Baking
Log of (mostly bread) baking experiments over time.
Ciabatta - I
Day: Tuesday, July 30, 2024
The lovely Italian sandwich bread. Wanted to get my hands dirty with some high hydration doughs. Anyway, this didn't rise (fast enough) the first time I tried, so really this is the second attempt. I borrowed parts from this recipe by AlexandraCooks ↗ and by Cloudy Kitchen ↗, adjusted for the time I had. I reduced the 4 folding cycles to 3, but kneaded for around 10 minutes each time, and let it rise longer than overnight. Also, I let the dough autolyze, which I feel helped a lot. Overall, pretty satisfied with what came out!
A sandwich that a friend made with the bread :) better than I could've made, honestly.
Not the dough we deserve, but the dough we need.
The White Dough Rises!
Shaped traditionally (though unevenly) and ready to pop into the oven!
Baking begins!
Okay, enough with the Batman jokes. Do you wanna know my secret — gets shot in the head
Japanese Milk Bread - I
Day: Thursday, May 30, 2024
Came out pretty fluffy in texture, and slightly sweet in taste! It was fun to make and went well both toasted and used to make french toast. Followed this recipe by Kwokspots: Japanese Milkbread Recipe (Hokaido) ↗ . Looking to make it more authentic as possible, so if you know a recipe, let me know!!
Backstory: I think this is known as Shokupan in Japan; I had this at an Asian bakery in Seattle and have been dying to recreate it since :D
Foccacia - II
Day: Friday, May 17, 2024
Got very good aeration this time! Tried a higher hydration dough, and used lime zest, sundried tomatoes (added later), olives, and rosemary as toppings. Crust was nice, could've been crunchier. Baked it at 400 F for 20-25 minutes.
What I did this time: high hydration, let it rise for 18 hours, baked at a lower temperature to cook through evenly then blasted at higher temps at the end to crisp it up.
Backstory: Made this for the most special friends as a parting gift :). One of my closest friends had also come to visit and wanted him to try good bread with cheese.
Foccacia - I
Day: Monday, April 8, 2024
Baked at 425 F for 15 minutes, then at 450 F for 5 minutes, to try a crunchy crust. Well, I suffered from success because it was very crunchy, but almost unpleasantly so. It came out alright otherwise, except I didn't coat some of the toppings with enough olive oil so they burnt up. Overall though, felt it was nice for my first time.
What I did this time: First time trying foccacia, let it rise for ~12 hours, flash-heating it at the end for crisp crust.
