Category Archives: baking

Oranges, lemons and limes

Posted on 12 May 2013 by

It’s been a busy time around here, but also filled with abundant surprises. This is a picture of a small lemon tree that stands in a barrel at the end of the garden. The lemon tree struggles a bit: I … Continue reading →

Posted in baking, family and friends, growing stuff | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Challah

Posted on 24 March 2012 by

Last week, the bakery boys let me make a dozen or so challahs in their bakery. Which was fun (and nervewracking) but also a big learning curve: doughs do different things when you’re mixing them in a giant mixer, proofing … Continue reading →

Posted in baking | Leave a comment

Potato bread, and a lovely soup

Posted on 13 January 2012 by

My potato bread for the ITJB challenge came out so unphotogenic that I can’t show you the loaves here. It would just be mean and unfair on them. They’re sweet and chewy and light, all the lovely things that potato … Continue reading →

Posted in baking, cooking, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

ITJB: Honey-wholewheat challah

Posted on 13 January 2012 by

(Warning: technical baking-geek post). I bake challah pretty regularly and I’ve been meaning to try it out with a pre-ferment, so that’s what I did when I made the honey-wholewheat challah for the In The Jewish Bakery challenge. I find … Continue reading →

Posted in baking | Tagged | Leave a comment

Florentines

Posted on 9 January 2012 by

Unsurprisingly, I’ve never hosted Christmas before. So 2011 was a first. We had a wire-sculpture little tree with some tinsel piled on top like a gold Afro, and a waxen Buddha and a picture of Channukah candles, just to even … Continue reading →

Posted in baking, family and friends | Leave a comment

Mohn bars

Posted on 24 December 2011 by

Some bakers over at http://www.freshloaf.com are running a baking challenge from the lovely book, Inside the Jewish Bakery. I started a bit late as my book took a while to arrive from Amazon.com. But arrive it did, and the first … Continue reading →

Posted in baking | 4 Comments

Photos from a weekend of artisanal breadmaking, île de Pain, Knysna

Posted on 1 November 2011 by
Posted in baking | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Ciabatta love

Posted on 29 June 2011 by

After many attempts, this was the first time I started to get a hint of what Peter Reinhart was talking about when he talks about the addictive qualities of a ‘sweet creamy crumb’ and a ‘long nutty finish’ in a … Continue reading →

Posted in baking | Leave a comment

Breadmaking diaries: Bâtards

Posted on 24 May 2011 by

I haven’t quite gotten the hang of Peter Reinhart’s idea that you can ferment dough very slowly – as in overnight. When I try do overnight proofing in the fridge (aka retarding the dough), I consistently get overproofed dough. Overproofed … Continue reading →

Posted in baking, family and friends, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Breadmaking diaries 2

Posted on 13 May 2011 by

Update: Can’t believe I forgot to slash the loaves again. But I think this was my first success with fridge-retarded dough: made it on Wednesday and baked today (though left shaping for last). The amount of dough was so small … Continue reading →

Posted in baking | 1 Comment