Hildegard’s Spelt Bread
For this month’s Bread Baking Babes assignment, Astrid, our queen of spelt, chose a whole grain bread based on the writings of Hildegard of Bingen, 12th-century theologian, writer, healer, nutritionist, and, according to Astrid, the Middle Ages’ own spelt queen. According to Saint Hildegard, “Spelt creates healthy body, good blood and a happy outlook on life.” We can’t ask for much more than that, now, can we?
(Well, I might ask for one more thing: Astrid mentioned that Hildegard was a proponent of the healing power of jewelry. This is very good news! I am going to investigate this further and see if I can get my health insurance to pay for a pearl ring, or maybe an opal necklace.)
But back to the spelt bread. I really love the flavor of spelt; it is nuttier and less bitter than whole wheat. Because this is a 100% whole-grain bread (60% whole spelt flour and 40% spelt flakes), and because its gluten is not as strong as that of its cousin, wheat, this is a dense bread. However, it is moist and flavorful, and a perfect accompaniment for winter soup.
Multigrain Nigella Seed Sourdough
After taking an inventory of my pantry, refrigerator, and freezer and finding no fewer than 19 flours, 13 other grain products, 8 seeds, and 7 nuts, I decided I had better start using some of this stuff up.
I made a variation on my seeded multigrain sourdough, using up my remaining pumpkin seeds, some of my flax seeds and rolled rye flakes, and what I thought was just a few of a little black seed called nigella. The package was opened, so I must have used them before, but I’ll be damned if I know what for. I certainly didn’t remember what a punch they packed. Although these tiny black seeds are in the minority weight-wise (and although the other ingredients do add flavor complexity), their peppery taste is front and center in this bread.
Despite their assertiveness, if I weren’t so prone to shooting first and asking questions later, I might have used even more of these seeds in my bread, because they have been reported to heal every disease except death. That’s a confident statement if I ever heard one. But now that I think about it, I’m feeling pretty chipper right about now.
Serving suggestion: Roast beef sandwich; skip the horseradish.
Banana Bread Crumb Muffins (Alpha Version)
If you like your muffins light and sweet and soft — in other words, miniature cakes — these will not be the muffins for you. (These are not Barbie muffins.)
If you think a muffin should give you something to sink your teeth into, with more substance than sugar, these might be the muffins for you. (These are real-woman muffins.)
I still consider these a work in progress, but as a proof of concept — the concept being that a lusty muffin can be made with dry sourdough bread crumbs as the sole “flour” — they’re not bad.
Today’s Sourdoughs
Today’s bake: six loaves of Norwich Sourdough and two of a variation on Cracked Rye – Polenta Sourdough. Since I had no cracked rye but was fairly swimming in rye meal, I substituted an equal amount of that (rye meal is a little finer than cracked rye). I also substituted barley malt syrup for molasses, and proofed for three hours instead of two and a quarter (this is the difference between January baking and May baking).
I have no complaints about the result, and I really love the shaping technique for these loaves — if you can even call something this simple a “technique.” See it on the original recipe.
Happy New Year, 2011
Happy New Year! May what lies in store for 2011 delight, surprise, comfort, challenge, and fulfill you.
Baking bread does all of those things for me. These are some of my favorite breads from the past year:
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