A raisin boule dedicated to Bloch (hardly knew ya)

Browsing the site of legendary bakery “Bloch” (Ghent, Belgium), which had to close after 110 years of business, I am wondering if they will manage to put all the recipes up on their site as reported by “ladiesfromneptune” (Link to the blog entry). The sinister news of Bloch’s closure sparked quite a few reactions, some of them posted here.

The bakery’s website offers a bonanza of pictures, including bakers and patissiers at work and their breads and pastries. Overthe last days more recipes have been added to the collection and I hope many more are still to come.

• “Boerenjongen met krenten”
• “Bruine Provence”
• “Witte Provence 1050gr”
• “Drie verschillende soorten Bara Brith”
• “Bananuts: recept voor 28 hartjes”

This boule I baked was inspired by the “Boerenjongen met krenten” - including whey, a little butter and raisins. “Inspired”, because I probably would have been disinclined to use these ingredients had I not stumbled upon this recipe. Very flavorful and good just with butter and sugar. Next time, it will be the original recipe. I was rather keen on adding a little levain to my bread, since I have a nice and healthy sourdough going at the moment.

Blog-Event 3-Jahres-Jubiläum: Krantz Cake

One of the most popular Swiss food bloggers, Zorra from kochtopf, celebrates the joy of blogging continuously throughout the year with her monthly “Blog-Event” - an informal cyber-gathering of people around the world, writing about preparing food their way. The current one marks its 3rd birthday…Choir: “Happy blogday to yoooouuuu, happy….” This month is all about cake.

I chose a cake based on a recipe in “Baking with passion”. It is a sweet and rich yeast dough, moist, delicate and originally paired with a chocolate-walnut filling. I made an almond-marzipan inlay instead as a slight variation. A tasty cake, which in my case came out a little undone in the center.

Multigrain and honey bread

This is the third variation of the “White Farmhouse Tin Loaf” by Dan Lepard, published in the Guardian guide to baking (the other ones being “Double cheese and chive”, “Saffron and cnion”, “carrot, parsnip and rosemary” and “Cinnamon an raisin”, which I haven’t baked yet). Always handy to have variations of simple loaves already worked out, rather than wrecking my own brain about how to spice up a bread formula. This bread makes quite a nice sandwich loaf - light, but with a nod towards flavors usually associated with heavier types of breads. Good.

>>> Here’s the link to the recipe on the Guardian site<<<

#bbd 9: Rolled oat and apple bread

“Paulchen’s FoodBlog?!” is hosting BreadBakingDay #9. Like Ulrike from Küchenlatein my entry will be one of Dan Lepard’s recipes, found in The Handmade Loaf.

This is a wet and sticky dough resulting in a moist and open crumb. I think it’s best to give it a bold bake to ensure a robust crust that will not soften too quickly and which seals the loaf, trapping moisture and flavor inside. I enjoyed it with cheese, cooked ham, strawberry jam and Nutella. In that order too.

Decisions

I think…

…I’ll pass…

…and have coffee at home.

P.S. First two pictures show the outside of the café at Castle Vischering, otherwise a very attractice site with medieval flair. I did not steal the “r”.