Bread 101: the first loaf

It's time to make a commitment. I've waited long enough. It's time to learn how to make bread. I've read books. I've tried recipes. It's time to do the work. In order to learn how to bake bread you have to bake bread. I've casually made baguettes, brioche, wheat bread, ciabatta, focaccia and then some. It's time to do this for real and learn something. I present my first real baguette.

My favorite thing about this baguette is that it sucks. That sets the tone for some serious improvement.

Bakery Style French Baguettes
12 ounces biga
1/8 tsp instant yeast

Mix above and let come to room temperature and then add:

1/2 tsp instant yeast
4 ounce water (used tap water)

stir to combine. and then blend:

10 ounces flour with
1 tsp salt

add flour mixture to yeast mixture and mix in stand mixer. The dough seemed too dry so I added more water, and then it seemed too wet. I let it sit for 30 minutes trying the autolyse method and then kneaded the dough in the mixer for a bit and then moving it to the bench for a little hand kneading. It still seemed a little too wet so I added more flour. (I know this is a no-no but did it anyway.) Let rest for 2 or so hours until doubled.

It seemed a little shy of doubled in bulk when I poured the dough onto the bench. Also still too wet so I tried to incorporate a little flour into the dough. Let it rest for about 10 minutes and then proceeded to form the baguette.

The dough seemed a little wet and difficult to transfer from the bench to the parchment. I let it rest (uncovered) a bit longer then got the oven all heated up and got to slashing. The dough seemed pretty fragile and got a little ruffly when I scored it. So either it was still too wet or my blade was a little dull.

In to the 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes. I pulled it out and set it down for a bit. A little bit later, I picked it up. Heavy! and it sure seemed underdone! So back in the oven again (also a no-no). It took another 20-25 minutes or so to be done.

You can see that the scoring was not deep enough because it also ruptured to one side. The bread was a little dense, but the flavor was there. Almost a little sweet. The crust was good, but I think I should have hit it with some water.

Irwin's Bakery & Cafe

I suppose I've been thinking about pie for the past few weeks with the opening of High 5 Pie up the street from the bakery (which I have yet to try). I had stumbled on Irwin's back before we opened the retail shop. I was looking at location a few blocks away and thought I'd check out the neighborhood and walked into Irwin's and grabbed some sort of apple turnover thingy. It was delicious and I decided it would be best not to open my bakery near another great bakery.

John and I were in the neighborhood yesterday so we decided to stop by. We were more in the mood for a full breakfast, but we picked up some goodies anyway.

Top Left: I think this was called a Feta Herb Muffin. It was super eggy and I wasn't sure if it was a bread or a quick bread. The flavor of the cheese was really intense and delicious and there were these little orange cheesy pockets sprinkled through the interior. The top was crunchy and delicious. I had half which was plenty big enough for me.

Top Right: This is a slice of their marionberry pie. It's a little "wedgy" for me, but I can understand the need for a decent amount of thickener in a professional pie environment. (otherwise, it just gets too juicy and some customer gets ripped off.) But the filling seemed like it could have either a little more sweetness or maybe some acid so that the thickener didn't seem like the predominant flavor. But the crust was absolutely delicious, flakey, and with a generous sprinkling of granulated sugar on top. It was a perfect portion, slim, tall, and elegant.

Bottom Right: This was a apple pecan scone that puts our blackberry oat scone to shame! Well, not really, but it's in the running for an absolutely amazing scone experience. It's filled with slices of cinnamon sugared apples sandwiched between a voluptuous and rustic scone exterior. And my favorite again, sprinkled with a generous amount of cinnamon sugar and topped with another apple slice. I'm not getting the pecan part of it so maybe there's not enough pecans. I'd actually be fine without the nuts, making it a more pure apple cinnamon experience which is right up my alley!

I will be back!