May 24th, 2014

Honey Bread with Kamut

Honigbrot mit Kamut

Old grain species like Einkorn, Emmer and Kamut enrich the diversity of bread flavours and gives us a lot of new possibilities for baking. When I thought about a theme for the ongoing  Bread Baking Day I realized that I did not bake with these grains for a long time. And so I bought Emmer, Einkorn and Kamut on my next trip to the whole food shop.

Kamut is the trade name of the Khorasan wheat. As a genetical analysis from 2006 showed that its origin lies in the fertile crescent and that it stems from a natural cross between durum wheat and Triticum polonicum. Its flour has, similar to durum flour, a creamy yellow colour and can be used similar to wheat flour.

Because kamut is rather expensivI normally mix wheat flour with kamut flour, and so I did in the bread, too. The honey I added to the dough pairs very well with the mild yoghurt flavour of my very active sourdough and the nutty nuance from the Kamut. The honey although enhance the dark crust colour while some stretch and fold cycles helps to create an open crumb.

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May 22nd, 2014

Poppy Seed Rolls with white Chocolate

Mohnbrötchen (1)

I have this rolls in my mind already for some time. Since Lutz posted some pictures of his trip to alsacian bakeries, to be precisely.  One of this pictures shows a baguette roll with white chocolate. That sounded good, but I had immediately the idea that some poppy seeds in the dough would enhance the sweet flavour of the the white chocolate with its nutty taste. A counterpoint to the sweetness is the salty dough with a high amount of prefermented dough and olive oil. This makes the rolls to a delicate treat, which should be savoured only with a little bit of butter so the whole complexity of their flavour can be enjoyed.

An advice for chopping the chocolate: the chocolate should be chopped into rather small pieces, because big pieces tend to form small chocolate vulcanos on the surface of the rolls. The chocolate caramelize then, what tastes not bad, either, but looks quite ugly!

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May 18th, 2014

Rhubarb and Custard Streusel Cake

Rhabarber-Pudding-Streuselkuchen

Some recipe ideas develop spontaneously. Like the idea for this cake. It started when my favourite colleague asked me if I had a good recipe for a rhubarb streusel cake. Instantly the custard streusel cake come to my mind. Rhubarb and vanilla pairs so greatly and so I suggested to add another layer to the custard streusel. My colleague liked the idea as well and after a short discussions we decided that the rhubarb should be slightly cooked and then bound with some starch like a custard. When I bought my groceries this evening, I saw rhubarb in the fruit section of the supermarket and decided that I had to bake this cake as well. And I’m happy that I did it, because the combination of rhubarb, custard, streuel and a fluffy yeast dough is really divine!

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May 17th, 2014

Knots (baked with brewers yeast)

Knöpfchen (1)

Until the 18th century bakers went to the next brewery to get some yeast for baking. Even the name of the yeast we use for baking shows that it was originally used for making beer: Saccharomyces cervicae. But when the new bottom fermenting yeast strain Saccharomyces carlsbergensis used by more and more breweries getting yeast for baking was not possible anymore because this yeast stays on the bottom of fermenting vessel (instead on floating on top like S. cervicae.) And so the first commercial produced yeast for bakers appeared on the market in 1780.

When my love and me brew beer it always breaks my heart to throw away the yeast which remains after bottling. And because I search ancient recipes for this month BBD, I decided to bake rolls using the beer yeast instead of the “normal” bakers yeast (which is the same species, anyway).

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May 14th, 2014

Hazelnut Cookies with Einkorn

Haselnuss-Kekse mit Einkorn (1)

I love simple cookies without “chi-chi”. I like them best when they are made with a few, high quality ingredients with a great flavour. Like these slightly sweet cookies with nutty hazelnut flavour which is enhanced by the aroma of Einkorn flour.

The recipe yields a huge amount of dough, but formed to a roll and wrapped in parchment paper it can be stored for some days in the fridge or some month in the freezer.  The slicing and baking of the cookies is then done in some minutes.

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May 11th, 2014

Malt Syrup

Malzsirup (2)

Now it’s official. I’m a little bit crazy.

I mean, who else would start making malt extract from scratch? But when I started to search for treasures in my pantry I found some left over barley malt from our last beer brewing. And that’s when the thought came to my mind that I could do my own malt extract. If you ever made beer by yourself you will know most of the procedure.  Mixing milled malted barley with water and keeping it on defined temperatures for some hours.  I do this in the oven which works very well with our normal mini batches (6 litre). After mashing I strained the mixture through some cheese cloths and then brought the malty liquid to boil. After the volume reduced to the half I had a thick, sweet syrup which looks and taste like the malt extract I normaly buy for baking bread.

I don’t think I will not start to make my malt extract by myself on a regular basis. But it is good to know that I could if I would like!

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May 10th, 2014

Olive Fougasse

Oliven Fougasse

There are still recipes missing from my big batch baking day before easter. But I haven’t forgot about them! So here comes the next one: Olive Fougasse. The dough of this fougasse is in principle identical with my favourite bread, in which I kneaded some kalamata olives.  For a really good flavour it is important to use real black olive, who could ripe and develop their full flavour, and not the one, which are dyed! It makes so much a different! A Fougasse is the perfect party bread in my opinion. It taste great, looks great and you can easily break it in pieces and share it with your friends. And with some olives added it is a great side for barbeque (at least for olive lovers like me).

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May 6th, 2014

Bread Baking Day #68: “Ancient”

breadbakingday #68

Zorras Bread Baking Day exists since 2007 and I feel honoured that I’m allowed to host it now for the third time. After we baked “sweet bread” (BBD #22) back in 2009 and “overnight recipes”(BBD#54) one and a half year ago I decided this time for the theme “Ancient”. But what do I mean with “Ancient”? I would like to focus on old techniques in bread baking (e.g. wood fired oven), traditional recipes (maybe an old family recipe?) and old grain species like Emmer, Khorasan or Einkorn or heritage wheat or rye like red fife wheat, or Johannisroggen for example. You have not to fulfil all three criteria, one of them is enough. And I would love if you try to bake the bread with sourdough, but this is optional!

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May 3rd, 2014

Crusty rolls

Schnittbrötchen (2)

I bake the classical german “Schnittbrötchen” (lengthwise cut roll) rather seldom. But this weekend I dreamed of beautiful rolls with a perfect open slash.  And because I love freshly baked rolls for breakfast I let the dough rise once again overnight in the fridge. A little bit of sourdough helps to enhance the flavour.

The next morning I shaped the rolls, let them relax for some minutes and cut them deeply. Then I lay the cut together once again and turn the rolls on the cut side to let them proof. This trick results in the typical form of a “Schnittbrötchen”. I liked the rolls very much – they would go very well with some sesame or poppy seeds, too. I think I will bake them more often from now on!

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April 28th, 2014

Aggertaler

Aggertaler (2)

Each morning when I take the train to cologne, I look through the window to see the beauty of our little river agger and its valley (Aggertal). An attentive Observer can see Great Crested Grebe dancing their mating dance, discover a doe with its fawn, different kinds of geese and sometime even a hare. And I love to see small waft of mist over the water, enlighten by the rising sun. And sometimes I wish I could ask the train driver to stop so I could enjoy a view a little longer.

And so this bread is a little homage to my home valley, with my very active sourdough starter, flour from the local mill and water which is (of course) from a side river of the agger.  It catches the essence of home between its crispy crust and airy crumb!

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