Archive for July 2007
Got dates?
According to this article by the AACC, breads can be improved by substituting 4-8% of wheat flour with date paste.
Addition of 4% date paste resulted in a bread with 3% more volume and a longer shelf-life. When adding 12% date paste (or more), a reversed effect can be observed; it produces an inferior loaf of bread.
As for the positive effects on prolonged shelf-life, the high level of fructose in dates is being held responsible.
(Source: http://www.aaccnet.org)
Bigger holes
The American Association of Cereal Chemists (AACC) has done research on the development of gas cells in bread doughs during proofing. This caught my interest the same time I wanted to get bigger holes in my baguettes.
Bread safari
The famous “Tollkötters Hausbrot” made in Münster, in the heart of Germany by Tollkötter, is a heavy-weight. These huge rounds of rye weigh rougly 8 lb, or 3.5 kg. Whenever I visit, I buy a pound of it. The tang of sourdough, the earthy flavor of rye meal and the maltiness of toasted rye flour are abundant in this thick-crusted loaf from heaven. It must be something in the air, that keeps me coming back to hearty rye bread made from home-grown grain, produced in the region where live.
The other breads they had on display looked nice, but the rustic baguette I bought was only beautiful on the outside. It turned out to be a terribly crafted bread made with bread improvers.
Authentic French bread recipes
canelle.com – a site belonging to “L’Institut National de la Boulangerie Pâtisserie “, hosts a a page with authentic French baking recipes, among them many formulas for breads. Get baking and tell me about the results :-)
Update: More recipes can be found on boulangerie.org.
