Believe it or not, baking challenges from GCBS are not the only thing happening in my kitchen at any given time. Here on the proving ground I will leave notes, pics, and miscellaneous commentary about other bakes I am working on. It’s like a blog within a blog! A snack size blog, if you will.
Proving Ground Bake #13: Spooky Season is Upon Us
I took advantage of the (Canadian) Thanksgiving long weekend to make some cute cookies and put up my Halloween decorations.
I am getting better at royal icing floods. I know most people who do this all the time prefer disposable piping bags, which I just can not bring myself to use. I can see the advantages though because changing out tips on a reusable bag can cause the icing to dry out a bit in and around the tip which makes it harder to do clean line work.
With that being said, I think with some more dedicated practice and some little tweaks to how I am working, I could get these up to the standard I aspire to.
I also made focaccia for the first time ever over the long weekend. I topped mine with goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes. I totally understand why highly decorative focaccia is a current baking trend because this was just delightful to put together.
I just love a great bread dipped in a high quality EVOO, so I made mine extra oily and it was fantastic. Looking forward to playing around with the different variations and trying to design some pretty ones in the future.
Proving Ground Bake #12: Return to the Test Kitchen
It’s been a minute since I did a Proving Ground post, so let’s do a quick sweep of some of the shenanigans I got up to this summer.
First off, I created recipes for these two cakes: A double chocolate loaf and an instant spice cake. One of my very dear friends runs a gorgeous agri-tourism site in Italy and I owe her a lifetime of favours. (Side note: here is a link to her stunning little corner of the world, do give it a look) She asked me to develop an instant cake recipe she can serve to her guests and I came up with this little spice cake formula that she can use to batch into jars of dry ingredients in advance and then add wet ingredients when she’s ready to bake. An at home box mix, if you will. My test bake turned out just fine and she said her version of my recipe was well received, so a success all around!
I used both of these cakes to make a miniature tiered cake for my BFF’s birthday, so this was a bake wholly blessed with deep love I have for my closest friends, and that is where the real magic of the baking gods resides.
My sourdough game stays strong, here is a loaf I did at some point over the summer.
And more recently, I made this batch of cinnamon rolls. I have been trying to find the perfect dough thickness for these to get them the exact size I want. I have been using the BBA recipe to make the dough but I have been experimenting with the roll out and assembly. I almost have them where I want them.
I topped this batch with lemon cream cheese icing. I might have gone a little heavy handed with the lemon, which I like, but probably isn’t the best choice for feeding a crowd.
Proving Ground Bake #11: Tooling Around
This week I was struck with the idea to put the creamsicle concept into cupcake form. I am surely not the first to do this, and I won’t be the last, but mine turned out pretty decent, if I do say so myself.
I made vanilla cupcakes with orange juice and sour cream to make them super moist. I decorated them with a basic white buttercream enhanced with artificial orange-cream flavouring. Then I dipped them in tinted modelling chocolate. I was hoping to do more of a dipped chocolate cone from Dairy Queen effect, but I think I would have had to freeze them completely after they were iced to get that effect and I didn’t have time. An idea to keep for another day.
I also tried to make a loaf of white sandwich bread flavoured with Everything Bagel seasoning that totally bombed. The problem is I decided to add the bagel seasoning at the last minute after I already started mixing, and I should have reduced the salt to offset the salt in the seasoning. This made my dough a little too stiff and it lacked structural integrity. It wasn’t show stopper, but I also made a mis-step with my oven temp and time. I actually had friends over for the first time in many months as my region has only recently relaxed covid restrictions and I had been partying cooking all afternoon and I just totally botched the bake. It was wayyy undercooked and doughy and just went straight in the bend. A shame, but I know where I went wrong, and I make no apologies for seeing my BFF for the first time in person since December. If one loaf of bread was a casualty, so be it
Proving Ground Bake #10: Mediocre Test Bakes
This week I decided to brush up on flood style cookie decorating, which is something I understand in theory, but have never really practiced. I know the basics of royal icing decorating, but I have more practice doing buttercream (this is entirely due to my hatred of cookies, which is well documented here at Baking Summit).
These ones look like crap but I figured out what I needed to know. So I bought a cute little matching set of theme cutters which I will reveal once I have worked with them. Side note: cookie hatred is still a thing. It took me 3 days to finish these just because I didn’t want to work on them, which is not really my MO.
And I got so lazy by the end of it because I learned what I wanted to so I concluded the exercise mentally before I was finished. No matter! Sprinkles cover all manner of sins and they were delicious and well received at work.
I also decided to try the Anadama formula from Bread Baker’s Apprentice. I wanted to do something from the book that I hadn’t tried before. This loaf appealed to me because it called for some things from the pantry that I don’t use up quickly, so it’s good when I can work them into something I would otherwise be making anyway.
Specifically, it called for corn meal and molasses. I rarely use molasses, but I had some leftover from when I made Pretzels for the blog. I had never heard of Anadama Bread before. It is a relatively modern sandwich bread method originating from the early British Colonies in the US. I am not sure if I have ever eaten Anadama bread before, so I’m not totally sure how it’s supposed to come out.
Mine was ok, but I somehow managed to forget to add the molasses EVEN THOUGH THAT’S THE REASON I PICKED THE RECIPE IN THE FIRST PLACE. I’m a champ. I was left with a perfectly serviceable sandwich loaf, but it was bland and a little flat without the molasses. I found it tasted better after about 24 hours at room temp, so that was interesting.
Proving Ground Bake #9: Reviving Sourdough and Black Cocoa Cupcakes
Teaser: my re-watch of GCBS before starting this week’s bake also inspired me to revive my sourdough starter after approximately a month of sitting dormant in the fridge. One of the contestants mentioned how old his starter is and how he named it. And I thought well, I should pull my starter out and if it’s still vital after a month off, I will give it a name! And see if I can keep it going long term! I would like to have an aged starter, but I haven’t been good about keeping it up long term. So, we will see how that goes LOL but in the meantime, allow me to introduce Nora, the sourdough starter.
Let me tell you about her. I think Nora is about 3 months old? Less than 6 months for sure. Nora was started with 100% whole wheat bread flour, then fed for 4 days with unbleached white bread flour. Since then, she has been fed with only 100% whole wheat bread flour. Trying different flours to feed Nora is on my list of experiments to try in the next year.
Anyway, I took advantage of the four day weekend we had here and fed Nora Saturday morning. There was some vitality in 12 hours but not as much as I wanted to see. I fed again at 24hours and waited. Nora puffed up nicely and I knew she was ready so I made the firm starter for my loaf (basic sourdough recipe from BBA). I did 6 hours proof at room temp and then overnight in the fridge.
After completing my stretch and folds (you can see them on my TikTok, if you want), I left the dough for six more hours before baking in the dutch oven.
Nora rewarded me handsomely. This is easily the best sourdough I have made to date.
I also made a batch of black cocoa cupcakes with chocolate icing to round out the weekend and work on my piping. I seem to have managed to remember how to get my buttercream the right consistency for piping, so that’s half the battle.
Proving Ground Bake #8: Caramelized Onion and Rosemary Olive Oil Bread and Upcycled Breakfast Muffins
This week I was trying to get a little more creative as I continue to learn about the big, wide, world of TikTok (you can follow me @bakingsummit on TikTok and IG, btw). An experience both exhilarating and terrifying. At least my tendency to drift into compulsive baking when I am anxious is helping me come up with some different types of content. Or perhaps that just is what I am telling myself to feel well-adjusted…
I decided to dial up the flavour on my cheddar bread so I added caramelized onion, fresh rosemary, and enriched the dough with a bit of olive oil. The final product was super flavourful and I really liked the crust. The olive oil in the dough gave it a bit more crisp and the whole thing really worked.
I also decided to make a TikTok about how I like to upcycle byproducts from other bakes. I really make every effort to use up everything I can when I bake (and when I cook!). It’s frugal but also a great way to experiment and get creative. If you might have thrown it out anyway, why not make something new with it and see how it turns out? The worst that could happen is you have to throw it out… which would have happened anyway.
nyway, these apple streusel muffins used leftover apples I bought to make the apple butter last week. The jam and egg yolks are leftover from my upcoming technical (spoiler!).
Proving Ground Bake #7: Pain L’Ancienne
This week I made a rustic baguette from the Bread Baker’s Apprentice called Pain L’Ancienne (rough translation: bread of olden/ancient times). This is currently one of my favourite breads to make. The method is adapted from a French baker who uses cold water and a multiple day fermentation to bring out flavour in his baguette. There is a whole backstory to it in BBAand it’s worth checking out if you are a huge bread nerd so inclined.
First off, I am amazed to say I posted this video on tiktok and as of the time of this writing, it has 30K views. What!!!??? I still don’t really know much about tiktok and I have only had an account for a few weeks, so I am amazed and flattered to have this much interest already! Thanks to all of you who have followed and shared my tiktok (@bakingsummit btw)! I am still trying to figure out why some bread vids get traction and others don’t, because I find my tiktoks amazingly boring to watch. It is a strange headspace to be in.
Anyway so that video was filmed after leaving the dough to retard overnight in the fridge. It went into the oven looking like this
and came out like this!
Chewy, crusty, delicious
Proving Ground Bake #5: Piping practice
I got sucked into an Instagram hole recently watching @lizziebakesco (go check her out! She is the real deal!) do flood icing on cookies which is very trendy these days. As we should all know by now, I am not a fan of making cookies, but it got me thinking because I haven’t really worked on my piping in a while.
I figured well, I’m doing this blog anyway so might as well get back into it. Also I like the change of pace when I am working on piping.
To say my baking gets a little COMPULSIVE is probably an understatement, and I have mentioned before that I am an Efficiency QueenTM so when I am on a roll, it turns into a high volume operation very quickly (MORE ON THIS IN MY UPCOMING TECHNICAL BTW).
With decorating, I get to sit down and chill and just be one with the icing, and I need that balance in my life. The point is I decided to make some vanilla cupcakes with cherry filling and get my pipe on.
That being said: OOF. The rust, she is real. Motivation to say the least.
I didn’t even get the buttercream right to begin with, that is how out of practice I am, so expect to see more of this here on the proving ground in weeks to come.
Other goings on included my bread of the week: a simple sandwich loaf but I brought the hydration down a notch for a bit more structural integrity. It was still soft and chewy. Just chasing that ear on one day fermentation…
Finally, I made good use of some leftovers from this week’s technical bake (new post coming soon!). Egg whites got made into simple meringues (a personal favourite of mine and an opportunity to get the bag out again);
chocolate sponge cake trimmings were cut down and topped with chocolate peanut butter icing.
Burnt edges from the stroopwafels also came in handy for this week’s technical, but I’m not going to post any spoilers 😉
Proving Ground Bake #4: Another Cheddar Loaf
I made another extra old cheddar loaf this weekend. Here is a short video showing what I am referring to when I say I did a stretch and fold. This is a method that helps develop long gluten strands that leads to a more chewy loaf.
I made really deep slashes in the top of the loaf. This helped make nice large ears and exposed the cheese which is a great look
The crust was nicely gelatinized and perfectly crispy
Perfect protection for the spongy, bouncy crumb inside
Proving Ground Bake #3: Sourdough and Cream Puffs
I am still puttering away at different ways to make sourdough. This loaf was made from starter fed 1 day before baking. I added a bit more starter to the dough and kept the hydration level a little high. I am trying to get that big pop and ear in the oven.
I have a good handle on the yeast side, now I need to build more structural integrity. I have been doing 3 stretch and folds to work this dough.
I think next time I will try doing more folds over a longer period of time and see what happens. I have also been studying coil folds and other shapings… so we will see how that all comes together as time goes on.
I also made a small batch of cream puffs this weekend. I filled them with pastry cream and dipped them in chocolate. It probably would have been preferable to dip them in chocolate ganache rather than tempered chocolate, but I was just trying to use up stuff I had on hand. Waste not, want not!
Proving Ground Bake #2: Extra Old Cheddar Loaf
This was a basic loaf I did, winging it, because my mother took half of my sourdough home and Dave and I do eat my bread for breakfast most mornings. Although that logic backfired anyway because Dave inhaled this loaf in like three days and I was stuck eating store bought bagels for the rest of the week. My life with a Taurus *sigh*
I made a simple white dough with instant yeast and moderate hydration: tacky but not sticky. I used 3 stretch and folds, incorporated grated extra old white cheddar into the last one and formed into a loaf for final proof.
I baked it in the dutch oven and it ballooned quite a lot. I didn’t quite get the crust and ears that I wanted to see, but this actually made the loaf well suited to its intended purpose as a sandwich bread.
I think I will definitely make this again. Next time I will reduce the hydration slightly and add some high quality olives. And I will probably stash half of it in the freezer so Dave doesn’t find it lol
Proving Ground Bake #1: Whole Wheat Sourdough
This is the basic sourdough recipe from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, which is the best bread resource I know of. I have been keeping my sourdough starter (barm) fed with whole wheat flour and for this particular loaf I also used whole wheat to build the rest of the dough as well. I generally don’t like using all whole wheat in breads. I find it too soft and I can never work it into a good chew. That being said, I am finding that I get the most pop from my sourdough by feeding my starter 1 day before I go into the oven instead of 2 as outlined in BBA.
Here is my very approximate sourdough schedule:
Day 1: Feed barm, ferment room temp minimum 6h, up to 12h; refrigerate 8 to 12h
Day 2: Bring barm to room temp (minimum 1h). Build firm starter. Ferment room temp 4 – 6h. Shape dough. Ferment another 2 – 4h. Bake.
Baking Summit 