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Tag: Baking

Baking with Sprouted Wheat Flour

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee

Have you tried baking with sprouted wheat flour? Here are some tips from the Home Baking Association and Chef Stephanie Peterson.

  • Knead longer or add gluten. Sprouted wheat flour is a bit lower in gluten content. Knead dough longer or add extra vital wheat gluten.
  • Use shorter fermentation time. While long fermentation gives more flavor and character, sprouted wheat flour will not raise as much.
  • Cup for cup. Measure sprouted flour as traditional flour.
  • Avoid rancidity. Store in a cool, dry, dark location, or even in the freezer.
  • Food Safety. This is a raw flour just like all other flours. Wash your hands and clean equipment and surfaces well.

Learn more from the Home Baking Association at https://bit.ly/33odEly.

 

Honey as a Sugar Substitute

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee

Honey is a sweet treasure from Mother Nature. To use it in cooking and baking in place of sugar can take some practice. Here are some tips to achieve success.

  • For baking, start with recipes written specifically for honey instead of sugar.
  • For each cup of honey used to replace sugar, decrease the other recipe liquids by ¼ of a cup.
  • To make measuring and the pouring of honey easier, coat the inside of a measuring cup with a thin layer of cooking oil or water.
  • Honey is acidic (pH 3.70-4.20) and sugar is neutral (pH 7.0). To counteract the acidity of honey, add ½ teaspoon of baking soda for each cup of honey used in the recipe.
  • When substituting sugar with honey in baked foods, decrease the oven temperature by 25 degrees. Honey tends to make the product brown (burn) at higher temperatures.

Sources: http://ucfoodsafety.ucdavis.edu/files/279185.pdf and https://bit.ly/2El7NVb

 

National Festival of Breads—a Recap

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee

The 2019 National Festival of Breads is in the books! It was a great event with eight great contestants, many fun and educational speakers, and much more.

This year, there were two divisions, one for home bakers and one for food bloggers. The home baker division winner was RaChelle Hubsmith with her Chai Ube Rosette Rolls. The food blogger division winner was Merry Graham with her Blackberry Ginger Speculaas Danish Wreath.

All eight recipes are now available at http://nationalfestivalofbreads.com/recipes/2019-nfob-finalists-recipes-0.

Fire up your ovens and bake!

Many more recipes are available at http://nationalfestivalofbreads.com/recipes

 

What is Osmotolerant Yeast?

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee

There are several types of yeast to use when making a tasty yeast bread. One that is available to professional bakers is a special strain of yeast that requires less water to do its job. Some yeast bread recipes are high in sugar, low in moisture, and can take longer to rise. The sugar will trap the water which makes it unavailable for the yeast to use.

A special strain of instant yeast, called “osmotolerant,” can help. Osmosis is the phenomenon that helps move water through the cell walls of yeast. In a rich sweet dough, the yeast competes for protein, starch, and sugar to get any water it can. Osmotolerant yeast resists this competition to get to the water and help dough to rise. When compared to active dry yeast, these doughs will use less osmotolerant yeast to get good results.

Source: Understanding Baking, 3rd edition, Joseph Amendola and Nicole Rees

 

 

Mixing Matters

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee
Source: Cook’s Illustrated, October, 2018

How ingredients are mixed together can make or break a successful outcome when baking. Directions are given to combine certain ingredients and should be followed. For example, in making a layer cake, there are two methods, the creaming and reverse-creaming techniques.

The creaming method starts by beating the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. The sugar crystals beat little air pockets into the fat. Then the wet and dry ingredients are added in a dry-wet-dry-wet-dry pattern to reduce gluten development and make a tender cake. During baking the air pockets made during creaming, leaven or lift the cake to give a light airy structure. The top typically has a slight dome.

The reverse-creaming method starts by mixing butter with all of the dry ingredients. The butter fat coats the flour particles making the flour waterproof. The liquid is added but only some flour proteins will get hydrated. This limits gluten development and increases tenderness. Without incorporating air, the cake will be a bit shorter, have a flatter top and will be quite tender. This is better for fancy, multiple layer cakes.

 

HBA Educator Award

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee

Do you teach baking in a classroom or community program?  You may be eligible to WIN $1,000!

Each year the Home Baking Association awards outstanding educators in classrooms and communities who engage individuals, families and communities with the many educational benefits baking provides for personal, family or professional development.

Professionals or adult and youth leaders and volunteers who teach baking skills in classrooms, libraries, public or private organizations, community youth programs, families, and youth teaching peers or younger ages are all eligible.

Registration deadline is March 31, 2019!

Learn more and apply at www.homebaking.org/foreducators/educatoraward.html

 

2019 National Festival of Breads

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee

Save the date! The 2019 National Festival of Breads will be held on June 8, 2019 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Manhattan, KS.

This year, the contest will feature two categories. One is designated for food bloggers who are actively blog about wheat foods and yeast bread. The second category is for home bakers. A new feature this year will be LIVE judging! Come watch the judging process, hear the comments from judges, and find out who wins!

More information about the events that day will be announced soon. Details can be found at http://nationalfestivalofbreads.com or on Facebook @NationalFestivalOfBreads.

 

Evaluating Artisan Bread

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee

Artisan, or hearth, breads have some characteristics that make them unique. Here are some tips to evaluate these breads.

Aspect—Feel the weight, it should be appropriate for its size. Are the cuts on top open to allow expansion? Scoring will dictate the interior structure and visual appearance. The color should be golden, and darkly burnished is not always best.

Crumb Structure—Baguettes will have some marble-sized holes along with smaller holes. The cell walls will look translucent.

Flavor—This is a combination of the crust flavor and interior flavor. One should not overpower the other.

Balance—Sour flavor notes from fermentation should balance with malty notes. Browning from Maillard reactions should be balanced with interior flavors and added ingredients.

Texture—This varies by bread type and is the contrast of the crust and interior. It may be chewy, tender, tender, crispy, moist or dry.

Source: https://bit.ly/2t0IBM7

 

Home Baking Association Educator Award

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee

The Home Baking Association is looking for a winner! It could be you! Each year, they award an “Educator of the Year Award.” So do you teach baking in the classroom or community? You could win $1,000!

Submit a baking lesson or baking community service program or adult or teen leader skill training. Baking community service program may include “Bake for Family Fun” month, Bake and Take Day, bake sales or community service baking programs.

The competition is open to professionals or adult and youth leaders and volunteers. For more information and online application, go to http://homebaking.org/foreducators/educatoraward.html.

Baking with Sprouted Wheat Flour

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee
Sprouted Wheat Bread, Whole Grains Council

If you like to expand your baking by using new ingredients, have you tried sprouted wheat flour? Here are some tips from Pastry Chef Stephanie Petersen, from Panhandle Milling Company, to improve your baking success.

  • Add more gluten or knead the dough more. Sprouted wheat flour has a little less available gluten, so it may take more kneading to develop a good dough. Another option is to add 1-2 teaspoons vital wheat gluten per cup of flour.
  • Shorter fermentation time will give depth of flavor. For traditional long fermented dough, time is needed to develop flavor. Sprouted flour will reduce this time to achieve good volume.
  • Measure sprouted flour cup for cup.
  • Store sprouted flour in a cool, dry, dark, airtight container and use within 12 months. Freeze it to add another six months of storage.

 

Reference to any specific commercial products, process, service, manufacturer, or company does not constitute its endorsement or recommendation. Paid for by Kansas State University