Baking Through “Baking With Dorie” First Month
First Week 3/20/2022
Recipe - DAILY BREAD: WHITE BREAD
Making bread is not a new experience for me, and I was tempted to skip this one. I mean, how monumental can a loaf of white bread be? Dorie Greenspan has proved me wrong with this recipe.
While reading through it, I was inconvenienced by the idea of proofing bread three times. Especially in my kitchen, which tends never to be warm enough to proof the dough in the hour they usually recommend. However, I was intrigued by the triple proof and the addition of dry milk to the dough. These were both new techniques for me. Time to Bake!!
This recipe isn’t complicated by any means, but it does take time. When you plan to use your bread, pay close attention to your start time. As mentioned before, there are three proofing cycles which amount to about 3-4 hours of proofing. Add in your 30-45 minutes of mixing and kneading, plus the 30-45 minutes of bake time and then time to cool, and you have about 6 hours from start to finish.
Oh, and don’t forget to give yourself adequate time for your egg, milk, and butter to come to room temperature because that process does make a big difference. When the dough is finished with its second proof, it is super soft and silky. It didn’t feel like regular bread dough and was easy to shape.
I use a space heater to combat the cooler temperatures in my kitchen. My oven has a proof setting, but in my experience, it tends to be too warm. I place a space heater in the area of my proofing dough and setting it to 72F does the trick for me.
I genuinely believe that this is a bread recipe that a beginner could execute easily and experience a sense of nourishing pride.
TASTE & EXPERIENCE
The taste reminds me of a cross between white bread and brioche.
It’s fluffy and soft.
You can eat this bread with nothing on it and be completely satisfied. It’s that lovely.
I toasted it, and it had an amazing light crunch.
I made grilled cheese, and again, the crunch wins out. The texture of this bread compliments all things.
I WONDER
I wonder…would you be able to substitute wheat flour or GF flour and make it as fluffy and light as the original?
I wonder…how well it keeps in the freezer (I’m going to freeze some)?
Recipe - Tender Biscuits (with Chives)
Like the bread recipe, this biscuit recipe is a baker’s staple. It is the one you pull out for family brunches, comfort food weekends, and when you need a change to the usual.
For this, herbs were suggested in the ingredients, and I decided to oblige and went forward with chives. Dorie uses yogurt in this recipe, and I found it a pleasant surprise. I believe it added to the moist texture of the biscuit without adding more butter. Not that the fat content is low, I mean, there’s butter and buttermilk also in the biscuits. So, moist and fluffy is what they are.
It’s a simple process to make these biscuits. When I’m working with baked goods like this, I like to always remind myself to keep the butter cool. Don’t hesitate to place it in the refrigerator if you feel that your working of the dough may be combining the butter too much. We want those buttery pieces in there.
The recipe states that you should yield eight, but I only got 5. I decided to use them for dinner, and instead of utilizing a roll for pulled pork sandwiches, we used these fantastic biscuits. It was a welcome change, and didnt feel as heavy or vanilla as most sandwiches do.
I can’t wait to make these again and plan on doing it this week as a gift for a family friend. They have the moistness yet outer crunch you enjoy in a biscuit and deliver on the comfort of their existence.
TASTE & EXPERIENCE
As stated above, Crunchy! Moist! Tender! Yum!
They don’t feel greasy when eating them, and I value that.
This recipe would make just enough to cover a cobbler or pot pie.
I WONDER
I wonder…what would they taste like with gluten-free 1 for 1 flour?
I wonder…could I add some sugar and get a Strawberry Shortcake base?
Recipe - Alsatian-Style Blueberry Tart
Alsatian is in reference to Alsace France, and recently my husband and I were in that area. It is quite beautiful and has a old country atmosphere about it. I hoped that this tart would fulfill that.
In preparation, I lost sight of the fact that I needed to bake the tart ahead and didn’t allow time for that. So, as I was rushed, I totally over par-baked my tart shell. But no worries, I have a pie shield and utilized it for the remainder of the baking.
Once your tart shell is made, complete; this is a super easy recipe. Toss in some blueberries, bake a bit, pour on some custard, and bake a bit more. Then cool and eat. The recipe reminds me of Erin Jeanne McDowell’s Swamp Pie recipe. I mean, they are not the same, but the concept is similar. https://food52.com/recipes/84011-blueberry-swamp-pie-recipe
I have to admit it; I didn’t feel blown away by this tart. The process was pretty simple, especially if you own a food processor, but the taste left me wanting more. I used fewer blueberries than the recipe called for because my tart shell started looking like there was no room for the custard to grow. Even with that adjustment, I could barely detect the custard after it had cooled completely.
In the end, I would instead make a Swamp Pie than this tart again. This is, of course, my personal preference, but that is what this blog is about. My husband felt much the same way I did, so it wasn't just me.
TASTE & EXPERIENCE
It was all blueberry and no custard when done.
The tart crust was great but overshadowed the filling.
I WONDER
I wonder…if I cut the blueberries down to ⅔ the amount, would the custard have shinned through and the flavor profile changed? Or would it have landed the same way?
I wonder…would that tart have complemented better if I hadn't added vanilla to it?
