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21% Buckwheat sourdough bread

Making this bread was a real challenge. I have tried 4 different options to bake this bread to raise higher. Every time I was reaching almost the same result. Adding the buckwheat flour was not very favorable for this but it worth every single minute spent. The buckwheat flour does not contain gluten and this is why I have challenged myself to get the best of it.
Buckwheat has an incredible earthy flavor. It is enough to add a small quantity and the entire aroma of the bread is completely changed. I am crazy about its smell and taste, and I can prove it with some recipes that I did in the past:
Now, I have the big pleasure to announce my second video on Youtube about making this bread:

Finally, this was the best buckwheat bread I have ever done. Not simple but amazing.

I let you enjoy watching the video and enjoy the bread.

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Chocolate glazed simple cupcakes



"- Mommy, it's been a while since you have done some muffins or cupcakes.
- Indeed my dear, I would search for a nice recipe and we can do it together.
- You do not have to, I want very simple cupcakes with nothing special inside, and you do not have to search for a recipe.
- Hmmm???
- Just use the sponge cake recipe and that's it. We'll use muffin shells"

This was the dialog that put me to make these cupcakes. Requirements were clear: simple, sponge cake recipe, no need to search for a recipe.

I took then the recipe of my last sponge cake and get to work. Not alone, with some help, but not the help of my daughter, with the help of my 3yo son. Quickly cooked and later, my daughter came to decorate them. She wanted on top of these simple muffins hard chocolate glaze so she could take them to school without getting dirty. 
With the chocolate melted, we topped them with it and sprinkle some other decorations.

Here they are, a very simple recipe with a bit of decoration and I made my kids happy and involved in the preparation process.

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A bread with a hat - open crumb sourdough bread


I have been asked many times how I do my bread. I've tried to explain with words but I was not always successful in making myself clear. I always felt that I missed the action. The image was in my head but it was difficult for me to make others see the same image. I am then happy to announce that I pushed myself to make a video. An educational video about how I knead and proof my bread. Making videos is not my top passion or skill but if I manage to pass the message much better in this way then maybe I'll do more videos in the future.



 About this bread.... oh, how can I describe it better. The previous week I adventured myself with the same recipe but with 80% hydration. Hmm ... that was indeed a challenge, but you know what... even that the dough was very wet, the final bread raised surprisingly in the oven and even opened an ear to me. This week I went to correct the hydration to 76% and get out the best from this amazing flour. Dough was a pleasure to work with and you can see in the video the easiness of handling it.
As for baking, I used a Dutch oven. Actually 2 of them. I love baking in Dutch ovens but I always struggled to fit 2 of them in my oven. Recently I bought one that was not that high as my old one and the miracle happened, I fit 2 of them inside my electric oven. I even managed to raise the bottom of the one under so it did not get burn. Of course, you can always bake one bread after another but to me, this sounds not very efficient in terms of time or consumption of electricity /gas. So yes, I managed to bake both in the same time.
And the result... well for this, I let you look.Two breads with two royal hats.
Although the look of the breads was perfect, more than perfect was the taste and the aroma. Soft and elastic crumb, golden crust.... uh, it just make your mind jump somewhere in a remote country side in a summer evening after a tiring day when you are hungry and you enjoy your dinner with a feta cheese, fresh tomatoes and a gorgeous piece of bread.

Enjoy!

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