Bakegab: The Bellgab Bakeshop

[K_Dubb]

Random "baking" anecdote. Many Christmases ago we did a random vacation. My aunt woke early and made scones. I, hungover and hungry wolfed them down. Quote: "I normally don't like scones but these are awesome." Others weren't eating them much. Apparently she thought large salt crsytals were sugar ones.

Ha you have to taste first!  But even pros screw up.  I once had one of those cookies from a bakery downtown that go by either Russian Tea Cakes (though they are nothing like the ubiquitous pryaniki that deserve that name) or Mexican Wedding Cookies (though I have never seen them there) with the powdered sugar they roll it in replaced with what tasted like pure baking powder.  Yuck.

[pate]

...But even pros screw up.  ..  ..

Hey kids, don't be a tool.  If you haven't repalced your baking soda and/pr pwder in the last six months you might just toss that stfu in the trash and get something that will actually werk with the copy=pasta recipies you delight your fellow Bellgabber wif.


(jus' sayuin...)

[albrecht]

Hey kids, don't be a tool.  If you haven't repalced your baking soda and/pr pwder in the last six months you might just toss that stfu in the trash and get something that will actually werk with the copy=pasta recipies you delight your fellow Bellgabber wif.


(jus' sayuin...)

The other night during the hockey game I used a fake-butter/salt popcorn seasoning from a seemingly tin-foiled lined cardboard container that, easily, is decades old. Likely even contains now illegal compounds, questionable salt-esque derivatives, and still was not caked but poured and dusted easily- despite the years. Now used on air-popped popcorn. Still tasted great and imported a nice sense of danger in using. But, we lost the game in double OT.   

[Roswells, Art]

Perhaps I mixed it up with Victoria sponge, it seems it was invented in the early 1900s. But close enough, really, the old girl died in 1901.

I have a book of Victorian recipes and I'll post some of the cake recipes if anyone is interested. Although they would call them 'receipts', 'recipes' being a French word (yeuch!).

I would like to see them.

[SredniVashtar]

I would like to see them.

Here are a few. This is from a book of a TV show they made back in the eighties all about Victorian food. It gives you an idea anyway. I'll post some more if these are interesting.

[K_Dubb]

Goodness a pound each of butter, sugar, and flour, plus ten eggs -- that's my kind of recipe!

[Roswells, Art]

Here are a few. This is from a book of a TV show they made back in the eighties all about Victorian food. It gives you an idea anyway. I'll post some more if these are interesting.

Thank you. I might even try the chocolate cake with coffee filling and the coconut finger biscuits. It might take me a few weeks to source the fingers for that receipt, though.

[Roswells, Art]

I don’t do sweet much anymore.  Here is a pork pie I made.  Sorry my kitchen sanitation isn’t up to Senda standards.

Look at all that storage space you're wasting. Just keep one burner free for cooking and use the rest of the space for milk crates full of books and plush toys.

You're welcome.

P.S. That hot water crust came out perfectly, no leakage. Something like that is on my list of things to bake. Thanks for the inspiration.

[SredniVashtar]

I was thinking about making soda bread but it can be hard finding buttermilk here and I wondered if there is a substitute I could use at a pinch? I'll take my answer off the air.

[Corona Kitty]

Is this the new bellahaven thread?

[K_Dubb]

I was thinking about making soda bread but it can be hard finding buttermilk here and I wondered if there is a substitute I could use at a pinch? I'll take my answer off the air.

Yes, you just need something acidic to react with the soda.  Lemon juice is often used, as is vinegar.

I actually did a test this year for St. P's, making two loaves to the identical recipe with one all soda and the other baking powder with a little soda so it could still be called soda bread (though baking powder has soda in it; it's usually soda and cream of tartar, which is a powdered acid so you don't need to add one).  The all-soda one was a much darker yellow color and didn't taste as pleasant as the other.

If you use that self-raising flour all your recipes seem to call for, you probably don't have to add a leavening agent at all.  Some of the formulas I've seen that try to duplicate it (it isn't as widely available here) call for absurd amounts of baking powder to be mixed with your standard all-purpose flour -- 1 1/2 tsp. per cup of flour.  At that ratio, you can taste it.

[K_Dubb]

Is this the new bellahaven thread?

No, we don't pretend we're eating the pictures.

[Corona Kitty]

No, we don't pretend we're eating the pictures.

Haha

[SredniVashtar]

Is this the new bellahaven thread?

You should be taking notes and having a go yourself. You need something to boost your profile in the marriage market. I've been keeping a quasi-paternal eye on you over recent months and I see it's not going well. Just think what a nice Victoria sponge would mean to the man in your life? He might even let you pitch for a change.

[SredniVashtar]

Yes, you just need something acidic to react with the soda.  Lemon juice is often used, as is vinegar.

I actually did a test this year for St. P's, making two loaves to the identical recipe with one all soda and the other baking powder with a little soda so it could still be called soda bread (though baking powder has soda in it; it's usually soda and cream of tartar, which is a powdered acid so you don't need to add one).  The all-soda one was a much darker yellow color and didn't taste as pleasant as the other.

I did try it with lemon before but I could taste the lemon so it wasn't quite the success I'd hoped for. I'll give it a whirl with vinegar. I don't think people realise how versatile vinegar is, I didn't know you could use it for this too.

[K_Dubb]

I did try it with lemon before but I could taste the lemon so it wasn't quite the success I'd hoped for. I'll give it a whirl with vinegar. I don't think people realise how versatile vinegar is, I didn't know you could use it for this too.

It would taste a lot more like you used buttermilk, I think.  Post pics and we will gush adoringly.

[Corona Kitty]

You should be taking notes and having a go yourself. You need something to boost your profile in the marriage market. I've been keeping a quasi-paternal eye on you over recent months and I see it's not going well. Just think what a nice Victoria sponge would mean to the man in your life? He might even let you pitch for a change.

I'm sorry but I don't exchange baking recipes online... Although I should be taking notes. You've been keeping an eye on me? Well now I'm blushing.

[SredniVashtar]

I'm sorry but I don't exchange baking recipes online...

It used to be safe until people like K_Dubb came along and ruined it for everybody.

[SredniVashtar]

It would taste a lot more like you used buttermilk, I think.  Post pics and we will gush adoringly.

I go through bread baking phases every so often. I haven't done it for a few years mainly because you can only get the dried packets of yeast these days. When I was growing up people would use brewer's yeast. It could be fiddly to make it work sometimes but it would taste like proper bread. Even fresh out of the oven I find the dried yeast misses something. I suppose it caters to people with bread makers who want to throw it all in and forget about it. I've never tried anything from a bread maker but I can't believe it's any good.

[SredniVashtar]

I used to get confused between what you people call baking soda and baking powder, and then realised it was bicarbonate of soda. That stuff is the perfect cure for indigestion too but it isn't always easy to find and I'm sure people end up getting the wrong thing quite often.

[Jackstar]

bicarbonate of soda. That stuff is the perfect cure for indigestion too but it isn't always easy to find

It's back, and to the left.

[Corona Kitty]

It used to be safe until people like K_Dubb came along and ruined it for everybody.

k_Dubb has secrets.

[Roswells, Art]

I go through bread baking phases every so often. I haven't done it for a few years mainly because you can only get the dried packets of yeast these days. When I was growing up people would use brewer's yeast. It could be fiddly to make it work sometimes but it would taste like proper bread. Even fresh out of the oven I find the dried yeast misses something. I suppose it caters to people with bread makers who want to throw it all in and forget about it. I've never tried anything from a bread maker but I can't believe it's any good.

I've never heard that complaint about dried yeast before. The longer it takes for your dough to rise the more flavor it will have due to fermentation. You could try using cold water instead of warm to extend the rising time and/or make the dough then put it in the refrigerator to proof/ferment until the next day. The next day, just pull it out and continue on with the recipe.

Also, I've never thought of using brewer's yeast to make bread. I have some around here so I am going to try if it's not too old to see/taste what you're talking about.

[K_Dubb]

You know what would work even better?  Yogurt or cultured sour cream thinned out with milk.  Russians bake with sour cream all the time; I was stupid not to think of it.  Smetana, they call it.  I will never hear the Moldau the same again since I learned that hahaha

[Roswells, Art]

I've never heard that complaint about dried yeast before. The longer it takes for your dough to rise the more flavor it will have due to fermentation. You could try using cold water instead of warm to extend the rising time and/or make the dough then put it in the refrigerator to proof/ferment until the next day. The next day, just pull it out and continue on with the recipe.

Unless you're making Irish soda bread then disregard entirely.

[K_Dubb]

I've never heard that complaint about dried yeast before. The longer it takes for your dough to rise the more flavor it will have due to fermentation. You could try using cold water instead of warm to extend the rising time and/or make the dough then put it in the refrigerator to proof/ferment until the next day. The next day, just pull it out and continue on with the recipe.

Also, I've never thought of using brewer's yeast to make bread. I have some around here so I am going to try if it's not too old to see/taste what you're talking about.

I have never tried that cold rising thing.  Is it worth it, do you think, flavor-wise, for the kind of rich, sweet bread I make?

[SredniVashtar]

I've never heard that complaint about dried yeast before. The longer it takes for your dough to rise the more flavor it will have due to fermentation. You could try using cold water instead of warm to extend the rising time and/or make the dough then put it in the refrigerator to proof/ferment until the next day. The next day, just pull it out and continue on with the recipe.

Also, I've never thought of using brewer's yeast to make bread. I have some around here so I am going to try if it's not too old to see/taste what you're talking about.

If I remember (and we are going back a ways) you had to make sure the temperature was just right for the yeast, and sometimes you didn't get the right reaction. But it was so much better. I'll give your tip about the yeast a go, though, I hadn't thought of that.

[Roswells, Art]

I have never tried that cold rising thing.  Is it worth it, do you think, flavor-wise, for the kind of rich, sweet bread I make?

No, not for sweet bread. Those methods I mentioned impart a very light sourdough flavor. I wouldn't think the flavors would compliment each other. Well...maybe. Next time you make one of your sweet breads, cut off a tiny piece and try the overnight method with it.

Smetana, they call it.  I will never hear the Moldau the same again since I learned that hahaha

I'm listening to it right now for the first time. It's really quite lovely.

[SredniVashtar]

You know what would work even better?  Yogurt or cultured sour cream thinned out with milk.  Russians bake with sour cream all the time; I was stupid not to think of it.  Smetana, they call it.  I will never hear the Moldau the same again since I learned that hahaha

As long as it's live yogurt, I suppose. That sounds like it would work. I even had trouble finding sour cream when I was making cabbage soup a few months  ago, so the more basic ingredients the better.

[Roswells, Art]

If I remember (and we are going back a ways) you had to make sure the temperature was just right for the yeast, and sometimes you didn't get the right reaction.

I found a site that baked three loaves using three different types of brewer's yeast and one with dried bread yeast. Now I'm even more intrigued. Thanks, Sredni. This was one of the conclusions:

"The loaf made with the bread yeast (the Control Loaf), while still tasty, was the least interesting of the four loaves. Sorry, bread yeast.  I can absolutely Quit You".



https://pastrychefonline.com/baking-with-brewers-yeast/