Marquette Baking Company

I have some pretty ambitious baking plans for this week.  I’m adding a couple new breads while keeping must of the ones people are familiar with.  I’m not sure how I’m going to transport it all since I’m pretty much maxed out on what I can cram in the car.  It’s one of the frustrating aspects of only being able to bake once a week.  There is a limit to the number of different things we can bake.

As I mentioned last week, I’m bringing back the Olive Levain, but this time with Kalamata olives.  So I’ll probably rename it “Kalamata Levain” to highlight the difference.

The other “new” one is a 100% rye bread — no wheat flour at all.  I started making last summer, at the request of a customer with wheat issues and baked just a couple small loaves every week.  I never advertised put a sign up for them, but the first two people to ask for them got them.  It was good practice for me since it’s a very difficult dough to work with.

This bread uses consists of whole rye flour, water, salt and yeast and then I add some toasted sunflower seeds to the mix.  A lot of the rye flour is prefermented in a sourdough which brings out a lot of creamy rye flavor.  It is also quite dense, so I will be selling it by the half loaf.

One other thing:  Rye breads take a while to settle before they are ready to eat.  The “Mild Rye” I have been baking has only 50% rye flour so it is fine by the time I get to the market.  A 100% rye requires at least 24 hours after coming out of the oven to set.  I am baking the 100% rye Friday night, so it will not really be ready to eat until Sunday morning.

See you at the market,

Peter

Baking list for 26 July:

Baguette
Ciabatta
Fougasse
Semolina
Mild Rye
100% Rye
3 Seed Sourdough
Walnut Raisin
Kalamata Levain
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Toasted Oatmeal Cookies

We’re continuing to make progress on the bakery, and continuing to learn the intricacies of the oven.  Last week was probably the best all-around bake we’ve had.  The only thing I wasn’t completely happy with was the volume on the ciabatta. It was lower than I’d like.  It might have just been a handling issue, or it might be the weight of the germ and bran in the new recipe that was holding it down.  There are always trade offs in baking.  White flour always gives you the airiest loaves, but less flavor and less health benefits than a bread that uses more of the berry.  I’m going to stick with last weeks recipe at least once more before making any other changes.

This weeks bake will be:
Baguette
Fougasse
Ciabatta
Rye
Poilane
Seed
Walnut Raisin
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Oatmeal Cookies

I baked an Olive Levain a couple weeks ago, but I made the mistake of using common black olives.  I wasn’t happy with their mild flavor in the resulting bread.  I found a source for Kalamata olives this past week, so I probably will try that bread again next week.

Anyway, that’s it for this week.  I hope to see you at the market tomorrow.

Peter

I can never seem to get these posts done before baking on Friday night, so this time I’m writing it after baking.  That way I know what we baked and what I’ll have at the market.

Fougasse
Baguette
Ciabatta
Semolina
Pain Poilane
Sourdough Seed
Walnut Raisin
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Toasted Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

The Poilane was  a last minute addition and we only baked 20 of them, so if that is your favorite, get there early.

You may have noticed that I’ve been playing around with my baguette formula.  We’ve been using a higher percentage of less refined flour that includes more of the wheat kernel.  I like the flavor and the color the germ bran give the bread, and there is also the health benefits that go along with it.  This week I modified the ciabatta in a similar way.  I hope you like it.  Please let me know what you think.

Peter