No Knead Sourdough Focaccia

I've been tinkering around with my sourdough discard pizza dough recipe for a while now to produce a focaccia to my liking, and I think I've finally figured out a recipe that produces the kind of focaccia I prefer:  fluffy with lots of big holes, a crispy bottom, and a soft interior that won't go stale after a day or two.

What I love about this dough is that it's quite forgiving as well.  You basically want to slightly overproof the dough, so you don't have to worry about timing very much since you let it ferment overnight in the fridge.  And just like my sourdough discard pizza dough recipe, there's no kneading required!

Regarding toppings, I've made more traditional versions with just olive oil, salt, and rosemary, but I've also treated it like a pizza dough and topped it with shredded Gruyere and zucchini before.  My absolute favorite combination is to drizzle the top of the dough with Laoganma spicy chili crisp and top with slices of Taiwanese sausage, mala salt, scallions, and sesame seeds.

No Knead Sourdough Focaccia

makes one 9" x 12" focaccia

75 grams active 100% hydration sourdough starter
175 grams warm water
250 grams all-purpose flour
6 grams salt
Oil for greasing the dough and pan
Toppings (flaky sea salt, herbs, cheese, etc.)

Mix the starter with the water in a medium mixing bowl until the starter is well dissipated. Add the flour and mix until a dough forms and all the flour has been incorporated.  Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.

Add the salt and use wet hands to pinch and fold the dough for several minutes until the salt has dissolved and the dough has built up some strength.  Cover and let rest for 30-60 minutes. 

Stretch the 4 corners of the dough one at a time and fold it over itself (this is called applying a fold).  Dribble some oil on top and use your hands to spread the oil and cover the surface of the dough, including where it touches the bowl.  Cover and let rest for 4-6 hours until doubled in volume.  Transfer the dough to the fridge to rest overnight.

The next morning, generously grease a quarter-sheet pan and start to stretch the dough out in it.  Give the top of the dough a light coating of oil, cover, and let the dough come to room temperature over the next 2 hours.  Continue to stretch the dough out every 30 minutes or so until it almost fills the pan.  If you have one, place a pizza stone or baking steel on the middle rack and preheat the oven to 450°F.

Once your dough is at room temperature and starting to get puffy, add your toppings starting with the oil.  Carefully spread the oil across the surface of the dough and then dimple with your fingertips.  Add any additional toppings and continue to proof until your oven is preheated.  Bake the focaccia for 15-20 minutes until browned to your liking.  Let cool slightly before slicing or cutting with scissors to serve.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge depending on your toppings.  You can rewarm the focaccia by microwaving briefly or in a toaster oven at 200°F until warmed through.

Next:  Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup (updated)
Previously:  General Tso's Tofu

My Sourdough Challah

I learned recently that there are at least 2 different kinds of challah:  the sweet, eggy Ashkenazi version which is probably what most people think of when they think of challah, and the Sephardic version, which is found in the Breaking Breads and Pastry Love cookbooks.  I've made both versions, but I like making the Sephardic version more because the dough is a lot easier for me to work with.

My go-to challah recipe is based off of the one from Pastry Love, except I substitute 50 g of my 100% hydration sourdough starter for 25 of flour, 25 g of water, and half the yeast.  The resulting bread doesn't have the full sourdough tang, but I find it easier to digest than the kind made with just commercial yeast.  If you have a very active starter, you might be able to get away with using less yeast or even forgoing it altogether, but I'm usually using starter that's been left to ferment on my counter overnight so it's not at its most active which is why I add some commercial yeast for insurance.

My Sourdough Challah
makes 1 loaf

50 g sourdough starter, 100% hydration
95 g warm water
4 g active or instant yeast
40 g sugar
2 large eggs (1 for the dough, 1 for the egg wash)
45 g vegetable oil
325 g all-purpose flour
7 g kosher salt

Mix the starter and water together in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Sprinkle on the yeast and allow to dissolve before adding the sugar, 1 egg, oil, and flour.  Knead using the dough hook on low for about 5 minutes until the dough comes together.  Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.  Sprinkle on the salt and knead on low for 8 more minutes.  Cover again and let rest for 90 minutes at warm room temperature.

Uncover the dough and punch down.  Fold over the 4 corners of the dough, recover and let rest another 90 minutes.  

While the dough is fermenting, make an egg wash by whisking together the 2nd egg, 1 scant tablespoon of water, and a pinch of salt.  Mix well but try not to make too many air bubbles.

Punch down the dough again and divide into even portions (the number will depend on how many strands you want; for reference, the first two pictures in this post are a 7-strand braid and the last two are an 8-strand braid).  Working one at a time, press each portion into a rough rectangle.  You want to try to remove any large air bubbles at this point because they will form weak points in your strand.  To form the strand, you will be rolling over the long side of the rectangle like a jelly roll.  To help maintain tension in the dough, use your fingertips to gently push the portion you just rolled over back into the dough all along the length of the dough.  (I highly suggest you watching my IGTV video which shows you how to form the strands since it's much easier to show you than explain how to do it.)  When you get to the bottom of the dough, pinch the seam together and roll the log out a couple of times on the work surface to create a taut surface and start shaping it into a long strand.  At this point you can also taper the ends if you want.  Set aside and work on the next strand.

Once you've shaped all the strands into logs, start with the first log you formed and roll it out into a longer snake.  Set aside and work on the next one.  Once you've roll them all out into longer snakes, give them one last roll to their final length.  Allowing the dough to rest in between the 3 shaping rounds lets the dough relax a little and not shrink back so much.  Braid and form the strands into your desired shape.  Transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  

Brush on a thin, even layer of the egg wash, trying not to let too much settle in between the strands.  Let rest for 90-120 minutes in a warm, draft-free area (I use my microwave).  Preheat the oven to 350℉.

When the dough is nice and puffy, turn it 180° from the position it was when you applied the egg wash and brush on another thin, even layer.  Turning the loaf helps ensure that you don't miss any of the surface.  Bake the loaf for 30-35 minutes, turning once halfway, until it is evenly browned.  Let completely cool before slicing.  Store in a paper bag for up to 3 days.

Previously:  Sourdough Belgian Waffles
Next: General Tso's Tofu

My Communion Bread

I've been making sourdough bread for one of my church's services every week for communion for a while now and figured it was finally time to write up how I make it.  This is loosely based on the country loaf from Tartine Bread, a wonderful book that goes a lot deeper into the methods involved.  I highly recommend picking up a copy and reading it through at least once to not only understand how sourdoughs work but also to be inspired by the process.

I was lucky enough to get a sourdough starter from a friend instead of having to start one from scratch.  The first thing you should probably know about a starter is that you'll need to feed it periodically.  This means discarding the majority of it* and adding some more water and flour to the remaining bit and letting it get all bubbly and doubled in volume.  I feed my starter with a 50/50 mixture of all purpose flour and whole wheat flour and an equal amount of water by weight (e.g. 25 g of all purpose flour, 25 g of whole wheat flour, and 50 g water).  Some people do this daily, or even more than once a day, but since I really only make bread once a week, I keep my starter in the fridge and just feed it the day before I want to bake it.  If I happen to be traveling and can't feed it for more than a week, I'll do a few rounds of feeding until it starts smelling and acting like I'm used to before I use it.

Some of the equipment you'll want to invest in are a food scale (to weigh the ingredients with), digital thermometer, bench scraper, banneton (to hold the shaped dough for its second rise), parchment paper, a lame or razor blade to score the loaf with, and a Dutch oven or cast iron combo cooker to bake the loaf in.  The only Dutch oven I own is actually an oval one and not wide enough for the round loaves I make, so I came up with another solution for trapping the steam in:  I bake my bread on a pre-heated baking stone and invert a stock pot over it.

Timing wise, I feed my starter the morning of the day before I want to bake.  It takes about half a day for it to get fully active.  Then I add the rest of the ingredients and do a few rounds of folding over the next 3-4 hours.  I'll shape it, place it in a banneton, and let it do its final rise overnight in the fridge.  The next morning I'll preheat the oven and take the dough out when the oven is ready, score it while it's still cold, and bake it.  So it takes about 24 hours from start to finish but could be shorter if you do the second proof at room temperature or longer if you leave the dough in the fridge.

My dough ends up being about 73% hydration, which for me hits the sweet spot of being easy to work with but still wet enough to produce an evenly open crumb.  I still mess up my shaping all the time, but thankfully the loaves just get cut up into cubes to be used for communion, so no one can really tell.  I hope this guide helps you in your sourdough exploration, and please let me know if you have any questions about my process!

*If you hate discarding starter all the time, you can use it to make other baked goods like pizza dough, English muffins, even pancakes and banana bread!

My Communion Bread
makes 1 loaf

For the starter:
About a tablespoon of sourdough starter (I use a 100% hydration starter with 50/50 all purpose flour and whole wheat flour)
100 grams lukewarm water, about 80°F
50 grams all purpose flour
50 grams whole wheat flour

Use a spoon to mix the starter with the warm water.  Add the flours and mix until no dry bits remain.  Let sit in a warm spot until it has doubled in volume, usually about 4-6 hours depending on how active and warm it is.  You can check to see if the starter is fully active by dropping a spoonful into some cold water.  If it floats, the starter has built up enough gas and is ready to be used.  Weigh out 100 grams into a large bowl and place the rest of the starter in the fridge until next week.

For the bread:
100 grams active starter
350 grams warm water, about 80°F, plus more for your hands
450 grams all purpose flour
50 grams whole wheat or spelt flour
10 grams kosher salt
Rice flour, for dusting

Use a spoon to mix the active starter with the warm water.  Then add the flours and mix until no dry bits remain.  Cover and let sit in a warm spot for 25-40 minutes.

Sprinkle the salt evenly over the top of the dough.  Wet one hand thoroughly and dribble some water over the salt to start dissolving it.  Using the hand that's wet, grab a quarter of the dough, pull it up and fold it over the top of the dough.  Rotate the bowl 90° and repeat 3 more times until the salt is completely encased.  Pinch the dough a couple of times to separate it into a few pieces, turn it, and smush it back together again before repeating the stretch and fold process.  Repeat the pinch, rotate, stretch, and fold process until the salt is fully dissolved and incorporated into the dough, wetting your hand whenever the dough starts getting sticky again.  Cover and set the timer for 30 minutes.

When the timer goes off, wet your hand again and do another 4 stretch-and-folds, rotating the bowl 90° each time.  After the last fold, turn the dough over so that the seam is underneath.  Cover and set the timer for another 30 minutes.  Repeat this every 30 minutes for a total of 3 hours.  At this point the dough will be a lot more relaxed and have risen a bit.  If you press a wet fingertip into the dough, the indent should almost disappear within a few seconds.

Flour a work surface and gently transfer the dough onto the flour.  Grab a quarter of the dough, stretch it up and fold it over, then repeat 3 more times on the other corners of the dough to create a taut surface underneath.  Dust the top with a little more flour and then flip it over.  Use a bench scraper or your hands to gently tuck the sides under and form a half dome.  Let sit for 20-30 minutes.  In the meantime, dust the banneton with rice flour so that your dough won't stick to it. 

After the dough has rested, lightly flour the top and flip it upside down with the bench scraper.  Apply another set of stretch-and-folds and flip it over again.  Slide the ball around on the work surface until it forms a nice, taut half dome.  Use the bench scraper to quickly transfer the dough upside down into the banneton.  Cover (I use a shower cap) and place in the refrigerator for about 12-14 hours.

Place a Dutch oven or a baking stone and stock pot in the oven and preheat to 475°F.  When the oven is ready, take the banneton out of the fridge and invert the dough onto a large piece of parchment paper.  Dust the top with some rice flour if you want some definition to your scoring pattern.  Wipe the excess flour off and use a lame or razor blade to score the loaf.

Quickly transfer the dough and parchment paper into the Dutch oven or onto the baking stone.  Cover with the lid or stock pot.  Reduce the oven temperature to 450°F and bake for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, carefully remove the lid or stock pot and continue to bake for another 20-25 minutes until nicely browned.  Listen to the bread crackle as it cools.  Try to wait at least an hour before slicing.

Next:  Bacon Fat Scallion Pancakes
Previously:  Tomato and Eggs over Rice (Updated)
Last Year:  Blueberry Salted Caramel Ice Cream with Chocolate Freckles
Two Years Ago:  Soy Garlic Glazed Korean Fried Cauliflower
Four Years Ago:  Taiwanese Taro Swirl Mooncakes
Five Years Ago:  Ramen Lobster Rolls
Six Years Ago:  Caramelized Onion and Swiss Chard Quiche

My Mom's Steamed Bao Buns

I first wrote up my mom's hua juan recipe almost 9 years ago so I figured it's time to give a little update.  You can use this recipe to make regular steamed mantou, or fill them to make different types of baozi, but my favorite is still hua juan, which is just the regular bao dough with a sesame-scallion glaze twisted into a flower shape.

I recently came across this new way to shape bread called a Winston knot.  There aren't many videos of how to make it online, and the one I used wasn't even that good, but once you get the idea it's pretty easy.  You can make it with two single strips or two double strips like I did here.  I think the most popular one I've seen is with two triple strips; the resulting bun looks like a volleyball!

The first step is to make an X with the strips.

Then you'll cross one half of the bottom strip over.

Now take the strip that's on the bottom of this picture and weave it through the other 3 strips.

Continue taking the strip on the bottom (or on the right after rotating 90 degrees) and weaving it through the other 3 strips.

When you run out of dough to weave, smush the ends all together.

Then roll the braid up into a ball with the smushed end on the inside.

That's it!  For these buns I decided to apply the sesame-scallion glaze only on the inside of the bun so the outside would stay immaculately white.

My Mom's Steamed Bao Buns
makes 12 buns

A heaping teaspoon of active dry yeast
1 cup milk, warmed to 100-110°F
3 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons of sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Turn the oven on to the lowest setting (mine is 170°F).

Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk.  If you don't have a thermometer, the milk should feel a little warmer than a fever.

Combine the flour and sugar, then add the milk mixture and oil.  Mix together until a dough forms and knead a few minutes until smooth.  Cover the bowl and place in the oven.  Turn off the heat and let the dough proof for an hour or until doubled.

Once the dough has doubled, remove from the oven and turn the oven on again to the lowest setting.  Punch the dough down and knead a few more times.  Divide into twelve equal pieces (I divide in half twice and then divide each quarter into thirds).  Shape and fill the dough at this point if desired.  Place each bun on a square of parchment paper.  Cover and place in the oven, turning off the oven again.  Let proof another 40-60 minutes.

Steam the buns for 13 minutes.  I use my stockpot with the pasta insert as one level and the steamer insert as a second level so I can steam 6 at a time.

If not eating immediately, freeze and reheat in the microwave before eating.

Next:  Pork, Cabbage, and Tofu Dumplings
Previously: Slow-Roasted Ginger Scallion Salmon
Last Year:  Cranberry Curd Tart
Three Years Ago:  Puppy Chow Pie
Four Years Ago:  Thai Coconut Sticky Rice with Mango
Five Years Ago:  Vanilla Passion Caramels
Eight Years Ago:  Wah Guay (Taiwanese Rice Cake with Meat Sauce)
Nine Years Ago:  Beef Noodle Soup and Lu Dan

Chocolate Babka

Last year I had the smart idea to try making a matcha babka wreath with milk bread dough.  In my head it would be pretty, and green-tinged, and perfect for the holidays.  In reality, it was dense, ugly, and I ended up throwing it out.

This year I decided to follow this tried-and-true recipe for chocolate babka from Smitten Kitchen.  The only change I made to the ingredients is that I used the zest from a whole orange instead of half an orange, and the smells that came out of my oven were glorious.  I also tried shaping it using what I remembered from the pictures in the Baking Breads cookbook.

Since the recipe makes two loaves, I decided to give one of the loaves the "pull-apart swirly bread" treatment.  If you'd like to try it, roll out a quarter of the dough (half a loaf) into a rectangle about 10" wide and as long as you can get it.  Spread with 1/4 of the filling and roll it up along the long edge.  Seal the seam and place in the freezer for 15 minutes while you repeat the same with the other quarter of dough.  Slice each log into 8 pieces, and arrange all 16 pieces in a well-greased 9" springform or square pan.  Let rise for an hour and then bake for 25-30 minutes at 375°F until nicely browned.  Brush with syrup and serve.

Chocolate Babka (based on Smitten Kitchen)
makes 2 loaves

For the dough:
1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (about 100 F)
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Zest from 1 orange
3 large eggs
11 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

For the filling:
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

For the syrup:
1/3 cup water
6 tablespoons sugar

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer and let sit while you measure out the rest of the ingredients.  Add all the ingredients for the dough except the butter and mix with a dough hook until it comes together.  Add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, until it is all incorporated.  Knead on medium until the dough is completely smooth and comes away from the bowl.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, make the filling by melting the chocolate chips and butter together, stirring until smooth.  Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and cinnamon and stir until it forms a spreadable paste.  Grease 2 loaf pans and line with parchment paper.

Remove half the dough from the refrigerator and roll out on a floured surface until 10" wide on the bottom and as long as you can get it.  Spread the filling on top, leaving an inch border on all sides except the bottom.  Roll up the dough in a tight spiral starting from the bottom.  Wet the top edge and seal together.  Wrap with aluminum foil and place in the freezer while you work on the second half of the dough.

Remove the first log from the freezer and use a sharp knife to slice in half, lengthwise, revealing all the layers of dough and chocolate filling.  Make an "X" with the two halves, placing the prettier half on top.  Twist the top half and bottom half and place in one of the greased pans, tucking the ends underneath.  Repeat with the second half.  Cover both and let rise another hour.  Preheat oven to 375°F.

Bake loaves for 25-30 minutes, until a skewer meets no resistance when inserted and comes out without any dough (it will most likely come out with some chocolate filling which is very tempting to lick).

While the babka is baking, make the syrup by combining the water and sugar in a small pot and heating until the sugar is all dissolved.  Brush the loaves with the syrup as soon as they come out of the oven.

And if you manage to have any leftover babka, you can turn it into the most amazing bread pudding using this recipe from Serious Eats!  (I just added some coconut milk on top for contrast.)

Next:  Marion Cunningham's Yeast-Raised Waffles
Previously:  Pull-Apart Scallion Swirly Bread
Two Years Ago:  Zuppa Toscana
Three Years Ago:  Flower Pavlovas
Four Years Ago:  Tartine Lemon Cream Tart
Seven Years Ago:  Gaufres de Liege (Belgian Waffles)
Eight Years Ago:  Hua Juan

Pull-Apart Scallion Swirly Bread

This is another post that started with a picture on Instagram.  I saw Sarah Jampel's picture of kubaneh from the Breaking Breads cookbook and was utterly transfixed.  Then it showed up again on the Food52 feed in a picture for their store's twine holder, but all anyone wanted to know was what the beautiful, crazy, swirly bread was on the right.  I managed to track down the recipe from my library's copy of Breaking Breads and tried it without even knowing what it was supposed to taste like.

The original was a bit too salty for my liking, but the picture above garnered the most likes I've ever gotten for an Instagram post!  I decided to take a cue from Molly Yeh's scallion pancake challah bread and try a hua juan version of kubaneh by brushing a mixture of scallions and sesame oil on the dough before rolling it up.  I also used a fresher yeast this time, and the results are pretty spectacular if I do say so myself.

The bread itself reminds me a lot of milk bread in that it's slightly sweet and very soft, yet the parts that get browned turn out a little crunchy from all the butter!  And even though you just apply a small smear of the sesame-scallion filling, it's so fragrant that the flavor gets infused throughout the whole roll.  It's definitely better when warm, so if you're eating it a day or two later, microwave it for 10-20 seconds to rewarm it.

Pull-Apart Scallion Swirly Bread (adapted from Breaking Breads)
makes 16 rolls

For the bread dough:
1 1/4 cups water
1 packet (about 2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 stick butter, very soft

For the filling:
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup finely chopped scallions
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar

Sprinkle the yeast over the water in a stand mixer bowl and allow to dissolve.  Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a separate bowl, then add to the yeast and water.

Use the dough hook on low to combine the ingredients, then mix on medium-high until the dough comes away from the bowl cleanly.  Give the dough a few folds to form a nice, tight ball.  Cover the bowl and let rise until almost doubled, about 30 minutes.

Lightly butter a large plate (I usually use the butter wrapper to do this).  Divide the dough into 8 pieces, shape each into a tight ball, and place on the plate.  Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.

Mix the sesame oil, scallions, salt, and sugar in a small bowl.  Generously grease a 9" springform pan with the softened butter.

Use about a tablespoon of the butter to generously grease a clean 11" x 17" rimmed baking sheet.  Place one of the balls of dough on the baking sheet, smear a little more butter on top, and start pressing it out to cover almost the entire sheet.  Sprinkle some of the scallion filling across the middle lengthwise third of the dough.  Fold the top third of the dough down and then the bottom third up (like a business letter fold, but lengthwise).  Roll the dough up into a tight spiral and cut in half.  Place the cut sides up in the buttered pan.  Repeat with the remaining balls of dough.  Cover the bottom of the pan with a large piece of aluminum foil or place in another pan to catch any melted butter that leaks out.  Cover the pan and let the dough rise a final time for 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Bake the bread for 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to 325°F.  Bake for another 30-40 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.  If there is any butter left, melt it and add it to any remaining filling mixture and brush on top of the rolls.  Serve warm.

Next:  Chocolate Babka
Previously:  Cranberry Curd Tart
Two Years Ago:  Puppy Chow Pie
Three Years Ago:  Miso Pumpkin Soup
Four Years Ago:  Homemade Ramen Noodles
Seven Years Ago:  Tim Tam Slam Ice Cream
Eight Years Ago:  Pork and Cabbage Dumplings

Will It Puffle?

I was so excited when I received an electric bubble waffle maker from my brother and sister-in-law for my birthday last year.  I had visions of making the eggettes I used to get from NYC's Chinatown and SF's Genki and maybe even making a puffle cone a la Cauldron Ice Cream or Monkey King Tea (below).  But after trying the recipes I found on-line for eggettes and puffle cones (basically the same recipe) I'm still not satisfied with the results.  I even played around a little with the ingredients but nothing I made recreated the aroma, texture, or taste I was looking for.

Not to be deterred, I decided to experiment with some other batter-based foods I had made before.  First up was pão de queijo (Brazilian cheese bread).  Since some of the eggette recipes used a little tapioca flour, I figured it would be fun to try an entirely tapioca flour based batter in the bubble waffle maker.  The results were incredible!

The bubble waffle maker was able to encapsulate the chewy, airy bread in a crispy crust in a fraction of the time it takes to bake the pão in the oven.  And it's sooooo cute!

I also tried Korean pajeon (above) and Japanese okonomiyaki (below), and the results were decent, but not really worth writing about.

Probably my favorite use of the bubble waffle maker has to be the Taiwanese oyster omelette.  Since I remember the sweet potato starch batter to be super sticky, I added a half tablespoon of oil to the batter itself and made sure to oil the waffle iron well before adding the batter.  And even though I took those precautions, I was still surprised when the omelette came out rather easily from the iron.  

As with the pão de queijo, I loved how the outside of the batter got super crispy but still stayed moist inside.  And the shape of the bubble waffle maker gave it a lot more nooks and crannies for an even higher crispy to chewy ratio!

So does anyone else have a good eggette recipe or recommendation for what to try next in the bubble waffle maker?

Next:  Sesame Soba Noodles with Avocado Rose
Previously:   The 4-Hour Baguette
Last Year:  Gordan Ramsay's Sublime Scrambled Eggs - 2 Ways
Two Years Ago:  Nutella Mini Crepe Cakes
Six Years Ago:  The Best Scones in the World
Seven Years Ago:  Samoa Cupcakes and the Cupcake Exchange

The 4-Hour Baguette

I've made the famous no-knead bread a few times now, and while the concept is great, the reality is I'm always a little disappointed with the results.  Even though there's no kneading involved, it's still a multi-step recipe that can take 20+ hours to finish, and while the texture of the ensuing bread is great for a home cook, it's kind of lacking in flavor.  So I'm pretty excited to have found a recipe for bread that only takes 4 hours from start to finish, still has great texture, and is packed full of flavor.

I pretty much followed this Genius Recipe from Food52 for Dan Leader's 4-Hour Baguette but I applied some of the concepts I learned from Ken Forkish's Flour Water Salt Yeast and added some diastatic malt powder.  According to the King Arthur Flour website, the malt powder promotes "a strong rise, great texture, and lovely brown crust".  You can certainly make this bread without it; I just used because I still had some left from making croissants that one time.

What I love about this recipe is that it doesn't call for any special equipment.  Don't have a stand mixer?  You can knead the dough by hand.  Don't have a pizza stone?  Use a rimless baking sheet or an upside-down baking sheet to bake the loaves on.  Don't have a baguette pan or a baker's couche?  Just use parchment paper and something long and weighted on the sides to help shape the loaves as they rise.  Don't have a bread lame?  Just use a sharp knife or even scissors!  As you can see, while I could definitely use more practice with shaping and scoring baguettes, I'm quite pleased with the results considering it was my first time!

The 4-Hour Baguette (adapted from Dan Leader's recipe on Food52)
makes 3 loaves

1 1/2 cups warm water, about 115°F
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups bread flour (if you don't have any bread flour, just use all-purpose flour)
1 teaspoon diastatic malt powder (optional)
3 teaspoons kosher salt
Oil, for greasing bowl
1/2 cup ice cubes or 1 cup water

Place the warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast over it.  Let stand for 10 minutes, until foamy.

Add the flour(s) and malt powder (if using) and stir by hand with the dough hook until all the flour has been absorbed.  Let sit for 20 minutes to allow the flour to hydrate.

Sprinkle the salt over the dough and knead using the dough hook attachment on medium speed, until smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes.  When done, wet your hands and reach underneath the dough and grab about a quarter of it.  Gently stretch this section of the dough up and fold it over the top to the other side of the dough.  Rotate the bowl 90° and repeat 3 more times.  This process is called applying a fold.  Transfer the dough seam side down to a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in a cold oven until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

After it has doubled, apply another fold, cover, and return to the oven again.  Let sit until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Remove the dough from the oven and place an oven-safe pan on the bottom rack.  Place a pizza stone or a rimless or upside-down baking sheet on the rack above.  Preheat oven to 475°F.

Lightly flour a large piece of parchment paper and place on another rimless baking sheet or cutting board.  Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and cut the dough into 3 even pieces.  Shape each piece into a rectangle and fold the longer sides in to make a narrower rectangle, sealing the seams with the heel of your hand.  Gently roll the rectangle into a 14" log.  Place the logs, seam side down, onto the parchment paper about 2-3" apart from each other.  Lift up the paper between the logs to form pleats and hold them in place with foil/plastic wrap/parchment paper boxes on either end.  This helps shape the baguettes as they rise so that they expand up instead of out.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit until it doubles in size, about 50 minutes.

When fully proofed, remove the plastic wrap and flatten out the parchment paper to space out the loaves.  Using a super-sharp knife, scissors, or bread lame, score the top of the dough in long, diagonal slashes.  Trim the parchment paper, if needed, so that it is about the same size as the pizza stone/baking sheet in the oven.

Pull out the oven rack with the stone or baking sheet on it and, using the corner of the parchment paper as a guide, slide the loaves, still on the parchment paper, onto the baking stone or pan.  Place the ice cubes or water in the oven-proof pan (this produces steam that lets the loaves rise fully before a crust forms).  Bake the baguettes until darkly browned and crisp, 20 to 30 minutes; cool before serving.

Next:  Will It Puffle?
Previously:  Tropical Pulled Pork on Griddled Banana Bread Sandwiches
Last Year:  Chocolate Mochi Snack Cake
Two Years Ago:  Dan Bing (Taiwanese Egg Crepe)
Three Years Ago:  Happiness Cake
Six Years Ago:  Mama Huang's Secret Beer Duck Recipe
Seven Years Ago:  Cincinnati Chili 

Garlic Naan

What's the point in making tikka masala if you don't have any naan to swipe up the leftover sauce?  If I had known how easy it was to make naan on the stovetop, I would've made it a long time ago!  Since I had some garlic and scallions lying around, I decided to make the garlic version, which let's face it, is so much better than the plain version.

I found the dough to be on the wetter side, so make sure you work it on a floured surface and use a floured rolling pin or else it'll end up sticking everywhere and to everything.  Sadly, naan does not keep well so I would suggest eating it the same day it is made.

Garlic Naan (adapted from Saveur)
makes 4 pieces

6 tablespoons water heated to 115°F
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 heaping teaspoon active dry yeast
1 cup all-purpose flour
1⁄4 cup plain, full-fat Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon canola oil
1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon chopped scallions
Melted ghee or butter, for brushing

Stir water and honey in a bowl.  Add the yeast and let sit until foamy. Add the flour, yogurt, oil, and salt and stir until dough forms. Knead the dough in bowl until smooth, about 5 minutes. Cover and let sit in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Transfer dough to a floured work surface and divide into 4 balls. Working with 1 ball at a time and using a rolling pin, roll dough into a 7" circle about 1⁄4" thick. Sprinkle with garlic and scallions and press into dough.

Heat a 12" nonstick skillet over medium-high. Working with 1 piece dough at a time, cook dough, plain side down, until bubbles appear over the surface and brown spots appear on the bottom, about a minute. Flip the dough and cook until the bottom gets browned in spots as well. Transfer naan to a plate and brush with ghee.  Sprinkle with more kosher salt and serve hot.

Next:  Pasta con le Sarde
Previously:  Tofu Tikka Masala
Last Year:  Vegan Almond Joy Ice Cream and Bon Bons
Two Years Ago:  Spaghetti Carbonara for One
Five Years Ago:  Elote (Mexican Grilled Corn)
Six Years Ago:  Black Sesame Ice Cream