Baking

New Bakings, New Beginnings

2013-03-20T23:01:52Z

It's been awhile since I've posted about my bread baking. There is a reason....

My lastest adventure is being appointed Head Baker of Le Diplomate restaurant in Washington, DC. It is restauranteur Stephen Starr's first foray into the DC market, and the theme is french brasserie. Modeled on his Parc restaurant on Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia, Le Diplomate will replicate Parc's impressive bread program, which features a variety of hearth-baked artisan breads for customers.

For me, this is a new, exciting and not a little daunting adventure. Last December I was invited to audition for the position Starr's Parc restaurant, expected to produce 7 artisan breads in a day for an afternoon tasting. The opportunity was a cause of both expectation and apprehension: this is a chance bakers love - to show what you can do. But it meant being scrutinized and graded by senior restaurant management from a restaurant group about to open its 30th location. So lots of things to worry and lose sleep about.

In the end the tasting was a success I was offered the position of Head Baker. Now we (the entire kitchen, bake, and pastry teams) are busy each day preparing, testing, tasting and re-testing all our recipes and getting ready for an April opening.

In Stephen Starr's universe bread looms large, so expectations are high for the quality of what we produce each day. The table breads to be served to diners will include freshly baked poolish baguettes, slices of sourdough cranberry walnut, and sliced wheat and rye levain bread that is reminiscent of the wonderful french country Miche which sustained ordinary folks two hundred years ago. This was the daily bread they ate, baked only every week or two in large loaves which retained their freshness because they utilized sourdoughs - leavains - which delayed staling.

So, here are some pictures of our test bakes and a glimpse of what I will have the privilege to bake each day once Le Diplomate is open.

Brioche bunsWheat-Rye boule

Walnut cranberry soudoughWheat Rye Levain

There is much (too much) press this days about the 'ills' of carbohydrates - especially bread - and gluten. We would do well to pause in the midst of this broadside and remember that bread was a staple that kept humans alive and well for thousands of years - literally the staff of life! Modern 'wonder bread' is hardly part of that tradition. But to condemn the resurrgence of artisanal bread baking that produces nutritious, flavorful and lovingly crafted breads by heaping them together with cheap, commercially produced bread is just wrong.

And it doesn't hurt to remember that bread and beer are composed of the same basic ingredients: flour, water, and yeast.

Here's to the craft and contribution to our lives that good bread makes. And, for me, an expectation of baking wonderful breads for Le Diplomate!

Miche & Me

2012-12-29T21:48:56Z

I began my adventure as a professional baker with a three-day course at King Arthur Flour, in Norwich, VT, taught by Jeffrey Hamelman and James MacGuire. The course was titled "From Miche to Levain to Baguettte: A Survey of Classic French Breads."

It was a marvelous adventure, indeed! Since then I have spent many a day working hard to perfect baguettes - the simplest of breads by all appearances, but in fact probably the most difficult to master - and explore the world of levain-based doughs which are really endless.

However, I will admit that I've neglected to a greater extent baking miche, which is a wonderful bread that can hold its own with any other. It is, by origins, what we would consider a 'peasants' bread. It has none of the sophistication of a baguette; indeed, its glory lies in its humble origins, which predate the appearance of the baguette by centuries. It is what sustained people for centuries when bread baking was a difficult and time consuming process. Then, because bread was a laborious procedure, made more difficult by obtaining reliable yeast (from brewers generally), bakers might bake only once over several weeks, and thus the breads they produced needed to be sturdy and able to retain their freshness for extended periods.

Miche - a largely whole grain bread leavened by sourdough (or levain as the French call it) was baked up in large loaves weighing 5 or 6 kilograms. Because the acidity of the sourdough retarded staling, these large loaves could feed families for a week or more. They were, as the phrase goes, the staff of life.

Today, our tastes in breads have become either more sophisticated or more mundane, depending on your opinion of what constitutes 'good' bread. But without argument, white breads have supplanted whole grain breads. And so miche has come to represent what was once eaten, but no longer so much.

However, one of the joys I encountered in my course at King Arthur Flour was an introduction to miche, by way of a recipe put together by James MacGuire, Master Baker and former owner of Le Passe-Partout in Montreal, renowned for its breads, pastries and charcuterie. Interpreted by Jeff Hamelman, it can be found in his Bread as Miche Pointe-à-Callière, a homage by MacGuire to the early French settlers of Canada.

So, on a cold wintery day in Northern Virginia, the memory of this wonderful bread called for me to forgo my love affair with baguettes and return to something good and hearty for a chilly evening.

This is a wholly sourdough leavened bread, so it takes a while and then some to make: about 2.5 hours of fermentation after mixing, and then another 2.5 hours to proof (and in fact, I could have extended my proof another 30 minutes and achieved a slightly more open crumb).

Because it is a very wet (slack, in bakers' terms) dough, I incorporated three stretch-and-folds to increase the gluten bonds.

After its fermentation, the dough was lightly shaped and placed in a well floured banneton. (Because of its slackness, you want to proof this in a basket of some type - otherwise the miche, a low-profile bread already, becomes a dough pancake).

The bake is long for this large, nearly 4 pound loaf - one hour. And the cooling time is another 2-3 hours to allow the crumb to fully set.

But what a wonderful flavorful bread awaits you after much patience: a soft, chewy crumb that imparts the sweetness that comes from the whole wheat flour that comprises most of the dough.

And with all that, the memory of three delightful days with Hamelman and MacGuire exploring classic french breads.

Baker Bob's Holiday Baking 2012

2012-12-16T23:24:16Z

Tis' the season, and for me as it nears my home baking of Holiday gifts goes into overdrive.

As always, Holiday baking meant my cheese bread, whose recipe can be found elsewhere on this site. This year it was 25 loaves baked over a 3-day period. Cheese bread is the only bread I bake completely by hand - because I mix 9 lbs at a time for 5 loaves I cannot use my poor Hamilton Beach stand mixer.

Still, I've been mixing and baking it this way for over forty years, so why change now?

Below, a series of photos showing how I shape the loaves before baking:

And, the finished product after baking at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes:

Next up were cinnabuns, which have become a favorite among some friends and relatives. I vary the icing year-to-year: last year was a 'goo' comprised of butter, brown sugar and heavy cream. It should come with a FDA warning. This year I went with a somewhat tamer cream cheese icing. Both are delicious; these buns will never grown old nor fat (though yours may if you consume too many).

After baking for about 25 minutes the cream cheese icingis spread (and a few buns are removed for testing:

Then it was on to Stollen, a traditional Christmas bread that too often is mistaken for 'fruit cake.' I begin this each year about 8 weeks out from the holidays when I marinade fruit in good rum. This year I decided to forego the usual combination of raisins and currants for good Kalamata figs and organic dates - all cut into small pieces - along with candied orange, lemon and citron peel. And to round things off, some dried cherrries.

The dough was mixed up and then I added the drunken fruit by hand:

It was almost too much for the dough to incorporate, but with some cajoling the deed was accomplished.

Here are some of the finished stollen cooling.

Next up was a bake of bagels for friends at the Old Brogue - and the chef who likes fresh 'everything' bagels on Saturday mornings:

And finally, an assortment of croissants - mini croissants, almond croissants and pain chocolat:

Proofing.

Croissant with almond paste:

And last, but not least, this year's final rose.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays! May 2013 see a shortage of tragedy and an abundance of blessings!

-baker bob

Playin' with Baguette Dough

2012-11-14T21:58:24Z

Two great ways of making - and presenting - dinner rolls using baguette dough. The dough is shaped and proofed as baguettes, and then, just before loading into the oven, cut and turned into two roll presentations.

Above, la marguerrite. Below, an epi de ble (wheatstalk with grains).

Both made from poolish baguette dough for a great nutty taste.

Sourdough Fun

2012-11-14T01:18:06Z

A buddy of mine wanted a loaf of sourdough. I had a lot of levain left over, so what to do?

Sourdough bagels!

Both retarded overnight and baked off the next morning.

Ah, breakfast!

Riffing on Hamelman's Five-Grain Levain

2012-11-11T17:44:46Z

Jeffrey Hamelman's wonderful sourdough multigrain, found in Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes, is one of my favorite sandwich breads - along with my Soudough Onion Rye.

One of the delightful aspects of this bread is that it lends itelf to improvisation when it comes to what constitutes the multigrain mix. Can't find rye chops or cracked rye easily? No problem, try substituting steel cut oats. And so on.

In my most recent iteration of his bread, I used whole wheat flour, whole rye flour, steel cut oats, rolled oats, flaxseeds and toasted sunflower seeds. The latter 4 grains were mixed in a cold soaker and allowed to sit overnight, softening the seeds and allowing the water to draw out nutrients which otherwise - especially in the case of flaxseeds - would be lost since unsoftened the seeds are largely undigestible.

The hydration in Hamelman's recipe is 98%, which seems extreme, and would yield something resembling a batter rather than a dough, were it not for the seeds which absorb all of the water in the soaker. Still, this is a sticky dough, and you need to resist the urge to add additional flour which only results in brick-like bread.

Instead, I rely upon two folds during the initial 2 hour fermentation - at 40 minute intervals - to build strength in the dough.

If baked the same day, .8% yeast is added for extra leavening power. However, I've found superior results (in terms of flavor) by retarding the shaped loaves overnight (for 18 hrs) at 42 degrees F. And in that case, no commercial yeast is added to the final dough mix.

Along with allowing for more flavor development, another virtue of overnight fermentation of the shaped loaves is that they can be placed into the preheated oven directly from refrigeration. So you avoid the additional proofing time that comes if you bake the same day or opt for a bulk retardation of your dough. (The downside is that you need adequate space to place shaped loaves for retarding).

Next day the shaped loaves - one batard and one boule - were loaded into the oven preheated to 450 degrees F, with steam. After 15 minutes the steam source was removed and the temperature lowered to 400 degrees F. The loaves, which weighed slightly more than 1.5 lbs prebaked, were baked for an additional 30 minutes, for a total baking time of 45 minutes. Because of the high level of hydration, this bread requires a slightly extended baking time (as opposed to a 40 minute bake for a 1.5# loaf).

As you can see, the result is a nice crumb - moist and full of good flavor from the multigrains.

A most pleasing sandwich - or toast - bread!

Hurricane Sandy Baking

2012-11-03T20:32:40Z

I live outside Washington, DC, and while we braced for the worst, we were fortunate in dodging the bullet that devastated New Jersey and parts of New York. I'm sure there are thousands of people in those places who would give their right arm for a little bread and warmth just now.

My good luck was to spend what were (unnecessary in retrospect) anxious hours as Sandy approached biding my time by baking - a good way to take my mind off of what was looking to be a devastating storm that would perhaps make landfall near Washington.

So, here's a pictoral stroll through a couple days baking before and in the aftermath of our near miss. The pics, by the way, are all courtesy of my iPad 2. The resolution certainly doesn't approach that of a good digital camera, but it's not bad in my estimation.

First, some sourdough onion rye, because without power sandwiches are a good thing to have a supply of. And because this is my favorite sandwich bread!

A shot of the crumb of this delicious bread...

With the onset of Fall, my kitchen is once again cool enough to allow me the luxury of croissant making.

So, a couple shots of the first croissants of the season.

It's been awhile since I've baked baguettes, so I made up some poolish baguettes using Jeffrey Hamelman's recipe from his wonderful book, Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes.

And finally, bagels which I've yearned for but haven't had the time to bake. Most of these were shared with pubmates at the Old Brogue Irish Pub in Great Falls, Virginia.

Cream cheese NOT optional on a warm, freshly baked bagel.

Would that I could share this bounty with those who are struggling just to comprehend what's happened to them and how to begin putting their lives back together.

Reprise: Sourdough Onion Rye

2012-06-16T02:33:18Z

I had earlier posted this recipe, but I've since experimented with and tweaked it a couple times and I'm now happy with it and ready to offer it up to all comers.

It is, I think, a fabulous sandwich bread (unless you and onions aren't copasetic).

Here is the recipe:

I've made this with a small addition of yeast, as found above, and also as a wholly levain bread (without the IDY) retarded for about 21 hours. The latter achieves a slightly more sour flavor than that which has the IDY and is baked the same day. But both are delicious!

This produces two 1.5# loaves or one large 3# bâtard which is pictured.

The levain and sour are mixed and allowed to stand for 12-14 hours until ripe. At the same time mix dried, chopped onions with beer - my favorite is a dark beer, Negro Modelo - and allow to stand overnight. (I suspect that fresh onions, or caramelized onions would impart wonderful flavors as well, but I have a large jar of dried onions so I elected to use them and console myself with the need to rehydrate them in beer. In any case, if using fresh onions, adjustsments - downward - of hydration will be necessary).

For the final dough, mix levains, rehydrated onions and water to disperse the levains, and then add the flours, salt and yeast (if not retarding). I mix about 3 minutes on speed one and then crank up my Hamilton Beach to speed 3 for about 5 minutes. You should aim for a moderate gluten development - not windowpane but partially there.

Primary fermentation is about 2.5 hours, with folds at 50 minute intervals. After that, divide, pre-shape and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes, then shape into bâtards. Final proof is about 1 - 1.5 hours. (If retarding, I proof for 1.5 hours and then refrigerate. NOTE: My downstairs refrigerator is old and holds a temp (whatever I attempt) of 40-42 degrees. So, with respect to sourdough, that effectively shuts down fermentation. If retarding in a hotter environment then you want to probably aim for a final proof of 80%-90% before retarding and then bake right out the retarder).

The bake for 1.5 # loaves with instant dry yeast is at 440° F for 35-40 minutes with steam for the first 15 minutes. For fully levain bread I preheat the oven for 1 hour to 475°, during which I allow the refrigerated loaves to finish proofing. In this case, I bake at 475° for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 420° and bake for another 30-35 minutes (you may want to tent the bread during the last 15 minutes if the color becomes too dark).

The pics are of a 3# loaf I baked for a local restaurant, so baking times and temps were varied. But the result is the same - an enjoyable sandwich bread.

Add a little mustard, a little mayo and your favorite sandwich meats and you have sandwich satisfaction.

Larry aka Baker Bob

Sourdough Onion Rye Loaf

2012-05-17T00:26:10Z

Spent a week visiting my mother in Florida. Had a great time! One of the best parts was coming across a loaf of onion rye bread she had picked up at the local supermarket. It was fabulous! Great flavor, a smattering of poppy seeds and a nice, deep onion flavor.

I decided that this had to be reproduced once I got home.

So, yesterday I mixed up two levains: one rye and one wheat and let them ripen overnight.

I also made a soaker of 100 grams of beer (Modelo Especial) and dehydrated onions to sit overnight.

This morning I mixed up a final dough, adding 1 gram of instant dry yeast since my levains seemed a bit under-ripe to me.

Here is the overall formula:

Sourdough Onion Rye Bread

The dough feremented for 2 1/2 hours, with two folds at 50 minute intervals to add strength.

After fermentation is was divided into two loaves, pre-shaped as boules and allowed to rest for 20 minutes.

The boules were then shaped into bâtards and allowed to proof for just over one hour. Typically an all-levain bread would take closer to 2 hours to achieve final proof, but the addition of the small amount of yeast sped up the cycle considerably.

The loaves were slashed and slid onto my baking stone in a steamed oven and baked at 450° F for 40 minutes.

And finally, a crumb shot:

This is a wonderful sandwich bread! Moist, with a nice but not overwhelming flavor of onion.

A definite keeper!

Hamelman's Sourdough Seed Bread

2012-04-24T17:18:49Z

One of the recipes in Jeffrey Hamelman's wonderful Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes that I've long wanted to try is his Sourdough Seed Bread. This is an all-naturally leaven bread that is made using flaxseeds and toasted sunflower and sesame seeds. The latter two guaranteed to infuse the dough with the delicious flavor imparted by the toasted seeds.

In this version I've omitted the flaxseeds: having baked a lot of breads with them I'm turning to more flavorful seeds and away from flaxseeds which impart little in the way of flavor. True, soaked overnight they add nutrients to the bread. But I'm passing on the extra nutrients.

I began by taking my starter from the refrigerator and allowing it to warm up and perk up doing the day. That evening when it was bubbly I added flour and water to make a liquid levain, and then allowed the wild yeast and lactobacilli to work their magic overnight.

The next morning the bubbly mixture was mixed with the seeds, water, flour and salt, and allowed to ferment for two-and-a-half hours, with folds at 50 minute intervals to strengthen the dough. The hydration of this dough is 75%, so it is a relatively wet dough (though not so much as ciabatta dough), but this high hydration is someone offset by the seeds which suck up quite a bit of liquid.

After the primary fermentation was complete I formed the dough into a ball (boule) and placed it in a linen-covered banneton that I floured with a combination of rice flour and bread flour to keep the wet dough from sticking.

For reasons I don't understand, this particular dough required a lot more proofing than is usual, even for a naturally leavened bread. In fact, I proofed this for three-and-a-half hours, and as you'll see shortly in a shot of its crumb, it could have benefited from an even longer proof.

In any event, after the proofing the banneton was covered and placed in the refrigerator for about 20 hours of retardation to allow the levain to work more flavor out of the dough.

The next day I fired up my gas oven and after allowing it to come to temperature and thoroughly heat my oven stone for about one hour, I turned the dough out of the banneton onto my peel, slid it onto the stone and added steam.

It was baked at 460 degrees F for 15 minutes; the temperature was then reduced to 420 and it was baked another 35 minutes.

What emerged was a nicely caramelized boule that weighs about two-and-a-quarter pounds.

I love the dark color and blistering on the surface of the boule that can be seen in the picture on the right!

So, what does this look like once cut into?

And a final close-up of those lovely seeds:

As you can see, with additional proofing a slightly more open crumb would have been achieved.

Still, this bread has a wonderful flavor thanks to the toasted seeds. It will make a delightful sandwich bread and great toast in the morning.

Another winning recipe courtesy of Jeffrey Hamelman.