This weekend I feel like I nailed it. I nailed the breads I was after, and I nailed the minimizing of time in the kitchen as to maximize time with family. I still have some tweaking that could be done in both regards, but this is the first time I feel like I have struck a good balance of the two.
The breads this weekend were pretty successful. The sweet baking experiment, not so much. Here's a rundown of the menu:
- 100% Wholemeal Sourdough
- 100% Wholemeal Sandwich Loaves Part Deux
- Multigrain Sourdough Loaf
- Jello Cookies
The 100% Wholemeal Sourdough was the goal I had been working up to over the last few weeks. Slowly reducing the amount of refined flour until everything including the starter was Wholemeal. And this one came out awesome - almost the best of the bunch. It's hard to say what is better overall - wholemeal flour or refined flour. But I guess that in and of itself is an accolade for wholemeal flour, since it is more nutritious, and taste wise, albeit different that refined flour, is evenly as tasty. So in a head to head competition, wholemeal would be the clear winner. And I find I am baking more with it recently. But that doesn't imply I am going all wholemeal. It's just part of the exploration process. Very soon I plan to go full boar back into French Breads with all the gooey goodness of refined flour.
The 100% Wholemeal sandwich loaves (I will explain why there are 2 in a second) also finally hit the mark for "sandwich quality" in size, taste, and texture. The reason for 2 loaves is I just got a bag of Vital Wheat Gluten/Gluten Flour, and I wanted to see if it would make a difference. I also adjust my fermentation and proofing approach to be some in the fridge, some out. This seemed to make the biggest impact on the amount of rise and resulting texture, whereas the gluten flour didn't seem to change a whole lot in that regard. The only different was the loaf with Gluten Flour was doughier, and a bit more full. But if you look closely at the slices, the gluten loaf on the right has a wetter texture, whereas the standard loaf looks more fluffy and airy. So the decision by all was to go without the added gluten for future loaves.
To top it off, I had the opportunity to do a little "fun" baking, as I have decided to call it. The breads are a long term experiment to master a fundamental food, and to develop a skill I hope to have and utilize for the rest of my life, to provide something delicious and nourishing to myself and to my family and friends. The Fun Baking, on the other hand, fulfill my Faturday sweet-tooth of ridiculous binge eating desires. This weekend's theme was driven by wanting to do something the kiddos could get involved in, and after searching pinterest together, Ms. Domenstic and I settled on Jello Cookies - mostly based on the look and the seeming simplicity of them.
I say seemingly because in practice, they were a bit more complicated. Separating into 4 separate batches to color them, and preparing them for the kiddos to decorate, all took quite a bit more time than anticipated. And in the end, the actual consumption of them was rather underwhelming - they were pretty strange tasting - basically a sugar cookie infused with Jello. I suppose when selecting them as the Fun Baking of the weekend, we didn't consider taste so much, for good reason as we wanted something fun to create together But after attempting to enjoy eating them, we all realized that the end resulting taste is equally as important as the look (in my opinion, it's far more important, it just depends on the audience and the purpose of the dish).
I did a little experiment with the Wholemeal starter dough I was going to scrap. I had quite a bit, and decided to just bake it in mini muffins, just to see what would happen. Well, it baked. And made muffins. But they had a rubbery texture and a tangy flavour that was not sourdough. Almost comprable to all-spice. So a failed experiement, but interesting ll the same. And I had a small thought to try this with proper bread dough. Little bread muffins for the kiddo, perhaps? Methinks yes!
The last was on a whim, a Multigrain Sourdough, as something to take to a friends place on Sunday. The event was cancelled due to sickness, but I still went through with the loaf. It was experimental in terms of ingredients, but based on the now tried and true No-Knead Sourdough. I mixed a Multigrain bread flour with the wholemeal flour (roughly even parts), and used the wholemeal starter. I added some rolled oats, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and linseeds. Then added some more pumpkin and sesame seeds on top. It came out awesome, and it makes me want to experiment more.
In the end, I am feeling more comfortable, and feel less rushed when baking, both because I am relying on techniques and recipes I have vetted, and because some aspects are becoming a bit more second nature. This is the process, I imagine, through repetition to become a confident baker.