baked_stuff.md (12770B)
1 title:Baked Stuff 2 3 ## Baked Stuff 4 5 #### Semiphilosophical Ramblings Concerning Bread-Baking 6 7 I have come to the conclusion that most bread recipes you can find are needlessly 8 complicated. Most of the time, I just dump together whatever I have and see what 9 comes out. Of course, you do need to be a bit careful, but it really doesn't 10 require 20 different types of flour and other junk like a lot of recipes online. 11 12 Some of the recipes below do have lots of different ingredients, but these 13 recipes are just meant as a random collection of stuff I've made, not some 14 sort of authoritative reference of the right way to do things. The recipe 15 for potato bread, for instance, was found by just trying what would happen if 16 I used more potatoes than usual. The first time I made it, I added way too much 17 water and the result wasn't overly great, but the second time, it turned out 18 pretty decently. Also, I've started using whole grain shredded rye in a lot of 19 my bread, but you should be able to use other flour as well, just have fun 20 and don't take the exact instructions in these recipes too seriously. 21 22 On a different note, my later recipes use very little yeast compared to what 23 you're usually supposed to use. I just let the bread rise much longer than 24 usual and that works out pretty well. I figure that it doesn't do 25 any harm and I can save yeast, so I might as well do it that way. Here, 26 though, the same warning applies that I mentioned above - the exact durations 27 that I let my bread rise are entirely random and just written here because I 28 know that it worked for me that way. If it works better to let it rise 29 overnight, you can try that - just experiment to see what works. 30 31 Now some general notes: 32 33 - Whenever baking bread that's not very wet, you can add a little bowl of 34 water in the oven to create some steam and keep the bread from becoming 35 too dry. 36 - The amounts of water used should only serve as general guidelines because 37 every flour is different and may produce very different results. It seems 38 that the length of time you let the dough rise also impacts how much water 39 is required. When I let the dough rise overnight, the yeast seems to work 40 its way through so well that the dough appears much softer afterwards. 41 - Most recipes here are written for dry yeast, but you can, of course, use 42 fresh yeast. The dry yeast just needs to be properly rehydrated with 43 lukewarm water before being mixed with the other ingredients. 44 - When greasing bread baking forms or trays, make sure to use butter or 45 margerine since regular oil doesn't seem to work very well. 46 - Some people like to add spices such as anise, fennel, coriander, and 47 caraway seeds to their bread. I don't care much for it, but I guess 48 that's just a matter of taste. 49 - After putting the dough into a bread baking form, you can smooth the 50 top with wet fingers. 51 - When baking any bread with potatoes in it, you may need to drastically 52 change the amount of water added because the potatoes may contain very 53 different amounts of liquid. I pressure-cook my potatoes, so they also 54 don't contain as much water as potatoes that were boiled completely 55 in water. 56 - When making bread with a wet dough in a bread baking form, make sure the 57 form is large enough because the dough may overflow otherwise once it 58 rises. 59 - If the bread or buns turn stale in the fridge, you can always try 60 toasting them. This has especially worked well with some of the 61 buns I've made - they often turn much nicer after toasting. 62 - Since the recipes containing a lot of potatoes are quite moist, it's 63 better to keep the breads/buns in the fridge because they get moldy 64 very easily. 65 66 #### Spelt (Dinkel) Bread 67 - Ingredients 68 + 500 g whole grain spelt/dinkel flour 69 + 1 pack/cube yeast (a bit less than 1 Tbsp dry yeast) 70 + ~400 mL lukewarm water 71 + 1 tsp salt 72 + 1/3 cup sesame seeds, ground 73 + 1/3 cup linseeds (leinsamen), ground 74 + 1/2 cup sunflower seeds 75 - Instructions 76 + Put flour in bowl, create mould in the middle, and put yeast into the mould 77 + Add just enough water to fill the mould and wait until the yeast starts bubbling (~10 min) 78 + Add salt, all seeds, and the rest of the water, and knead well for 5-10 minutes 79 + Let it sit for 60 minutes, covered with a towel or something of that sort 80 + Knead dough again, put it into bread baking form, and let it sit for about 30 minutes 81 + Optionally use water to smooth the outside of the loaf 82 + Put into oven and bake at 200 C for 60 minutes 83 + Take bread out of form and bake for another 10 minutes 84 + Note: it is possible to make the bread a bit softer by placing a small metal bowl filled with 85 water in the bottom of the oven while the bread is baking 86 87 #### Lebkuchen 88 89 Images: 90 [Chocolate glazing](images/lebkuchen_chocolate.jpg) 91 [Chocolate glazing (cut)](images/lebkuchen_chocolate_pieces.jpg) 92 [Sugar glazing](images/lebkuchen_glazed.jpg) 93 94 - Ingredients 95 + 250g honey 96 + 250g sugar 97 + 2 eggs 98 + 500g flour 99 + ~1 1/2 tsp (5g) "Hirschhornsalz" (Baker's ammonia/Ammonium carbonate) 100 + 2 Tbsp Lebkuchen Spice 101 + Chocolate or other glazing 102 - Instructions 103 + Heat honey in small pot 104 + Add sugar and keep heating until it has dissolved 105 + Leave to cool 106 + Combine with 375g flour, eggs, and spice 107 + Leave to rest in a cool place for one day 108 + Add remaining 125g of flour and Hirschhornsalz 109 + Spread fairly thin on greased baking tray (<1cm thick, maybe around 0.5cm) 110 + Bake at 180 C until it has turned nicely brown (~10-20 min) 111 + Leave to cool, then add whatever glazing you want 112 + Notes 113 * Add the honey-sugar mixture to the flour before it has cooled completely, or it will 114 be almost impossible to get out of the pot 115 * Apparently, it also works with other leavening agents, but I used Hirschhornsalz 116 since that's what's usually used 117 * If the glazing is not chocolate but some sort of sugar mixture, add it when the 118 Lebkuchen is still hot so it dries 119 * You can also add nuts to it. Let your imagination run free, at least within bounds. 120 * The dough is really sticky and difficult to work with. When spreading it onto a 121 tray, I always dip my hands in water before so it doesn't stick as much, and I just 122 spread it with my fingers instead of trying to use a rolling pin. 123 124 #### Elisenlebkuchen 125 126 Images: 127 [Chocolate glazing](images/elisenlebkuchen_chocolate.jpg) 128 [No glazing](images/elisenlebkuchen_unglazed.jpg) 129 130 - Ingredients 131 + 2 eggs 132 + 50g sugar 133 + 125g honey 134 + 4-5 tsp Lebkuchen spice 135 + 200g ground almonds 136 + 200g ground hazelnuts 137 + 50g candied lemon peel 138 + 50g candied orange peel 139 + 3/8 tsp Hirschhornsalz 140 + 1/4 tsp salt 141 - Instructions 142 + Mix almonds, hazelnuts, spice, and Hirschhornsalz together and set aside 143 + Beat eggs, sugar, and salt until the mixture is fluffy 144 + Add honey, candied lemon peel, and candied orange peel and mix well 145 * Note: you're not supposed to mix it too much to preserve the fluff, but sometimes it's 146 quite difficult to get the honey and candied peels mixed properly otherwise 147 + Mix in nut mixture 148 + Create patties about 7cm in diameter and 0.5-1cm thick on a tray 149 * Note: it is easiest to form them properly with wet fingers 150 + Leave on tray for at least 1 hour (ideally overnight) 151 + Bake at 150 C for 20-25 minutes, until they are light brown 152 * Warning: watch them carefully, they burn quite easily 153 + Glaze with chocolate or other glazing 154 + Notes 155 * Usually, these are made on top of "Backoblaten" (thin wafer papers for baking), but 156 I am not a huge fan of those 157 158 #### Whole Grain Rye Sourdough (Initial Creation) 159 160 Image: 161 [Sourdough](images/sourdough.jpg) 162 163 - Ingredients 164 + 500g whole grain rye flour 165 + 500mL water 166 - Instructions 167 + Mix 100g flour with 100mL lukewarm water 168 + Leave for 12 hours in a warm place 169 + Stir well 170 + Leave for another 12 hours in a warm place 171 + Add 100g flour and 100mL lukewarm water and repeat the other steps 172 + Repeat this 3-5 times, the dough should then be ready to use 173 + Notes 174 * The sour/fermented smell is normal, but make sure that the dough doesn't turn green 175 or some other weird color because that means something went wrong 176 177 #### Whole Grain Rye Sourdough (With Sourdough Starter) 178 - Ingredients 179 + 250g whole grain rye flour 180 + 250mL lukewarm water 181 + Several tablespoons sourdough starter 182 - Instructions 183 + Mix all ingredients well 184 + Cover loosely with lid and leave to rest in a warm place for 12 hours 185 186 #### Whole Grain Rye Bread 187 188 Image: 189 [Whole Grain Rye Bread](images/sourdough_rye_bread.jpg) 190 191 - Ingredients 192 + 500g sourdough 193 + 500g whole grain rye flour 194 + ~250mL lukewarm water 195 + 2 tsp salt 196 - Instructions 197 + Mix all ingredients and knead well 198 + Fill into bread baking form and leave in a warm place for 12 hours, covered with a cloth 199 * Note: it is best to smoothe the top using wet fingers 200 + Place a small bowl of water in the oven to create steam 201 + Bake at 250 C for 10 minutes 202 + Bake at 200 C for 40 minutes 203 + Remove from form and continue baking for 5-10 minutes 204 + Notes 205 * Always remember to keep a few tablespoons of sourdough for the next time 206 207 #### Low-Carb Bread 208 - Ingredients 209 + 150g yoghurt 210 + 4 eggs 211 + 100g linseeds or linseed flour 212 + 50g sesame seeds or flour 213 + 50g sunflower seeds 214 + 50g almonds or almond flour 215 + 1 pack (16g) baking powder 216 + 1/2-3/4 tsp salt 217 - Instructions 218 + If using whole linseeds, sesame seeds, or almonds, turn them into flour 219 first with e.g. a coffee grinder 220 + Beat eggs in a bowl 221 + Add other ingredients and mix well 222 + Fill into greased bread baking form 223 + Bake for 50 minutes at 150 C 224 + Remove from form and leave on grate in oven with oven door slightly open, 225 until it has cooled (this helps the other sides dry a bit) 226 227 #### Whole Grain Buns (well, except for the potatoes...) 228 229 Images: 230 [Whole](images/whole_grain_buns.jpg) 231 [Cut](images/whole_grain_buns_cut.jpg) 232 233 - Ingredients 234 + 400g boiled, grated potatoes 235 + 300g whole wheat flour 236 + 300g whole grain shredded rye (or just more flour) 237 + 100g shredded flaxseed 238 + 400-500 mL lukewarm water 239 + 2 tsp salt 240 + 1 tsp yeast 241 - Instructions 242 + Mix water and yeast and set aside 243 + Mix all other ingredients in a bowl 244 + When the yeast has dissolved in the water, add it to the bowl and mix/knead well 245 + Cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rise for ~8 hours, pushing 246 it down occasionally (I just let it rise for most of the day or overnight) 247 + Form the dough into buns (~15) and set them on one or two greased baking trays 248 * Note that this dough is fairly sticky so it helps to always wet your hands 249 after forming a few buns 250 + Cover the trays with towels and let the buns rise for ~2 hours 251 + Bake the buns at 200 C for 30 minutes 252 + Notes 253 * This can also be put into a bread baking form and baked like regular bread. 254 * I originally made these buns with 700 mL of water, but when I made them again 255 and let the dough rise overnight, they because quite soft even with only 256 500 mL. Just start with under 500 mL of water (much less if you boil your 257 potatoes instead of pressure-cooking them), and then work your way up until 258 the dough doesn't seem to be too wet. 259 260 #### Potato Bread 261 262 Images: 263 [Whole](images/potato_bread.jpg) 264 [Cut](images/potato_bread_cut.jpg) 265 266 - Ingredients 267 + 600g boiled, grated potatoes 268 + 300g whole wheat flour 269 + 300g whole grain rye flour 270 + 500 mL lukewarm water 271 + 2 tsp salt 272 + 1 tsp yeast 273 - Instructions 274 + Mix water and yeast and set aside 275 + Mix all other ingredients in a bowl 276 + When the yeast has dissolved in the water, add it to the bowl and mix well 277 (I don't really knead it because the dough is fairly wet) 278 ([Image](images/potato_bread_dough.jpg)) 279 + Cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rise for 5 hours 280 + Fill into greased bread baking form (or two), optionally smoothing the surface with 281 wet fingers, cover and let rise for 4-5 more hours 282 + Bake for 1 hour at 200 C 283 + Notes 284 * Since this is a very wet dough, don't put a bowl with extra water 285 into the oven and maybe keep baking the bread without the form for a bit 286 if it isn't done properly after an hour. 287 * This bread is very moist and spongy. 288 * You may need to reduce the amount of water if it turns out too wet.