It is finally cool enough for me to bake bread and my family can’t wait to get some. Also, we have received our first, trail Try The World Paris box with a short and sweet Paris Breakfast blurb. Seems the French are not into breakfast like us United Statesians and the English. Tea, bread, jam, maybe some cheese.
The box comes with French tea, fig jam and whole grain mustard. I’ve got smoked Gouda, a standing mixer and some time to plan. I am beginner to intermediate bread maker. The one time I tried to make starter I failed but that was because the yeast was dead. Which stand mixer recipe to you recommend? Right now my default is any recipe on King Arthur Flour’s site because they have good and thorough recipes.
What do I need to do to get this French breakfast for Sunday brunch? Making starter tips? What can I do ahead of time? Any and all advise will be greatly appreciated.
I use this Sunbeam Stand Mixer that converts to a hand-mixer. It comes with dough hooks, but not with whisks, in case that makes a difference for you. I also mostly use Saf-Instant yeast, which does not require proofing. I buy it from Amazon, fill a baby food jar I’ve got and put the rest in the freezer. A lot cheaper, you can just throw it in with your dry ingredients, and I’m on my second package now and I’ve never seen it fail.
Often I bake bread with mashed potatoes. Not necessarily full dinner-ready potatoes, but potatoes I’ve cooked and whipped into a paste. It tends to keep the bread fresh longer. My usual ratio:
250 g Potato mash
250 ml Water
500 g Bread flour
100 g Fat
I find the potato to be less desirable for use in pitas and pizza dough, for what that’s worth. I also find that bread made with butter is more delectable than that made with olive oil. But I do buy cheap olive oil. Peanut oil is also quite nice.
For a stand mixer, you really can’t go wrong with the KitchenAid, similar to this one, which is the bottom shelf model. I’ve had mine for about 24 years now. If you buy one, buy a spatula blade for it, similar to this one.
Many, many moons ago I used to make bread by hand. Then I found a bread machine I liked and eventually never went back. Still the same core ingredients, but just add in the right order, hit a button and come back to spectacular breads.
We inherited a kitchenaid with dough hooks and a few other attachments. So far we’ve made some killer meringues, but no bread dough. Other than the zen of working the dough with our hands (which I imagine would be missing with the mixer too), does the Kitchenaid turn out significantly better loafs than a good bread machine?
Dump it in some warm water about 4 AM Sunday morning. It will start foaming in about 15 minutes. Stir in flour and salt. Knead by hand, on a floured board! Let the dough rise in a covered oiled bowl for an hour. Punch it down and knead it again. Form it into baguettes and put it in the oven. Sprinkle a little water in there so it steams and makes the crust all brown and crunchy. Take it out and serve it warm with good butter and fruit preserves and strong coffee.
I love Peter Reinhart’s recipes. They take a little bit if time (mostly waiting) and a lot of fridge space, but are worth it. Here is his classic French bread. Recipe: Classic French Bread : NPR
I don’t have a mixer, I knead by hand. I have used a mixer, but I don’t have space in my kitchen for one in this house and I don’t find it to be that much more work. Hand kneading is fun!
Yeah, I haven’t used a mixer to make bread since my little shop many years ago. The dough hook and bowl there were quite a bit bigger than the mixers referenced in this thread.
Just made my first batch of bread of the season 3 days ago (don’t like baking in hot weather, esp. since I’ve gotten older). Used half dry yeast and half a yogurt starter I’ve had going since Nov 2013. Nice tanginess to the bread.
Kneading the dough and slamming it down on the countertop repeatedly helps me with psychological issues as well. Other than cooking outside on the grill, nothing makes a house smell better than baking bread.
(Note - sorry about that last sentence. Saw Yogi Berra has died and it was just a little tribute to him.)
Oh, replies! I didn’t think I had gotten any. Well, since I have a lot of time I decided to try and make some wild yeast starter. If that doesn’t work, I can always fall back on my handy-dandy Cuban bread recipe.
I’ll second using Peter Reinhart’s recipes. It is absolutely worth starting the bread on Saturday. One day in a refrigerator will make a world of difference. I own The Bread Bakers Apprentice. It’s excellent.
I also like Julia Childs french bread recipe. It also is a 2 day process. Her book is also worth owning.
Yes! Ah, the OP brought back memories of baguette, butter and marmalade, and then croissant, butter and marmalade for breakfast in France. Throw in some chocolat chaud… yum!
I just saw Barefoot Contessa’s ep with a lesson from a baguette baker in Brooklyn:
I already have a standing mixer. It is a KitchenAid knock-off by Kenmore. Got that for Christmas and it works very well. I do have The Breadmaker’s Apprentice on my Kindle but the one recipe I tried wasn’t all that great. Of course that could have been my fault.
P.S., we all ate the bread and everybody liked it. They just were not away that the texture should not have been that dense.
I myself have not taken the plunge into getting a Kitchen Aid mixer, because there are so many models and specifications with details to worry about reading through Amazon reviews. Motor wattage, bowl size, standing bowl or suspended bowl, some models have breakable plastic gears, arrrrgh!
You should get it as a present like I did. It came with two bowls and 3 types of mixer blade-thingies. I use it all the time and don’t think about the other parts. Except for when I looked for a grinder that supposedly fits in a hole in it’s head. The two I’ve gotten didn’t fit.
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