Month: April 2020

This morning I made a sandwich bread.

Just look at it! My inspiration was the fluffy dinner rolls that I had made. They were so delicious that I decided to make a loaf of bread using the same recipe. One of my Instagram pals suggested that I give Japanese Milk Bread a try. Interestingly enough, I’d been seeing recipes floating about for this recipe, and I mentally had added it to my ‘must-try’ list for bread baking.

Looking at the ingredients, they’re the same as the dinner rolls; the only difference is it’s in loaf form after the dough has doubled in size.

I used my bench scraper to cut my dough into

two long strips

and then I rolled them into cylinders.

I placed them into a lightly oiled pan and let the cylinders double in size again. It took about forty minutes. I placed the Japanese Milk Bread into a 350 F oven and let bake for thirty minutes. I used my thermometer to ensure that the baked bread’s core temperature was 200 F. It was, and so I set aside on a steel wire rack to cool.

I used the tangzhong method,  just like I used for the fluffy dinner rolls. Results? Just like the rolls, this loaf bread is soft

and has many delicate layers of baked goodness.

This recipe for Japanese Milk Bread is perfect as a sandwich bread or toasted with homemade jam. The latter is how I ate my slice this afternoon, but I didn’t toast the bread. This is going to by my “go-to” recipe for sandwich bread.

 

This past Wednesday, I finally got around to making some super soft dinner rolls.

Although I don’t eat too much bread, I really do enjoy baking it and I absolutely adore a soft dinner toll. My daughter does also. After a bit of research, I finally settled upon making the fluffy dinner rolls that were featured on The Cooks Illustrated website. during my quest for the softest dinner roll, I saw it mentioned on a few blogs and so I decided to virtually visit the website and see what all the fuss is about. Andrea, the recipe publisher, mentioned that she used a flour paste technique. It’s an Asian technique called tangzhong which adds additional moisture to the rolls.

I used my Ankersrum 6230 to make these dinner rolls and it did an excellent job. The dough is sticker than the doughs I’m used to creating. The recipe clearly stated this so I was prepared. I rolled out the dinner rolls into cylinder strips and rolled them into cylinders. The recipe calls for putting them into a circular pan, however, since I doubled the recipe. I used my glass rectangular baking dish and made sure that the rolls were touching each other. This helps the dough to rise more.

 

 

Are the rolls soft, flaky, and tender?

I must say that my daughter and I were very impressed with the results and this will become my “go-to” recipe for making dinner rolls.

Yesterday morning,

I made this colorful pizza with a sourdough crust. I added fresh tomatoes, spinach, and cauliflower to the pizza dough. It was delicious. The only thing I would have done differently would be to saute the cauliflower in advance. I added the cauliflower uncooked, but it still turned out very flavorful. When I bake pizza, I preheat the oven to 550 F. I keep it at that temperature while baking the pizza on my baking steel. I bake the pizza for at least 8-10 minutes. The crust is crispy (not cracker crispy) and baking at this temperature yields a delightful char that my daughter and I enjoy.

Last week, I’d made a large batch of pizza dough using wild yeast that I’d made myself. I’d made enough pizza dough to create four crusts. Two, including this one, were pizza crusts. The other two were made into the homemade calzones that I posted about yesterday.

This morning I baked Danish butter cookies. I nixed sprinkling the actual cookie with more sugar. I figured there was enough sugar within the cookie dough. There’s no need for more. Later today, I’ll be making some type of yeasted roll, and I’ll be mixing the bread dough in my much loved Ankarsrum 6230.

Because of the coronavirus, our state is still under shelter in place. I’ll be glad when the order is listed, and we can go back to normal activities.

Last week, I decided to make homemade calzones. It’s been a few years since I’ve made them, and I must say these turned out very well.

I made enough of the calzones so that I could freeze and bring out when I did not feel like preparing a meal.

I prepared this dough a few days before. Because of this, once it produced a flavorful crust once baked. I didn’t use instant yeast; I used the wild yeast that I’d made from flour and water.

The dough was extremely springy

and it created the perfect canvas for adding the filling.

I still need to work on making pretty edges. However, none of the filling spilled out. Once sealed, the calzones were placed onto my baking steel to bake at 550 for 12 minutes. My daughter loved these calzones. I’ll be sure to make them again.

Because of coronavirus, I’m home a lot more than I usually am. I am conducting a few virtual meetings. However, it’s not the same as interacting with people. No complaints here, I’m making the most of the extra time allotted to me at home, and I’m staying busy.

Our state is still under shelter in place, so that means church services are being conducted online by those churches that have that capability.

Shortly before 1:00 PM today, my Ankarsrum 6230 arrived.

As much as I’ve been looking forward to its arrival, I would have thought I’d have opened that box immediately. However, I didn’t do that until a few hours later. My mixer arrived in dual boxes. The one shown above and upon opening the exterior box,

there was an interior box. I was very much impressed with how everything was packaged.

 

 

Ankarsrum USA did an excellent job of making sure the mixer was secure.

It even came with this hardcover cookbook that you see. It’s 104 pages.

Since I already know how to set up the mixer from watching numerous videos on Youtube, I didn’t have any issues and I was able to take my Ankarsrum for a spin.

What did I make? Something simple. I made chocolate chip cookies. The majority of the cookie dough has been placed in the freezer. Perhaps I’ll bake them later this week.

My daughter enjoyed the 15 chocolate chip cookies that I baked today.

 

Over the past several years, I’ve made numerous homemade pizzas. However, it wasn’t until recently, that I stumbled upon the perfect pizza for us. It has a thin and crispy crust. The crust is light, with bubbles at the edge of the crust, and it’s slightly charred in places. I’ve been using baking steel to bake my pizzas and, occasionally my home-baked fries, for several years, however increasing the oven temperature to 525 F and always adding yeast to my pizza dough, finally took my pizza to another level of yum. I haven’t hit pizza nirvana… yet. However, I strongly believe that will happen when I create my outdoor oven outside. The best pizzas are cooked at temperatures that home cookstoves simply cannot reach. I’ve read anything from 650 F to over 900 F. There’s a local pizza store in our area that cooks their pizzas in their brick oven at over 900 F. Those pizzas are ready in 90 seconds. The few times I’ve visited their restaurant it’s always been crowded, and rightfully so, they make excellent pizzas. Everything about their pizza screams fresh!

A few days ago I made the pizza that is shown above. This pizza has a sourdough crust and it’s loaded with portobello mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella. The day before I made this pizza, I created enough dough for two pizzas! Perhaps I’ll make that today. We’ll see!

 

Although my much loved Kitchen Aid Classic is a workhorse for the smaller food tasks, it’s not equipped to handle some of the dense bread doughs that I’ve religiously added into its bowl.
Because of this, I started searching for another mixer that I could use exclusively for pizza and bread doughs. Nope, I’m not calling it a replacement. Nu-uh, I’ll still be using my beloved Kitchen Aid mixer. It has served me well for over 14 years, and I hope it continues to do so. However, for mixing heavy doughs, it needs to take a back seat while another machine, better suited for such tasks, steps up. Otherwise, I will burn out the motor. I had planned to purchase a Kitchen Aid from its professional series. That changed after additional research and reading reviews from some other serious bread bakers who create large quantities of bread; I thought this might not be such a great idea.

Enter the Ankarsrum; immediately, I see that the design is different. Also, the base is where the motor’s located. Score! The bowl rotates, and while the attachments such as the dough hook or whisk are stationery. Sweden is the country that makes Ankarsrum mixers. Ankarsrum, Sweden, to be exact. These machines have been around since 1940. Over the years, they were known by different names; Verona, Magic Mill, Electrolux Assistent, DLX. I stumbled across an old Electrolux mixer on eBay from the 1940s! If I knew anything about motors, I’d have snapped that one up in a heartbeat since I could still maintain it if something happened.

Instead, I’ve decided to purchase the Ankarsrum 6230. What I found fascinating is that all the old attachments fit the Ankarsrum’s! How cool is that? It does cost a lot more than my Kitchen Aid Classic. The price is $699. I don’t mind paying more for an item if I know it’ll last a long time. This mixer will most likely outlast me. I’m impressed that the quality of this machine’s parts hasn’t changed over the years.

It makes me think of the following saying that is attributed to Benjamin Franklin…

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”

I can sit on my wants for several years, adding another mixer has been on that list for a while. With the level that I use my mixer, I simply kneaded (you see what I did there?), something that could handle what I’m doing more efficiently. The Ankarsrum will step into that role quite nicely.
What can the Ankarsrum 6230 do?

1. Grain Mill
2. Food Processor
3. Blender
4. Citrus Juicer
5. Food & Meat Grinder
6. Pasta cutter
7. Flaker

I placed its additional features in the order that’s important to myself. I’d planned on purchasing a GrainMaker grain mill this year, however, since this completes that function. I’ll hold off that purchase until next year. Of course, once I receive the Ankarsrum, I’ll update and perhaps even include a video. Several people own the Ankarsrum on The Fresh Loaf, breadmaking forum, where I’m a member, and the majority have positive reviews. The few negatives seemingly had to do with learning how this machine operates. It is much different than the mixers we see here in the USA.