I volunteered to provide some snacks after church Sunday, and decided to make ham & cheese scones (from 'Sally's Baking Addiction'). I've made scones before, but they were sweet. These were savory.
Went to the snack table afterwards to see how they were received, but couldn't find them. They were all gone!
SheilaAnn Sorry, I'm a 'wanna-be' baker, and don't understand the question.
When it went into the refrigerator for a long snooze, it was 2 or 3 inches of solid-looking starter. (From a baking friend.)
For the last couple of feedings, I used a 'Bakers Percentage' of 100% water, 100% APF, and 20% starter (by weight). These feedings were water & starter mixed together, then the flour was added.
It certainly looks more watery than the feeding 3 years ago. So long as it's still alive, that's the important part to me.
SmokingPat was there a layer of a dark grey liquid on top? That’s hooch. That when yeast starts to die off. For me, I pour it off and do a little scrape and feed and we are back in business.
Holy oven spring batman! Probably the biggest loaves I have had come out of the oven! I see what they say about sourdough being more active in the warm months.
One thing I didn’t note Richard Chrz is that I stretched my proofing time to longer than I was comfortable with before. It was quicker because of the warm temp in the house, but I let it grow more to see what would happen. That may have been a huge part of it.
In a journey inspired by this group, I made my first levain a week ago using the Ken Forkish method. It's now matured and seems healthy:
I produced these this morning using the levain with 2g of caputo dry yeast:
The texture and crumb are terrific and so much better than the "straight" doughs.and poolish/biga preferments in the book.
I think I am just going to work my way through this book until I get to the bacon bread, at which point it may be curtains for me after painting "Est Est Est" over the door to my house. Wish me luck...
Last edited by jehlydonuts; June 12, 2024, 12:26 PM.
SheilaAnn So good! I haven't wanted to put the time into a sourdough starter because I thought it would be, well, sour. That West Coast style just isn't my thing. The instructions were so straightforward though that I was able to quickly steer it to be much milder...so the light sour is a great enhancement to the overall taste. This is all so new to me and very fun.
jehlydonuts none of my bread is sour, nor is my starter. I have moved away from the phrase sourdough, I now use “naturally leavened ”, the customers I have, are because it is not sour. It most certainly does not have to be. However, I recognize and appreciate those who enjoy that,
Made some sourdough specifically for fit in the toaster. I'll bring a loaf for breakfast with our RV group (a small bunch this time). I followed this video...For bulk ferment set it outside; I timed it for 70F outside at night and it was 60F by morning; this worked out well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VROn...index=2&t=199s
Started messing around with different flours looking to make an earthier profile without a strong “whole wheat” taste. After some failures with water content and proof times, I landed on a mix I like a lot: 66% white flour / 14% whole wheat/ 10% rye / 10% buckwheat / 74% water. I used 22g of salt for 1000g total flour (including the levain) and may add 2 additional grams next time.
Anyone have suggestions for using buckwheat in their blends?
My 14-year old daughter’s first attempt at croissants after spending two weeks in France with our French exchange student who just wrapped up her year with us. The croissants were AMAZING and I have eaten many many croissants. She wants to make them again and add more layers and flakiness. Wow!
. barelfly our new student from Mozambique arrives around August 9!
Both children are now saving up to go to France and Portugal next summer to visit both of the students we have hosted thus far. All four talk nearly daily. I’ve described the hosting experience as one of near constant positive surprises. It really is a joy to see the impact on the students, the friends they make here, our kids, and us. Never expected to see any of this happen.
Trini is on a baking kick. I sent her this recipe and she actually made it. It was delicious. Kind of a cross between an English treacle tart and a Portuguese custard tart. Delicious and irresistible.
The category of chess pie is expansive. By definition, a chess pie is any sweet custard pie made up of eggs, butter and sugar, with something to set it, like flour or cornmeal.
Side note: trini did have to adjust this recipe quite a bit as she went along to make the result better so I can check with her and provide those details if anyone wants to make it themselves.
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