like a bakery

I baked for a fundraiser on thursday and friday. I managed somehow to produce 6 loaves of bread, 2 pizza shells and about 20 blueberry muffins.

I only made sourdough. I overproduced on the starter, so I had to keep on baking in order to use it up.

the first up was the english muffin bread. I’ve made it before without sourdough and really love it, so I mixed up a batch with my starter and away we went. the process couldn’t be easier, you dump all the ingredients in the bowl and mix it up, let it rise, add one more ingredient and mix, dump into greased loaf pans, rise and then bake. really, how much easier could it be. no kneading. one bowl. not even any measuring cups/spoons because its all by weight. here’s a shot of the batter after rising:

it looks kinda scary and bubbly. Like it might take over the kitchen if allowed. I guess if the bowl isn’t big enough, it might!

then I got to work on the “deluxe sourdough bread” its a more traditional bread recipe that involves kneading. the thing I learned with this recipe is that when it says to “let the dough rest” they mean it. I had never really done that before. so it rested, and it became the most silky beautiful dough I’ve ever seen. when I shaped it, it stayed where I put it. the gluten had relaxed enough not to fight with me. I couldn’t believe it! Here’s a shot of that beautiful dough after resting:

and here’s a picture of it shaped:

then you put it in the fridge and let it stay there overnight. take it out in the morning, let it rise and then bake it. here it is all fresh from the oven:

I kept one for myself, and it was GOOD. David thought it was quite sour, but I’m not sure.

Bake along with me…

I’ve been thinking about this alot, and this weekend I decided that we’re not buying anymore store bought bread. I made this announcement to David, who promptly laughed at me.  But then he asked me a bunch of questions, and thought it was a really good idea. but he ended the conversation by asking if I really wasn’t going to buy anmore bread? and what would happen to the good people at arnold bread? I told him that other people will have to step up and buy their own.

Then he asked if I’d be bringing my sourdough culture out to Idaho in July. I think we’ll have to wait and see about that.

I have 2 sourdough cultures bubbling away on my counter–one white, one whole wheat, and a copy of James Beard’s “Beard on Bread”

My plan is this: bake enough bread for my family.

I’ll be using the following resources: Beard on Bread, sourdough home, and other sourdough internet resources.

I’ll be blogging every time I bake a loaf of bread. If the recipe came from the internet, I’ll post the recipe. but if it came from a book, I’ll give you the reference. (copyright issues)

I hope that this blog keeps me honest, and really not buying bread.

So, come along and bake with me!