Tag Archives: Wheat

December 13th, 2019

Lussekatter

Lussekatter (2)[3]It’s been a long time, since I published my first Lussekatter recipe. Back then I learned that in Sweden you can find two different types of recipes: one with quark, and one without. The variant with quark was on my to do list ever since.  And I had a recipe draft ready already three years ago. But an ugly flu stopped me baking back than and two Saint Lucia Days passed without me baking Lussekatter. But this year, finally, I managed it!

The Lussekatter with Quark are delicious. A hint of cardamom rounds the flavour but stays in the background while saffron is the main flavour component. Like my favourite Zopf-Recipe I replace part of the butter with cream, so the dough or the formed rolls can rise in the fridge, too.

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December 6th, 2019

Malty Bread with Seeds

Malziges Saaten-Mischbrot (1)[3]This is a typical blogger problem during the winter months: the daylight vanishes at the same time I pull a bread from the oven. If the day was bright enough for nice pictures anyway. The problem can be easily solved with a foto lamp. But with a broken bulb, my studio lamp was as useful for nice pictures as a coat hanger. And so I put one loaf in the freezer and ordered a new LED bulb. Until it was delivered, the weather cleared, too and I was finally able to take a nice picture with daylight.

And I’m very happy, as I like this bread very much. It is a perfect every day bread for lovers of sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Continue reading

November 17th, 2019

Pameln

Pameln (1)[7]The second recipe for rolls from East-Germany which I found in an old Baking book from 1930 is a recipe for “Pameln”. The recipe itself was once again rather short: Use a waterdough with some rye flour mixed in. But at least the description for forming was better this time: Roll the dough into a shape similar like Berliner Schrippen and cut it length wise prior to baking.

I try to research about this kind of rolls like I did it for the Salzkuchen, but I only found some posts of people looking for a recipe. And so here it is, my try on an Pameln. It is a delious roll with a soft crumb and complex flavour due to the sourdough!

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September 30th, 2019

Mangbrot

Mangbrot (1)

The Mangbrot was a favourite of my grandfather. It is a bread with a long tradition in this corner of germany. The idiom term “Mang” means “Mixed” and referred to the fact that the bread is baked with a mixture of rye and wheat flour. Here, like in other region with cold climate and loamy soil, rye and wheat was planted as mixture. So in good years, the mixture contained more wheat, while in bad years the robust rye prevailed the mixture. I considered this fact and prepared already the sourdough with a mixture of rye and wheat flour. This makes the sourdough a bit milder.

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September 14th, 2019

Weeknight loaf

Feierabend-Kasten (1)I got a bit to optimistic when I tried the first version of this bread. Adding a big portion of  very ripe pâte fermentée was not the best of my ideas, as this brings to much enzymes in the dough and has the same effect like adding sourdough. After 24 hours proofing time the dough was still stable, but the resulting bread lacked volume. A sure sign that the gluten network already started to decline.

And so I put the recipe back on my worktable and sat down to write a better version. This time it is a straight dough which develops its flavour during the long fermenting time. Yoghurt and good portion of whole grain flour adds another aromatic notes to the loaf. In this combination, the dough is stable over the course of 24 hours and the breads have a nice volume. Which can be seen in their crumb, too. It is soft and fluffy and can be toasted very well, too! A perfect bread for breakfasts and lunch boxes!

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September 8th, 2019

Greta-Garbo-Schnitten

Greta-Gabor-Schnitten (1)Sometimes questions of readers are timed just perfectly. So when Jasmin asked for a way to reduce yeast amount in my heirloom recipe of Greta-Garbo-Schnitten I told her I would try it right away, as I was planning to bake them for my upcoming birthday anyway. Baking Greta-Garbo-Schnitten has two advantages: They are a delicious favourite of mine and they taste best when baked a week in advance. And the second point goes well together with the fact that my birthday was at the end of a very busy week.

And I adjusted the recipe carefully. Reducing the yeast and adding a bit of sweet starter as preferment. As the recipe contains no big amount of liquid, adding a preferment was tricky. I had to reduce the amount of sour cream. Instead I used a bit of cream fraiche which higher amount of fat balances the reduced over all amount.

The recipe worked like a charm with this adjustments. And it is still one of the most delicious treats in the world!

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August 6th, 2019

Three Grain Bread (Weeknight version)

Dreikorn-Rundling-23

Some time ago a reader asked if my beloved three grain bread recipe could be modified so it would use boiled sourdough and could fit in a busy weeknight schedule. As changing from sourodugh to boiled sourdough meant replacing the soaker as well. This are quite some changes and I decided that were to many chances to give away a recipe variant without testing. Around the same time I got my hands on beautiful big mold glasses from Weck (1050ml) .  They have straight walls and are perfect for baking breads. When the bread is sliced, its slices are perfectly round.  I am totally in love with the new form.

And the bread itself is a delicious as the two other variants. And like always it is a good sign for a favourite bread when I bake a recipe in variants!

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July 5th, 2019

Summer evening bread

Sommerabend-Brot (1)Already with the first recipe for my new “work day breads” there was the wish for recipes with some sourdough. Using a sourdough with a long, cold fermentation can cause problems with both the increasing acidity and the increasing enzyme activity. This can result in a weaker gluten network and a bread with less volume but with very chewy crumb.

There are two strategies to cope with this. The first one is using only a small amount of a very active sourdough. The second one is bowling the sourdough to inactivate microorganisms and enzymes. At the same time the starch gelatinise and binds water, which helps to enhance shelf life of the bread. This second strategy I choose for the summer evening bread.

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June 9th, 2019

Scharwaie

Scharwaie-43When I heard the term “Scharwaie” the first time, I had to asked my badish host to repeat the word. Spoken with Baden accent it sounds similar to “sha – wai”.  Even a second repletion didn’t help me. Finally Iasked to write the word down, as my brain struggled to get the letters on the right places. The Term “waie” means flat bread or cake while “Schar” is thought to come from scrabbing left over dough pieces together after forming the regular bread. It is a traditional flat bread that is baked in Baden, a region in the south west of Germany. And as I am a collector of traditional bread I was hooked.

Back home I had to wait for another baking day at the wood fire community oven in our museum. But as I knew that our leftover dough pieces would not enough to feed the whole crowd, I prepared a dough just for this case. It is a dough with 80% wheat and 20% rye which rises over night in the fridge. In combination with some added sourdough, this creates a delicious flavour. Backed for a short time at high temperature, the bread is soft and fluffy and so delicious.

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May 31st, 2019

Röggchen

Rggchen-23Last weekend I felt a hunger for rustic rolls with a good portion of rye. As the weekend was crowded with appointments, I opted once again for my favourite schema for easy sunday morning rolls: Proofing the dough over night. Forming, proofing and baking is something I can normally fit into our sunday morning routine easily.  And having still warm rolls for breakfast is something, we love, too.

For the form I opted for simple but pretty pattern made by a roll stamp. This time I decided to press it down through nearly the whole roll which resulted in a beautiful flower-like looking roll. And so the rolls fulfil all my criteria for good weekend rolls: easy to make and delicious! Is there anything else to wish for?

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