Tuesday, February 7, 2012

TWD: White Loaves

I think it is natural that my first blog post is about bread. It is the first thing I remember my mom baking and the first thing she taught me how to bake. I used to bake a loaf every Sunday for my boyfriend to have during the week.

Then lots of things happened - culinary school, crazy PR job hours, restaurant internships, and I haven't baked bread in a while.

But, now, in a new apartment, in a new borough (Brooklyn!) a new kitchen, and an opportunity to become part of the awesome baking blogger circle Tuesdays with Dorie: Baking with Julia, it was time to take a Sunday afternoon and make bread.

First, though, I have to share with you the conditions I am baking in. As I mentioned, I have just moved, which is tough enough, BUT my new kitchen is about a quarter of the size of my old one. So, until we get a bit more storage space, here is what our living room:



And dining room:


Look like!

Ok - now you can envision me trying to find loaf pans! So White Loaves was the first recipe in the book Baking with Julia that the Tuesdays with Dorie group decided to make. The key to the group is that we are all going to bake together, each of us posting pics/sharing tips of how the recipe came out for them. If you want the recipe, the best place to go is either Laurie's or Jules' blog. You can look at their lovely loaves and get the recipe. Or go buy the book - which I highly recommend.

So - how did my loaves turn out? Pretty awesome! Apart from worrying whether my poor kitchen aid was going to overheat, it was a very easy dough to mix, and I had no trouble with it rising or baking up. It has a nice crust and a creamy inside. My boyfriend has already made french toast with it, and I had it with some baked eggs for dinner.



The one thing I will say is the the recipe calls for either AP or Bread flour. Now, these flours are pretty different in terms of their protein content, so I made loaves with both AP and Bread to compare. Both were lovely, and the differences are subtle - I felt that the dough came together and rose better with the bread flour. I haven't cut into one of them yet (we now have 3 loaves in the freezer), so can't report on the actual texture, but I CAN say that the loaf made with AP flour is delicious!

The Tuesdays with Dorie group posts every 2 weeks (next time is chocolate truffle tartletts!), but I am hoping to make blogging about my baking adventures at least a weekly event. I have a massive amount of cookbooks, and my boyfriend never complains when I "practice." I also hope to build out the site a bit more with pictures of other items I've baked for different occasions. I hope you will come back and see what is new!

8 comments:

  1. The texture of your bread came our perfect! Very smooth! I am currently attending pastry school (here in Boston)...glad to see we have something in common! I look forward to reading more of your future posts!

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    1. Thank you for the comment Kate! Good luck in pastry school, I loved it and miss my class so much. Looking forward to baking with you!!!

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  2. Haven't been in a week and already baking! They look delicious! When you get your island you will have a lot more room. Can't wait to have whatever you are making the week I come. Love, Mom

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  3. Very lovely loaves! Impressive to have done all those loaves. Cramped kitchens are very familiar to me but somehow, we just make them work! Great job!

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  4. Congrats on your first post!
    It looks like you did very well despite all your space challenges. Bravo!

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