Recent Blog Entries

My first bake since returning home for us, although I made two, one is for a present.  We love seeds and nuts in bread so wanted to have a nutty bread.  I toasted the walnuts and also used toasted walnut oil in lieu of butter to maximize the nutty flavour.  I also last minute decided to top the loaves with black sesame seeds because why not!  I usually weigh the dough when I divide, this time I did not and obviously didn’t do a good job by eye LOL.

IMG_0023.jpeg

IMG_6103.jpeg

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 red fife 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 drizzle in the walnut oil a bit at a time.  The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before adding in more 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.  Finally add the walnuts and mix until evenly incorporated.

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 3 - 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 shape into a batard.  Place into your prepared 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 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.

IMG_0027.jpeg

IMG_0026.jpeg

My index of bakes.

I love how artisan bread gives you the opportunity to do something creative with your scoring. I think Santa is my favorite—he got the full glamour shot treatment! 🎅🏻 

IMG_9771.jpeg

IMG_9749.jpeg

IMG_8588.jpeg

So I needed to bake more presents and planned to repeat my star shaped bake, but last minute decided to use a more traditional rolled bun shaping.  I also made some creamed cheese icing to top these.  My partner and I got to quality control this bake as I cut one bun out and can report that they are quite yummy.  although you definitely get the cinnamon, the ginger carries through the finish.  As expected, the crumb is fluffy, shreddable and so soft.  I’ll keep this recipe for another Christmas to bake again.

IMG_0010.jpeg

Ingredients

3¾ to 4¼ cups all-purpose flour 480 g (4 cups)

4 tsp. ground ginger

4 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground cloves

1 pkg. active dry yeast (1 ¾  tsp. IDY or about 4.9 g)(if use osmotolerant yeast then can ferment a bit faster.)

¾ cup milk (184 g)

1 cup plain mashed potato

⅓ cup butter (76 g)

⅓ cup molasses (93.3 g)

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

½ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup butter, melted

Powdered sugar (optional)

HANDS ON 30 min.
RISE 1 hour 15 min.
REST 10 min.
BAKE 20 min. at 375°F

1. In a large bowl stir together 480 g flour, 3 tsp. of the ginger, 1 tsp. of the cinnamon, ¼ tsp. of the cloves, and the yeast. In the bowl of your mixer stir milk, mashed potato, ⅓ cup melted butter, the molasses, eggs and salt. Add flour mixture to the liquid mixture. Mix until gluten is well developed.

2. Turn dough out onto and shape dough into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning to grease surface of dough. Cover; let rise until doubled in size (60 to 120 minutes).  Can do a cold retard at this point.

3. Punch dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover; let rest 10 minutes. Lightly grease a 13×9-inch baking pan. Prepare filling in a small bowl stir together the brown sugar and remaining 1 tsp. ginger, 3 tsp. cinnamon, and ¼ tsp. cloves. 

4. Roll dough into an 18×12-inch rectangle. Spread with softened butter and sprinkle with filling, leaving 1 inch unfilled along one of the long sides. Roll up tightly, starting from filled long side and pinching seam to seal. Cut into 12 slices; arrange in pan. Cover; let rise until nearly double in size (30 minutes).

5. Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Invert to remove from pan; invert rolls again onto a platter. Spread with Cream Cheese Frosting. Makes 12 rolls.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

In a medium bowl beat 3 oz. (85 g) softened cream cheese, 2 Tbsp. softened butter, and 1 tsp. vanilla with a mixer on medium until combined. Gradually beat in 2½ cups powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in enough milk, 1 tsp. at a time, to reach spreading consistency.  Next time add some lemon juice to make it tangier and can probably skip the extra milk.  Say about 2 tsp lemon juice.

IMG_0006.jpeg

IMG_0008.jpeg

IMG_0013.jpeg

My index of bakes

Formula:

* Additional flavourings were added: After mixing the primo impasto, honey from the recipe was mixed with vanilla, lemon zest and a splash of dark rum. This was left to infuse overnight before being mixed into the emulsion the following day.

✝  A splash of milk (UK: Semi skimmed) was added to 4 whole eggs (UK: large) to make up the desired weight of 236g.

✝✝ Cocoa butter was substituted with quality white chocolate.

Method:

Per il primo impasto, begin by mixing the flour with the leaven and almost all the eggs. When the dough becomes smooth, add the remaining eggs. After a few minutes incorporate the sugar, the salt and the lastly the butter. Let it rise at 25-26C for around 12 hours or when it reaches triple the volume.

Per il secondo impasto, mix half of the first dough with the flour and the malt. When the dough becomes smooth add the other half, the salt and lastly the egg yolks, a little at a time. When the dough is elastic and homogenous incorporate the emulsion, prepared in advance by creaming the butter with sugar and amalgamating well the other ingredients. Finish the mix adjusting the consistency with the fresh cream.

Transfer to a container and let rest for around 30 minutes at 28C. After this time, scale pieces of the desired weight, shape into a boule and place on butter boards and hold them at 28C for around 60 minutes. Shape and place in the moulds. Allow to rise at 28-30C for around 6 hours or until the dough reaches the edges of the mould.

Baking times:

500g: 30 minutes at 170C
750g: 40 minutes at 170C
1000g: 50 minutes at 170C

Remove from the oven and let the pandoro cool for around 60 minutes before removing from the mould. 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

LM - Not fully tripled but pleasant alcohol aromas within.

Primo Impasto - After12 hours the primo impasto more than tripled in volume!

The leavening power of my lievito madre is proving very potent. However acidity issues persist. Primo impasto pH: Initial: 6.27 End: 4.21. It just goes to show that simply pushing the yeast potency is not enough to mitigate acidification.

The risen primo impasto had quite a strong acetic aroma emanating from it while on the counter, however the taste was very different and tasted completely non-sour with just a very pleasant carbonic fizz.

The final mix was relatively easy to do and went without issue. By the end of the mix the finished dough was supple and elastic and when removed from the mixing bowl was a very extensible and relaxed to cover a large part of the counter. pH = 4.5 (too low - should be >5).

I rounded the dough a couple of times during the rest period to encourage it to hold a higher form before performing the final round and placing into the pandoro mould.


Finished dough - After mix rest then rounded (pagnottella)

Finished dough moulded

Fully proofed

The proof was done at a slightly lower temperature of 24-25C than the 28-30 prescribed. Proof time 9 hours instead of 6 but that's about right considering the temperature difference.

Baked

Just in time for Christmas, I wanted to get a Holiday bread bake in before the festive season began. It's been years since I baked a Pandoro and I'm glad I did. Being less dicey than Panettone since it doesn't require hanging which can be make or break!

Happy Christmas all.

Michael