pizza napoletana - bread baker's apprentice challenge #25

Pizza. I've made the bread baker's apprentice pizza dough more times than I can count. In fact it is probably one of the first Peter Reinhart recipes I mastered. Why? Because everyone loves pizza right. So I thought I would look back at some of the pies I've made this year when the Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge entered recipe 25.

While I'm not picky on the cheese; Blue, boccacini, fontina, provolone, cheddar, mozzarella, I tend to keep my pies very minimal. With my usual creations having two or three of the following; roasted peppers, sliced mushrooms, crushed tomatoes, caramelized onions, fresh basil, artichoke hearts, or maybe some chicken.

I picked up my first ever pizza stone for this reason, which was 10 dollars at Safeway back in the day, and it's still alive for a friend. I'm lucky to have a nice gas oven that goes to 550, so the pizza usually pops out in a blistering 6-7 minutes. Delicious and amazing. The crust is airy, with a slight chew and I get those leopard marks that everyone talks about. A definite recipe keeper, but then again, it always was.

I've even started tossing my pies on a regular basis. Of course it's just as easy to roll or hand stretch them too!

How did your pizza's turn out?

Check out more pies by the BBAC. Something Shiny, The Yumarama, and Aehrelich Gesagt

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panettone (round 2 )- bread baker's apprentice challenge #24

Just a quick update, as I haven't been up to much besides baking bread. I went for round two with the panettone and included deluxe mixed peel (from bulk barn) along with slivered almonds. I also soaked the raisins and mixed peel in scotch instead of the rum I used in my first attempt.

The results were better in my opinion. The peel, which isn't everyone's cup of tea, provided sharp hits of sweet/tart flavour, while the almonds added texture and flavour that also wasn't anywhere in the first two version. I think the craziest part was the chance of getting different slices (just compare the two pictures). A success indeed. I'll be keeping this recipe around.

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panettone - bread baker's apprentice challenge #24

Oh sweet Panettone. Even though bread 24 in the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge came out of my oven in November, it's a very December 1st style bread. Originating in Milan, there seems to be quite a few claims on it's beginnings. Which, believe what you want, makes no difference to me..why, because it tastes so damn good I can look past it's questionable birth.

With our small world, it's possible to get panettone at almost any grocery store these days. Something that I think would have originally been sold at our local Italian centres, you can now find panettone from Wal-Mart to Superstore. So what's the difference here?

The initial fermentation is not done with commercial, but by wild-yeast. The recipe requires a wild yeast sponge, which takes about a week to create. Of course, that's if your attempt at the seed culture actually works. This initial stage adds a depth and flavour profile you just wouldn't be able to produce in a quick, one day, commercial product. So take that boxed, readily available panettone *sticks out tongue*

Even once you have successfully created your barm, the bread takes a few days. One of the most delicious aspects is the fruit blend. For the pictures in this post, I soaked 6 ounces of jumbo flame raisins and 6 ounces of craisins in 1/2 cup of rum, mixed with lemon and vanilla extract.
The result was fantastic. The fruit soaked up all the booze and the bread was soft and sweet. Really, egg, milk and sugar to wonders for the taste buds! It was great to eat plain or warmed slightly by the toaster. I'm currently creating my second attempt, with some variations as I write this. I've taken out the craisins and mixed in 6 ounces of candied peel, as well as using scotch instead of rum and including 5 ounces of slivered, blanched almonds. From just the smell alone, this version seems better. The scotch and mixed peel are (hopefully) going to take this to the next level! I'll be sure to include a picture. Happy December.

* The first picture was taking by Sarah, for her 365 day photo blog. Why not have a peek.

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pane siciliano - bread baker's apprentice challenge #23

With the recent disaster that was Pain de Campagne, I was really looking forward to Pane Siciliano. Hoping that in the 3 days it takes to complete, I would forget about past mistakes and dream about the future. I didn't know what to expect from the large portion of pre-ferment and semolina flour utilized in this recipe, but if the twitter talk was any indication, it would be fantastic.

Much like the pain de campagne though, the bread took a left turn. It boiled down to me not actually having semolina flour. Foolish right, why attempt to bake a bread that requires 8 ounces of semolina flour, when you don't have any. Exactly my first thought, but I really wanted to bake this. So I made an executive decision to substitute in 8 ounces of fine corn flour. (Hence the yellow hue of the picture above and below)

What's the difference. Well. Semolina is actually the gritty, sandy flour milled from durum. Something that most people would associate with pasta. High in protein, and low in gluten; semolina is definitely not corn flour. However, even with such a big change, the result was surprisingly good.

The corn flour add a bit of sweetness and texture. Maybe not as good after a few days, the fresh bread excitement was brought back by toasting the bread in the morning. I learned early on, from our first bread in fact, that corn meal and corn flour do wonders for toast.

I thought the pane siciliano journey would end there, but was surprised surprised to find a nice semolina flour gift waiting for me a few days later. Making it all over again, correctly this time (see above and below picture), I can't say enough good things about this bread. The semolina does something so fantastic for the taste. Nutty, sweet, all around delicious. This may be sliding into top spot for me.

Got some time to waste? Why not check out the #BBA tag on twitter, and surf around looking at some delicious bread.

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bread baker's apprentice challenege half-way look back

With 22 breads down in the bread baker's apprentice challenge, it's time to take a quick peek back at what's been baked. It actually seems like quite the journey at this point, and I almost can't believe I've created so many delicious breads. From challah to brioche, it's been an interesting first half.

First up was anadama. A delicious bread, utilizing corn meal, it had a nutty, sweet flavour that tasted really good after some time in the toaster.

Artos, the Greek celebration bread provided a wonderful aroma. Including nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and allspice, it was fantastic as french toast.

Bagels, were a hurdle I'd never attempted until now. Requiring an involved process of shaping, boiling and baking, they turned out decent. Although I still miss those Montreal bagels from my youth.

Deciding to go all out, rich man's brioche provided the next challenge. Oh so buttery, this dough was very strange to work with. Great french toast.

Casatiello was crazy combination of cheese and meat. Stopping by my local Italian store, I picked up a few cheeses and meats to create some different combinations. Definitely not your everyday bread, this would be fantastic to pull out for that company pot luck.

Challah was made more times than I can count during that week. From the basic braided design, to spirals, to loaf pans, it took on every shape. I also included raisins at one point to give the challah french toast that extra boost.

I'm still bummed about my ciabatta attempt. Mostly because I couldn't seem to get the air pockets. They tasted good at least.

The cinnamon buns proved to be fantastic. Light, fluffy and full of sugary goodness. The buns worked better than the cinnamon roll I also baked.

The cinnamon walnut raisin bread was a bit of a challenge. Every version I baked without walnuts was light and airy, but including the walnuts always left my loaves a little heavy and dense.

Making corn bread most of my life, this recipe was good, but didn't win me over. I do like the addition of bacon on top.

I totally forgot about the alien looking cranberry walnut bread until now. What a treat this bread was. Fully of crunchy, tart goodness.

English muffins!! So easy and tasty. I even made a loaf version, which was equally delicious, although it was a little hard to split the loaf with a fork.

Instead of going savory, I went sweet with the foccacia. Topped with sugar and loaded with raisins, this creation disappeared in no time.

French bread, which was very similar to

the Italian bread. Both of which were delicious, and way better than store bought versions.

My kaisers buns were decent. They didn't have the crust I wanted and I screwed up the recipe by including all of the pre-ferment. The shaping sure was fun though.

The lavash crackers were so quick and easy, I kept baking off batches during the week. Best of all, I found they went swimmingly with fresh pico de gallo.

The light wheat bread was exactly that. As you can tell, it ballooned in the oven, creating a perfect sandwich and toast bread.

The marbled rye recipe absolutely won me over. As someone who never appreciated rye bread (I'm not the biggest caraway fan), I've been making this bread on a weekly basis ever since the first loaf. So good. A must!

The multi-grain extraordinaire left a little to be desired. Best eaten as toast.

Pain a l'Ancienne was a great experience. The crust was bang on, and combined with the chewy interior it was fantastic.

Which brings me to pain campagne, and the middle of the challenge. I left this dough to rise, only to forget about it entirely. Coming home to a pile of WAY over proofed saggy dough left a lot to be desired. Maybe I'll go back, but with so many breads left, it's going to have to wait.

There you have it. 22 breads in, and 22 to go. What an experience so far, both for the mind and the tummy. With so much carby goodness, I'm surely going to have run a few extra miles when this whole thing is wrapped up. To any BBAC particiapants; is there a favorite yet? Maybe something like my marbled rye that you've added to your regular rotation? Any major fails? Do tell.

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pain de campagne - bread baker's apprentice challenge #22

Judging by this initial picture, you may think that bread number 22 of the bread baker's apprentice challenge was a success. I mean, look at that profile. Airy - check, light - check, colour - half check....but that's where the story goes south.

Proofing in the early morning sun.

What had me most excited about bread #22 were the shaping possibilities. In fact, Peter just so happens to mention that Pain de Campagne is an excellent dough for such an adventure, combined with world-class flavour and texture.

Take for example this lovely piece. First shaped into a batard, the bread is pressed with a small piece of dowel before sprinkling with flour. The crease will give the final bread, a very distinct 'split' look. But it didn't. No fault of the bread though, this mistake was all me. After I completed shaping the sections of dough (one fendu, one tabatiere, and one epi), I was called away for more important things. Thinking I would only be an hour or two, I left the house only to forget about my dough and arrive back 6 hours later.

Tragedy had stuck the dough. It had over proofed, and looked all bloated sitting there on my dining room table. I didn't really have any other option but to bake off the bread, so I tried my best to shape things and filled the house with heat at 10 o'clock at night. Finally with everything baked, I went to bed hoping this bread adventure was just a bad dream.

But it wasn't. The bread was decent enough, but after a long day of proofing and a night on the counter, I was just glad to be done with it. Definitely a bread I'll come back to eventually, but not before I create a memory erasing gadget.

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pain a l'ancienne - bread baker's apprentice challenege #21

Pain a l'Ancienne...where to begin. Bread 21, in the bread baker's challenge, are these baguette shaped goodies. Not a straight forward creation, this recipe is going to take you two days to create. Don't feel too overwhelmed though, it's not rocket science.. It may however, as Peter says, have you facing the words "Unknown Kingdoms Be Here."

Why would you be facing the unknown you ask. In two words, cold water. Describing a process that has tremendous implications for the baking industry and for both professional and home bakers, this 'unique' delayed fermentation process, based on ice-cold water, releases all those flavours trapped inside flour in a different manner.

Even with all this fancy smancy talk, it boils down to this. Using the cold water will allow the flour itself to break down and release sugars that wouldn't normally be available at the start, if you mixed in warm water. These additional sugars will add a natural sweetness and help to caramelize the crust during baking.

This dough has a high level of hydration and as such, isn't that easy to handle. Being so wet and floppy, it sticks to your hands and arm hair (if you are like me). Once you are done mixing everything, it goes straight into the fridge over night.

The bread finally starts the rising period on day two, where it will need 3 or 4 hours to come out of hibernation and double in size. At this point, you'll need to heavily flour your counter or board, and start the shaping process.

With your dough prepped, and your oven ready for hearth baking, it just a matter of waiting 20-30 minutes for everything to come out.

How did it taste? Really good. Even with these being fairly tiny loaves, they had developed decent pockets of air.

Absolutely delicious straight from the oven, I downed an entire baguette with a bowl of homemade chili.

The next day brought a different texture to the bread, and created a chewier crust. Which just so happened to go wonderfully with tuna salad. What was I so worried about..maybe it's in the names. Pain de Champagne is next, and it almost 'sounds' as intimidating!

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