How is it that I’d never tried Dutch Crunch bread, never even heard of it? It’s a loaf that seems to be ubiquitous in the San Francisco area, and it would seem that they have been keeping it all for themselves. Now that I’ve had it I can’t blame them. Dutch Crunch gets its name from a similar bread found in the Netherlands, which is called Tiger Bread (tijgerbrood or tijgerbol). It’s easy to see how it got that name. The tiger spots are created by covering the dough with a slurry of rice flour, sugar, yeast and toasted sesame oil. The fragrance of the sesame is fantastic and the slightly sweet crispy bits on the loaf are hard to resist picking off and snacking on before you ever cut into the bread. Read More
The MN State Fair is open, so the annual food-on-a-stick showdown has begun. This is an update of an old post–a few years ago, Jeff and I presented our bread methods and introduced our latest and greatest achievement; Bread-on-a-Stick at booth run by St. Agnes Baking Company, in the Creative Arts Building.
Making cinnamon rolls is hands down one of the most popular ways that folks use our brioche dough. Not only is this an easy dough to prepare, but since it can be used for up to five days after being made, there is the potential to eat cinnamon rolls every day of the week. Of course, we stand by the phrase “all things in moderation,” but it’s still nice to know that there’s a way to make every Monday morning more enjoyable.
Truck stop cinnamon rolls are not much different than our regular buns, they are just significantly bigger (each one can serve two. Or more?). They are perfect for brunch or company; a special indulgence.
I was thrilled when doughnuts took over as the “hot dessert trend” from the fanciful cupcake. I do like cupcakes, but they don’t excite me like a freshly made doughnut. These days you can find gourmet doughnut shops popping up all over. They offer the classic flavors along with some very exotic, even esoteric combinations. I’ve seen everything from bacon to rose petals on a doughnut. I’ve tried every combination I can find and for me it all comes down to the dough. I like soft, airy yeast dough and it should be slightly sweet, but not overly so. The gourmet shops use great ingredients and treat their dough with TLC, so they often cost a small fortune. Truth is, homemade doughnuts are super easy and quick to make, especially with our five minute dough. You can make them as fancy or simple as you like and they only cost about 20 cents each, add a few cents for the bacon and rose petals! 😉 Read More
Getting a perfect result with homemade pizza on the gas grill in the summertime is easy–you just need to mix up some lean dough from any of our books–we’ve been testing with Red Star Platinum Yeast–with fantastic results (today’s dough was the light whole wheat, but you can use any of our lean doughs)…
1. Clean the grill’s grates 2. Get your dough thin, to 1/8 of an inch thick 3. Bake the first side of the crust “blind” (without toppings) for about three minutes, then flip and top. Prep all your toppings in advance. 4. Cut the cheese into small cubes, or grate it so it melts fast, before the bottom crust burns. That way, after flipping and topping, the pizza will be finished in five to ten minutes, depending on burner heat and position under the pizza. 5. Don’t overload with toppings
Here’s a video on how to do it: (includes demo of pizza dough-throwing technique):
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One of the best indicators that spring is finally here to stay is when my rhubarb plant finally pops above the ground. It is incredibly faithful; no matter how cold the winter was, it never fails to grow again each May. Right now it is out-of-control, as the towering green leaves threaten to take over my entire garden. I’ve been looking for new ways to cook and bake with it, and was intrigued by rhubarb upside-down cake I spotted on Pinterest. However, I had a bucket of brioche in my fridge, so instead of mixing up cake batter I simply rolled out my dough and placed it over hot rhubarb and sugar. It was a success: a sweet-tart treat perfect for breakfast, or afternoon snacking.
Focaccia is terribly delicious; it’s a perfect accompaniment to pasta or soup, and it even makes great afternoon snack. While focaccia can be topped with all kinds of ingredients, we prefer ours rather simple: onions and rosemary scattered on an olive oil-dough flatbread. We even keep the ingredients light to promote nice browning, and the results are a well-flavored bread with a crisp crust. If you’re feeling more adventurous you can try a Meyer lemon-thyme version; Meyer lemons are much sweeter than regular lemons and are a delicious option. If you slice this kind of lemon very thinly, then yes, you can eat the peel.
By keeping a supply of my two gluten-free flour mixtures in the house, you can make any of the recipes in Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Flour Mixture #1, reprinted here from the book, is for a mostly white flour, though you can increase whole-grain if you swap brown rice flour (increase the liquids in the recipes by 2 tablespoons if you do this). It’s the only flour you need for some of my on-line recipes, and for the basic white loaf. If you’re sensitive to any of these ingredients, you’ll find substitutions in the book. I tested this gluten-free all-purpose flour mixture with Bob’s Red Mill products because they are available across the nation. If you use other brands you may find different results in the breads–especially in the amount of liquid they’ll absorb.
If you’re measuring by U.S. cup-measures (the first unit in each line), be sure to pack the flour tightly into the cup, as if you were measuring brown sugar.
Makes 4 1/4 pounds (2 kilograms) of gluten-free all-purpose flour mixture
The ingredients must be very well mixed, otherwise the xanthan gum or psyllium will not be evenly distributed and your loaves will be inconsistent. Whisk and mix the ingredients in a 5- to 6-quart lidded container. Finish by picking up the container and vigorously shaking until the flours are completely blended.
Substituting ingredients: If you don’t eat one of the ingredients above, see our Substitutions Page.Other substitutions may be possible, but those are the ones we’ve tested and liked.
Jeff and I have been busy with another project, maybe our biggest and most exciting yet. We are thrilled to finally be able to introduce you to Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Baking Revolution Continues with 90 New, Delicious and Easy Recipes Made with Gluten-Free Flours. We’ve been adding gluten-free recipes to our wheat packed books for years, but we realized that folks who can’t eat wheat probably would prefer a book dedicated to gluten-free breads they can enjoy. Along the way we also decided to tweak our GF baking method to make it even easier and faster to make. Not only are they easy and fast, but they taste fantastic, and they’re made with easy-to-find supermarket ingredients. We’re really excited to have you try them, but you’ll have to give us just a wee bit more time until the print date. Amazon and other retailers have the book available for pre-orders and it will ship on October 22nd. It will be worth the wait! 🙂
In the original review of baking stones, steel stones weren’t covered because they weren’t yet available. So here’s a test run of the Baking Steel. Just like cast iron, the Baking Steel is virtually indestructible, heats up a bit quicker and conducts heat really well. It’s larger (14×16 inches), and rectangularly shaped, while the cast-iron Lodge product is round, and smaller, with more chance for stray ingredients to go overboard. That’s in favor of this alternative metal product.
