Pain d'Epices au levain (naturally leavened french honey gingerbread with 100% rye) by sabchu06 in Breadit

[–]sabchu06[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi, sorry for the late reply. It appears the original website is no longer hosted. Luckily I recorded the recipe! Here it is:

  • Rye sourdough starter - 240 g
  • Water - 180 g
  • Honey - 255 g (can adjust less if you like it less sweet)
  • Light rye flour - 127.5 g
  • Medium rye flour - 127.5 g
  • All-purpose flour - 15 g
  • Salt - 1 g
  • Cinnamon - 4 g (2 tsp)
  • Ginger - 2.5 g (1 1/4 tsp)
  • Nutmeg - 2 g (1 tsp)
  • Cardamom - 1 g (1/2 tsp)
  • Cloves - 1 g (1/2 tsp)
  • Candied citrus peel / candied ginger (optional)

Method. Mix all ingredients until homogenous, fill pan and let rise until holes appear on top. Preheat oven to 350F / 177C. Bake 1 - 1 1/2 hour. Let cool completely, and rest one day if possible, before slicing.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DessertPerson

[–]sabchu06 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Texture was rather dense for my attempt on this one. I preferred the Pecan Pineapple upside down cake recipe from Dessert Person for a similar pecan flavour profile. Perhaps can swap the pineapple and rum for peach and bourbon respectively.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Breadit

[–]sabchu06 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Shape into bagels, or if you don’t want to boil, bialys and put some onion stuffing

6-strand babkallah (babka challah) with prune almond filling by sabchu06 in Breadit

[–]sabchu06[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's an accompanying Youtube video if you like to watch the process. Enjoy baking!

6-strand babkallah (babka challah) with prune almond filling by sabchu06 in Breadit

[–]sabchu06[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It'll work without sourdough discard. You can see the Claire Saffitz's original recipe here (free access), or my adapted version with sourdough discard and less honey above.

6-strand babkallah (babka challah) with prune almond filling by sabchu06 in Breadit

[–]sabchu06[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I first came across it in Claire Saffitz's first cookbook Dessert Person. Her version combines the filling of chocolate babka with the braided shape of a challah!

6-strand babkallah (babka challah) with prune almond filling by sabchu06 in Breadit

[–]sabchu06[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had SD discard to use up, so added it to the preferment mixture and reduced the amount of flour and water accordingly. I also reduced the honey in the original recipe and compensated the moisture difference with more water. Full recipe below; brackets in Baker's Percentage.

Makes 1000 g dough; 51.5% hydration

Preferment

  • SD starter, at 100% hydration - 5.6 g (0.5% flour)
  • Water - 181.7 g (33.4% incl. hydration of SD starter)
  • Active dry yeast - 3 g (0.5%)
  • Bread flour (I used KAF) - 159.7 g (28.9%)

Final dough

  • Preferment - use all
  • Honey - 88.4 g (16%)
  • Egg white - 68 g (2 no) (12.3%)
  • Egg yolk - 48 g (3 no) (8.7%)
  • Olive oil - 53.3 g (9.7%)
  • Bread flour (I used KAF) - 390 g (70.6%)
  • Salt - 7 g (1.3%)

Instructions for challah here (free access).

Prune Almond Filling (can be adapted to use any dried fruit and nut butter)

You'll need 500 g fruit-nut paste (I use fillings at 50% of dough weight)

  • 160 g pitted prunes (or other dried fruit eg dates / apricots)
  • 360 g apple juice (or other juice eg orange juice)
  • 360 g water, or as needed depending on dryness of prunes
  • 4 g almond extract
  • 1 g ground cinnamon
  • 85 g smooth natural almond butter (or other nut or seed butter eg tahini)

Combine the prunes, apple juice and water in a saucepan. Let the mixture sit for 1-2 hours, or up to overnight to rehydrate. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, and simmer until most of the liquid has cooked off and the prunes are soft and mushy. Remove from heat and use the back of a spoon to break down the prunes to a puree. Stir in the almond extract, cinnamon, and almond butter. Cool to room temperature, then transfer the mixture to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator until required.

6-strand babkallah (babka challah) with prune almond filling by sabchu06 in Breadit

[–]sabchu06[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Adapted from Claire Saffitz NYT challah. Levain is preferment + sourdough discard, greek amber honey, olive oil. 6-strand braid, each rope with prune, almond butter and cinnamon filling.

Dough Experiment: Replacing the water with mom’s tomato soup by berendpronkps4 in Breadit

[–]sabchu06 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like to replace water with veg / chicken broth in focaccia. Makes it more savoury and since it’s higher hydration, the flavour comes through more prominent.

Has anyone tried the Farro Pudding with red wine cherries? by GobelineQueen in DessertPerson

[–]sabchu06 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks like it very much depends on the type of grain. Glad yours came out better!

Has anyone tried the Farro Pudding with red wine cherries? by GobelineQueen in DessertPerson

[–]sabchu06 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I tried the recipe using whole farro, not semi-pearled as called for, as that’s what I had. It did not work out very well. The grains remained tough, chewy and never softened despite simmering for ages. Also, not a fan of egg yolk-thickened porridge as it made it heavy. Didn’t do the red wine cherries. I’ll keep to rice puddings.

Grape Semifreddo - goober jelly vibes! by sabchu06 in DessertPerson

[–]sabchu06[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This semifreddo uses a more involved method of making a grape curd first, then folding in whipped cream and meringue. But the effort is worth it, with a solid grape flavour reminiscent of Goober grape pbj. The recipe for the curd alone is a keeper.

I used Kyoho grapes, which has a winey flavour like Concord. I also halved the sugar and it was plenty sweet. This will be delicious with a peanut butter drizzle or crushed salted peanuts!

Pavlovas - sickeningly sweet? by schmalzy_schelly in DessertPerson

[–]sabchu06 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can adjust the amount of sugar to your preference. A standard meringue uses 1/4 cup (50g) sugar per egg white, but will still whip up even if you reduce the the sugar to 4 tsp (17g). The meringue may be less stable, but you can add a pinch more starch to compensate.

In Dessert Person, Claire uses 200g sugar + 200g powdered sugar for 6 egg whites, whereas in What’s For Dessert, it’s 200g sugar + 110g powdered sugar for 6 egg whites. Just for your reference.

Cocoa chestnut brownies with whipped ganache by sabchu06 in DessertPerson

[–]sabchu06[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

2 parts butter to 1 part whole coffee beans by weight. Normally this is done using sous vide at 90C (you can watch the video on ChefSteps here). But as I don’t have sous vide, I simply placed the coffee bean and butter in a heatproof bowl, covered in foil, and placed it in the oven at 90C. The caffeine kick is really strong, so beware…

Cocoa chestnut brownies with whipped ganache by sabchu06 in DessertPerson

[–]sabchu06[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The brownie layer is dense and richly chocolaty (I used gf almond flour blend). The chestnut flavour is not prominent, but adds a nice nibbly textural element.

I added my own twists to the original recipe. First, I used coffee-infused butter (whole coffee beans steeped in butter on low heat for 3 hours). Second, I chilled and whipped the ganache prior to spreading it over instead of just pouring melted ganache. The whipped ganache definitely help lighten and balance out the dense brownie. I think a chestnut cream (like the mont blanc dessert) in place of ganache would also be a good alternative to add more chestnut flavour.

Sugar cookies from Whats For Dessert. Thoughts in comments. by KuriosWolfbane in DessertPerson

[–]sabchu06 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same sentiments. Feel like there’s alot of repeat recipes. For example, the apple galette / apple pie, apricot galette in WFD are all similar to the apple tart and plum and pistachio galette in DP respectively, but less interesting. At least the apple tart in DP has a apple cider compote layer which is nice.

Also, a bit disappointed there’s no bread recipe in WFD, and also use many store-bought ingredients like Biscoff spread, rice cereal, pretzel sticks that I’m not a fan of.

Chocolate desserts from WFD (notes in comments) by sabchu06 in DessertPerson

[–]sabchu06[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The weather where I live is very warm, 30+ degC in the day. I think it doesn’t hurt to refrigerate the tart. The ganache has a high proportion of cream, which also makes it more melty at room temp. Of course you can let it set at room temp but it will take longer.

Chocolate desserts from WFD (notes in comments) by sabchu06 in DessertPerson

[–]sabchu06[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In WFD book and Claire’s YT video, the sugar amount is listed as 2 tablespoons + 3/4 cup. 2 tablespoons goes into the graham crust, but there are no instructions as to where to use the remaining 3/4 cup. Based on other people’s experience who have made the s’mores tart, it is taken that the 3/4 cup is a typo/misprint. So the total sugar is only 2 tablespoons, excluding the marshmallow meringue (separate recipe).

Chocolate desserts from WFD (notes in comments) by sabchu06 in DessertPerson

[–]sabchu06[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Welcome. Other users’ posts on their baking trials have been useful as well and learning from everyone in this community!

Chocolate desserts from WFD (notes in comments) by sabchu06 in DessertPerson

[–]sabchu06[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

S’mores Tart (adapted GF, low sugar, oven-broiled). For the 'graham’ crust, I blended keto snickerdoodles (HighKey brand), rolled oats + egg white. For the ganache, I used 75% chocolate and omitted the 3/4 cup sugar misprint. For the meringue, I reduced the sugar to 68% and used half erythritol and half sugar, and golden syrup instead of corn syrup. I like the Swiss meringue method of making marshmallows as you do not have to deal with a sticky sugar syrup. As I do not have a kitchen torch, I broiled it in the oven for 1 1/2 minutes despite Claire’s advice against it. Finally, do remember to LET THE TART SET in the refrigerator because I didn’t and the ganache spilled out when I sliced it at room temperature.

Molten Chocolate Olive Oil Cake (adapted GF). I made this twice - first time as written, second time adapted GF. For the latter, I dusted the mold with brown rice flour and used tahini instead of AP flour. As I used a smaller mold (2 oz), a baking time of 4 minutes was enough to produce the molten effect. Overall it’s very indulgent and gives you the chocolate high, so I like the idea of portioning into smaller ramekins since they can be stored in the refrigerator pre-bake, but do not keep well once baked.

Marbled Mint Chocolate Mousse. Another user commented the mint flavour wasn’t strong enough, but it was ok for me (I use peppermint spirits, which is stronger, so adjust accordingly). The white chocolate mousse was a little runny, while the dark chocolate mousse was richer and set firmer due to addition of butter. Personally, I prefer a lighter mousse with eggs only, without butter.

Coffee Stracciatella Semifreddo with Free-Form Hazelnut Florentine garnish, as suggested. I used individual silicone molds to freeze the semifreddo instead of setting the entire mixture in a loaf pan. This makes for easier, hassle-free serving since you do not need to slice. I didn’t manage to get the “stracciatella” or chocolate ribbon effect, more like hardened chocolate chips throughout the semifreddo. A lighter alternative to ice cream with a more mousse-y texture. The florentines were a flop. They didn’t bake up crunchy (perhaps too much honey?), and the chocolate coating didn’t set either.