Sunday, August 30, 2009



Baguettes with poolish and levain

I was in major baking overdrive this weekend, baking a total of 10 ciabattas and 6 baguettes over a 2 day period. For the 6 baguettes, I was in a situation where I had a ripe poolish and a starter which was in its first build stage. Since I didn't want all that flour to go to waste, I decided to incorporate both the poolish and levain to make some baguette. The main dough was mixed at midnight and I made the baguettes after I returned from my yoga session.

When it came out of the oven, my wife remarked that it had a very beautiful color. It was a good chance for me to thank my neighbor for his gift of the original Tarragon sprig which has since multiplied. Another loaf went to my French neighbor. I hope the bread was good enough him. After all, he must grown up eating really good authentic French bread in France.

Saturday, August 01, 2009








Walnut Raisin Bread

It's been some time since I made some fruit and nut bread.  I thought I'd do some bread but with a twist. The bread was a gift to a friend who invited me to lunch and since I was going to give him one of my infamous hard stony bread, I thought I had better balance it with something softer and sweeter. I hope he and his children will enjoy it. At the same time, I want to bake something softer for my father who has a problem eating the hard bread that I bake.

I settled for walnut raisin based on Hamelman's Pullman bread but tweaked the hydration for the additional walnuts and raisin. 

 Staple Walnut Bread 1kg All purpose flour 800g Water 3 tsp salt 3 tsp yeast Bowl of walnuts Makes two large loaves Mix dry ingredients and ...