BAKING WITH THE HEART

Posted in Breads, Cookies by sallybr

This is the time to focus on everything we are grateful for.
Cook with love, bake with love. Share. Repeat.

DRAGON FLOWER SOURDOUGH LOVE
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

STENCIL from Sourdough Fever, available HERE

480g bread flour
20g spelt flour
16g dragon flower powder
10g salt
350g water
75g sourdough starter (70-100% hydration)

Make the levain mixture about 6 hours before you plan to mix the dough. It should be very bubbly and active.

When you are ready to make the final dough, place the water in the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer and dissolve the starter in it, mixing with a spatula briefly, then add the two types of flour, the Dragon flower powder and the salt. Turn the mixer on with the hook attachment and knead the dough for 4 minutes at low-speed all the time. If the dough is too sticky, add a maximum of 1/4 cup flour, you want the dough to start clearing the sides of the bowl, but still be sticky at the bottom.

Remove from the machine. Get a small piece of dough and place in a little glass container to follow fermentation (optional, but highly recommended). Transfer the dough to a container lightly coated with oil, cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow it to ferment for 2 hours, folding every 30 minutes or so. After the fourth folding cycle, let the dough sit at room temperature until doubled in size, following the progress in the small amount of dough removed.

Shape the dough as a ball, and place, seam side up, in a lightly floured banetton. Place in the fridge overnight, from 8 to 12 hours or even longer, if you prefer.

Next morning, heat the oven to 450F. Invert the dough over parchment paper, carefully place the stencil on top, and dust with flour. Make sure to rub the flour well into the design, a small brush is helpful. Lift the stencil and place the dough in a Dutch oven.

Bake at 450F for 45 minutes, preferably covered for the first 30 minutes to retain steam. Cool completely over a rack before slicing.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: This is actually my second loaf with the Dragon flower powder, the first one was beautifully pink inside, but this turned out marbled and light. Cannot quite figure it out, it was the same exact formula and method. Oh, well. Still absolutely delicious, no change in flavor, maybe the crumb has slightly more moisture, the bread is a bit more tender than a sourdough without the powder.
.

Moving on, I share a series of cookies that center on a message of love….

Royal icing lavender base; details in piping consistency white. Fondant rose detail.

Scalloped edge heart cookie. Iced in two tones of Dusty Rose. Details in piping consistency gray.

Dusty Rose for the base icing. Details in dark Dusty Rose, piping consistency, same for bead border.

Inspired by a little reel I saw on Facebook. Shape cut by hand. Iced in two stages, wet on wet details, and piping consistency dark Dusty Rose. Fondant for the detail at the bottom.

Two-toned heart. Once again using Dusty Rose as the main color. Details piped in white. White pearls for bling.

Stencil + Air-brushing over cookies iced with pure white.

For a different take, a little pastel green. Details in piping consistency white.

I hope you enjoyed this little round-up of love in baking format. And don’t forget, always follow your heart!

ONE YEAR AGO: Fall-Inspired Vanilla Cupcakes

TWO YEARS AGO: Bake it Better with a Friend

THREE YEARS AGO: Bison a la Mode de Bourgogne

FOUR YEARS AGO: Masala Mashed Potatoes

FIVE YEARS AGO: Lessons from Tanya: Sugar Cookie Silhouettes

SIX YEARS AGO: Cherry-Chipotle Chicken Thighs

SEVEN YEARS AGO: White Chocolate Mini-Mousse with Sugared Cranberries

EIGHT YEARS AGO: You Say Ebelskiver, I say Falafel

NINE YEARS AGO: Happy Thanksgiving!

TEN YEARS AGO: Two Takes on Raspberries

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Spice Cake with Blackberry Puree & The Global Pastry Review

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Own Your Kitchen with Cappuccino Panna Cotta

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Chicken Parmigiana, the Thriller

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Wild Mushroom Risotto

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Tartine Bread: Basic Country Loaf

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO: Pugliese Bread

17Aug2024

SHIROI KOIBITO BISCUITS

Posted in Cookies by sallybr

I’ve flirted with the idea of making these Japanese cookies for a long time, but finally took a deep breath and went for it. I consider this project a work in progress because there is room for improvement. And also, there are so many other shapes and options of fillings to make them. BUT the most traditional kind is Shiroi Koibito, that translates as White Lover. So the biscuit is white and the filling is a square of white chocolate. The filling is never spread inside but instead it is formed using the exact same mold that the biscuit component was formed with (I used the square one from this set). Such a cute concept!

SHIROI KOIBITO BISCUITS
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

50 g softened butter
50 g powdered sugar
50 g all-purpose or pastry flour
1 egg white
100 g white chocolate for the filling

Heat oven to 350F.

Using a mixer, beat the butter until soft, gradually add in the powdered sugar, egg white and flour. Mix until you get a smooth batter.

Spread the batter onto a square chablon stencil placed on a baking tray lined with silicone mat, or parchment paper (I prefer silicone mat). Use a dough scraper to remove the excess dough. Lift the stencil carefully. Bake the biscuits for 10 minutes until the edges become slightly golden.

Temper the white chocolate then pour on the same chablon stencil (washed and fully dried). Refrigerate for 30 minutes to set completely. Remove the chocolate squares from the stencil and assemble the chocolate square on the cookies with some melted chocolate.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: The trickiest part of this recipe is baking the squares homogeneously. It is easy to get some a bit too dark whereas others are not yet there. But removing them as they get ready is not feasible, they are too delicate to lift while warm. So maybe turning the baking sheet around more often is going to help. I will try it soon. Many recipes I’ve seen around omit tempering the chocolate, but I advise you to bite the bullet an temper it, or else use compound chocolate to make life easier. I don’t have much luck trying to melt white chocolate in the microwave and keep it at temper, both me and the chocolate and up losing it. If you have that skill, go for it!

This is the exact same dough used to make the famous French cookie called Langue de Chat (Cat’s Tongue). They are delicate, crunchy, thin, and delicious. I can hardly wait to make Shiroi Koibito again!

ONE YEAR AGO: Mini-Cakes, Two Ways
TWO YEARS AGO: Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies
THREE YEARS AGO: Summertime Macaron Duet
FOUR YEARS AGO: Pain de Mie Dressed up for Party
FIVE YEARS AGO: Five-Stranded Bread
SIX YEARS AGO: Green Olive Salad
SEVEN YEARS AGO: Coffee Macarons Dressed up to Party
EIGHT YEARS AGO: Blogging Hiatus
NINE YEARS AGO: Tomato Tatin
TEN YEARS AGO: Headed to Colorado!
ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Farofa Brasileira
TWELVE YEARS AGO: Thai-Inspired Pork Tenderloin
THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: A yummy Brazilian cake: Bolo de Fuba’
FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Summer’s Tomatoes
FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Leaving on a jet plane…

10Apr2024

FLOWER STENCIL SOURDOUGH

Posted in Breads by sallybr

Inspired by great bakers who share their work on Instagram, this is my version of sourdough decorated with wafer paper made into stencil thanks to a paper puncher. A special thank you to my friend Dorothy for bringing wonderful baking ideas to my radar…

You can use any bread recipe you like, mine was a very simple formula (480g bread flour; 20g whole wheat flour; 75g sourdough starter at 100% hydration; 350g water; 10g salt). Use the method described here.

To decorate the bread, you will need a paper puncher like one from this set. Cut two strips of wafer paper and punch the design. Make it in a way that they can criss-cross and keep the design flowing (I actually used scissors to make final adjustments. Once your bread is ready to bake, lay the wafer paper on top, dust with flour (I like to use tapioca flour for that), gently pull the paper out, and score some pattern with a razor blade. Bake as you normally do. Steps are shown below.

The possibilities are of course endless! You can paint the flowers, use different shapes to make your stencil, add it to batard shaped bread, so many things to try…

ONE YEAR AGO: Happy Easter!

TWO YEARS AGO: Mini-Blueberry Cakes

THREE YEARS AGO: Wood Plank Cookies, Learning from the Best

FOUR YEARS AGO: OMG Spinach Pies

FIVE YEARS AGO: Avgolemono Soup, My Way

SIX YEARS AGO: Sourdough Chocolate Twist Bread

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Dan Lepard Times Three

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Turkey Portobello Burger

NINE YEARS AGO: Raspberry Ricotta Cake

TEN YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, April 2014

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Whole-Wheat Pasta with Lemony Tomatoes and Spinach

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Blood Orange Duck: A work in progress

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Grilled Mahi-mahi with citrus marinade

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Memories of Pastéis\

12Jan2024

SOURDOUGH LOVE

Posted in Breads by sallybr

This post is dedicated to my sister Norma,
wishing her a very Happy Birthday!

A series of sourdough bread made in the past couple of months in the Bewitching Kitchen…

BASIC SOURDOUGH FORMULA
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

480g white bread flour
20g spelt flour
10g salt
350g water
75-90g sourdough starter at 100% hydration
1 tsp spice mix of choice (optional)

Make the levain mixture about 6 hours before you plan to mix the dough. It should be very bubbly and active.

When you are ready to make the final dough, place the water in the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer and dissolve the starter in it, mixing with a spatula briefly, then add the two types of flour, salt and spices. Turn the mixer on with the hook attachment and knead the dough for 4 minutes at low-speed all the time. You will notice the dough will gain quite a bit of structure even with just 4 minutes in the mixer. Remove from the machine, and transfer to a container lightly coated with oil, cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow it to ferment for 4 hours, folding every 45 minutes or so. Because the dough is already a bit developed from the initial time in the mixer, you should get very good structure after 3 and a half hours, or even sooner than that.

After four hours bulk fermentation, shape the dough as a ball, and place, seam side up, in a lightly floured banetton. Leave at room temperature one hour, and then place in the fridge overnight, from 8 to 12 hours.

Next morning, heat the oven to 450F.

Place a parchment paper on top of the dough, a flat baking sheet, and invert the dough, flipping it out of the banneton. Flour the surface of the dough, add the stencil and air-brush if so desired. Score with a razor blade.

Bake at 450F for 45 minutes, preferably covered for the first 30 minutes to retain steam. Cool completely over a rack before slicing.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Here is how to make the decorations on the loaf…

For the little hearts, the bread is painted using air-brush and a stencil, after scoring the surface with a grid pattern. The corners of each square get a small cut with scissors. One of the loaves had the little hearts outlined with black food pen, the other I left without the outline. Your kitchen, your rules…

Below, a design in which a large comb was brought to play… No, I never used the comb on my hair, it was bought just to play with bread baking…
Inspired by Nicola’s recent reel on IG.

I used the Sonic blade for the scoring of this and all other loaves in this post.

Before…

After…

Before…

After…

Before…

After…

ONE YEAR AGO: Zucchini-Prosciuto Parcels

TWO YEARS AGO: Double Peanut Sourdough Loaf

THREE YEARS AGO: Fennel-Rubbed Shrimp in Light Coconut Sauce

FOUR YEARS AGO: Puff Bread Balls, Two Salads and a Cookbook Review

FIVE YEARS AGO: Pistachio-Caramel and Apple Mousse Cakes

SIX YEARS AGO: La Couronne Bordelaise

SEVEN YEARS AGO: A Special Birthday Dinner

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Duck Confit for a Special Occasion

NINE YEARS AGO: Tuscan Grilled Chicken and Sausage Skewers

TEN YEARS AGO: Celebrate Wednesday with Pork Tenderloin & Apples

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Salmon Wellington

TWELVE YEARS AGO: The Green Chip Alternative

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Weekend Pita Project

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Let it snow, let it snow, eggs in snow

24Dec2023

CHRISTMAS SOURDOUGH

Posted in Breads by sallybr

A sourdough loaf to celebrate the season…

RAS-EL-HANOUT CHRISTMAS SOURDOUGH
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

480g bread flour
20g spelt flour
75g sourdough starter at 100%
10g salt
335g water
1/2 tsp Ras-El-Hanout

Make the levain mixture about 6 hours before you plan to mix the dough. It should be very bubbly and active.

Next morning, heat the oven to 450F.

Bake at 450F for 45 minutes, preferably covered for the first 30 minutes to retain steam. Cool completely over a rack before slicing.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I think I’m finally getting the gist of stenciling bread. You need to really keep the stencil tightly on the surface, and get just a drop or two of air-brush color in the machine so that you can hold it vertically and get the spray to go exactly where you need. Work in small passes instead of trying to add a heavy layer all at once. I did not even wash the container, I started with green, sprayed it, emptied the air-brush, added the red and tested on a piece of paper until the color came out truly red.

For the scoring I used a razor blade combined with scissors, and after 6 minutes in the oven I opened the lid quickly and scored it deeply again around the design to make sure it would lift during baking.

We all loved this bread, I think the mixture of spices gives it a super subtle extra flavor, not overpowering at all. And of course, the stencil on top is perfect for the season!