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Baker’s Bench

First Outdoor Market!

Andrew posted this article on April 21st, 2012

First outdoor market of the season today.  We are in baking and the loaves and pastries look spectacular.  This winter was very restful for David, Adam, and I and we are ready  to break a sweat over some finely crafted loaves brought to market still warm from the oven.  So far we have rocked out to Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and The Band (a tribute to the late Levon Helm).  Bumpin!

We will have Sesame Fennel and Fig Millet as our specialty breads this week, along with some Ciabatini, our baguettes, and the classics.

Gateau Basque will make their first appearance this week.  They have been a real hit at the cafe.  It is essentially an almond meal and lemon crust encapsulating a cherry, vanilla, lemon curd, or mixed berry filling.  Enjoy these traditional French/Basque delicacies for breakfast or save it for dessert.

See you down there.

Cheers,

Andrew

Weekend Specials

Andrew posted this article on March 24th, 2012

We are changing our bread schedule a bit.  Sesame Fennel is back by popular demand and will be replacing our Toasted Barley.  A nice change for the warm weather and the season for salads. Fig Millet will also replace the Currant Cardamom as our Saturday fruit bread.

I’ve got some time too to make some Cherry Clafoutis and possibly a little bread pudding.  You’ll see if they turn out!

Orange Almond Bundt Cake is also available by the slice for $4.50.  Can’t beat a slice of this with a hot cup of coffee.

We are also in full production on our Gateau Basque offering 3 varieties:  Lemon, Mixed Berry, and Vanilla daily.  We are capable of making a 10 inch as well for parties and special events.

Cheers,

Andrew

 

Shaping Techniques

Andrew posted this article on February 28th, 2012

Class 2, “Crust, Crumb, Color,” was exciting to teach this past weekend.  Quite a bit different from the previous class, we focused on final execution and the different variables involved in finishing a loaf of bread.  The students had the opportunity to shape a number of loaves in different styles and score, load, and bake loaves in our deck oven.  The students really responded to the hands-on aspects of the class and I think they began to feel comfortable after seeing the second half of the process of making naturally leavened bread. There are still a few spots open for this Saturday’s class.  Stop in or give us a call to sign up.

A large portion of the class was dedicated to shaping techniques.  This is a very difficult step to describe in words.  So, with the help of my wonderful wife, Ema, we put together a video outlining a few basic shaping techniques.  It’s something to watch before or while you’re shaping for instruction and to get in the mood.  Enjoy.

 

Bread Shaping Techniques with Andrew at Madison Sourdough from Andrew Hutchison on Vimeo.

Starter Questions

Andrew posted this article on February 15th, 2012

Here are a couple good questions:

Chip and Tim:

1. It took us a week to get a digital scale, so we’re just now on Day 5 with the starter. Your instructions say to use maybe 20 or 10 grams of starter per 100 grams of flour, down from 100 in the beginning and 50 recently. Really? Why so little? Or maybe we’re about to see that 10% to 20% is enough?

2. On Day 4, rather than discarding the starter that we’re not “carrying forward,” we threw it into the dough for another loaf that’s leavened with yeast. Is there any reason not to do this?

Andrew:

1) The reduction in the amount of starter you feed is based on my experience at home.  These are guidelines.  If you don’t see your starter tripling in volume or close to it within 10 days, increase the amount of starter for the feeding. This will improve the vitality of the yeast colony.  The reduction is ultimately a way for you to manipulate the fermentation and get your starter on a 24 hr feeding schedule.

2) You can certainly use the excess starter to put in other breads.  It basically becomes a flavoring ingredient.  Just keep in mind that it will eventually start to change the makeup of the dough you are making.  Also, the taste is really young at 4 days, and you will get much better flavors as the culture ages and matures.

I touched on this in previous answers, but with your starters, you are looking for a consistent ripening or “rising and falling.”  Once your starter is behaving in a predictable manner, you can begin manipulating its feeding cycle, ie faster or slower ripening, through temperature of your water and environment and/or the amount of starter you are feeding.  Once you have a level of “predictability,” you are ready to make some bread.