The Bread Thread

[citoyen]

Just looked her up on Wiki. Apparently she was blinded before being executed and was frequently represented in paintings with her eyes on a plate.  I reckon that's why your receipt calls for raisins in the swirls.

Crikey! That sounds a plausible explanation, although some of the other traditional shapes also have raisins inserted in the swirls and the number of swirls varies according to the shape.

This is what Magnus Nilsson has to say on the matter:
"This sweet saffron wheat dough is rolled out into many shapes, all having different names. The most common version - and the one favoured by industry, I guess for its simplicity - is the julgalt, or Christmas boar. This is often wrongly named lussekatt, or 'Saint Lucy's Cat', which, as you can plainly see from the illustration on the right, is a completely different shape."


St Lucy’s Day bun shapes by citoyen, on Flickr

None of these other shapes even exist according to the internet. If you look up "lussekatt" you only get pictures of the S-shaped buns.

[Mrs Pingu]

Something is going wrong with my bread (the same bread I've been making for months) at the moment. It's not got the same oven spring and the inside is all kinda doughy and tacky. I don't understand why.  :'(

[citoyen]

Something is going wrong with my bread (the same bread I've been making for months) at the moment. It's not got the same oven spring and the inside is all kinda doughy and tacky. I don't understand why.  :'(

That doesn’t sound good! Bread is still largely a mystery to me, I confess, and I’m yet to learn how to get predictable results. I mean, I generally get good results these days but it’s always pot luck exactly how it will turn out and sometimes it still inexplicably goes wrong.

[citoyen]

What I baked in December - I think these all count as bread:

Panettone:

Adventures in baking, December 2023 by citoyen, on Flickr

Toscabullar:

Adventures in baking, December 2023 by citoyen, on Flickr

Bagels already:

Adventures in baking, December 2023 by citoyen, on Flickr

Was particularly pleased with how the panettone turned out - didn't quite get the rise I wanted but that's largely down to running out of time and needing to get it in the oven. It's quite an elaborate process, takes about three days from start to finish (it's made with a sourdough starter and very heavily enriched with egg yolks, sugar and butter, so proving takes a looooong time), but it's well worth the effort as home-made panettone is infinitely superior to anything you can buy in the shops.

Stage 1 dough - takes a lot of working but ends up with the most gloriously silky texture:

Adventures in baking, December 2023 by citoyen, on Flickr

Stage 2 dough, yet more egg yolks and butter added, along with fruit and essences, shaped and placed in traditional panettone cases:

Adventures in baking, December 2023 by citoyen, on Flickr

The Milanese tradition is to cut a cross in the top and add a knob of butter just before baking:

Adventures in baking, December 2023 by citoyen, on Flickr

The finished article, prior to dusting with icing sugar:

Adventures in baking, December 2023 by citoyen, on Flickr

Buon appetito:

Adventures in baking, December 2023 by citoyen, on Flickr

I think I've posted about Tosca buns here before. They're like cinnamon buns but filled with almond sugar paste instead of cinnamon and topped with toffee and almonds. This was my best attempt yet but I still haven't quite mastered the topping - think I made the toffee too thick so it didn't properly coat the buns. Tasted divine though.

Adventures in baking, December 2023 by citoyen, on Flickr
Adventures in baking, December 2023 by citoyen, on Flickr

[orienteer]

Something is going wrong with my bread (the same bread I've been making for months) at the moment. It's not got the same oven spring and the inside is all kinda doughy and tacky. I don't understand why.  :'(

Had the same problem recently. Eventually I reduced the amount of water added from 300ml to 260ml, and it solved the problem.

Flour producers may have changed something. I use a 50/50 mixture of white and wholemeal, in a Panasonic breadmaker.

[Flite]

Tosca buns

They do look good.
Just once I was at a local cafe/tearoom run by a charity when they had toscatorte and it was so delicious.
Hope they make it again sometime.

[Flite]

Has anyone tried substituting ordinary sea salt for a low sodium version in their day-to-day bread?

[citoyen]

Tosca buns

They do look good.
Just once I was at a local cafe/tearoom run by a charity when they had toscatorte and it was so delicious.
Hope they make it again sometime.

Or you could try making it yourself...
https://www.swedishfood.com/swedish-food-recipes-biscuits-cakes/202-tosca-cake

This recipe attempts to answer the obvious question: why Tosca? One suggestion is that the recipe was originally inspired by almond cakes from Tuscany, which sounds plausible.

[Flite]

I did google it and have a recipe, and learnt a bit of history.
But with only two to feed, I don't make a lot of cakes/tarts, especially big ones.
I will get round to it - when we have eaten all the Ecclefechan tart in the freezer....
Now to google toscabullar

[Ham]

What I baked in December

Dix points

Has anyone tried substituting ordinary sea salt for a low sodium version in their day-to-day bread?

No reason why it shouldn't work, salt does nothing for the bread beyond flavour (actually inhibiting rising to an extent)

[Ham]

Something is going wrong with my bread (the same bread I've been making for months) at the moment. It's not got the same oven spring and the inside is all kinda doughy and tacky. I don't understand why.  :'(

Simple answer would be it's a different flour, but that sounds to radically different to account for that.

If it is yeast baking, it's typical sign your yeast is less than active. Add more to use it up, and change? Other possibility is your thermostat is out of kilter,  bake higher temp or longer

[citoyen]

Now to google toscabullar

I did an image search a while ago to get an idea what they're supposed to look like but the results were so wildly variable that it was no help at all. 

'Bullar' is just Swedish for buns. The recipe I use suggests making the 'snail' form, like traditional cinnamon buns (kanelbullar), but there are lots of other ways of rolling, folding and knotting the dough. The differences are mostly cosmetic. All the recipes in that section of my book are based on the same basic sweet wheat dough, flavoured with cardamom.

[Flite]

Thanks, citoyen

[Flite]

salt does nothing for the bread beyond flavour

I always thought salt was needed to "set" the gluten so the dough didn't collapse when baked.

[CAMRAMan]

Has anyone tried substituting ordinary sea salt for a low sodium version in their day-to-day bread?

I've used nothing but low-sodium salt since getting my breadmaker in August without a problem.

[Ham]

salt does nothing for the bread beyond flavour

I always thought salt was needed to "set" the gluten so the dough didn't collapse when baked.

That's an easy answer: No, there for flavour only

[citoyen]

salt does nothing for the bread beyond flavour

I always thought salt was needed to "set" the gluten so the dough didn't collapse when baked.

Anyone* who has ever accidentally forgotten to add the salt to their dough and yet has found it turned out fine, if rather bland, will be able to tell you that salt is not necessary to make a perfectly acceptable loaf.

Tbh, I think the inhibiting effect of salt on yeast is also overstated - at least in the quantities it is normally used. Sugar has a similar effect (osmotic stress on yeast cells), which is one of the reasons very sweet doughs can be sluggish at the proving stage.


*BTDTGTTS

[Ham]

*BTDTGTTS

T-Shirt? I have the Burberry Trench, the Gucci loafers AND the little black dress.

My experience is that the impact is most noticeable on dried yeast than fresh, and more so when it is getting old (for years i didn't keep it in the fridge which seems to reduce aging significantly.

[Mrs Pingu]

@cityoen those Tosca buns sound bloody amazing! Got a recipe?

@orienteer, I did think that when I started the dough it looked a bit wetter than I'm used to, but not crazily wet.

@Ham it's the 'same' flour. Although given it's merely Sainsbo's own strong white and stoneground wholemeal, it could well be different flour in the same packet.
Bloody annoying whatever it is.

@Ham, you keep dried yeast in the fridge?

[Flite]

Thanks all. Low sodium salt will be tried.
But added after the first proving as is my custom - gives the yeast a chance to get working.

And I know nobody asked me, but I do keep dried yeast in the fridge.

Off topic, I read recently that if a breadmaker machine is set up on delay, and your kitchen is below 21C, the dough may get too cold to mix and rise properly. I've never used a breadmaker, so this might be rubbish.
And who keeps a kitchen at 21C overnight these days?
When I had a solid fuel AGA, yes. But in this penny-pinching electric era no chance.

[Ham]

@Ham it's the 'same' flour. Although given it's merely Sainsbo's own strong white and stoneground wholemeal, it could well be different flour in the same packet.
Bloody annoying whatever it is.

@Ham, you keep dried yeast in the fridge?

Fridge for sure (Alinsons tins), never used to, but read the side of the tin one time and have never looked back. I used to up the amount as the tin got to the end, don't have to now.

I doubt the change in flour will affect the bread much, what you are describing is just too much moisture, so temperature would be my prime suspect

[Mrs Pingu]

Hmm interesting. I'm only using the yeast that comes in sachets so it shouldn't be that old either.

[citoyen]

I only use sachet yeast - I find the stuff in tins goes off too quickly even if kept in the fridge. Probably not an issue if you use it up quickly but most of my bread is sourdough.

Btw, I highly recommend Borwick's yeast from M&S - always very lively.

[Flite]

I use the Doves Farm dried yeast which appears to be vacuum packed, so just in the store cupboard until opened.
Then into an airtight pot and onto a shelf in the fridge.  I make bread 2-3 times a week but it still takes quite a few weeks to use the pot up.  Never had a problem with the yeast.
Can't buy fresh yeast anywhere near here.

[citoyen]

Can't buy fresh yeast anywhere near here.

Supermarkets with in-store bakeries will often sell you fresh yeast. They don't advertise the fact, though - you have to ask the baker for it. I rarely bother but I have got it from the local Morrisons on occasion. The baker buys it in large blocks from which they will be happy to cut off a piece of the size you require. But you have to be in early because the baker will have clocked off for the day by lunchtime. Last time I bought some they charged me something ridiculous like 20p for 50g.