After 10 mins of autolyse, slap and fold to develop the dough moderately.  Towards the end of mixing add the Kalamata olives and oregano through stretch and folds. 

At 30 min intervals give the dough coil folds.  After the third set give the dough 1 hour 30 mins rest.

To remove the dough from the bowl drizzle olive oil onto and around the edges of the dough.  Then gently rub the olive oil over the surface and around the sides.  In the bowl flip the dough to oil the bottom of the dough.

Transfer the dough to a parchment lined tray, smooth side up and gently stretch the dough out into a rough triangle.  Allow to proof for 1 and a half to 2 hours.  30 mins prior to the end of proof pre-heat the oven to 450°F.  

The dough should pass the finger poke test when ready to bake.  Prior to baking cut the dough into the desired shape.

After baking brush with olive oil.

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These photos were taken prior to brushing olive oil on the bread.  I will warm the fougasse and then brush olive oil on it prior to serving.

My index of bakes.

We are hosting Alfanso (Alan) and Mrs. Alfanso tonight for dinner for the first time at our apartment here in Fort Lauderdale.  I wanted to bake a nice sunny pie and had this one saved for sometime that I hadn’t made.  I have seen both grapefruit and lemon lime variations of this pie in the past and since I had some limes still decided upon the lemon lime version.  I believe one of the aspects of this pie that make it an Atlantic Beach pie is the choice of crust.  I’ve seen both saltine and Ritz Cracker crusts for these pies and chose the Ritz Cracker version.  My little addition to this is adding the lemon zest to the filling and lime zest to the whipped cream decoration.

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Ingredients

For the crust

• 1 1/2 sleeves of saltine crackers (about 6 ounces or 60 crackers)
• 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons sugar

Alternate crust using Ritz Crackers

• 5 ounces round buttery crackers (such as Ritz) (about 40 crackers), crushed.  (Original not enough increased to 175 g)
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 
• 1/2 cup (4 oz.) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling

• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup lemon or lime juice or a mix of the two (I will increase to ¾ cup juice)
•           I will add zest of a lemon 
• Fresh whipped cream, for garnish
• Coarse sea salt, for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Crush the crackers finely, but not to dust. You can use a food processor or your hands. Add the sugar, then knead in the butter until the crumbs hold together like dough. Press into an 8-inch pie pan. Chill for 15 minutes, then bake for 18 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.  Alternatively, melt butter and add to dry ingredients as per other recipes.

While the crust is cooling (it doesn't need to be cold), beat the egg yolks into the milk, then beat in the citrus juice. It is important to completely combine these ingredients. Pour into the shell and bake for 16 minutes until the filling has set. The pie needs to be completely cold to be sliced. Serve with fresh whipped cream and a sprinkling of sea salt.

Notes:

The crust will slouch a bit in the pan, perhaps freeze it prior to baking.  I took it out and pressed the crust again halfway through baking and again at the end of baking prior to pouring the filling in.

My index of bakes.

Although I’ve been baking quite a bit of bread down here in Florida, I hadn’t baked any sandwich bread in some weeks so we were out.  I wanted to use up some of my King Arthur Whole Wheat flour, I had purchased a bag in the fall but haven’t used that much of it yet so decided to make a 100% WW sandwich loaf.  For this bake of my Hokkaido milk bread I have increased the tangzhong to 20% and kept the hydration of it at 200% using milk of course. The rest of the formula was adjusted to keep the hydration and other ingredients the same.  I didn’t use any VWG for this bake and was thinking that the dough would have benefitted from it.  It took 1100 slap and folds to get a reasonable windowpane and one that wasn’t anywhere close to what I usually get at home with my usual flours.  That being said, the loaf looks great to me and I am pleasantly surprised with the KA WW flour.

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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 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 add the mashed potatoes.  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. 

To develop by hand, melt the butter and add it with the wet ingredients.  

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2 - 3 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 a 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 an oiled 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.  Sprinkle sesame seeds on the top of the dough.

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.

I’ve been making mostly all white flour breads while down here this visit in Florida.  That has been because most of the baking has been for dinner parties and I never know if guests will appreciate whole grains in their bread. So for this bake I decided to sneak a bit of KA WW into the dough, 20%.  This shouldn’t affect the softness of the rolls significantly and with the cheddar cheese both in and on the rolls I figured that they wouldn’t be able to taste the WW much at all.  I decided to put 6 g of shredded cheddar cheese inside each roll.  The void left by the cheese when the rolls baked was the only thing I didn’t like about these rolls.  Perhaps in the future I’ll just put the shredded cheese on the rolls or just incorporate the cheese into the dough.

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For four by six rolls in a 7.5 x 11.5” pan

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

Shredded cheddar cheese 

Prepare levain the night before or if preparing early in the day, refrigerate up to 1 day before use.

Cook Tangzhong mixing WW 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.

Blend room temperature butter and flour (30 g) together and set aside to incorporate after the dough is well developed.

Whisk together dry ingredients flour, sugar and salt.

To mix by hand, add the salt and sugar to the wet ingredients (milk, tangzhong and egg) to dissolve.  Next add the bread flour (190 g), WW 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 blended butter/flour 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 2-3 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 filling each with some shredded cheddar cheese.  I put about 6 g of shredded cheddar into each roll. Place in the buttered baking pan seem 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.  If you have shredded cheddar left you can sprinkle some over the rolls as well if you like.

Bake the rolls uncovered for 35-40 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 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 if you greased the pan with butter well. 

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My index of bakes

We had another dinner party for a few of our friends last evening.  For dessert I decided to make another graham crust pie since the last one turned out so well.  I reduced the sugar in the graham crust recipe down from 50 g to 20 g.  I had read somewhere that the sugar was necessary for the structure of the crust so I was hesitant to eliminate it completely.  Having now tried only 20 g I think I could eliminate this additional sugar completely.  As I wrote before, the graham crackers I have here that were recommended are already quite sweet and the crust is quite sweet.  Next time I’ll try without any added sugar unless I try a different brand of crackers that are less sweet.

I’ve always wanted to make a pie with mango filling so when I found this recipe I had to try it.  The recipe calls for mango purée which is great because I found bags of this at the local Winn Dixie.  After tasting it I found it to be underwhelming, the mangoes puréed must not have been that ripe.  In the future I would buy frozen mango or fresh if available and use my food processor to purée them, however, here in Florida we do not have a food processor.  To compensate for the lack of sweetness of the mango puree I added an additional two tsp of sugar.

In the end the pie turned out quite well and was enjoyed by all.  I wanted to add some additional tropical flavour so purchased a can of coconut cream to make whipped lime coconut topping for the pie.  However, there was something strange about the can of coconut cream and it wouldn’t whip properly.  In the future I’ll do what I would normally do and just buy full fat coconut milk, refrigerate it to allow the cream to separate from the coconut water, then use that firm cream to make the whip.  It would also be smart to purchase a back up can in case the first can doesn’t separate well as can happen.  I did try to thicken the coconut cream by adding corn starch, but that wasn’t sufficient.  In the end I did buy some whipped cream and added some lime juice and zest to top the pie.

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Graham Cracker Crust

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) graham cracker crumbs (about 12 full sheet graham crackers)
• 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar (try reducing as this is quite sweet, not sure if can eliminate completely so try using only 20-25g which worked perfectly could go down to 10 g or zero next time)
• 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

1. If you’re starting out with full graham crackers, use a food processor or blender to grind them into fine crumbs. You can also place them in a zip-top bag and crush them into fine crumbs with a little arm muscle and a rolling pin.
2. Stir the graham cracker crumbs and granulated sugar together in a medium bowl, and then with a fork, stir in the melted butter. The mixture will be thick, coarse, and sandy. Try to smash/break up any large chunks.
3. Pour the mixture into an ungreased 8-inch, 9-inch, or 10-inch pie dish, cake pan, springform pan, or square pan. With medium pressure using your hand, pat the crumbs down into the bottom and up the sides to make a compact crust. Do not pack down with heavy force because that makes the crust too hard. Simply pat down until the mixture is no longer crumby/crumbly. Tip: You can use a small flat-bottomed measuring cup to help press down the bottom crust and smooth out the surface, but do not pack down too hard. If making a pie, run a spoon around the bottom “corner” where the edge and bottom meet to help make a rounded crust⁠—this helps prevent the crust from falling apart when you cut slices.
4. For a baked dessert, pre-bake this crust per your filling recipe’s directions. I usually pre-bake for at least 10 minutes at 350°F (177°C). For a no-bake dessert, cool the crust completely before using, unless your filling’s recipe instructs otherwise.

FOR THE FILLING

1½ cups unsweetened frozen mango puree (from a 14-ounce package), thawed

6 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon cornstarch

½ cup sugar

¼ cup fresh lime juice

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Pinch of kosher salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Whipped cream, for topping

Instructions

1. Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350˚. Break the graham crackers into pieces, then pulse in a food processor with the sugar and salt until finely ground; drizzle in the melted butter and pulse to combine. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Bake until golden, about 12 minutes, then transfer to a rack and let cool. Leave the oven on.

2. Make the filling: Whisk together the mango puree, whole eggs, egg yolks, cornstarch, sugar, lime juice, lemon juice and salt in a medium saucepan until combined and smooth. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the mixture begins to thicken and it resembles a thin pancake batter, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until melted.

3. Place the cooled crust on a rimmed baking sheet. Strain the filling through a fine-mesh sieve directly into the crust. Bake until the filling is set but the center is still jiggly, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled and the filling is completely set, 4 to 6 hours. Slice and serve with the whipped cream.

Tart Tips

To make sure your crust is compact, use the bottom of a measuring cup to press the crumbs evenly into the pan.

Stir the filling constantly as it cooks and keep an eye on the heat—you don’t want the eggs to scramble.

For a silky smooth filling, strain the curd through a fine-mesh sieve.

The tart will be jiggly when you take it out of the oven but it will set as it cools. Refrigerate until it’s completely set.

Make sure to taste your mango purée, if it isn’t that flavorful you’ll want to add more sugar.

My index of bakes

I’ve been sharing many of my bread bakes with our friends who live in our building here in Fort Lauderdale this winter.  So when having them over there is pressure to come up with good bread to go with the meal.  I’ve already posted the dessert that followed the Artichoke Chicken dish I prepared for dinner.  So the bread needed to go well with the flavours of the dish.  The chicken dish has rosemary in it so I decided to try doing an herbed garlic sourdough rolls recipe with rosemary and thyme as the herbs.  They turned out really well and were so shreddable, soft and buttery.  This used both a tangzhong and mashed potato for tenderness.  Although there is butter in the dough, the herbed garlic is heated with the butter and brushed on after baking to add those flavours to the rolls.  The scent of garlic and herbs was just wonderful and our friend dug into those rolls before eating the main course.  

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For four by six rolls in a 7.5 x 11.5” pan

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

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.

Blend room temperature butter and flour (58.78 g) together and set aside to incorporate after the dough is well developed.

Whisk together dry ingredients flour salt and yeast. 

To mix by hand, add the salt and yeast to the wet ingredients (milk, tangzhong and egg) to dissolve.  Next add the flour (181 g) 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 blended butter/flour 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 2-3 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 seem 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.

In the meantime, melt 3 tbsp butter with 1 crushed clove of garlic, 1 sprig of fresh rosemary and 2 tsp of dried thyme.  I use the microwave.

Remove the bread from the oven but not the pans, brush the tops with the melted herbed garlic 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 baking index