Thanks, tried last year the first time for puff pastry, failed miserably, I’ve used a butter that was not dried enough, during baking the butter melted and a mess.
I’ve to say DIY croissants are not very practical, before baking, the dough needs to proof for 2 - 3 hours. Either one has to get up in the middle of the night to proof the dough to get ready for the breakfast, or one has a late breakfast. I don’t know if it’s possible to proof it before going to sleep.
Tried to edit😣 sorry. This was reply to naf.
Beautiful! A lengthy process. Glad you got such great results.
Many decades ago an elderly French chef taught me to ‘wash’ the butter under running water, kneading and squeezing until it was quite waxy. Def seemed to work well for puff pastry tho not something I’ve done in a long time.
Thanks. Interesting advice, handy if I don’t have the right butter. In normal supermarkets here, we can only find butter maximum 82% fat, most of them are lower, around 80% fat. To make puff pastry, it is advised to use extra dry butter of 84% that one can find only in professional places. I’ve heard that some people succeed with 82% fat butter, I guess they are better in their technique and know their dough.
I was a bit annoyed that my recent sourdoughs the form were always a bit flat, although taste wise they were alright. So I decided to do a test, make a no knead bread with a hydration rate of 77%, side by side with another kneading one and h rate of 63%. The proofing time of both bread were the same. My no knead bread were always perfect in shape, so I was expecting a beautiful form.
The result came out otherwise. The no knead bread was completely flat!!
The kneaded bread came out beautifully.
With the NK bread, the dough was stuck to the textile, and it took me quite some time to toss the dough entirely in the hot dutch oven, I guess the temperature lowered considerately and the gas in the dough was crushed… Both bread was proofed 16 hours with the same flour, starter and yeast (not same proportion for the yeast). Oven temperature and time was the same. The NK bread was proofed in the room temperature and the K bread outdoor (same temperature as in a fridge.) The taste of the flat bread was very acid, I guess due to the dense texture or maybe the room temperature proofing. The acidity was sensed in the K bread, but equilibrated.
Sunflower seeds on the top was a silly idea, they were mostly carbonised.
77% is really high hydration, veering into focaccia territory. A dough that wet will definitely not form/maintain a tight boule shape. Also, it looks as though you may have used whole wheat flour, which doesn’t form gluten strands as easily as white flour.
I see. It was a mix of 20% T110 semi whole wheat flour with 80% T65 white bread flour . I adapted the Jim Lahay’s no knead bread formula with the additional levain. The dough rose twice its size after 4 hours in proofing, I saw it collasped slightly after the overnight proofing but one couldn’t manipulate it all! In the past, the successful NK bread was made with 100% white flour. You’re right about the gluten strands.
I just re read your successful loaf a few months back with not much kneading and realized the hydration rate was 70%.
Yes, at 77% it would be really difficult to transfer to a baking vessel after proofing, especially if it was slightly overproofed. As for the acid flavor, I was pressed for time with the loaf I made for Thanksgiving so I did the bulk rise in my oven on the proof setting instead of in the fridge or at cool room temperature (60F) like I usually do. The flavor was tangier than usual but less complex. Obviously the extra warmth brings out the sour in my starter (and maybe yours too!).
I have been sporadically baking loaves out of Forkish’s book, and I think I just made my best ever. I am eating it and swooning. I put a little butter on it, but the crumb is light, chewy. The crust is not too thick, but perfectly crackly. And the flavor! I modeled it after the fig anise at our favorite bakery in San Diego (calling Saregama) Bread & Cie. Wowwowwow.
This looks amazing!
Your fig anise bread is beautiful!!
Saregama inspires. 
Leftover pie dough from thanksgiving just barely enough and sour cherries from the freezer. Not that we needed another pie…
Actually, I was hoping Saregama would see and try out the bakery since she is stuck in San Diego. I learned about the bakery from my family at least 15 yrs ago.
Oh sorry I just saw these! Haven’t tried Bread & Cie yet but I will look at it ASAP @Sasha! Thanks for the page @naf!
If it’s open, it’s a great bakery. Both very good breads and very good pastries. Also sandwiches, salads, etc. It’s in Hillcrest. If you try it, pls report back 
Pumpkin bundtlettes with maple glaze from:
http://www.apt2bbakingco.com/home/pumpkin-olive-oil-cake-with-maple-olive-oil-cake
Prob should have had the glaze a bit thinner but once started I just flung it on. Added some sugar glazed pepita seeds.
I have been making focaccia from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking on repeat since March.
I’ll divide this into six slabs, wrap most of the slabs in foil, and freeze all that we don’t eat the day of baking. The heated from frozen focaccia is nearly as good as freshly baked.
Freezer loot!
Baking day for me today.
I had started both regular dough and GF vegan dough yesterday with a view to making two boules. Some of the GF dough was pinched off (by popular demand) to make a few bagels.
My GF baking is back to experimental as I now have to eliminate some of the ingredients that made the old recipes work - the hardest being eggs…
Bagels deflated a bit, but the texture is decent.
The GF bread I messed up a few different ways but is apparently delicious.
The regular boule has been consistently good the last few times, for which I am thankful.
Pics in reverse order (GF bread slices shown).
A sweet treat for Yul today - a recipe I found in Food & Wine a couple of years ago called St. Nicholas Letter Cookies. I made them into little ravioli shapes this year instead of letter shapes, and I think I am going to start calling them Almond Kringle cookies since that is a more descriptive title! Basically you make an extra-buttery pie dough (or rough puff, as Mary Berry would say) and fill with a spiced almond paste mixture. They are heavenly - just sweet enough, flaky and tender.
