Baking my Birthday Tea Party

My birthday was at the end of October, and I celebrated by hosting a tea party. I wanted a 3-course afternoon tea, and I wanted to bake everything I served. I consulted a tea magazine my husband had bought me, and used the King Arthur Baking School book, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, and online resources for the recipes and planning.

Here is the menu I came up with:

Tea sandwiches:

  • Apple, cheddar, and chutney on whole wheat bread. This was my favourite of the three sandwiches. Sweet and sour and umami all in the same bite. Major Grey’s Chutney is a revelation!
  • Cucumber sandwiches on Portuguese bread. Classic. The key is to dry the cucumber slices. Delicious.
  • Egg salad sandwiches on Pumpernickel bread. I had high hopes for this sandwich, but the dark rye and cocoa were a bit too strong in flavor for the egg salad.

Scones: I went with a classic – currant cream scones from the Baking School cookbook. They turned out delicious, though I did have to bake them 6 minutes longer than instructed. I served the scones with strawberry jam and homemade clotted cream. The clotted cream was delightful, and much less expensive to make than to buy (though more time-consuming).

Sweets:

I started baking my breads 2 weeks before the party. The remaining bread and the macaron shells were baked a week ahead. The cake was made the day before the party. The macarons were filled, sandwiches assembled, and scones were baked on the day of the party. I was finishing up preparations as my guests arrived, and I found that stressful, but once they were all here I had the best time having tea with my friends.

My husband is the most thoughtful person. He bought me a whole selection of nice teas so we could all choose whichever teas we wanted to have with each course. I had the Raspberry Hibiscus tea with the sandwiches, the Earl Grey with the scone, and Golden Monkey with the sweets.

Planning and executing this tea party was a big task, and I can see how my baking skills and confidence are improving. I’ve wanted to do tea parties in the past, but I never knew where to start or how to make it all happen. I’m so pleased with how this all came together and proud of myself.

Until the next time: may your yeast always rise and your flour never run out.

The Trials of Baking a Lemon Bundt Cake

I love lemonade and lemon-flavored treats, so I bought a bag of lemons not fully realizing just how many lemons I had just acquired. In an effort to use some of the lemons I decided to make a lemon cake. I leafed through the King Arthur Baking School cookbook and found this lemon bundt cake. Perfection.

I gathered my mise en place:

I started by creaming together the butter, sugar, and lemon zest.

Then I added the eggs one at a time, beating each one in before adding the next.

Next, I alternated stirring in the flour and the milk.

With my batter ready to bake, I prepared my bundt pan. Normally I would prepare the pan before mixing my batter. I typically use the classic method of generously buttering the pan with a pastry brush and then flouring the pan, but the book suggested that I could merely spray the pan with oil liberally just before scooping the batter in and all would be well. I was skeptical, but I’ll try anything once.

I put my cake into the oven and watched as it baked. It all looked good for the first 20 minutes, but then the center of the cake began to dome upwards. I watched helplessly. There was nothing I could do but wait for the cake to be finished baking.

The recipe said the cake should take 40 minutes to bake, but mine was in the oven for over an hour before the cake tester came out clean.

I let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes as recommended, then attempted to get it out of the bundt pan. Friends,it was stuck in there. With the cake still warm I couldn’t get it out of the pan without completely mauling it, so I took a page out of the angel food cake recipe and flipped the cake-in-the-pan over on a cooling rack to cool with the hope that gravity would assist me. Unfortunately, this did nothing. I ended up using my least rigid spatula to pry the cake away from the pan once it was fully cooled. It was not my best moment, but the cake still looked alright, so I whipped up the glaze.

Before plating the cake I cut off the domed portion to help it sit flat on the plate. I drizzled the glaze over the cake, then wrapped the whole thing up to take to a meetup with some friends.

My friends declared the cake to be delicious. They had no idea of the fight I had just had with it. I agree it was a good cake. Lemony, but not overwhelmingly so. Sweet, but not too sweet. Very tender, and not dry in the least. I would absolutely make this cake again, but I would go back to the tried-and-true method of buttering and flouring the cake pan, and I would lower the oven temperature in an attempt to avoid the doming I got with this cake.

Lastly, this cake makes excellent strawberry “shortcake”. This was a great way to use up the leftover cake trimmings.

Until the next time: may your yeast always rise and your flour never run out

The Secret Ingredient for Perfect, Fudgy Brownies

Several years ago I found a copy of Whole Grain Baking by King Arthur Flour at a thrift store. I immediately snapped it up, and I’ve baked several things from the book (the carrot cake recipe is particularly good). Today I wanted some brownies. I found this recipe in the book, and remembered that chocolate and whole grains go together smashingly, so I decided to give it a try. I’m so glad I did.

Since these brownies use whole wheat flour, I took the opportunity to grind some wheat berries fresh. I used up the last of my hard red winter wheat and got to open up a new bag of heirloom Turkey Red wheat. I thought the difference in size, shape, and colour between the two varieties of wheat was fascinating.

I gathered my mise en place:

I melted the butter, stirred in the brown sugar, then put it back in the microwave at half power for ~45 seconds until the mixture began to bubble. This second heating step helps the top of the brownies become more glossy during baking.

I moved the mixture to a bigger bowl and stirred in the cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and vanilla. The butter still wanted to ooze out of the batter at this point.

I checked the temperature with my finger before I whisked in the egg. Since this is a very small batter it didn’t need any additional cooling time. It was astonishing how the batter transformed with the addition of the egg. It became beautifully smooth and glossy.

I added the flour and stirred it in, then stirred in the chocolate chips.

I poured the batter into an oiled pan, then put it into the oven.

I baked the brownies at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes, then tested for doneness. They needed more time.

5 minutes later, it was looking better, but still needed a few more minutes.

3 minutes later the brownies were ready. I took them out of the oven and set them aside to cool.

After a 15 minute cooling period, we tried the brownies.

Wow, are these delicious! Deeply rich and chocolatey. Ooey, gooey, and fudgy, but with a substantial texture from the whole grains to balance the fudginess. Sweetness and bitterness are nicely in balance. My husband said these are some of the best brownies he’s ever had. I agree.

Until the next time: may your yeast always rise and your flour never run out.

Baking Baguettes: Tips and Techniques

The last recipe of the first section of the King Arthur Baking School book is Baguettes. Initially I was intimidated by baguettes, but the dough turned out to be pretty straightforward, and the shaping was easier than I expected.

I gathered my mise en place:

This recipe introduces an interesting method for mixing the dough by using a dough scraper to scrape down the side of the bowl and up the middle, turning the bowl and repeating until the dough is fully mixed. I didn’t love this method as I felt there were some dry areas and wet areas in the dough despite my best efforts. But I’m glad I tried this new method anyway.

The dough bulk fermented for 3 hours with a fold (also done with the dough scraper) done every 30 minutes. I didn’t love the dough scraper for this job either, as I couldn’t grab the dough to pull it out from the main mass for each fold. I did, however, appreciate the suggestion for 20-25 strokes every half hour. It makes me wonder if I have been under-working my dough when I stretch-and-fold around the circle just once.

It was interesting to see how every time the dough rested it started to look more wet, but then when I completed the folds the dough immediately looked more dry. Also, I love the glossy sheen the dough developed around the 5th turn and that remained even after my 20 strokes.

First turn:

Second turn:

Third turn:

Fourth turn:

Fifth turn:

After 3 hours of bulk fermentation I turned the dough out onto the counter and divided it into 3 balls, which I pre-shaped before allowing them to rest for 15 minutes.

Then came the part that separates baguettes from other breads: shaping. The instructions in the book are pretty clear, but I also found this video to be helpful.

I started by patting the dough into an oval:

Then I folded the top third down and pressed the dough into itself with my fingertips. I turned the dough 180 degrees and folded the other third down into the center.

The next step was very similar: I folded the top almost down to the bottom, pressing to seal with the heel of my hand. I turned the dough 180 degrees and repeated, though this time the top of the dough was brought all the way down to the edge of the dough.

I placed the resulting seam against the counter and used both hands to roll the dough out to the longest length my oven can handle. I then placed the baguette on a heavily floured couche for the final rise.

While the dough rested I started preheating my oven. The dough didn’t expand a lot, but it did pass the poke test. I slashed the tops of my loaves and put them into the oven on a baking stone with a cup of boiling water to create a steamy environment.

I struggled to get these loaves off the couche and onto a pizza peel to transfer them into the oven. Thankfully, the dough stood up well to the extra handling at this stage. By the third baguette I remembered you’re supposed to use the couche to flip the dough onto the peel.

I experimented with the bake time since I had 3 baguettes. The palest loaf was in the oven for 20 minutes at the front of the oven. The middle loaf was in for 22, and the darkest loaf was in for 24 minutes at the back of the oven. Visually the middle bake is my favourite. I am working on allowing my breads to bake just a bit darker for better flavor, and seeing the difference in these 3 baguettes helps me get a better sense of when I will want to pull breads out of the oven in future.

So how is the bread? Delicious! I am so proud of the crumb on this one! It looks exactly how baguettes are supposed to look with a good balance of holes throughout without being too lacy. It tastes like good bread, very similar to other breads made with straight dough. It’s fantastic with butter and a sprinkle of salt.

Until the next time: may your yeast always rise and your flour never run out.

Raisin Pecan Bread: A Nutty Delight

Today’s bake is the second to last yeast bread recipe in the King Arthur Baking School book.

The night before my bake I mixed the biga. This was quite a stiff preferment, and after mixing the flour, water, and yeast together I had to knead them in the bowl for a minute or two to incorporate the last of the flour.

The biga was ready 11 or 12 hours later, but since the yeast gives one a window of several hours before it expends all its food and starts to deflate, I waited until a convenient time for me to start baking, which was about 15 hours after mixing.

I gathered my mise en place for the bread, which included the risen biga. This recipe uses a portion of whole wheat flour (freshly milled in my case) and rye flour, and cleverly uses a bread flour with a higher protein content to make up for the reduced gluten in the rye and whole wheat flours.

Then I mixed together all the ingredients except the raisins and pecans. The dough was rather shaggy, and there was some flour that didn’t quite get incorporated in the initial mix. I hoped this flour would get hydrated during the rest between mixing and kneading, but my hopes were in vain.

After 15 minutes of rest I began kneading the dough using the chop, slap, and fold method as outlined on pages 54 and 55 of the book. I’ve never used the slap and fold method kneading before, but I quite liked it.

Once the dough was kneaded to my satisfaction I added the inclusions. I had considered using my KitchenAid mixer to mix and knead the dough, but decided against it since the overall kneading time was so minimal. I wish I had used it. Kneading in inclusions by hand is no joke, and the slap and fold method, when used vigorously, can cause raisins and pecans to go flying across the kitchen. Nevertheless, I persisted, and eventually the dough was as homogenous as it was going to get. I covered the dough and left it to rise.

I gave the dough a fold (2 rounds) after an hour.

2 hours after kneading (and 1 hour after the last fold) the dough had risen nicely and was ready to be preshaped. I chose to make one large loaf instead of two smaller boules. I have an Emile Henry baker that makes lovely large loaves that are perfectly sized for sandwiches and toast, and I wanted to use that. The preshape was very simple: I formed the dough into a rough rectangle, folded the top in, folded the sides in, then rolled the bottom up. I let the dough rest (covered) for 20 minutes.

While the dough rested I floured my banneton. I like to do a first pass with rice flour and a second pass with all purpose flour. This uses a lot of flour, but I never have to worry about my dough sticking to the banneton liner. The dough relaxed ever so slightly during the resting period. To shape the dough I repeated the same process I used for the preshape, but I spent more time sealing the bottom of the loaf. I moved the loaf to the banneton, seam side up, and then stitched the seam together before covering the loaf and setting it aside for the final rise.

The bread rose for an hour while the oven (and my clay baker) preheated to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. The dough passed the poke test, so I turned it out onto parchment paper and dusted off the (thick) layer of flour with a pastry brush. With the dough cleaned up, I scored it, put it into the very hot clay baker, put the lid on, and put the whole thing into the oven.

I took the lid off the baker after 15 minutes.

I meant to turn the oven down to 400 degrees Fahrenheit when I removed the lid, but I forgot, so I turned the oven down 10 minutes later. The bread stayed in the oven for another 30 minutes, for a total bake time of 55 minutes.

Fresh, hot bread is always irresistible, but somehow I always find enough discipline to wait at least an hour to cut into a finished loaf. While I wait I listen to the song of the bread, as Chad Robertson so poetically calls the crackling of the crust while it cools. My husband and I tried the fresh, warm bread with butter and a sprinkle of finishing salt and it was excellent. Nutty, jammy, delicious. We also tried it with butter and cinnamon sugar to really highlight the sweetness of the raisins, which was also delicious.

I love this bread. I love the whole grains in the dough. I love the flavors the nuts and fruit bring to the mix. It makes excellent toast. I would absolutely make this bread again. The one thing I would be aware of next time is the bake time/temperature. The few raisins that popped out of the dough on top got carbonized, so they are ashy and tasteless in the mouth, which is not a great experience. Next time I would simply pick them off the top of the dough before baking. I would make sure to turn the oven temperature down as soon as I remove the lid from the baker, and I would bake the loaf a bit more blonde.

Until the next time: may your yeast always rise and your flour never run out.

Mastering Ciabatta: A Wet Dough Adventure

Ciabatta is a very wet dough. I have avoided doughs with very high hydration until now, but this was the next recipe in the King Arthur Baking School cookbook, and I am not one to back down from a challenge.

As in the last few recipes, I started the night before baking by mixing my preferment. This preferment is called a biga, and it has slightly more flour than water (by weight), so it was a little stiffer than the preferment for the French Bread, which had an equal weight of water and flour.

You can see how much it rose overnight (11 hours)!

I added all the remaining dough ingredients to the biga and mixed at the slowest speed on my KitchenAid mixer until everything was combined. Then I increased the speed to medium-low and kneaded the dough for 4 minutes as directed. I covered the dough and set it aside to rise.

I gave the dough a fold every 30 minutes for the next hour and a half, and then turned the dough out onto the counter.

The shaping was surprisingly simple: I divided the dough into thirds and shaped each one into a rectangle. I placed each loaf on parchment paper, covered them with a cloth, and left them to rise.

The recipe didn’t specify a final rising time, so I looked at a few ciabatta recipes online and guesstimated that an hour would be sufficient. During this time I preheated my oven and baking stone to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

When the dough had risen and the oven was hot I used my pizza peel to load the bread into the oven. I poured boiling water into the steam tray, and let the bread bake. After 50 minutes I lowered the oven temperature to 450 degrees Fahreneheit. The loaves baked for 30 minutes total. I could have taken them out after 25 minutes, but I wanted a little more colour on the loaves.

I really enjoyed this ciabatta bread! The loaves are rather flat, which is correct for this style of bread. The bread has a mixture of larger and smaller holes, and has a nice taste and texture. We ate it with bolognese and fresh pasta.

Until the next time: may your yeast always rise and your flour never run out.

The Art of Crafting Perfect “French” Bread

This recipe in the King Arthur Baking School cookbook is titled French Bread, but it’s similar to “straight” breads made in multiple bread traditions. I love this kind of bread.

The night before baking I mixed the preferment (a poolish in this case, with equal amounts of flour and water): flour, water, yeast, and time.

14 hours later I mixed the dough in my KitchenAid mixer. I dislike the feeling of a very sticky dough on my hands, so I prefer to use tools to mitigate the stickiness. After the initial mix I kneaded the dough in the mixer for a few minutes, then covered it and set it aside to rise.

The dough rose for 1 1/2 hours with a fold in the middle to enhance the gluten structure. in the photos below you can see how much the bread rose during this period.

I divided the dough in half by eye, and preshaped each half.

While the preshaped dough rested I floured my bannetons. After 20 minutes I did the final shaping, put the dough in the bannetons (seam-side up), and covered them for the final rise. I also started my oven and my baking vessels preheating.

The bread needed a full hour for its final rise.

After the final rise was complete I turned the dough out of the bannetons onto parchment paper. I brushed away the excess flour, and scored the dough before putting the dough into my baking vessels and into the oven.

I kept the lids on the baking vessels for 15 minutes to allow the dough to bake with steam. I removed the covers and lowered the oven temperature after 15 minutes.

The bread baked for an additional 30 minutes uncovered (45 minutes total).

First of all, this bread is pretty. I love how scoring can be decorative as well as functional. Secondly, this bread is delicious. It has a tight crumb with few large holes. It tastes almost like a sandwich bread, except for the thicker, tougher crust. I love a crusty bread. This bread does feel more sophisticated or refined, or maybe less rustic than similar breads made with less yeast and more time.

Until the next time: may your yeast always rise and your flour never run out.

Easy Pita Bread with Spelt Flour

I’ve made pita before, but until now I had never worked with spelt. This ancient grain brings a delicious, nutty flavor to the party. I’m glad I tried it.

For the preferment I combined the spelt flour, water, and yeast.

This was a very short preferment, so I mixed in the remaining ingredients after just 15 minutes.

This dough did not need to be kneaded, so I immediately set it aside for an hour to rise. I put my baking stone in the oven and started the oven preheating during this time.

After the bulk rise I divided the dough into 8 pieces and rolled each piece into a ball.

The balls rested for 15 minutes while the oven finished preheating, then I rolled them out into rounds. The spelt flour is very extensible, and I rolled the first two pita much too thin, but the last 6 were a reasonable size and thickness.

I baked two pita at a time on my baking stone. I flipped them after a minute or two, once they had puffed on the first side.

The finished pita were quite blonde. Since colour = flavor, I chose to cook the pita over my gas stove for a few seconds before serving. This helped both the flavor and texture of the pita.

When the pita were done I made some fillings and enjoyed a delicious dinner.

Until the next time: may your yeast always rise and your flour never run out.

Embracing a Family Tradition: Pizza Night at Home

When I was a kid we had pizza every Friday night. My mom would spend all day making the dough, and then at dinner time she would make a big pizza and let us kids make our own little pizzas. It was fun to choose our own flavors and decorate them just so, and the pizza was always delicious. This pizza recipe is in a bit of a different style, but it still reminds me of being a kid.

I started by prefermenting a portion of both the flour and water in my recipe with just a pinch of yeast and letting it rise for 4 hours. This preferment could have gone longer, but I mixed it into the dough when it was convenient for me. Flat breads like pizza can be a little more forgiving about rising times than traditional breads where we’re trying to coax as much rise out of the dough as possible.

I mixed the preferment and the remaining dough ingredients together and into a very shaggy mass, then kneaded by hand until the ingredients were fully incorporated and the dough was smooth.

The dough rose for 2 hours before I divided it into two rounds and shaped it into pizzas. I started by patting each round into a circle, then I used my hands and gravity to stretch the dough into a large round, maybe 15” in diameter. I tried to get the dough thickness even, but it’s harder than it looks.

When the dough was shaped to my satisfaction I topped the pizza with sauce my husband made, then fresh mozzarella and provolone, and finally garden-fresh basil.

I floured my pizza peel and held my breath while I loaded the pizza onto it and then put it into a very hot oven. I followed the pizza baking recommendation from Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast: I used a pizza stone and heated my oven as high as it would go (550 degrees Fahrenheit). Once the oven was searing hot and I was tired of waiting for it to get hotter I changed the setting to Broil while I topped the pizza. I kept the broil setting on to bake the pizza.

The second pizza was done in much the same way, except I used Boar’s Head pepperoni, sliced thin, instead of basil.

Both pizzas turned out delicious! My husband said it was the best pizza he’s ever had.

My pizza shaping/stretching technique is not great (yet!). I definitely need to practice more, which is totally ok with me. I don’t mind more pizza.

I had trouble loading the second pizza onto the peel and into the oven because I didn’t re-flour my peel. I also didn’t give the oven long enough to come back up to temperature between the first and second pizzas, so the second pizza wasn’t as crispy as the first.

And finally, the amount of sauce and cheese was perfect for both pizzas, but both could have used more of their final toppings: at least twice as much basil and half again as much pepperoni.

Overall, I would call this recipe a rousing sucess, even though I still having some areas for improvement with shaping technique and topping. Practice will solve these.

Until the next time: may your yeast always rise and your flour never run out.

Making Delicious Bagels at Home

The journey from pretzels to summits to bagels has been an interesting one. These cousins are all delicious, and it’s been so interesting to see how they are similar and different!

As usual, I started with the mise en place: a very simple list of ingredients this time.

I kneaded the dough in my KitchenAid mixer for 10 minutes, then set it aside to rise for half an hour.

Once the dough had risen I divided it into 8 pieces and shaped each piece into a little log.

I let the logs rest for 15 minutes before shaping them into bagels.

As suggested in the recipe, I gave my bagels a long rest. 6 hours later I took the bagels out of the fridge.

Toward the end of the rising time I prepared my water bath.

The bagels stuck to the parchment paper when I transferred them to the water bath, which I did not expect, so they got a little mangled in transport. Next time I would grease the parchment paper before resting the bagels. But I did manage to get all the bagels poached and back on their sheet pan.

Half of the bagels were topped with Asiago cheese and the other half were topped with Everything seasoning.

I baked the bagels for the full 25 minutes recommended in the recipe, and I could have probably gone another few minutes longer for the Asiago bagels. But I didn’t want to burn the Everything bagels, so I pulled them all out.

These bagels were delicious. Slightly chewy, but nothing like the grocery store bagels that you have to do jaw workouts to enjoy. The Everything bagels had too much topping on them (I didn’t even know that was possible), so in future I would use half or a third of the topping per bagel. The Asiago bagels were perfect other than possibly needing a slightly longer bake time for additional flavor.

Until the next time: may your yeast always rise and your flour never run out.