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More pumkin recipes, like I said, that was a "big" can of pumpkin puree.

The idea of this bread came from here, I used same dough, but added a lot more pumpkin (so the dough was very wet), and kneaded thoroughly to get a windowpane, which means the final bread was fluffy and light.

Note: The following amount fits a 10inch bount pan

bread flour+AP flour, 420g (about half/half)
brown sugar, 50g
salt, 6g
instant yeast, 4g
milk, 147g
pumpkin puree, 160-260g (I used 260g, it's a very wet dough, need patience and skill to knead well)
egg, 55g
vegetable oil, 15g
ginger powder, 1/4tsp
cardamom, 1/4tsp
coating, melted butter, 90g
topping, 100g brown sugar + 100g sugar + 2tsp cinnamon + pinch of nutmeg, well mixed
filling, cream cheese 80z + 100g sugar + 1tsp cinnamon, soften then mix well

1. Mix everything together other than coating, topping, filling, autolyse, knead until pass windowpane

2. Bulk rise until double, about 1.5 hr at room temp
3. Punch down, roll out into 12X12inch square, cut into 36 parts, divide filling equally on each little square

4. wrape each square of dough around filling, roll in coating first, then roll in topping, put in an oiled bount pan.

5. Rise and room temp until double, about 60min
6. Bake at 375F for about 45min.

Hard to say whether it's bread or dessert

A crowd pleaser that's easy to make

------------------- cake cake cake --------------------

Still had pumkin left, as well as that 16 egg whites left over from that sourdough panettone, so I made pumkin financier cupcake. The original recipe is from Sherry Yard's "The Secrets of Baking", but you can find it online here. I made them into about 20 cupcakes rather than one 10inch cake, and decoreated with maple creamcheese icing (recipe here).

Fragrant with brown butter and almond meal, and full of fall flavors.

Makes a great goodbye gift for the neighbors.

-------------- STILL got pumpkin left! ----------------

Believe it or not, that can of pumpkin was neverending. So here's some pumpking risotto with shrimp.

Yeah, after that, it's finally gone, thank goodness.

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I have been baking more, not less, even with all the craziness of a cross country move. The reason is simple: we are driving to Seattle, must use up perishable ingredients. However, time is tight, so I haven't had a chance to post all my baking, trying to catch up here.

Got a big can of pumpkin puree open, so here's a batch of sourdough bagel based one lumos's formula a while ago. I used pumpkin puree as part of liquid, and cornmeal instead of ww, some cranbrrries thrown in for flavor and texture. Very yummy.

The original formula is here, and my modification:
1)120g of cornmeal for that 120g of wholemeal flour in final dough
2)240g of pumpkin puree + 90g of water to replace the water in final dough
3)240g of cranberries mixed in at the final stage of kneading

Still used lye to boil them, hence the great color. See here and here for more details about my lye bagels. Cornmeal gives a nice texture, while pumkin lends a great golden color. Chewy and sweet and delicious.

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It's that time of the year again -- when I sacrafice sleep in honor of holiday spirit. Starting early this year since I am moving soon, and sourdough panettone makes a great goodbye gift. This recipe is from here: 53% butter, 36% sugar, and 50% egg yolks (that's 16 yolks for 2 loaves my friends, as I was seperating them, I was praying the breads would work out, I really would like NOT waste a whole case of eggs for nothing!)! It's rich, it's light as air, it's melt in your mouth, I am pretty sure my friends will remember me for a looooong time! I follow the recipe closely with the following notes:

- Yes, the link is in Italian, this is where we put Google Translate in good use.
- Instead of sultanas and candied fruits, I got inspired and add candied chestnuts. Recipe can be found here. Yes, it takes 4+ days to make, but hey, with this sourdough panettone thing, one should just ignore time spent, money spent, or fat/cholesterol content. :P I didn't make quite enough, so my add-in ingredients was 87.5% of what the formula specified for both sultanas and candied fruits, making the final loaves slightly lighter (but definitely not smaller, see below).
- I made 2/5 of the formla, which means I got 2 big loaves. If I had divided the dough evenly, each should be 1040g, perfect for the paper case. However, one loaf was a gift, the other was for ourselves, so I put 1100g in the gift case, only 980g in the other. From last years experience, I thought 1100g would fit, but OMG, this formula is much richer, which means the dough rose much higher. As you can see below, the 980g looks perfect, the 1100g one was threatening to spill over! Oh well, my friend had no objection with some extra yummy bread.

-Key #1 for a successful sourdough panettone, especially such a rich one, is an active Italian mother starter. I first kept my 100% liquid starter at room temp for 2 days (feeding everything 12 hours), then converted to 50% firm starter (20g 100% starter +20g Bread Flour+5g water), then keep it at 85F and feed it every 4 hours with following ratio: (starter: flour: water = 1:1:0.5). Did this for 48 hours, the starter more than tripled between each feeding.
-Key #2 for a successful sourdough panettone is a thorogh kneading. For the first dough, butter must be added little by little after the dough as come together, then I kneaded until the dough came together again and cleared most of the mixing bowl (no need for windowpane). Be careful not to overknead, with so much yolks and butter, it's easy to overknead. However, be sure not to underknead, otherwise, the 2nd dough would be much harder to knead. The following is first dough after kneading:

For 2nd dough, butter must be added little by little AFTER the dough has come together and clear the bowl. After butter is added, the dough must be kneaded until you can get a thin but strong windowpane. The dough literally felt like liquid silk, draping down from my hands.

-Unlike last year, the dough rose right on schedule this time, indicating an active starter and good kneading. After 5 hours at 30C, the dough came to the rim of the case. The chocolate glaze recipe I used was from AB&P.

- I hung the loaves upside down between stacks of books for 5 hours after baking.

- For my last years panettone post please click here, it also includes info on the paper case.

Definitely richer and lighter than last year's version

Shredding...the texture is literally like air, the flavor on the other hand, hits like a rock! If I can get my new kitchen in order before Christmas, I am sure I will make more of these.

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We are moving! New job awaits in Seattle, we are packing up everything (including my baking stone and 10+ different kinds of flour), selling the house, leaving town in less than 10 days. I am excited for the new beginning, but, can I still keep the name "TxFarmer" now that I am not living in TX, and our new home will be in downtown Seattle? :P

With the pending move, I am trying my best to use up ingredients, a good chunk of my grain supply went into this bread. The formula is from Hamelman's "Bread", but I increased hydration a tiny bit (trust me, it's still a dryer dough), and left out the instant yeast.

Note: makes one 550g loaf

- levain
bread flour 54g
water 69g
starer (100%) 10g

1. Mix and let rise at room temp for 12 hours.

- soaker
grains 85g
water 98g

2. Mix and soak overnight

- final dough
bread flour 173
whole wheat flour 227g
water 205g
salt 10g
honey 14g
soaker all
levain 122g

3. Mix everything but salt autolyse for 20 to 60min, add salt, mix @ medium speed for 3-4 min until gluten starts to develope.
4. Bulk rise at room temp (~75F) for about 3hrs. S&F at 50, 100, 150min.
5. Shape into boule, put in basketes smooth side down, put in fridge over night.
6. Next morning take the dough out to finish proofing, about 100min for me. Score.

7. Bake at 460F with steam for the first 15min, take out the pan with water, keep baking @450F for another 30min.

Awesome ovenspring.

Pretty open crumb for such a dry dough with 50%ww and so much grains. For the grain blend, I used oats, rye flakes, cornmeal, flaxmeal, and cracked wheat,  complemented by rich ww taste, creating a flavorful loaf.

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The first time I attempted to bake bread in a cast iron pot (here), I burned my fingers so bad that some finger prints were lost for good. Since then I have tried a few more time, like anything, it's about figuring out a good process and stick with it. I can now do "cast iron pot bakeing" quite safely.

This particular formula has two of my favorite salad ingredients: spinach and feta. To control moisture, I stired fried spinach until soft, squeezed out liquids before putting them in the dough. The slighter larger batard was baked in a covered cast iron pot, while the smaller trangle one was baked on the stone alongside, both turned out well with good ovenspring.

Light Rye With Granola

- levain
whole rye, 81g
water, 65g
rye starter (100%), 9g

1. Mix and let rise 12-16hours.

- final dough
bread flour, 485g
salt, 11g
raw spinach, 114g, stir fried in a little oil until soft, pat dry on a paper towel

feta cheese, 143g, crumbled
water, 316g
all levain

2. Mix levain, flour, and water, autolyse for 20 to 60min, add salt, mix @ medium speed for 3-4 min until gluten starts to develope. Add spinach and feta, mix @ slow speed until evenly distributed.
3. Bulk rise at room temp (~75F) for about 2.5hrs. S&F at 30, 60, 90min.
4. Divide dough into two portions: 650g and 550g, shape into batard and boule, put in basketes smooth side down, put in fridge over night.
5. Next morning take the dough out to finish proofing, about 100min for me. Score.
6. Bake at 450F with steam(either put in preheated cast iron pot and cover with lid, or put dough on preheated baking stone and pour water in another cast iron pan to create steam) for the first 20min, take away cast iron pot lid or take out the pan with water, keep baking for another 25min. Turn off oven and crack the door open a bit, and leave the breads inside for 10min before taking out.

Good volume with nice score and ear.

Crumb is surprisingly open for a 68% hydrated dough

Love those big chunks of cheese, great flavor from the combo of feta, spinach, and rye. A full meal right there.

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I have been experimenting with using rye flour in croissants. To get maximum rye flavor, I at first tried to use rye starter, but the dough became too acidic that the croissants didn't have sufficient rise in the oven, which leads to sub-par crumb. I then tried to make a levain with white starter and rye flour, the rise was better, still not satisfactory. Finally I gave up, substiuted ww with rye in this formula, there's 20% of rye, all in the final dough, leads to a noticable rye flavor yet still keep good gluten strength. I am not going to copy it here again, please click here for formula (just replace ww with equal amount of rye and increase hydration if necessary).

Good even honeycomb crumb structure with good expansion

I roll the dough out pretty thin so the holes are fairly small, but I am glad that the walls are all fairly thin/transparent, showing no sigh of butter leaking and dough layers stuck together

After the successful batch, I decided to try a variation I saw a while ago: before the third(and last) fold, spread a crazy amount of shredded cheese (I used provolone, 42% of total flour) and bacon bits (without frying, 47% of total flour weight) on 2/3 of dough

Do the book fold as usual (the third and last one)

After relaxing in fridge for 2 hours, roll out as usual, cut and shape. Proofing and baking time/temp should be as the same as before. See the bacon bits on crust?

That crazy amount of cheese and bacon would certainly affect crumb structure - sticky melted cheese and bacon would make layers stick and create uneven holes, but OMG, the flavor! Bacon, Provolone cheese, all that roll in butter act together to create this insanely delicious treat. There's no doubt that it's sinfully unhealthy. The smell alone from the oven makes my arteries hurt, but trust me, it's a small price to pay!

I devoured 4 after baking these, and I don't regret one bit.

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Note: 19% of the flour is in levain

Note: total flour is 250g, fit my Chinese small-ish pullman pan. For 8X4 US loaf tin, I suggest to use about 270g of total flour. For KAF 13X4X4 pullman pan, I would suggest using about 430g of total flour.

- levain

starter (100%), 13g

water, 22g

bread flour, 41g

1. Mix and let fermentation at room temp (73F) for 12 hours.

- Final Dough
bread flour, 203g
sugar, 10g
salt, 5g
butter, 15g, softened
powdered milk, 13g
milk, 50g
water, 107g
sesame, 35g
levain, all

1. Mix everything until stage 3 of windowpane (-30sec), see this post for details.

2. Rise at room temp for 2 hours, punch down, put in fridge overnight.

3. Takeout, divide, round, rest for 1 hour. shape as instructed here for sandwich loaf.

4. rise at room temp for about 5 hours. For my pullman pan, it should be about 80% full; for US 8x4inch pan, it should be about one inch above the edge. The dough would have tripled by then, if it can't, your kneading is not enough or over.

5. Bake at 375F for 45min, brush with butter when warm.

This time I opted to use the pullman pan lid to create a flat top loaf.

According to my Japanese baking books, flat top pullman loaves should NOT have sharp corners and edges, instead, they should have round smooth edges. In order to achieve that, don't let the dough proof too close to the top, 80% full is the max. If you let it proof too long, you will not only have sharp edges, the crumb would also be uneven.

Sesame brings so much fragrance to any baked goods, this bread is no exception. Plus it's velvety soft.

-------------

I also made honey sesame cupcake following this recipe.

There is tahini (sesame paste) as well as toasted sesame in the cake, great flavor. Next time I will use cake flour intead of AP to make the cake lighter, less muffin like.

The cream cheese icing is the bomb! Honey and tahini and sesame seeds go so well together. Don't skip it. In fact I made extra to just lick off!

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Still making baguettes every weekend, with random "what's in the cupboard/fridge variations".

1) With semolina flour

AP Flour, 350g

Semolina Flour, 75g

ice water, 320g

salt, 10g

starter (100%) 150g

-Mix flour, ice water and autolyse for 12 hours.

-Mix in salt, starte, then follow the basic 36 hour sourdough baguette formula here.

My semolina flour absorbs quite a bit of water, so I kept the dough fairly wet. Nice crumb, with gold color and good chew.

2. With prosciutto, yum!

Sticky proscioutto does affect the crumb negatively, but for the awesome taste, it's worthwhile.

AP Flour, 425g

ce water, 320g

salt, 10g

rye starter (100%) 150g

proscioutto, 100g, diced

-Mix flour, ice water and autolyse for 12 hours.

-Mix in salt, rye starter, and proscioutto pieces, then follow the basic 36 hour sourdough baguette formula here.

3. With caramelized onion

AP Flour, 425g

ce water, 315g

salt, 10g

rye starter (100%) 150g

caramelized onion, 80g, diced

-Mix flour, ice water and autolyse for 12 hours.

-Mix in salt, rye starter, and caramelized onion, then follow the basic 36 hour sourdough baguette formula here.

Onion pieces are peeking out, these baguettes are full of the frangrant flavor and smell of caramelized onion.

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This recipe was by Lumos, and was featured on TFL front page a while ago. I stuck pretty close to the original, with the following notes:

1) I used Sir Lancelot High Gluten Flour. I am a firm believer that you can't make good bagels without high gluten flour.

2) I used lye to boil the bagels. I like the unique flavor and texture of crust on lye pretzels, to boil bagels in lye bring the best of two breads together IMO. See here and here for more details about my lye bagels.

Nice tight crumb, and I love the extra flavor ww flour brings in.

This time I kept it simple, but I certainly will try other flavor variations.

Thanks Lumos for a great recipe!

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After a long summer of record high temperatures, I am so very ready for fall. Fresh figs in store, that's surely a sign of good things to come right? Like double digit "cool" weather? No matter how hot it is, I know fig season is fleeting, better hurry up and make the best of them.

First some fig jam.

Then a fragipane fig tart with pine nut crust.

Finally with the last 8 figs I have on hand, and that delicious fig jam, I made some bread rolls.

Note: makes 8 bread rolls

Note: total flour is 250g

- levain

starter (100%), 13g

water, 22g

bread flour, 41g

1. Mix and let fermentation at room temp (73F) for 12 hours.

- Final Dough
bread flour, 203g
sugar, 10g
salt, 5g
butter, 15g, softened
powdered milk, 13g
milk, 50g
water, 107g
levain, all
fresh fig, 8
fig jam, some

1. Mix everything but fig and fig jam until stage 3 of windowpane (-30sec), see this post for details.
2. Rise at room temp for 2 hours, punch down, put in fridge overnight.
3. Takeout, round, rest for 1 hour.
4. Roll out into 10X12inch rectangle, cut into 8 stripes along the short side, each is 10X1.5inch. For each stripe of dough, spread fig jam, then roll up with a fresh fig in the middle. The fig in the middle can be left whole, or peeled, or cut and put into patterns.



4. rise at room temp for about 5 hours. The dough would have double or even tripled by then, if it can't, your kneading is not enough or over.

5. Bake at 400F for about 25min.

Soft and fluffy bread dough matches well with the clean sweet taste of fresh fig.

I don't like it too sweet, so the amount of fig jam in the rolls was pretty modest. I figure that I can always add more jam when I eat it.