Category Archives: Eat

sourdough/ week four

The next recipe in our sourdough cookbook was a peasant black bread, which it says is based on a Russian staple. The recipe said specifically not to leave out the coriander, but I am a rebel, and I did. Because I didn’t have any, and also because cilantro is yucky.

I decided to make two smaller loaves this time, instead of one large loaf. So I basically worried the entire time it was in the oven, since I wasn’t quite sure of the cooking time. But it sounded good and hollow around 40 minutes, and it turned out nice and crumby inside, so we will put this one in the success column.

Oh, the bread is not black you say? I am told by the internet that it may darken over time, so every morning’s toast will be a surprise!

bread on the menu

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Last week, we made a no knead sourdough bread, since it was late and I didn’t want to clean the counters again. We ate it right up with a boatload of lasagna. No knead bread is no joke.

Here are some good looking breads to consider baking soon. We got: apple sourdough bread, brioche donuts with honey glaze, challah pretzel bread, and cinnamon raisin soda bread. breads to make (pictures from respective links)

Yum! Get to it!

vanilla donuts with maple glaze

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We had company over this weekend, so that was all the excuse I needed to make donuts. I woke up a little early on Saturday, and got to work on the dough. I love a good cake donut, but there is just something about fluffy yeast donuts.

Based on this recipe here, I added normal vanilla instead of the vanilla bean, and no one complained at all. The glaze was really sticky, and kinda a weird consistency when they were being dipped, but again, no one complained about the final product. I loved that they were yeast donuts, but baked instead. Not having the house smell like oil was a big plus, especially with having company over.

They are basically soft, warm donut pillows that dreams are made of.

sourdough/ week three

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I get so proud of the bread dough. Since we grew the starter ourselves from scratch, I am very mother bear about the yeast. I am so pleased when they do their best.

This recipe was for French bread. It is very, very similar to traditional sourdough, except that you also spritz the oven with water during the first 15 minutes of baking. This witchcraft magically makes the bread chewier, with a softer crust than normal sourdough.

Look at that sourdough starter at work! My chest swells with such pride.

This is the kitchen utensil I never knew existed, but now use all the time when making bread. You can lay down a nice, even flour bed for the dough with it. You can also use it to grab more flour when you need it and sprinkle it down, instead of reaching your dough hands straight into the flour, and then throwing it down in a big clump.

I accurately predicted the outcome of the finished product. YUM. The crust was lighter and softer, from the oven spritzing I assume, and the bread was amazingly delicious and chewy. We ate it just as is, no butter or jam necessary. Its that good. Well done, my little yeast children.

cinnamon and raisin buns

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The recipe called these cinnamon and raisin buns, but let’s call things like we see them. These are cinnamon rolls with raisins rolled all up in them.

I have been playing with the bread machine. Its really a genius invention. The dough comes out so soft, like a baby. And yum, ate them with soup for dinner. One of my very favorite meals.

chocolate chip and cherry cookies

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If I am in the middle of a project, and it isn’t going well, I have a tendency to jump into a pit of despair pretty quickly. Yesterday I was on the edge of that pit, but then I thought to myself: hey, you are still good at making cookies. So make cookies is what I did.

Chocolate and cherry is a good combo for Valentine’s day, since cherries are red and feel more festive. I loosely followed this recipe, and without the annoying chilling the dough overnight part. These would be the kind of cookie you could package up and give out for happy heart day presents.

The cherry heart gift tags are a new creation of mine. You can find the kits in my shop!

sourdough/ week two

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This is a Swedish limpa bread made from sourdough starter. It has some rye flour, as well as some different types of seeds, a touch of brown sugar, and a little orange zest. Heartier and darker than traditional sourdough. We ate it as toast for breakfast with butter and jam. Yummy in the tummy.

I was excited to try a rye bread. The internet says that rye sourdough is supposed to be the most healthy type of bread. I was a tad worried about the rising process, since rye breads tend to be more dense, but my little yeast army worked like magic.

The guy just sharpened all our knives, so look at those beautiful slash marks now!

dessert: banana muffins with chocolate chips and walnuts

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Usually muffins are more of a breakfast or snack food. But the heart wants what it wants. And who said that muffins can’t be dessert. I certainly didn’t say that.

What a happy coincidence that we happened to have 3 old bananas. Before and after pictures:

sourdough/ week one

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My goal is to make at least one loaf of bread a week. Last week, I made 3 loaves of sourdough bread. Not because we went through it that quickly, but it took me three tries to get the hang of it. What do they say about that third time?

My ma and I grew our own sourdough starter last November. I brought half home with me, so we share it. I love that its alive, and I have to feed it, and make sure its happy.

The first loaf was very flat. It was a good first try, and I started to get the hang of the 3 proofs, and the timing, but I don’t think the starter was active enough. I also decided that kneading is a great workout.

The second loaf was better, but I think it needed more flour maybe? I attempted a round loaf, and it kinda just went everywhere on the pan. It did have some bubbles in the bread, but it was still very flat.

At least I learned from all the mistakes! The third loaf looked much different after the dough proof. I tried it in a loaf pan again, and the dough actually came up to the top! I am having a hard time making the slashes in the loaf before baking, and need to find a better tool for that. It keeps exploding on one side. But the slices look like real bread, and taste like it too!