November 9th, 2018

Lecker-Cracker for the 10. Blog Birthday

Category Crisps and Co Tags: nigella, olive oil, Sourdough 21 Responses

It’s been ten years today since I clicked on the “publish” button for the first time. The Blog – the first bread baking blog written in German – flourish ever since. My wee little recipe archive turned into a huge collection with more than 800 recipes turning this time. And so it’s time to celebrate!

When coming together to celebrate I like to serve a little something for nibbling. The Idea for this crackers I got at our last vacations on a farmers market. A baker sold bags of “addictive makers” – a kind of paper thin crackers. The name was tempting me and so we bought a bag to satisfy my curiosity. But the name was greater then the reality. They tasted ok… and my brain started to work.

The inspiration for my cracker variant are Lavash and Pan Carasau. I add sourdough to the mixture for a more complex flavour, while harrisa and nigella seeds add an exotic touch. And so I get finally my perfect cracker…

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October 31st, 2018

Its time for Christmas Stollen…

Category Bread 4 Responses

stollen2

I don’t have to check the calendar to know that it is nearly November. A short glance in my blog statistic shows me that from day to day the click number for my Stollen recipe rise strongly. And I knew that you – just like me – started to plan baking stollen now. And while I’m since years happily baking my favourite moist Christstollen I posted some recipe variants in the last years, too. To give you a guide to recipes and tips is here a overview where you can find it: Continue reading →

October 16th, 2018

Traveller’s Bread

Category Bread, World Bread Day Tags: Emmer, flaxseeds, Sourdough, Spelt, sun flower seeds, Walnut, wheat free 28 Responses

During the baking course last weekend one of the participants wished a recipe for a bread which can be baked without much equipment in a caravan. Choosing grains which has to be kneaded only a short time came to our mind directly. And so I suggest a bread with a mixture of emmer and spelt flour in combination with some flax seeds, sunflower seeds and walnuts for an additional flavour boost. This combination makes it although a nourishing snack for long trips. And baking the bread in a bread pan gives it the right form to fit in every bread box.

And as it is the World bread day today, I will send this little fellow on a virtual travel around the world with all the breads that Zorra will collect as each year on her blog!

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October 12th, 2018

Bergisches Nullbruut

Category Bread, regional breads Tags: regional, Rye, Sourdough, Wheat 30 Responses

The “Bergische Land” is a hilly region next to cologne. Its name stems from the former Duchy of Berg and not from the hilly (which means “bergig” in German) landscape. It was for a long time a poor region as the ground is stony and loamy. Most farmers grew rye which can better cope such conditions.

And if you look for recipes which are from this regions you will inevitable find mainly rye breads. But for special occasions a whet bread was baked. It is called Nullbruut.

The origin of this bread stems either from the flour or because of its form. The Rheinische Wörterbuch explains that “dubbel genullt” means a flour is extra finely milled and such is the flour need for this bread. But “null” is also an old word for “parting (hair or landscape)” and could refer to the fact that the bread is slashed lengthwise prior to baking.

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October 6th, 2018

Butter Blatz

Category Bread, regional breads Tags: Biga, only with yeast, regional 24 Responses

During the last weeks I planned my recipes according to different leftovers I found in my flour storage boxes. Now, they are (almost) tidy and I can come back to my personal favourites: regional bread recipes.

The special thing on regional recipes is the fact, that they are hard to find. They are often so common in their region that no one recognize them as that what they are: little recipe gems which can be found only in a narrow area. Only when an habitant moves into a area farer away, he or she will learn that this common everyday bread is not known in this part of the world. Nevertheless I stumble over a recipe from time to time or one of my readers askes for a special recipe and so I can enlarge my collection continuously.

The Butter Blatz is such a readers request. Blatz can be found in the southern Rhineland and in the Bergische Land and is baked in different variants: filled with raisins or almonds or topped with crumbles. The plain butter blatz variant is shaped to long loaf and cut serveal times on both sides prior to baking. This gives the bread the appearance of a leaf and looks just beautiful.

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September 28th, 2018

Ärpelbrot

Category Bread, hand kneaded Tags: Hand kneaded, only with yeast, Poolish, Potatoes, Rye, Wheat 8 Responses

Autumn means always potato time for me. And even after this hot and endless summer, when we had to harvest them already in august due to the drought, I hunger for the first loaf of potato bread. Here – in the region around cologne – potatoes are called Ärpel or Erpel. This dialectal term is a short form from “Erdapfel” (literal earthapple). And so is an Ärpelbrot nothing other then a potato bread.

These Variant is in some points similar to the Oberbergischen Ärpelbrot but is baked with a rye poolish and yeast. And so it is a variant that works well for bread baking beginners too. It is a aromatic bread whit crisp crust and tender crumb.

For me, it is the right bread to eat it – thickly slathered with Plum butter – on a cold, misty autumn morning!

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September 23rd, 2018

Pumpkin Seed Rolls with Einkorn

Category Overnight, Rolls Tags: Einkorn, overnight, Potatoes, pumpkin seeds 11 Responses

After some really hot days weather has turned and its finally “real autumn”. And on this cold and rainy Sunday morning I am very glad that I can sit in front of my oven and see how the Pumpkin Seed rolls rise in the heat. And I feel a bit sorry for all people who have to run through the pouring rain in order to get fresh rolls for breakfast.

My Pumpkin Seed Rolls follow once again my favourite formula: a slow overnight dough which is just cut into squares the next morning. A part of whole grain flour is also some I like to add to these kind of rolls, as it adds a deepness to the flavour. In this case, the flavour is especially delicious. The nutty flavour of Einkorn and pumpkin seeds works well together to give these rolls its specific aroma.

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September 16th, 2018

Emmer Ciabatta

Category Bread Tags: Emmer, overnight, wheat free 10 Responses

When I was shopping flour in our local mill I discovered a white emmer flour and I couldn’t resist. It was to tempting and I had already the idea of a pure Emmer Ciabatta in my mind.

The “white flour” of the ancient grains can be varying in their “whiteness” as there is no norm to classify it. My flour turned out to be a darker shade of “white”, so I guess it will equal something between a Type 812 and a Type 1050.

Kneading dough with ancient grain flour needs more attentiveness, as their gluten networks is more fragile and easy to over-knead compared to spelt. So testing gluten development during the kneading is a must here. The window pane test will help to judge this.

The flavour of this bread is great: deep, complex and irresistible nutty but without the slight bitterness of whole grain bread. And I’m already thinking of what to bake next with the other half of the flour bag…

Emmer-Ciabatta

yields 4 Ciabatta

Autolysis

500g white Emmerflour
350g Water

Dough

Autolysis
4g Psyllium hulls
50g Sourdough from the fridge (100% Hydration)
25g olive oil
10g Salt
5g fresh yeast

2. Water addition

90g Water

Mix flour and water and let it rest for 60 min at least.

Now add the remaining ingredients of the dough and knead for 5-8min at slow speed, adding the water in small increments while kneading. At the emd, the gluten network should be very well developed and the dough should be sticky.

If possible, place the dough in a square container, as this makes it later more easy to cut the dough into squares. Ferment for 3 hours, folding every 30min, then place the dough in the fridge for at least 16 hours. After that time span dough should be bubbly. If not, increase the fermentation period a bit.

Heat the oven with baking stone to 250°C

Flour the countertop and carefully turn the dough on it. Divide the dough with a dough scrapper into four pieces. Gently stretch the dough pieces to the typical ciabatta shape.

Lay on a couche (floured), cover with a second cloth and proof for 50 min.

Bake on the preheated stone for 35 min with steam.

September 8th, 2018

Three Grain Potato Rolls

Category Bread Tags: Einkorn, Rye, Sweet starter, Wheat 8 Responses

Slowly I find back into my everyday life after summer holidays. And summer seemed to be endless this year. I can’t remember when we had such a long period of hot and dry weather. But now, beginning of september, I feel that autumn is shyly knocking on our door. On my daily way to work I can see how mist is now filling the valleys around me. These are mornings which wake the memory of my favourite poem from Eduward Mörike.

A memory of the fading summer is this recipe for three grain rolls. Made with einkorn, rye and wheat flour the rolls have a delicious nutty flavour. A bit of potaote flakes helps to keep the crumb moist and tender. They are nourishing rolls packed with flavour and a good portion of whole grain flour. And so they were the perfect snack on our long summer trip to the Normandy.

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August 25th, 2018

Spelt & Emmer Burger Buns

Category Rolls Tags: bean flour, Burger, Emmer, Flohsamenschale, Malt, Spelt, wheat free, whole grain 10 Responses

There is one advantage of recipes which are troublesome in the development: the other good recipes you find on the way. A recipe which development was extremly troublesome is the spelt & emmer sandwich bread I needed for my “Vergessene Getreideschätze” course. It took me over a year until I got the bread just as I wanted it to be. But as I was testing different methodes and the influence of ingredients, I got a lot of good recipes during this tests: Sandwich bread with Emmer, Spelt-Sandwich bread, Spelt-Emmer-Sandwich bread und spelt brioche. And this whole grain Spelt & Emmer Burger Buns are from this series, too.

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