"basket" news and stories

I remember the first time I learned about bannetons. I was trying to re-create a pain au levain that the U.S. bread team had developed and the instructions called for the dough to be proofed in a banneton. It was a lot of fun in those days, when I knew next to nothing about baking, to be constantly learning something new.

A banneton is a wicker basket that it used to proof bread. It can either be a half sphere or an oval in shape, and most often they are lined with linen so that the dough doesn't stick to the basket (though most of the time the banneton gets liberally floured either way). There are also bannetons made of plastic, which don't need to be lined and which hold the flour better than the traditional wicker.

You use the banneton in the final proofing stage, after it's been shaped and before you bake the bread. Flour the banneton, if needed, and place the dough in upside down so that the top is inside the basket and the bottom seam is visible.

Is a banneton completely necessary? Not really, but it can be a nice tool to have. You can find them for less than twenty bucks, or you can even make one yourself.The banneton shown in the picture is actually a homemade one from the Fresh Loaf. Sadly, I rarely use a banneton due to the production nature of most of my baking, but having one (or making one) for the occasional artisan loaf can be a great tool in your home baking arsenal.

I am the biggest baking geek I know of. Anything having to do with baking totally makes me drool. I just ran across this cake pan in the shape of a flower basket and I got so excited!

The pan is actually a ring with three bottom's of the basket and three tops of the basket. So you get three whole baskets after joining the tops and bottoms. You can decorate the flowers any way you want. Buttercream or fondant would be my two top choices.

This would be great for an Easter gathering, ooh, or Mother's Day. Yes, this would be perfect for celebrating Mother's Day. Really, the possibilities are endless. There are any number of occasions this cake would be great for. Any time you want to make a simple, pretty cake would be the perfect occasion!

[Via BakingBites.com]

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Easter is a candy lover's dream, and Jelly Belly has certainly risen to the occasion. Cybele, the candy goddess at Candy Blog, just reviewed the "Deluxe Easter Mix" which contains an assortment of pastel Jelly Bellys, bunny corn, mellocremes, gummi eggs and malted chocolate eggs. Retail price is $4.99 for a 9oz. bag, and though she managed to source a package for much less, she rated the item at 6/10 on her infamous candy scale.

If you are looking for a mixture of gifts, Jelly Belly offers pre-made Easter baskets including "The Ideal Easter Basket" ($50) which contains almost three pounds of assorted candy, as well as "The Cute Little Easter Bundle" ($34.99) which is about half the size but has a lot of variety. (Though for $35, I would really hope so.)

By ordering either of those on their website, you can expect to get some freebies along with your baskets - which may help to ease the pain of spending that much money on candy in the first place. In addition, the "Fruit Fantasy Basket", as pictured above, sells for $39.99, but comes free with any order of $250 or more.

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