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July 6, 2012 - 7:39am

bryoria

Sourdough Crumpets

These are quite possibly the best thing I've ever made from my sourdough starter, and by far the quickest and easiest. Crumpets are my most favorite storebought baked item - they are soft & chewy with big, open holes on the top for the butter and honey to seep into. They are wonderful, and I had almost given up hope of making my own when I happened across this old recipe on the King Arthur website.

It worked like a charm!

For this batch I mixed 1 1/2 cups of my leftover 100% hydration starter (right out of the fridge where I'd been collecting it every time I made bread) with 1.5 teaspoons white granulated sugar, 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Almost immediately, it gets very, very bubbly.
I poured the batter into 3.5" crumpet rings on my pancake griddle in a big dollop that slowly spread to fill the rings about 1/4 inch deep before rising.
I only have 4 crumpet rings, so once the sides started to set, I removed the rings and poured 4 more while letting the first ones cook until there were lots of bubbles on top and the sides were getting dry.
I flipped them briefly, and took them off the griddle.
I ate some hot right off the griddle (soooo good), and heated the rest up the toaster later on.
To serve them, spread with butter and honey and watch them disappear into the holes, saturating the crumpet with buttery goodness. They are not crispy like english muffins.
1 1/2 cups starter made 12 crumpets.

I have since tried this recipe with freshly fed sourdough starter, with less luck. It seems to work best with the old leftovers I collect in my fridge over several weeks. I also tried a half whole wheat version, but the texture just isn't the same as with 100% white flour.

I'll be making these again!

The way they should be eaten!

March 27, 2012 - 3:55am

PiPs

Honest bread - 100% whole-wheat desem bread and some country bread

The idea of honest bread and its making found its way into my thinking over the weekend. I find myself slipping more and more into this way of baking. Using less but wanting more from it. I didn’t bake any differently to past weekends yet I felt more connected and relaxed throughout the process. The slightly cooler temperatures certainly helped both my peace of mind and the resulting bread. The kitchen felt less frantic.

I haven’t been pushing the envelope. Just practising consistency while noticing and adapting to the subtle differences the change of seasons is bringing. Perhaps this might be seen as boring or lazy … nevertheless I enjoyed it thoroughly and it keeps us well fed.

I baked two small batches of 100 per cent whole-wheat desem bread and country breads on the weekend. This will feed the family during the week and left us with a loaf to take away on a picnic to a country market in the northern New South Wales town of Bangalow. We had the best handmade organic doughnuts while wandering through the markets. One of the country breads was given to Nat’s parents on our trip home to help ease their struggling brought on by home renovations.

I have been trying a new method of milling where the flour is constantly stirred and moved around in the bowl as it falls from the mill. I want to disperse the heat as quickly as possible and noticed a definite improvement in the time it took for the flour to cool. Whether this translates into the final bread I really have no idea. Any ideas? I sifted the wheat flour for the country bread as normal and retained the bran for coating the desem loaves.

Mixing the desem starter

Autolyse and desem starter

Squeezing in desem starter

Stretch-and-fold

100% Whole-wheat Desem

Formula

Overview	Weight	%
Total dough weight	2000g
Total flour	1081g	100%
Total water	919g	85%
Total salt	20g	1.8%
Prefermented flour	162g	15%

Desem starter build – 10 hrs 18-20°C
Starter	61g	50%
Freshly milled organic wheat flour	122g	100%
Water	61g	50%

Final dough
Desem starter	243g	26%
Freshly milled organic wheat flour	919g	100%
Water	838g	91%
Salt	20g	2%

Method

Mix desem starter and leave to ferment for 10-12 hours at 18-20°C
Mill flour and allow to cool to room temperature before mixing with water (hold back 50 grams of water) and autolyse for a minimum of one hour.
Add levain to autolyse then knead (French fold) 5 mins. Return the dough to a bowl and add salt and remaining 50 grams of water and squeeze through bread to incorporate (dough will separate then come back together smoothly) then knead a further 10 mins.
Bulk ferment two and a half hours with three stretch-and-fold 30 mins apart.
Preshape. Bench rest 20 mins. Shape.
Final proof was for 1.5 hours at 24°C
Bake in a preheated dutch oven at 250°C for 10 mins then reduce temperature to 200°C and bake a further 10 mins. Remove bread from the dutch oven and continue to bake on a stone for a further 20mins to ensure even browning.

I am continuing to expand the desem starter with one build straight from the fridge and as the overnight temperature continues to cool the desem starter is achieving a more controlled fermentation and sweeter aroma by the following morning. I have been looking forward to this kind of weather all summer and it is so nice to not have sweating dough racing away from me into a sticky mess. I even had to increase proofing times by an extra half-an-hour for this bake.

For an aesthetic change to previous desem loaves I baked these without slashing in a dutch oven after coating them in bran sifted from the country breads. I was really surprised with the increased oven spring … quite possibly the best I have had with this form of bread.

Country bread baking

The most telling tale that the cooling temperatures are affecting the bread came with the cutting and tasting. Nat took a bite and then looked at me and asked quite seriously, ‘Have you added anything else to this … it tastes sweet?’ Not only does it taste sweet, but you can smell the sweetness in the kitchen while slicing through a loaf. The crust is delicate with the bran coating adding a crunchy contrast to the soft crumb within.

So far we have eaten it with Nat’s special ‘sick soup’, with honey and ricotta, toasted with peanut butter, with plum jam, with apricot jam … and the list goes on and on.

Happy baking all ...
Cheers
Phil

August 29, 2011 - 4:36am

Mebake

An Illustration of Shaping "Batard"

This is an illustration of Shaping a batard i thought i would share with TFL memebers.

I Hope this helps new TFL members with shaping skills.

March 3, 2011 - 7:45am

txfarmer

Sourdough Ciabatta Rolls - no kneading at all

This formula is adapted from Wild Yeast's great recipe here: http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2008/07/28/sourdough-ciabatta-rolls/, with the following changes:

1. Increased the hydration to 85%

2. The original formual requires no machine kneading but does do a bit of hand kneading in the beginning, I don't knead at all, not with machine, not with hand. I used the same technique from my 36 hour sourdough baguettes: a long cold autolyse (4 hours in this case) to develope the initial gluten, then add in the 100% starter and salt, mix until roughly even. At that point, the "dough" looks like following, don't worry, it will be fine.

3. Added a S&F during bulk rise, which makes 4 S&F in total. And look how smooth the dough looks at the end of the 2 hour bulk rise! Magic!

4. After an overnight stay in the fridge and 1.5 hour of warm up at room temp, it full of bubbles, beautiful.

5. I only made 1/3 of the recipe since I didn't have enough starter, so 4 rolls rather than 12. They look very flat and sad proofing, I decreased the proofing time to 1 hour since the house was warm.

6. Flip over one by one then into an hot oven they go. Amazing ovenspring. They sang loud and proud out of the oven.

Nice open crumb. Nice delicious flavor.

I think all that dividing for rolls destroyed some bubbles. Next time I will just make one big loaf with this amount of the dough, I think the crumb will be even more open.

Submitting to Yeastspotting.

October 24, 2010 - 6:26pm

hanseata

Karin's German Feinbrot

Feinbrot - 37% bread flour, 35% whole wheat, 28% rye

SOAKER
192 g whole rye flour
64 g whole wheat flour
4 g salt
192 g water

STARTER
195 g whole wheat mother starter (75%) (don't use this high amount of rye starter instead, otherwise the pleasantly tangy bread will be too sour!)
200 g bread flour
120 g water, lukewarm

FINAL DOUGH
all soaker and starter
56 g bread flour
10 g salt
1 g bread spice mix (anise, caraway, fennel, coriander)

DAY 1
Evening: In 2 separate bowls, mix together soaker and starter ingredients. Cover, and let sit at room temperature overnight.

DAY 2
Morning: Mix together all ingredients for final dough, 1 - 2 min. at low speed (or by hand), until all flour is hydrated and coarse ball forms. Knead 4 min. at medium-low speed. The dough should feel rather tacky. Let rest for 5 min., then knead 1 more min. at medium-low speed. Place dough in lightly oiled container, cover, and let rise at room temperature, approximately 4 - 5 hours, or until it has grown to about 1 1/2 times its original size.

Shape dough into boule, and proof in banneton, seam side up (or down, depending on the pattern you want - the bread on the photo was proofed seam side down, no scoring necessary), at room temperature for ca. 2 - 3 1/2 hrs., or until bread has risen to about 1 1/2 times its original size. (Preheat oven after ca. 2 1/2 hrs.)

Preheat oven to 500 F/260 C, with steam pan and baking stone. Score bread. Bake for 10 minutes at 475 F/246 C, steaming with a cup of boiling water, then lower oven temperature to 425 F/218 C. After 10 more minutes, rotate bread 180 degrees, remove steam pan, and continue baking for another 20 minutes (internal temperature at least 200 F/93 C).

Let bread cool on wire rack

Notes:
BREAD SPICES: put equal amounts of anise, caraway, fennel in a spice mill. (I like to do the spelt variation with coriander only, therefore it is in a separate mill).

VARIATIONS:
Feinbrot with spelt:
Replace rye and whole wheat flour in soaker with 256 g spelt flour, use only coriander instead of spice mix.

Feinbrot with oat: Replace rye in soaker with oat flour.

Feinbrot crumb

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October 12, 2010 - 7:47pm

msgenie516

The PERFECT bread recipe for the beginning baker! Think Wonder Bread!

Hi,

First, I want to mention I'm not talented enough to be able to claim I created this recipe. I found it on another forum and I really don't know who the original author is, but whoever it is, created a WINNER! This bread has a soft crust and interior (somewhat like store bought white but much tastier with a nicer texture) so for those of you who only want to tackle a crusty bread, this one is not for you. The crust also does not get very dark, but you could probably mist it with a bit of water if you want it darker.

But, if you're even a little like me in that you desperately want to be successful in making ANY kind of bread, you will LOVE this recipe! After I struggle for days to get a more complicated recipe to work for me, this one is a RELIEF to work on. I have never had a failure, even when I threw it together in a hurry. And EVERYONE here loves it! My grandson, who never asks for seconds of anything, asked me for a second slice of this tasty bread. My husband, who is difficult to please to say the least, is very happy when I use it to make his sandwiches to take with him to work in the morning. He's actually so proud that I can make it that he shares his sandwiches from time to time so his associates can sample it.

This is the recipe:

Combine in the slightly preheated bowl from your stand mixer (you can also do this entirely by hand, but it's a lot more work):

2 cups of 110-112 degree water

1 tablespoon plus one teaspoon instant yeast (a total of 4 teaspoons)

1 tablespoon sugar

Cover and let rise in a warm place for 5 minutes (to create warm place, I put my oven on 350 degrees for about 10 seconds and shut it off)

Add to the yeast mixture:

¼ cup oil

5 cups bread flour (I find the best way to measure flour for this recipe is to scoop it, as recommended by the America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book. I have tried weighing it--which really should work--and spooning into the measuring cup, as recommended by the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion, but with both methods the dough was too slack and I had to add flour.)

2 teaspoons salt

Knead until smooth and elastic. I use the dough hook to combine it for a couple of minutes (while scraping down the sides to help combine the ingredients) and knead for at least an additional 5 minutes on speed 2.

Place the dough (sometimes you have to aid it with a scraper to release it from the bottom of the mixer bowl as it doesn't seem to hold the ball shape on the hook each and every time) in a greased bowl, turn it, and cover it with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with a nonstick coating, such as Pam.

Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20-25 minutes. I use the minimum time for both the first and second rise. Punch the dough down and divide it into two equal portions. Then roll each piece into two rectangles that each measure approximately 10" by 14". Starting from the long end, roll each rectangle up in jelly roll fashion and tuck in the ends slightly. Pinch the seam together and place each loaf with the seam to the bottom on a greased 12" by 16" (or similar size) cookie sheet or shallow baking pan. I find the two loaves work fine on one pan. Diagonally slash each loaf about 3 times with a sharp, floured knife.

Lightly spray the loaves with nonstick spray and cover with plastic wrap. Let the loaves rise for 20-25 minutes in a warm place. Since I will have to preheat my oven while these loaves are rising, I cannot let the loaves rise in there and I turn on my toaster oven and leave it on for several minutes. After I shut if off, I check to see how hot the top has become and layer the appropriate amount of kitchen towels on top of it so that the bottom of the cookie sheet I will be placing on it doesn't get too hot. I then place the loaves on top of the towels on the toaster oven, making sure they are situated to the back (under the cabinets), where I believe the most heat would be trapped. Your situation may be different so I am only offering this as a suggestion.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the bread for 20-25 minutes. I use the maximum time as this bread does not get a very dark crust. Let the bread cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing--it will still be warm.

ENJOY! (Bread is pictured below)

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August 13, 2010 - 5:19am

teketeke

This is how I finally have open crumbs and ears using high heat (500F)

Updated 9/29/2010

Updated: 9/15/2010　I want to introduce Edwin's recipe( pipo1000) that is absolutely phenomenal.

http://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/recipe-for-80-hydration-baguette/

Next time, I want to try dragon trail pattern for my baguette. That is fantastic!

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/19118/how-i-finally-have-open-crumb-and-ear-without-pouring-water-or-using-high-heat-500f#comment-134443

I will thank you all of TFLERS who gave me great comments to me. I hope my recipe will help you out or give you some good ideas to have a nice baguette that you desire! And I applogize what I often edit my recipes that cause trouble to you have gotten bunch of e-mail of my recipes that is very annnoying. I am sorry.(bow)

Hello, Everyone. I introduce myself a little bit. I am a foreigner (Japanese) who can't speak or write English very well. My husband who is American said " My wife barely speaks English!" Well, It is true, I am not a big fan of talking to people.Thats why my Enlgish hasn't improved yet. I will appreciate if you correct my English when you find. And I love dogs!!! :) I have 2 dogs who are both of two half Chihuahua and half poodle a brother (2 year old) Chi-chi, and his sister (1year old) Cookie although their mothers are different. I have lived in Newyork with my husband and 2 children my son (12years old) and my daugher ( 4 years old) for 6 years.

Back to the topic, For several month,I have been into baking french bread as much as my family call me " FRENCH BREAD HEAD".:) But I broke the inner glass of the oven once which means " NO MORE POURING WATER IN THE OVEN". then next time I broke its element twice so that I can't preheat 500F anymore. I had had no luck to bake nice baguettes that have nice ears and glooms.

Thanks to RobynNZ who gave me some information to make steam without pouring water, even though I couldn't try it because it costs too much for me, and I finally figure it out on my way. Cover 2 blocks with foil and place them on the second lowest rack. That is it. It is very easy and keep the tempareture stable.

This is how I bake baguettes.

80% hydartion

And, This is my recipe: 1 baguette ( Approximately 40cm long)

Preferment (Day 1)

Yeast 1/4tsp (0.8g)

cold water 76g

All purpose flour 95g

Final dough (Day 2)

Yeast 1/4tsp (0.8g)

cold water 76g

All purpose flour 95g

Salt 3g

*Barley malt powder 1g ( you need it when your flour doesn't contain barley malted flour)

Tools: A baguette pan, 2 blocks covered with foil for lower oven,

Parchment paper

I strongly recommend to read this link before you make this baguette or any baguettes or any bread! I got these important information from Vogel who is one of TFLERS. I really apprecicate your help. Thank you, Vogel.
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/topic/82234-demo-proving-bread/
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/15368/second-rise-proofing-tests
I start to shape when my test-dough rises about 1.1 times in bulk and I prepare to score my baguette when the test-dough rises 1.3 times in bulk.

1 Mix the preferment and sit for 1 -2 hours at room temperature ( When you see 2 big holes in the surface, it is ready to put it in a refirgerator. You don't have to wait until 1.5 times in bulk )

2 hours later

→Mix again, Refrigerator for over night.( about 12 hours in total)

2 Next morning: Add the final dough: yeast and cold water into the preferment→ Mix→ Put the rest of ingredient: flour and salt

3 Put the dough in a food processor to run for 5 second until combine.

Take the dough out of the FP

4 Let's knead: Stretch and fold!

and turn the dough angle 90 degree, and repeat and repeat.... (around 1-2 minutes) You will feel the dough has gluten development. Don't do too much! * I think that you can stroke it too.

5. Put the dough in a greased bowl and covere it with a plastic wrap.

6. Strech and fold -3hours fementation.

0:45 ---2 folds in a bowl

1:30----2 folds in a bowl.

2:15 ---- 2 folds in a bowl.

---There are 2 fold above-----

7. 3:00 ( 3 hours later) shape: Take the dough out of the container , degas lightly ( patting the dough 2 or 3 times)

Pull the both sides from the center very gently.

Using a dough cutter, lift the edge on your side( bottom) and...

bring it to the center.

Next, Lift the edge on your over side ( top)

bringing it to your side ( bottom ) and pinch very lightly

take the seam line onto the center..

Take the dough on your over side (top) toward the dough on your side ( bottom) and pinch very well.

Roll the dough using a dough cutter.

Place the dough onto a parchment paper.

9. Proof for 20-30 minutes. Please read this to get the right time for proofing.( 26-28℃ or 79-82F)

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/topic/82234-demo-proving-bread/

10. Scoring and spray water to the pan, the back of the pan, and the parchmentpaper is not on dough: I don't spray the dough, I am avoiding to spary water to the dough now.

Prepare Flour, Greased razor with shortening, Spray water bottle, and the ziplock is shortening inside( I was squeezing into the cuts after scoring to have ears and glooms. )

11. Bake for 7 minutes at 470F → Decrease 450F bake for 3 minutes→ Take out the pan and the parchment paper →Decrease 450F and bake 10 more minutes →Shut off the oven and open the door for a few second and leave the baguette for 5 minutes.

----- Let's make a pan for baguette at home--------

You need---

a) Cardboard after using wrapping paper.

b) Foil

c) Stapler

Let's make it----

1) Get a cardboard after using wrapping paper.

2) Cut the cardboard in a half and cut more ajust to fit for your bagutte dough. Do the same thing for another one.

3) Cover the cardboard with foil. Do the same thing for another one.

4) Staple onto the foiled cardboards both ends and the middle.

You can slide it into the oven!!

!! The side which you slide it in must be really smooth and flat like this picture.!!

Now (9/27/2010) I upgraded the homemade pan:

I made a lot of holes for the dough to breath when you place the dough onto the canvas or cloth.

Even High hydration dough will keep the shape until you slide it into the oven. Don't forget to score very close to straight in the center that is for withour using a stored bagutte pan that you can put it in the oven.( keep the dough round! When you draw the line diagonally a lot, it will spread over the side and the dough will be flatten. Be careful! * Note* When you use a stored pan, you better score diagonally slightly.

-------OR-------

When you use a cloth for such high hydration dough, I suggest you to have some nice supports for the dough like these pictures above)

Result : 0.4% yeast ( Poolish 1/8tsp, final dough 1/8tsp)

Result 0.8% yeast ( poolish 1/4tsp, final dough 1/4tsp )

I recommend these recipes below. Thank you, dmsnyder and Shiao-Ping and Tyarmer.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/8524/philippe-gosselin039s-pain-%C3%A0-l039ancienne-according-peter-reinhart-interpretted-dmsnyder-m by dmsnyder

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/16213/mr-nippon039s-baguette-formulas by Shiao-Ping

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/18813/poolish-baguette-sunflower-seeds by Tyarmer

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June 14, 2010 - 5:06pm

SylviaH

Baking this pound cake since 1964

I have decided to give the recipe for this wonderful pound cake I have been baking since 1964 and only given the recipe out to family in the past 45+ years. It is very close to the same recipe given by Paula Deen called mama's pound cake. I think only the milk and salt differs a little. I have referred to this recipe always as 'Grandma Turners Pound Cake'. It was given to me by my mother in law Elsie Turner in 1964 and was given to her by her daugter in law from Atlanta, GA. What is so great about this pound cake and the reason I don't turn it upside down out of my large bundt pan or angle food cake pan is it has a cookie crunchy crust that is fabulous and I think very desirable on a pound cake. It is a very large cake and can be made nicely also in loaf pans. We love it with fresh sliced strawberries, sprinkled with a little sugar to bring out some juices...yumm. A real family favorite for over 45 years.

1. 2 sticks of butter

2. 1/2 cup vegetable oil

3. 3 cups all purpose flour

4. 3 cups of Sugar

5. 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

6. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla -Added-vanilla extract used

7. 5 Eggs

8. 1 1/4 cup whole milk

Bring your eggs and butter to same room cool temperature - so the butter is fairly soft -this helps prevent the curdling effect you get when mixing the batter together at different temperatures.

By hand or electric mixer

Grease and flour pans - Preheat oven to 325F - I use convection oven and bake for 1 hour and 20 min. for my 10+ cup large non-stick bundt pan. Testing with a spagetti noodle poked down into the cake and coming out dry. The crust will be a nice dark golden brown.

Sift flour, salt and baking powder together in a bowl '3 times' now I just shake it though a wire sifter once. In a large bowl or mixer, Cream butter, oil and sugar until light and fluffy - Add eggs one at a time to creamed mixture ' I lightly beat them - Add milk and flour to creamed mixture alternately. I end with the flour. Add vanilla extract. You can also use lemon extract.

After the cake is baked. Cool for about 5 minutes. Lay a cooling rack on top of the pan and invert. Lay another cooling rack on top of the bottom of the cake and flip back over to see the cookie crust side...try not to eat it all!

ADDED - These freeze great. I wrap them up in plastic wrap and then foil.

Gets crunched a little more when removing but you can see why I prefer this top to the

molded bundt top. It's hard not eat this delicious crunchy cookie crust top.

Sorry we didn't have any whipped cream today. The strawberries make a nice juice when sliced with a bit of sugar sprinkled over them. Or you also make a lovely puree strawberry sauce to go with some sliced strawberries.

Sylvia

January 26, 2010 - 9:09am

Sam Fromartz

Jim Lahey's Pizza Patate from "My Bread"

One of the challenges for a home baker is to try and figure out how to make a great bread once you've tasted it. Like encountering the Platonic ideal, you recognize it, reach for it and try and duplicate it -- and then you fail miserably and often give up.

Jim Lahey, the founder of Sullivan Street Bakery, was like a culinary Plato for me. Every bread he turned out was amazing and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't find a way to make the airy, light, wonderfully tasteful bread at home. To learn more, I actually visited his bakery in New York several years ago and did a story on him. And while he gave me a few generous tips in an interview (and critiqued the sample I had in my backpack), it wasn't enough. I had to learn on my own and like most bread, I later realized success was less about the recipe than the technique.

Lahey, of course, later caused a storm on the Internet with his no-knead bread recipe, courtesy of Mark Bittman. Then, he spun those recipes into My Bread published this past fall, which ranks as a perfect starting point for an aspiring baker.

Less known than his bread, however, are his terrific pizzas, which he also includes in the book. These aren't the round pizzas he serves up at his New York restaurant, Company, but rectangular sheets of exceedingly thin-crust pizza, topped with onions, mushrooms or just tomato sauce. They are sold by the slice in his bakery.

The big secret about these crispy gems? Like no-knead bread they are dead easy and fast to make. For the effort, you get great results.

In fact, the pizza recipe was so easy that I was skeptical it would be worth it. You mix the dough quickly, let it rise for a couple of hours, flatten it out in a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil, spread the topping and bake it. The recipe was also quite different from another here, because no mixer is necessary.

You can dispense with a baking stone, too. And finally, watch your impulse on toppings! The biggest error pizza novices make is to pile on so much stuff the pie turns into a soggy, gloppy mess. As Jim told me many years ago, when it comes to pizza, "less is more." He's right. Like many Italian concoctions, he also avoids cheese on these rectangular pies and the result, in my opinion, is superior. But if you insist, go ahead and add a bit of cheese.

Here's his basic dough recipe and the stellar pizza patate (potato pizza).

Basic Pizza Dough

Yield: enough dough for two pies baked in 13x18-inch rimmed baking sheets

3 3/4 cups (500 grams) bread flour
2 1/2 teaspoons (10 grams) instant or active dry yeast
3/4 teaspoon (5 grams) salt
3/4 teaspoon plus pinch (3 grams) sugar
1 1/3 cups (300 grams) water
Extra Virgin olive oil for pan

In a bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Add the water, and using a spoon, your hand, or a baker's plastic bench scraper, mix together until blended -- about a minute (Jim says 30 seconds but mine took a bit longer). You don't want to mix or knead this dough too much, or else the gluten will develop and you won't be able to shape it in the pan. But you want to mix in all the lumps of flour. In the end, you'll arrive at a stiff dough.

Cover the dough and let rise at room temperature for about 2 hours. (If your room is cold, put it in the oven with a pilot light to warm up a bit, or in a closed cabinet).

Dump out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut it in half. Use both pieces, or save one in the refrigerator (I use a zip lock bag) for up to 1 day. Oil a 13x18 inch rimmed baking sheet liberally with good extra virgin olive oil (yes, pour it on). Then gently plop the dough on the pan and stretch and press it out to the edges. If it springs back (that's the gluten working) wait five minutes and then proceed. I found the gluten weak enough to spread it fully over the pan. The dough is very thin. If it tears, piece it back together.

Lahey has a few basic toppings in his book, such as pizza pomodoro (tomato sauce), pizza funghi (mushroom), and pizza cavolfiore (cauliflower), but I zoomed in on his pizza patate (potato). This might sound like a carbo-loading dream, but remember the crust is thin, so you're not stuffing yourself with dough.

Pizza Patate

As Jim writes, "Potato pizza is another Italian classic you don't see very often in the United States. While my rendition is pretty traditional, I soak the potatoes in salted water first, which actually extracts about 20 percent of their moisture. That causes them to cook more quickly and makes them firmer. It's a little trick I learned from cooking potato pancakes."

YIELD: One 13-by-18-inch pie; 8 slices

EQUIPMENT: A mandoline

1 quart (800 grams) lukewarm water
4 teaspoons (24 grams) table salt
6 to 8 (1 kilo) Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
1 cup (100 grams) diced yellow onion
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) freshly ground black pepper
About 1⁄2 cup (80 grams) extra virgin olive oil
1/2 recipe (400 grams) Basic Pizza Dough
About 1 tablespoon (2 grams) fresh rosemary leaves

Preheat the oven to 500 F (260 C) with a rack in the middle

In a medium bowl, combine the water and salt, stirring until the salt is dissolved. Use a knife or mandoline to slice the peeled potatoes very thin (1/16th inch thick), and put the slices directly into the salted water so they don’t oxidize and turn brown. Let soak in the brine for 1-1/2 hour (or refrigerate and soak for up to 12 hours), until the slices are wilted and no longer crisp. (Note: I cut the soaking time to 30 minutes and the results were still good.)

Drain the potatoes in a colander and use your hands to press out as much water as possible, then pat dry. In a medium bowl, toss together the potato slices, onion, pepper, and olive oil.

Spread the potato mixture evenly over the dough, going all the way to the edges of the pan; put a bit more of the topping around the edges of the pie, as the outside tends to cook more quickly. Sprinkle evenly with the rosemary. (Note: I left it out in the version pictured above, but feel it's better with it).

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the topping is starting to turn golden brown and the crust is pulling away from the sides of the pan. Serve the pizza hot or at room temperature.

Variation • Pizza Batata (Sweet Potato Pizza)

Substitute 2 sweet potatoes (800 grams), peeled, for the Yukon Gold potatoes, and use about 4 cups (about 900 grams) water and 24 grams (4 teaspoons) salt for the soaking liquid. Omit the rosemary in the topping.

(I originally posted this on ChewsWise)

July 23, 2009 - 6:19pm

Debra Wink

Baking Powder

Yes, that's right... baking powder. I'll bet you've never given it much thought before. I know I hadn't. I mean, I know there are basically two kinds---aluminum-based (I call that "regular") and aluminum-free, right? I assumed all aluminum-based baking powders were pretty much the same, and all non-aluminum powders the same. But it turns out that I was wrong on both counts. My recent foray into biscuit-making and quest for cloud-like loftiness, inspired me to do a little informal research into the science of chemical leavening.

It all started with the Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits I baked one night to go with a big pot of homemade vegetable beef stew. I was still on the hunt for a biscuit recipe that I could be happy with, so I turned to the mini library of Cooks Illustrated hard-bound annuals housed in my living room bookcase. CI has several biscuit recipes to choose from, but since I had never laminated them before, I thought the flaky type might be worth a shot.

The only real decision to make was which baking powder to use. Being an avid baker, I keep a selection in my pantry---aluminum-based for when a strong rise really counts, and aluminum-free for when the taste would otherwise overpower. I decided on Clabber Girl, because I can't really remember what's in the glass jar. I think it is Bakewell Cream Baking Powder, which would have been a good choice, except that has a relatively short shelf life and its age is questionable. Rumford is my favorite for cakes, but not much else. So, Clabber Girl it was.

I was both thrilled and impressed with the recipe, for its high rise and many layers. But I was disappointed in the flavor, which closely resembled "biscuits-in-a-can." In other words, a very strong baking powder taste, owing of course, to the full tablespoon of baking powder called for in the recipe. I thought, no problem, I'll just use half Clabber Girl and half Rumford next time. I do that for some things, to get the best of both. But the rise was only mediocre by comparison. Rumford is aluminum-free and gives me great results in butter cakes, but it seems to fizzle too soon in some of my quickbreads, and wears itself out in the mixing bowl---especially when buttermilk is in the mix.

Left: Clabber Girl
Right: Rumford-Clabber Girl combo

At this point, I started wondering about (Original) Bakewell Cream, which is billed in The Baker's Catalog as the "secret ingredient" for biscuits. I checked around a bit on the Internet, and it does indeed receive very high marks by the New England biscuit makers in its limited distribution area. If this is really THE biscuit leavener, then really... don't I need to try it? So, I bit the bullet and placed an order.

While waiting for the Bakewell Cream to arrive, I turned my attention to Calumet. This is the one I grew up with. Once widely available, it is getting harder and harder to find around here. I searched four stores before finally scoring myself some. It gave my biscuits better flavor than the Clabber Girl, but the rise was not much better than the half-and-half Clabber Girl-Rumford combination. Perhaps that's a clue as to its formulation.

But the exciting thing was, that while on my mission to find Calumet, I stumbled upon a new baking powder. Well, it's new around here anyway, and I had never seen or heard of it before (plus, it says "New!" right on the label). I'm talking about Argo Baking Powder; have you seen it? Yep, it's the same people who make the cornstarch. What's so exciting about this baking powder, is that it has the same active ingredient as the Bakewell Cream, and unlike Rumford, it is a true double-acting, aluminum-free baking powder.

What does that mean? What makes all these baking powders different, you're wondering? Well, the basic equation is the same for all: baking soda + acid = lift. In the presence of moisture, baking soda reacts chemically with the acid, and CO2 bubbles released in the process make a batter or dough rise. Baking soda is the constant, but there are an array of acids to choose from, which can be sorted into two distinct categories---fast-acting, and slow-acting.

Fast-acting are acids that work at room temperature. They react in the mixing bowl when dry and liquid ingredients are combined, to give "bench rise." A good example is cream of tartar, which was used in the first commercial baking powders, and is still used in homemade preparations. The fast-acting acid ingredient preferred in commercial baking powders today is monocalcium phosphate (MCP).

Slow-acting acids don't react right away. They require heat to get going, and don't start reacting until the batter or dough reaches at least 120 degrees F. This is called "oven rise." Slow-acting acids include: sodium aluminum sulfate (SAS), sodium aluminum phosphate (SALP) and sodium acid pyrophosphate (SAPP).

A baking powder is said to be single-acting if it contains only one acid. If the acid is fast-acting, then the baker will need to get the batter mixed and into the oven very quickly---before it loses its bubbles or it won't bake as high. A double-acting baking powder includes both fast- and slow-acting acids. These are designed to create carbon dioxide gas more slowly, and over a longer period of time. Some bench rise during mixing is advantageous in creating bubble structure, for things like butter cakes, pancakes and waffles. However, a strong oven rise appears to be more important for things like biscuits and cornbread.

Here is a breakdown of the baking powders I tested, and a couple others that aren't available to me locally:

If you've stuck with me this far, you probably want to know how the Bakewell Cream measured up against Argo and the rest of the powders. I have to say that Bakewell Cream's lift rivaled that of Clabber Girl, but the flavor was a whole lot better. You have to combine Bakewell Cream---which is just an acid---with your own baking soda, to create the baking powder effect. Some may find the extra measuring a nuisance, but the advantage is that, unmixed, it keeps indefinitely. Baking powders, on the other hand, have a limited shelf life of about a year.

The Argo biscuits baked up just as light as the Bakewell Cream, so I almost had to declare this one a tie. But Argo eked out the win based on flavor (and the fact that I don't have to mail-order it---not that I wouldn't for something that is truly better). The flavor thing was such a close call, though. I really thought they would taste the same, and had I not had the opportunity to have them side-by-side, I wouldn't have noticed the very slight difference. That's how close it was. So for the lightest, best-tasting biscuits, I would say, opt for something with sodium acid pyrophosphate (SAPP) in the ingredient list. If there is a secret ingredient, that would be it. -Debra Wink

Left: Argo biscuits, baking
Right: Bakewell Cream biscuits, cooling

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Baking Powder

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Most bookmarked

Sourdough Crumpets

Honest bread - 100% whole-wheat desem bread and some country bread

An Illustration of Shaping "Batard"

Sourdough Ciabatta Rolls - no kneading at all

Karin's German Feinbrot

The PERFECT bread recipe for the beginning baker! Think Wonder Bread!

This is how I finally have open crumbs and ears using high heat (500F)

Baking this pound cake since 1964

Jim Lahey's Pizza Patate from "My Bread"

Baking Powder

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