Baking & Pastry Project Week 8 - Raisins & More Raisins

Baking & Pastry Project Week 8 - Raisins & More Raisins

I'm moving a little slowly this week with my kitchen under construction again. It's been quite a process and has taken almost a year. What we're working on now is all the finish carpentry work, trimming out the board and batten paneling and the door and window trim. Next it will be the last of the floor trim and rebuilding the screens for the windows over the kitchen sink.

Part of the day, the kitchen is the property of the carpenter. The counters are covered with tools and pieces of wood. The floor is covered with hoses, cords, an air compressor, power tools and the vacuum cleaner. For the other part of the day, it's mine in a rather limited fashion.

Regardless of the dust, bits of wood and paint lying around, it infinitely satisfying to see the kitchen nearing it's completion. Especially when we remember how it looked before we started working on it. Or what it looked like when we gutted the room down to the subfloor. It is turning into the kitchen/gathering area we wanted, rather than our old squashed galley kitchen.

Mr. Carptenter - Thank you for all your hard work!

Schedule

Monday - Rustic Raisin Bread

Wednesday - Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread

Shopping List

Brown Rice Flour (Fine or Superfine Grind)
Sweet Rice Flour (also called glutinous rice flour)
Arrowroot Starch
Almond Meal
High Protein Flours, such as: Soybean, White Bean, Black Bean
Whole Grain Flour, such as: Buckwheat, Millet, Sorghum, Quinoa, Teff
Instant Dry Yeast
Sea Salt
Binding Agents, such as: Xanthan or Guar Gum, Chia Seed Meal, Agar Agar Powder
Honey

Raisins

Cinnamon

Resources

Flours & Binding Agents: Authentic Foods, Barry Farm, Bob's Red Mill
Instant Dry Yeast: Barry Farm
Agave Syrup: Wild Organics, Native Seeds

Equipment

No specific or unusual equipment is needed this week.

What's Going On?

I was a very lucky woman and received a copy of the Culinary Institute of America's Baking & Pastry book along with their culinary dvd's from my family for my birthday and our anniversary. After watching all the DVDs, I decided to work my way through the CIA's Baking and Pastry book - of course making it gluten free. There were so many skills that I wanted to develop and work on. I hope you will be interested in sharing my journey with me.

Want More?

You can also follow me on Twitter, where I'm glutenagogo.

Other Baking & Pastry Project Posts

Baking & Pastry Project #14 - Cheddar & Onion Mock Rye Batard

Baking & Pastry Project #13 - Prosciutto & Provolone Bread

Baking & Pastry Project Week 7 - Ham & Cheese

Baking & Pastry Project #12 - Belgian Apple Cider Bread
Baking & Pastry Project #11 - Beer & Cheese Bread
Baking & Pastry Project Week 6 - Beer, Cheese & Cider

Cheddar & Onion Mock Rye Batard (B&P14)

Baking & Pastry Project #14 - Cheddar & Onion Mock Rye Batard



This bread turned out to be the sleeper of the project so far. It had a fabulous flavor that was bursting with the creaminess from the cheese and the earthy hint of onion as the bread glided over my tongue.

I was surpised as I was pretty skeptical about a bread recipe that had raw onion in it. Was the onion going to cook all the way through or was it going to end up as power house chunks of raw onion surrounded by bread. I have to admit to pondering the recipe for a while and contemplated carmelizing the onions first. In the end, although I had my doubts, I finally went with the book and added those raw onion squares to the dough.

I got everything ready, so I could bake bread in the morning and realized my tea had gone cold. I placed the cup in the microwave, made my selection, pressed start and enjoyed a nice flame show. Two small flames popped up on one side of the interior. I rapidly hit "End" and watched my impromptu fire fizzle out.

What is it about microwaves? I don't use our microwave for very much, mostly for reheating beverages. However, the last 3 microwaves we've owed have lasted for 2 years and all go up in flames. Is there something about me that kills microwaves or is it a sign of the times with planned appliance obsolesence? Maybe it's a sign that I could start a new career as a fire-starter in an alternative universe, armed with my handy microwave? Oh, wait...they might not have electricity...okay scrap that plan.

By the way, do any of you use your microwave for a lot of cooking or do you use it mostly for reheating things? Most of the time, when I reheat foods, I use our toaster oven. Which is what I did with this bread, when my husband and I had a simple dinner of bread, salad and a nice cold gluten free beer. Delicious!



Recipe
Yield: 1 batard

Protein Content follows the flour in parenthesis
Original Protein Content: 13.21 g
GF Protein Content: 12.89 g


1 tsp/5 g brown rice flour (.45 g)
4 1/4 tsp/20 g sweet rice flour (1.2 g)
4 1/4 tsp/20 g arrowroot starch (.06 g)
4 Tb/58 g sorghum flour (6.67 g)
1 1/4 tsp/ 6 g chia seed meal (1.26 g)
____
1 tsp/5 g black bean flour (1.2 g)
4 3/8 tsp/21 g sorghum flour (1.47 g)
5/8 tsp/ 3 g cocoa powder (.57 g)
1 tsp/5 g arrowroot starch (.01 g)
3/8 tsp/2 g agar agar powder
2 3/8 tsp/11 g instant dry yeast
7/8 tsp/4 g sea salt
5/8 tsp/3 g cane sugar
1/2 cup/137 ml water
5/8 tsp/3 g molasses
5/8 tsp/3 g vegetable oil
2 Tb/28 g cheddar cheese, diced
2 Tb/28 g yellow onion, diced

1. Combine the dry ingredients into a large bowl and blend well. Add the water, molasses and oil and mix. Then add the cheese and onion and blend.

2. On a sheet of parchment paper sprinkled with sweet rice flour, place the dough into the center and shape into a batard. Slice the batard across the width of the middle and then on either side. Set in a draft free location and allow to rise for 2 hours.

3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F/218 degrees C. If you have a baking stone, place it in the oven at the same time on a shelf in the top third of the oven. Gather an oven proof bowl that can hold water and a squirt bottle filled with water for steaming your bread. Place the water bowl on a shelf in the bottom third of the oven.

4. Slide the parchment paper with the loaf onto the baking stone. Squirt the sides of the oven with water and the top of the bread. Then bake for 25 minutes. Prop open the door of the oven and allow the bread to cook for 5 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven, then let the bread cool about 1 ½ hours before cutting.

Notes:

1. Bean Flour – You can purchase Black bean flour from Barry Farm or you can grind your own using a coffee grinder.

2. Chia Seed Meal/Salba Meal – You can purchase dark chia seeds from Barry Farm and light chia seeds (Salba) from Amazon. Then you can use a coffee grinder to turn them into meal.

3. Agar Agar Powder - Is available from Barry Farm as well.

Other Baking & Pastry Project Posts

Baking & Pastry Project #13 - Prosciutto & Provolone Bread
Baking & Pastry Project Week 7 - Ham & Cheese
Baking & Pastry Project #12 - Belgian Apple Cider Bread
Baking & Pastry Project #11 - Beer & Cheese Bread
Baking & Pastry Project Week 6 - Beer, Cheese & Cider
Baking & Pastry Project #10 - Sunflower Honey Bran Bread
Baking & Pastry Project #9 - Black Bean Millet Pullman Loaf (mock rye)
Baking & Pastry Project Week 5 - Mock Rye & Sunflower Seeds


Want More?

You can follow me on Twitter, where I'm glutenagogo.

Cherry Blueberry Vodka Strudel

Daring Baker's May Challenge

I was delighted to discover that our challenge this month was from the mouth watering book, "Kaffeehaus." This is one of my favorite cook books as it's filled with so many fabulous foods that I loved when we visited Vienna. I have to admit that I have spent quite a few hours just oogling the beautiful images.

The strudel was a delight to make. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the cherry blueberry vodka filling. I made a maple whipped cream to go with the warmed strudel. It was an excellent way to start Mother's Day.

The May Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book "Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafes of Vienna, Budapest and Prague," by Rick Rodgers.

Recipe

Filling

1 Tb/15 ml vodka

4 oz/114 g pkg frozen cherries, pitted

4 oz/114 g pkg frozen blueberries

1/2 cup/115 g cane sugar

2 Tb/28 g cornstarch

1/2 cup/118 ml fresh gluten free bread crumbs

3 Tb/43 g butter, melted

Dough

3 1/2 Tb/50 g chestnut flour

3 1/2 Tb/50 g brown rice flour

3 1/2 Tb/50 g arrowroot starch

3 1/2 Tb/50 g sweet rice flour

1 1/4 tsp/6 g chia seed meal

3/8 tsp/2 g agar agar powder

1/4 tsp/1 g sea salt

5 tsp/24 g butter, grated & frozen

1/4 cup/52 ml water

3 tsp/15 ml vegetable oil

3/8 tsp/2 ml cider vinegar

Filling Instructions

Place the cherries (and liquid), blueberries (and liquid), sugar, and cornstarch into a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool completely before using.

Dough Instructions

1. Combine the flours, chia seed meal, agar agar powder and salt into a bowl and blend together. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup, then add to the bowl. It should make a soft dough, if it doesn't add just enough water to fix it.

2. Lay out 2 sheets of parchment paper. On one sprinkle sweet rice flour over the sheet and place the dough in the center. Sprinkle the dough with sweet rice flour and cover with the 2nd sheet of parchment paper. Roll out the dough until it is around 15" x 12". Gently ease the parment paper off the top of the dough and sprinkle the dough with sweet rice flour. Replace the top sheet and flip the dough over and repeat.

Making the Strudel

1. Put an oven rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees C). Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Using a silicone brush, spread the melted butter over the dough. Sprinkle the dough with the bread crumbs. Sprinkle the frozen grated butter over the dough. Spread the filling about 3" (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6" (15 cm) wide strip. Using the parchment paper to help you, raise the paper so that the edge of the dough folds over the filling. Continue easing the dough over so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Leave the strudel on the parchment paper that it was rolled on, transfer the strudel onto the cookie sheet. Trim off the excess parchment paper that the dough had been rolled on. Tuck the ends of the dough under the strudel. Brush the top with melted butter and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

3. Bake for 30 minutes or until the dough is a golden brown. Cool for about 30 minutes before slicing. Best the day it is made, but will keep nicely in the refrigerator.

Want More?

You can find me on Twitter @ glutenagogo.