lovely.
Thank you. That’s an excellent book . Highly recommend it.
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Blueberry ricotta cake, hoping this will lift our spirits if the storm turns to ice and knocks out power. I slightly underbaked it, but it is still light and delicious.
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Thank you! Very kind.
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I baked another boule. This one was a blend of sprouted and AP flours. Turned out really nicely – good flavor and fluffy texture. There were some larger holes/open crumb but no big tunnels.
Sourdough pros – how do I prevent the bottom crust from getting overly hard? One thought was to reduce preheating on only the base of my baker. Or to use convection during the covered portion of the bake so that heat isn’t concentrated on the bottom of my gas oven. (I have to put the baker in the lower third to be able to remove the lid without taking the whole thing out of the oven; maybe I should position it as high in the oven as I can and just take it out?)
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Cinnamon focaccia from King Arthur baking. It was a stay inside kind of day, so I made soup and bread. The focaccia is tender and delicious, even though I didn’t add the cinnamon chips. I would have added some cardamom to the dough if I had thought of it before the final stretch and fold. I also didn’t put the glaze on, partially because I thought it would make it too sweet, but mostly because I couldn’t wait 15 minutes for it to cool. I ate this when it was 5 minutes out of the oven. Great texture, not too cinnamony or sweet. Hoping there’s some left to make French toast with tomorrow.
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Beautiful, and so tempting! That crumb is perfect.
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Wowza !
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Your bread is absolutely gorgeous, the crumb looks perfect, and the bottom crust doesn’t appear in the photo to be any thicker than the top crust. How much harder is it than the rest of the crust? And what kind of vessel are you baking in? Some sort of cloche? I wouldn’t think that less pre-heating would be a good move here, as you really want that initial blast of heat from the base to generate moisture and boost your oven spring. Possibly using a different rack in the oven can help. Are you baking close to the heating element at the bottom?
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Ina Garten’s lemon yogurt cake. I only had THICK Greek yogurt and the recipe calls for regular, so I thinned it to an appropriate consistency using a mix of lime and lemon juice.
Glaze slightly too thick but I prefer that to too thin.
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Luscious. Taste?
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Thank you for your feedback. I am still new to learning what to look for.
I am baking in a Tramontina cast iron enamel cloche:
My oven is gas. The bottom gets quite hot, but it’s not quite as bad as being next to an electric heating element. I probably need to just suck it up and heave the whole thing out to take the lid out, rather than keep it on the low rack.
ETA: The bottom crust wasn’t much harder than the rest of the crust. My son was complaining though and only ate the center 
Some prior loaves, though, the bottom crust was hard to cut through.
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Christina, have you thought about putting the cloche baker on a stone? It will shield the bottom a bit.
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Delicious! I’m glad I added the juice to the batter, I think the citrus flavor would have been muted otherwise. The syrup soak makes the whole thing really moist. A keeper!
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A friend was supposed to be here this weekend but her flight was cancelled due to “cold weather in toronto” ( it’s not THAT cold!!). So instead seeing another friend for breakfast tomorrow before our snow really picks up. I made the “subway cookies” from this cookbook, which I had out of the library. The recipe starts by melting peanut butter and butter together, and you then whisk in the sugars, vanilla, and eggs, and then fold in the dry ingredients ( including black cocoa) and a bag of chocolate chips. I used Bob’s Red Mill’s Cup for CUp flour, as the friend can’t have flour. Dough tasted good, will see if she likes it!
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I will have to try that recipe. Looks good.
Good idea – I can try that.
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You might consider a cold start, which has been described in various places, including ATK and Martha, but I’m linking KAF below.
In no knead bread explorations, the covered bake determined the thickness of the crust, especially the bottom. I think Bittman has notes about covering for less time for a thinner crust.
I don’t really want a thick crust anymore — it’s lovely fresh, but just gets chewy later — so if you’re baking to freeze and toast later, it’s actually sub optimal.
I remove the casserole after 15 mins (if covered for oven spring) and then bake on a sheet (which prevents the hot base of the baker from continuing to thicken / darken the bottom crust.
Or you can test out a cold oven start, where the bottom again isn’t in contact with a very hot base for the entire time.
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Baked after ages — I had pizza dough going, but it my mom loves a homemade boule and asked if the dough could become that instead. Why not.
Every once in a while I need to bake without all the trappings to remember that people have been baking good bread long before technology and finicky recipes 
.
This was back to no knead basics — 3 cups of flour with a bit of whole wheat chapati atta in the mix, 1/4 tsp yeast, 1/2 tsp salt, enough warm water to bring a shaggy dough together. Left on the counter overnight, then into the fridge for a day.
It was very fragrant when I formed it (and quite wet). Preheated the countertop oven to its highest temp (says 450 but I think it’s closer to 400). And no Dutch oven — so I used a large aluminum box to start, and about 15 mins in I took the loaf out of the box and put it on a baking sheet to finish, another 35-40 mins.
The top crust was quite crusty when it came out, but when I sliced it up a few hours later it had settled and softened. It’s actually quite a thin crust in the end, and a tender loaf.
Sliced up and frozen after a few slices were enjoyed fresh.
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