It’s been far too long. With a kitchen renovation, important birthday milestones and planning for parties, I just haven’t been in the right headspace to bake (or blog) and/or I haven’t had the actual space since I was without a kitchen for two weeks. I did manage to put together a fun Holi-inspired cake using a box mix cake and my tried and true buttercream recipe but I don’t consider box mixes baking. It is but it isn’t.
This weekend I am jumping back in. I’ve decided to skip the last recipe in chapter 1 (jelly donuts) for now and start chapter 2, Advanced Yeast Breads and Rolls. The first recipe is for a multigrain bread which uses a soaker AND something called a pâte fermenteé. A soaker as far as I can tell is simply some grains and seeds in a liquid that are left to soak and expand for a period of hours or sometimes days. The reason to do this is that some grains are very dense and can suck the moisture out of your bread so this ensures the grains have soaked in the moisture and will help not hinder gluten development. A pâte fermenteé (“old dough”) is pretty much leftover dough that has fermented for at least 6-8 hours if not more in the fridge that is then added into the fresh dough mixture. I think it’s done to add flavor and richness. I aim to find out. To complicate things, I’m going to try this recipe at high altitude – 8200 feet – in a kitchen that isn’t mine and I’m going to knead it by hand. Girls weekend. Stay tuned. I hope I’ve figured out the correct measurements.
The Pastry Hustle 