Bacon maple donuts: Sugar, shame, and an orgy of deliciousness

Posted Sep 5th 2008 5:01PM by Bruce Watson
Filed under: Snacks, West Coast, Restaurants, Pork, America, Comfort Food, Meat, Fast Food, Local Eating, Bread

I like to think that I generally have good taste. I try to avoid wearing stripes with plaids, am careful to pair robust red wines with my Big Macs, and only eat Sweet Tarts on days that end in "y." That having been said, I must admit that I have a few weaknesses, the most egregious of which revolve around sweetened pork products. To put it bluntly, I can't resist them.

For a long time, I was able to hide this predilection. Basically, it only came out around Thanksgiving, when I would bake a huge Virginia ham, slather it in brown sugar and orange juice, and cook it on high heat until it was sheathed in a crunchy candy coating. Resisting the urge to hoard all the sugary goodness, I would thinly slice the ham and serve it up to my family, only snagging a few pieces with the lame excuse that I just had to test the flavor.

Ultimately, I blame my wife, who introduced me to what she euphemistically called "pig candy." Basically thick-sliced bacon that has been rolled in brown sugar and baked until crispy, the sugary tidbits are sweet, salty, and only slightly less addictive than crack. Luckily, the shame of munching on grease, sugar, and salty pork is a pretty big deterrent, and I've been able to resist my pig candy urges. Still, late at night, I sometimes dream...

At any rate, I was recently reminded of the addictive wonder of pig candy when I came across this review of Voodoo Donuts' bacon-maple bar. Basically a buttermilk long-john, it apparently combines all the delight of maple sugar with the salty smokiness of bacon in one delightful, fatty package. I immediately forwarded the review to my wife, who used to live in the Pacific Northwest. Needless to say, she'd already been there, tried that, and found it to be everything that I could imagine.

At the end of the day, it's nice to know that I'm not the only one in sugared pork rehab!

Ever wonder how bread is named?

Posted Sep 4th 2008 2:01PM by Shayna Glick
Filed under: Bread

Have you ever wondered how bread gets named? Maybe it's just me, but I often wondered why a baguette was named that, or why they named the bread batard. I had been pretty sure that bread was named mainly after its shape, and some further research confirmed my suspicions.

There are some breads that are named after places, but the majority of loaves are named after their shape. Baguette translates to mean 'rod,' and batard can mean either bastard or hybrid, as its shape is a hybrid of the baguette and the traditional boule (which means 'ball' in French and refers to the bread's round shape). Then there's the ficelle (string) which is a thinner baguette, the baton (staff or baton) which is a shorter baguette, and filone (stick) which is sort of like a baton but with pointed ends.

Even ciabatta is named due to its resemblance to an old slipper, pita is the Greek word for flat, Pullman loaves are named after the old Pullman railroad cars, and the Pain d'Aix is shaped like a bow tie in honor of the university students in Aix en Provence. There are also many variations of ring shaped breads with names that reference 'crown' in the native language, such as corona and couronne.

Breads that are named after their place of origin include Pugliese, which is from the Puglia region of Italy. Also, we have the Pain de Beaucaire which is named after the region in southeastern France. Focaccia is named after the hearth on which it's baked, as is its French cousin the fougasse. Its name is derived from the Latin for 'hearth or center', so focaccia was named somewhat differently from all the others.

A banneton can help you make a great loaf

Posted Sep 4th 2008 10:00AM by Shayna Glick
Filed under: Baking, Bread

I remember the first time I learned about bannetons. I was trying to re-create a pain au levain that the U.S. bread team had developed and the instructions called for the dough to be proofed in a banneton. It was a lot of fun in those days, when I knew next to nothing about baking, to be constantly learning something new.

A banneton is a wicker basket that it used to proof bread. It can either be a half sphere or an oval in shape, and most often they are lined with linen so that the dough doesn't stick to the basket (though most of the time the banneton gets liberally floured either way). There are also bannetons made of plastic, which don't need to be lined and which hold the flour better than the traditional wicker.

You use the banneton in the final proofing stage, after it's been shaped and before you bake the bread. Flour the banneton, if needed, and place the dough in upside down so that the top is inside the basket and the bottom seam is visible.

Is a banneton completely necessary? Not really, but it can be a nice tool to have. You can find them for less than twenty bucks, or you can even make one yourself.The banneton shown in the picture is actually a homemade one from the Fresh Loaf. Sadly, I rarely use a banneton due to the production nature of most of my baking, but having one (or making one) for the occasional artisan loaf can be a great tool in your home baking arsenal.

Spicy corn sandwich bread is easy and delicious

Posted Aug 26th 2008 9:02AM by Shayna Glick
Filed under: Baking, Bread

One of the breads I make on a regular basis at work is a jalapeño sandwich bread. It gets used for mainly for canapés and toast points for barbecue. I love making it because of the wonderful spicy aroma and the pleasant heat it has. Of course the recipe that I make is industrial sized, using three pounds of peppers making it not particularly good for home use.

However, I was recently reminded of this HI-Rise Corn Bread from one of my favorite baking books, Maggie Glezer's Artisan Baking. The recipe doesn't originally have jalapeños, just fresh corn and stone ground corn meal. I usually add the peppers, though, if I make this recipe at home because the heat and the corn go so well together. Maggie's recipe is after the jump, but I definitely recommend getting her book if you're interested in baking as it's a really great read and very helpful. I always love the results from this bread, the sweet corn and heat just make the best sandwiches. Toast the slices to really bring out the aroma.

Continue reading Spicy corn sandwich bread is easy and delicious

Baking terms defined: Retarding

Posted Aug 25th 2008 7:00PM by Shayna Glick
Filed under: Bread

When bakers talk about retarding, they're not being insulting. They're talking about slowing down the fermentation process.

Retarding is the process in which a baker uses refrigeration to slow down yeast activity. This has a couple of benefits, one of which is to get better flavor out of the finished bread. The longer the yeast can ferment, the more organic acid is produced, which makes the bread taste better and also leads to a longer shelf life.

The other benefit of retarding dough is to give the baker more time to work. For a home baker, if something comes up to where you just don't have time to finish your bread, uou can refrigerate your dough just after mixing or just after the final shaping.

Mix the dough as usual, then refrigerate for up to 12 hours, after which you can let it come back to room temperature and continue the first fermentation. After the first fermentation and shaping, the dough can be refrigerated again (for up to 12 hours). Just allow the dough to come back to room temp and finish the final fermentation and then bake as usual. Just make sure that the dough is well covered in plastic before refrigeration to prevent a skin from forming.

Continue reading Baking terms defined: Retarding

Cottage cheese dill bread makes a great sandwich

Posted Aug 23rd 2008 10:00AM by Shayna Glick
Filed under: Bread

I became aware of cottage cheese dill bread when I started working in my pastry kitchen. It's one of the breads that I have to make on a regular basis, as it's used for all kinds of canapes and finger sandwiches. I've never seen it in a retail bakery and so far as I can tell, it's not a very popular bread, but it should be.

Cottage cheese dill loaves are made with a variety of savory ingredients that make for a saliva-inducing aroma and taste. In addition to the cottage cheese and dill you've got onion and horseradish, and in some cases Parmesan cheese (I've seen it in recipes, but don't use it in my bread).

The dill loaves I make are used mainly for smoked salmon canapes and cucumber finger sandwiches, and I also make a cottage cheese dill dinner roll. They make the pastry kitchen smell absolutely wonderful. They can make your house smell just as good, and you'll be very pleased with what this bread can do for your sandwiches, not to mention toast! This recipe I found online looks good, but I'd add a tablespoon of horseradish if you have it. Also, there's a good version in Bernard Clayton's "New Complete Book of Breads". Check out the gallery below for some inspirational photos.

Gallery: Cottage cheese dill bread

Baking terms defined: Autolyse

Posted Aug 21st 2008 11:00AM by Shayna Glick
Filed under: Bread

Have you ever seen those big fluffy baguettes that the label says are one pound, but that seem really big for that weight? That's achieved through intensively mixing the dough so that the gluten is developed all the way, which allows the bread to expand quite a bit. There are several problems with this, though, not the least of which is that mixing the dough so intensively bleaches out all the color and flavor.

There's a solution to this problem that was invented by Raymond Calvel, a French baker who wrote "The Taste of Bread." Mr. Calvel developed a way to get the big fluffy bread while retaining its color and flavor. It's called autolyse, which translates as 'self destruct.' Autolyse is done when you mix only the flour and water of a bread recipe and let that rest for at least twenty minutes, and up to an hour. The flour and water are mixed enough that they are thoroughly incorporated, but not beyond that. This allows the flour to hydrate and the enzymes to start working, particularly protease which works to break down the protein in the flour.

Continue reading Baking terms defined: Autolyse

A little bit about brioche

Posted Aug 16th 2008 10:00AM by Shayna Glick
Filed under: Bread

Brioche is one of the original enriched breads. Enriched meaning that it contains lots of butter and eggs. According to Wikipedia, there was mention of brioche in print as early as the 13th century, though it's believed to be the descendant of a type of Roman bread.

The that quote usually attributed to Marie Antoinette about letting the peasants eat cake, many people think it was actually mistranslated and refers to brioche. She was saying to let the peasants eat brioche. According to Peter Reinhart, in his Bread Bakers Apprentice, there was two versions of brioche during that time in France. One of them was for the rich, which was chock full of butter, and one was for the poor, which had minimal amounts of butter. There were apparently strict rules governing who could buy which version. By saying "let them eat brioche" Marie Antoinette was saying let the poor eat the rich person's version of the bread.

Brioche is an amazingly rich, soft, flaky, delicious bread. It's kind of strange in that it contains so much butter, but it still turns out bread-like. In fact, brioche can have anywhere from 50% to 90% butter (that would be half as much butter as flour to almost as much butter as flour by weight). The most traditional and recognizable form of brioche is the brioche à tête (pictured above), but you can shape it any way you want.

Brioche makes a great brunch bread just because it's so buttery and tasty. I recently found a great formula for strawberry almond brioche from Cyril Hitz, a very well known baker. You can check out my version after the jump.

Gallery: Apricot brioche

Continue reading A little bit about brioche

What would you do if you found rocks in your raisin bread?

Posted Aug 14th 2008 6:00PM by Shayna Glick
Filed under: Business, Bakeries, Bread

Imagine for a moment that you went to a local bakery and got a loaf of your favorite raisin bread. When you get it home you find small rocks are in the mix. Would you accept five bucks as compensation from the bakery?

That's what one customer in Somerville, Massachusetts did. As reported by The Consumerist, Michael Snyder originally asked for five more loaves of the raisin bread, but the bakery offered $5 and he took that. Apparently the raisins were from Chile and used an older production method that makes it easier for debris to get into the raisin supply. The bakery sent back the rest of the raisins.

There has been no talk about any injuries from the rocks, so I assume everyone is fine. I also suppose that things happen and you just need to be able to take things in stride, but five dollars? What would you do in a similar situation?

The wonderful world of preferments

Posted Aug 13th 2008 10:00AM by Shayna Glick
Filed under: Bread

You may remember a few weeks ago that I brought you some information on starting your own sour dough culture. That is a very worthy pursuit, but even I admit that it can be hard to maintain and can be wasteful unless you make a lot of bread. But you want that great, complex taste that comes from the long development of yeast, right?

Well, there's a solution to that problem: preferments. Preferments are mixtures of flour, water, and very small amounts of yeast that are generally allowed to develop overnight. This way, you get highly developed yeast and organic acids without having to constantly feed a starter culture. There are four basic types of preferments. Keep reading to kind out all about them.

The wonderful world of preferments: Poolish

Posted Aug 13th 2008 10:00AM by Shayna Glick
Filed under: Bread

Ah, poolish. It's thought that poolish actually originated in Poland and migrated through Austria to France. Poolish is the preferment of choice among French bakers for the symbol of French bread, the baguette.

Poolish is a mixture of 100 percent flour and 100 percent water, with maybe about .1 percent yeast. That means that there will be the same amount of water and flour mixed together, and just a very small amount of yeast is part of the mix. Poolish should be a wetter mixture, not unlike a thick pancake batter. You'll know that this preferment is ready to use when the surface is covered in tiny bubbles and it looks like it has expanded and then flattened out. If the poolish has fallen at all, then it is overdeveloped and probably not good.

A poolish should be left in a cool spot overnight, but not refrigerated unless you'll need more than 12 to 16 hours. If you're making it in the afternoon for the next afternoons use, then I'd go ahead and refrigerate it. Just be sure to allow it to come back to room temperature before you use it.

Poolish, being a more hydrated mixture, lends itself particularly well to the development of lactic acid. If you taste a mature poolish, you should be able to taste yogurt or milk. The moister environment is more attractive to bacteria that produce the lactic acid.

The wonderful world of preferments: Biga

Posted Aug 13th 2008 10:00AM by Shayna Glick
Filed under: Bread

The biga is a traditional Italian preferment. It's a less hydrated mixture and so it's much stiffer than most of the other preferments. I get asked a lot how it is that the biga is a stiff preferment when Italy is known for its really well hydrated breads like ciabtta. My answer is that Ciabatta is one among many different kinds of breads, and you don't use the same preferments for each one.

A biga is a less hydrated preferment that uses about half as much water as flour (maybe 60 percent water sometimes), in addition to the small amount of yeast. I generally use a stand mixer to mix a biga, because it's supposed to have a more dough-like consistency. A biga should be left at covered at room temperature for about an hour and then refrigerated overnight. It needs to be allowed to warm up at room temperature for about an hour before being used, and the biga should have a nicely domed top to tell you it's ready. If it looks a little deflated that's OK, but too much deflation is not good.

This type of preferment is more hospitable to the kind of bacteria which produce acetic acid, so it will have a more astringent flavor and smell.

The wonderful world of preferments: Sponge

Posted Aug 13th 2008 10:00AM by Shayna Glick
Filed under: Bread

The preferment called a sponge is the quickest of all. It's generally ready in about three hours. If you're really in a hurry, or you forget to mix a preferment the night before and really want to have one, then the sponge is the way to go.

The sponge is generally a mixture of about half of the flour in a recipe, all of the water, and all of the yeast. That's why the sponge acts so quickly. Apart from its quick action, a sponge is similar to a poolish. Both are very wet, and the top surface of each will be covered in small bubbles when mature. Needless to say, a sponge should be left at room temperature for the whole fermentation period.

A sponge will also taste a little bit more like lactic acid, but the taste won't be as pronounced because it did not have as much time to develop. The yeast and organic acids will definitely be developed, just not as much as an overnight fermentation.

The wonderful world of preferments: Pate fermente

Posted Aug 13th 2008 10:00AM by Shayna Glick
Filed under: Bread

Pâte fermenté is translated as "old dough." It is literally a finished dough that is added to the freshly mixed dough. This may seem odd, but the practice probably started when home cooks had to save a piece of the old dough to make sure they had leavening for the next days bread. It can either be made especially for whatever bread you're making, or you could save a portion of the dough you make today and use it in tomorrows loaf.

Since it is an old dough, pâte fermenté does contain salt, in addition to the flour, water, and yeast. That's fine because the dough has still been able to develop the yeast and organic acids over the fermentation period. The pâte fermenté must be refrigerated overnight, and you can add it either cold or at room temperature to the new dough. Because the gluten has already been developed as well as the yeast and acids, the pâte fermenté should be added toward the end of the mix. That way, the gluten in the pâte fermenté won't get over developed.

Some good tips on storing bread

Posted Aug 11th 2008 5:00PM by Shayna Glick
Filed under: On the Blogs, Bakeries, Bread

If you like bread, chances are that you'd like to stay away from those national brands with lots of preservatives. I know I prefer the artisanal loaves that are free from shelf-extending additives. My problem is that I don't go through bread fast enough and it invariably gets moldy if I get good quality bread. I generally turn to freezing it, and throwing frozen slices into the toaster when I want to eat them.

Wasted Food has posted this article about storing and keeping bread fresher, longer. It's a question and answer session with Paul LaDuca of Zingerman's, a Michigan bakery that does a lot of mail order. He recommends a bread box, and keeping your loaves in a paper bag. According to LaDuca, a plastic bag just draws the moisture from the crumb into the crust, making it soggy.

I was aware of most of these tips, but I have to admit I hadn't thought of using my oven as a bread box. What are your favorite bread storage tips?

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