Bread

[bloviatrix]

The boy and I made challah last night. It's been so long since we've used the yeast I needed to make a recipe which required a pre-ferment to see if the yeast was still alive. He made the dough and did most of the kneading. I braided and baked since the rise finished after he was asleep. Sprinkled everything but the bagel seasoning on it.

Edited November 3, 2023 by bloviatrix

[MitchW]

Those are beautiful!

[maison rustique]

Wow! That looks fantastic!

[bloviatrix]

Thank you all for the compliments. I think these may have been the best challot we've ever made. Nice air holes in the crumb. And good flavor. Kid did an excellent job kneading.

[bloviatrix]

Cinnamon crumb challah. Another joint effort between me and the kid.

[bloviatrix]

This week's adventure in challah baking with the boy: S'mores pull apart challah. Graham cracker challah dough, marshmallows and chocolate chips.

 

[splinky]

1 hour ago, bloviatrix said:

This week's adventure in challah baking with the boy: S'mores pull apart challah. Graham cracker challah dough, marshmallows and chocolate chips.

 

impressive. what about liquid smoke for that campfire feel?

[bloviatrix]

2 minutes ago, splinky said:

impressive. what about liquid smoke for that campfire feel?

Don't push it. 🥰

[StephanieL]

One of my second cousins has a semi-business making all types of challah (any "profits" go right to charity).  I bet she and the boy would get along great.

[bloviatrix]

Cinnamon crumb challah. I prepared the pre-ferment and the mis en place and then the kid did the rest. My only contribution once the dough was made was to pre-heat the oven and wash everything.

 

 

[Sneakeater]

You've got to get the boy washing.

I mean, think of all the pain you went through generating him.

[bloviatrix]

I'm still working on getting him to put his dirty stuff into the correct sink!

[MitchW]

Haven't played with dough for a while, and the weather is just right for cranking up my oven.  So...

A pretty good focaccia. Ken Forkish same day pizza dough with added olive oil. Bulk fermented 6 hours, divided, then proofed in the sheet pan for an hour + before baking.  Crusty, yet thick and softish inside - perfect for slicing in half horizontally and maybe shoving a slice of warmed mortadella within.

Have a couple more dough balls that now, a day later, might be fun to try a pizza or two.  But focaccia is just so much easier for me (i.e. less messy).

 

 

[bloviatrix]

This week's challah courtesy the boy. I really wanted to sprinkle them with Za'atar but he claimed it would be "disgusting."

Edited January 19, 2024 by bloviatrix

[Sneakeater]

The boy is a purist!

[bloviatrix]

I'm not sure cinnamon crumb is so traditional. But he knows what he likes.

Edited January 19, 2024 by bloviatrix

[Sneakeater]

OK the boy is NOT a purist.

[bloviatrix]

Because I'm crazy, I decided to make a rustic French loaf on top of all of the hamantaschen.

[Sneakeater]

Gorgeous 

[bloviatrix]

I'm taking it with us to the tournament where we'll eat it with charcuterie.

[StephanieL]

A woman who used to run a brewery with her husband outside of Boston until the pandemic put them out of business is now based in the Bay Area and running classes on how to make bread using brewers' spent grains.  N and I went to a class at Almanac Brewery in Alameda a couple of days ago and had a lot of fun.  I made chocolate-cherry and she made rosemary & sea salt.  You first tour the brewery and learn about the breadmaking process, and then make the dough, which gets its first rise in the car on the way home and at home while you're getting your oven and such set up.  Then you knead the dough, give it its 2nd rise, and bake it in a Dutch oven.  The breads are huge, but they came out quite well.  We took more spent grains home and froze them for later use (they go moldy very quickly, so you have to freeze them right away).

Grainbakers Breadmaking Classes at California Breweries

[voyager]

5 hours ago, StephanieL said:

.... make the dough, which gets its first rise in the car on the way home and at home while you're getting your oven and such set up.  Then you knead the dough, give it its 2nd rise, and bake it in a Dutch oven. 

This is brilliant!    Works for travel to friends, to a vacation house...

[bloviatrix]

This week I taught the boy how made a 5-strand braid. As usual, he did everything.

 

[bloviatrix]

This was one fine loaf of challah. Excellent crumb with lots of air pockets. Good flavor. He nailed it.

[bloviatrix]

This week the boy attempted a 6-strand braid (on the left) and I decided to try my hand at making a stuffed challah - each strand is stuffed with cinnamon crumb.