Baking, Books and Boston Brown Bread

Baking, Books and Boston Brown Bread

This morning Hi-Rise's Boston Brown Bread is in the oven from Maggie Glezer's Artisan Baking. This is labeled as a ‘Beginner’ recipe in Maggie’s book, and as a quick bread it probably should be. Still, I found myself over-thinking the use of the word “batter.”  I could tell that my mixture wasn’t as wet as it should be, but how much milk to add? I settled on a consistency not unlike toothpaste:

I can’t wait for it to come out – the molasses in the batter leant it a warm root beer flavor that will go beautifully with some nice black tea this morning. The cans you bake it in give it irresistible charm.

Getting out Maggie’s book made me think about the resources with which I’ve armed myself to learn to bake. While we wait and see how this brown bread comes out, I’ll share my favorites thus far.

Good to the Grain
As I mentioned in the first post, this is the book that started my journey. I was interested in baking with more whole grains, and Kim Boyce’s straightforward yet wonderfully creative recipes make it a perfect place to begin. There is enough detail on technique and rationale without making baking daunting. Everything I’ve baked out of this book has turned out (seriously – small miracle) and everything has been delicious, even to my five-year-old.

Artisan Baking
What I’ve learned from Maggie’s book thus far is that I’m not an artisan baker. Yet. I think my mistake with this one was starting with advanced recipes, which is why I went back to the beginning this morning. What is really wonderful and inspiring about Maggie’s book is its survey of some of America’s most authentic artisan bakers and their bakeries.

Whole Grain Breads
For my first Peter Reinhart purchase I opted to skip The Bread Baker’s Apprentice and go instead to this volume. I’m not sure about the wisdom of that choice…it’s perhaps like going straight to the black diamond ski slope when one has never skied before. Still, Peter’s experience at instructing comes through, and it’s from this book that I learned most of what I’ve learned in the past month about grains and the chemistry of baking. Also, Peter’s instructions for creating a whole wheat or whole rye sourdough starter are wonderfully detailed for folks like me that need a lot of guidance.

The Fresh Loaf
It’s not a book, and for that, in many ways it’s better. thefreshloaf.com is a wonderfully supportive and vibrant forum for amateur bakers. There’s a broad mix of both novice and experienced bakers with a little something to learn from each of them. The lessons are a great place to start for a good foundation in the basics of bread baking. Thanks floydm!

Perfect timing. The breads are out of the oven and they look and smell wonderful, bursting roughly out of their shiny cans. Who can resist that? Impatient as I am, I can’t wait until they cool to taste it. (Another lesson to learn.) This version isn’t steamed, it’s baked, which makes it a touch easier to execute. I couldn’t get it out of the can in one piece – next time I’ll line the cans with parchment paper. That doesn’t deter me. As I slice into it, it’s still lovely and moist inside with a nice crispy crust on top. Overall, it’s quite like a muffin. The molasses flavor is mellow and just slightly sweet, and the mix of rye, corn, whole wheat and all-purpose flours give it a really hearty body.

That’s it for baking, books and Boston Brown Bread this morning. The tea is ready too, and I’m ready for breakfast!  

Now that's what I call breakfast.