I decided to play a little bit with some different flours. In this case, it is still a wheat flour, but a different variety, an “older” style called einkorn, in this case, all-purpose einkorn (whole wheat einkorn is also available). The first thing that I noticed is that the flour itself is slightly yellower. It is also a bit finer, almost like cake flour feeling. I wasn’t sure of the ability of the flour to create a good internal structure, so I did add a bit of bread flour. The flour also smelled wheatier, which seemed promising. Now, the dough was spectacular — very smooth and had a soft, malleable feel, and Alice was particularly active and I got a great rise. The slightly disappointing thing is that I didn’t get great lift in the actual loaf as you can see from the pictures. It is soft, has great chew and the crust is phenomenal. The flavor is great too. I’ll just have to work on getting an airier interior. That said, the loaf *looks* amazing and I can definitely see why bread art is a thing!
There is a dessert / sweet dish in Germany called “Apfel im Schlafrock”. It’s an apple dumpling and the name literally translates to “Apple in Nightgown/Dressing Gown”. I’ve always thought it funny then, to think of calling peach dumplings something similar and the alliteration just works for me: Peaches in Pajamas. Pie crust wrapped around ripe peaches and brown sugar, baked to a golden brown and served warm with ice cream or a creme anglais. Serve as a sweet meal, a dessert — or heck, I had it as breakfast this morning!
I made another focaccia. It seems that whenever I don’t know what the make when I need to feed Alice in Wonderdoughland, I fall back to a focaccia. They are easy, forgiving and delicious. This is going to serve as my lunch for the nxt few days, but would also make a great side to a soup, a charcuterie platter, with a nice salad and a glass of wine. The Gorgonzola got all melty and is tart compared to the rest of the bread. Another winner to add to the rotation.
Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Sweet Snacks
Mandel-Rosinenzopf (Saurteig) /
Mandel-Rosinenzopf (Saurteig) /
Sourdough Almond-Raisin Challah
Germany on my mind today as I watch with grave concern the flooding and devastation. It’s not the region of Germany where I have a lot of family (though my father’s side is closer, mother’s side is from the south — and not to worry, all family and friends are accounted for and well). And, I had to feed the sourdough starter and was feeling particularly German, so I made this Mandel-Rosienenzopf. Roughly, it’s a Challah style bread, most commonly called a Hefezopf of Hefekranz, but seeing I wasn’t using Hefe (yeast), I couldn’t very well call it either of that, so I went with Raisin and Almond Challah. It’s light and got a bit of a chew on the inside and is very flavorful. It reminds me of my Oma, who used to dunk it in her milk coffee.
I’ve been meaning to make sourdough baguette for a while, but it is a little more involved than some of the other loaves that I make, so I’ve been putting it off. Today is the day though and I am very pleased with the result. Crunchy on the outside, light and just a bit chewy on the inside. They are slightly misshapen, but not dramatically so. Also, my oven isn’t quite long enough to make a full meter long baguette. C’est la vie. 🙂