Wild Yeast

YeastSpotting 9.3.10

Susan — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:01:31 +0000

YeastSpotting is a weekly collective showcase of yeasted baked goods and dishes with bread as a main ingredient. For more bread inspiration, and information on how to submit your bread, please visit the YeastSpotting archive.

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Cherry Pine Nut Scones

Susan — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 01:05:17 +0000

In their excitement over the delicate marzipan flavor of cherry pits, people often overlook the dark crimson fruit that surrounds them. But did you know that the flesh of the properly-ripened cherry — firm, sweet, and succulent — is actually quite good in its own right? In some cultures, the cherry fruit itself is even more prized than the stone cached within.

These scones, although they do contain fruit and a small amount of sugar, are not what I would call sweet. If you’re feeling adventurous, make your cornmeal the coarsely-ground variety and give your teeth the workout they thought they’d never get from a scone.

The scones maintain a good shape if they are formed in a cake ring, frozen before cutting into wedges, and frozen again before baking. I like this adjustable-size ring because it’s very versatile, but you can use a plastic-wrap-lined cake pan if you don’t have one. Layering the fruit with the dough, rather than mixing it in, helps the fruit stay intact. And a cherry pitter makes short work of separating the stones (seriously, don’t throw them away!).

Continue to the recipe…

Cherry Pit Ice Cream Petits Fours

Susan — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 07:02:19 +0000

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop.

For the second month in a row, the Daring Bakers were challenged with ice cream and cake, and I am not complaining one bit. (The only drawback is that these things are very tricky to photograph when the weather is hot, as it has been this week. And I’m not altogether facile with my camera. Which means I resort to photographing things like a carved soapstone fish on a plate as a stand-in to figure out the appropriate camera settings, while the sweet and meltable things rest comfortably in the freezer until the last possible moment. This will give the archaeologists something to wonder about when they unearth my photo collection a thousand years hence.)

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YeastSpotting 8.27.10

Susan — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 07:01:55 +0000

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Tuscan Bread and Tomato Salad (Panzanella)

Susan — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:30:31 +0000

The dark saltless Tuscan bread wasn’t my favorite, but as a simple salad with sweet cherry and grape tomatoes, onions, and basil leaves in a garlic vinaigrette dressing, there’s just nothing to complain about at all.

If you require a recipe, here’s one. Otherwise, just toss whatever ingredients are the object of your summertime desire (in addition to tomatoes and basil, think olives, cucumbers, peppers, eggs, bacon…) together with one-inch cubes of rather dry bread, and dress for dinner. Done. Delicious.

YeastSpotting 8.20.10

Susan — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 07:01:29 +0000

By popular demand, we have a slight change in the YeastSpotting rules: you can now submit multiple photos from the same post, as long as they are of different breads. So bake, photograph, and submit away. And, as always, thank you for sending your gorgeous creations here!

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World Class Baking

Susan — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 22:23:36 +0000

Mike Zakowski loads breads and rolls into the oven.

Last month, when many people had World Cup Soccer on their minds, I was privileged to meet a small group of hugely talented bakers who came together at the San Francisco Baking Institute to prepare for a very different world cup: the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie. In the 2012 “World Cup of Bread Baking,” which is said to be the Olympics of the baking world, teams from twelve countries will compete for Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals as they promote international awareness of baking as a highly skilled craft.

Craig Ponsford, Chariman of the Bread Bakers Guild of America, sponsor of the USA team, graciously spent some time discussing the history and structure of this prestigious competition.

The Coupe du Monde was founded in 1992 by Christian Vabret of the Ecole Française de Boulangerie d’Aurillac to honor the art and craft of artisan baking, promote baking education and technical skill, and foster international goodwill and appreciation of traditional regional artisan breads and techniques. It is held in Paris every three to four years in conjunction with the trade show Europain. The previous Coupe du Monde’s top three teams are invited back to participate in the next event. Other countries must compete for the remaining nine slots through four regional qualifying competitions, the Louis LeSaffre Cups.

Jeremey Gadouas works on Viennoiserie.

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Sweet Portuguese Bread

Susan — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 03:03:49 +0000

This month, the Bread Baking Babes are smiling even more sweetly than our usual sweet selves, with the Portuguese Sweet Bread (aka Pão Doce) Tanna selected for us. I love crusty hearth loaves, but sometimes you’re in the mood for something softer, richer, and sweeter, and this bread hits that spot nicely.

The recipe allows for a variable amount of sugar, and I opted for the lowest amount, which was just lovely. The result was beautiful for sandwiches as well as morning toast, and would make wonderful dinner rolls as well (maybe without the lemon zest). The inclusion of ground flaxseed and about 25% whole wheat flour might or might not make a healthful difference, but they definitely add flavor and color.

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YeastSpotting 8.13.10

Susan — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 07:01:51 +0000

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Orange-Pecan Sticky Buns with Dates and Cranberries

Susan — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 05:06:33 +0000

I looked at the ingredient list for this month’s Paper Chef, and this is what it said:

dried dates • cranberries • flour • candied orange peel

This is what I read:

dried dates • cranberries • candied orange peel

And I thought, Hm, only three ingredients. Aren’t there supposed to be four? Apparently I have come to take flour completely for granted. Like air.

Paper Chef is a creative challenge where the month’s host draws three ingredients at random from a collectively-compiled list and adds a fourth of his or her choosing. I haven’t participated often, since the list is apt to include ingredients like salmon or liver, which don’t particularly lend themselves to bread. But this month, I couldn’t resist the combination of fruits that turned up in the lottery.

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