You may remember a few weeks ago that I brought you some information on starting your own sour dough culture. That is a very worthy pursuit, but even I admit that it can be hard to maintain and can be wasteful unless you make a lot of bread. But you want that great, complex taste that comes from the long development of yeast, right?

Well, there's a solution to that problem: preferments. Preferments are mixtures of flour, water, and very small amounts of yeast that are generally allowed to develop overnight. This way, you get highly developed yeast and organic acids without having to constantly feed a starter culture. There are four basic types of preferments. Keep reading to kind out all about them.

The word proof has a lot of meanings. It can refer to alcohol content, a mathematical procedure, or evidence. However, in the world of baking, proof refers to rising dough.

Home bakers, and recipes aimed at home bakers, refer to it as "rising," but professionals call it "proofing." Proofing is a part of the bread making process where fermentation takes place, causing the dough to expand, grow, or rise (whichever term you prefer). Depending on who you ask, proofing can include the first period of fermentation, which is usually called the bulk fermentation. Most of the time, though, proofing is the second stage of fermentation, called the "second rise" by home bakers. This is the period after the final shaping when the dough is left to expand to it's proper size before baking.

Proofing is an important stage in baking (of course each stage is important in its own way) for three reasons. First off, more fermentation occurs for that much more flavor. The fermentation then causes gas production which makes the dough expand to a larger size. Also the gluten is able to relax which allows oven spring to take place.

I've seen some baking books recommend using high water temperatures, but it really is better to stay in a lower temperature range and here's why.

For some reason, I have coffee on the brain today and so decided to search for coffee pictures in the Slashfood pool. I found lots of fantastic pictures of cakes and pastries infused with coffee flavors, but this image by Sarah Gilbert, an occasional Slashfood contributor, captured my attention most of all.

Sarah has been writing for Culinate recently, expressing her passion for food and the experiences she has as she tries to feed herself and her family a more sustainable and local diet. Her most recent piece is about her process making sourdough starter from scratch. If you haven't been following her writing over there, you should definitely check it out, as her enthusiasm for food, eating and cooking is contagious and inspiring.

Today (January 26th) is Australia Day and one way that some of our friends down in summery Australia are celebrating is with Vegemite gelato.

The combination sounds slightly horrifying to anyone who doesn't already love Vegemite, the salty brewers' yeast paste that, like Marmite, is popular on toast in many parts of the world, but for those who enjoy its flavor, the combination is proving to be a popular seller for its creator. Gherardo Deflorian is from Italy and has a gelato shop, Gelateria Cremona, in Brisbane. Not a fan of Vegemite himself, he thought that the flavor would be unique, a little controversial and a bit more interesting than the same old flavors that everyone uses. He had to have his customers taste the gelato in progress, as he just couldn't stomach the concoction himself, but it has been met with positive feedback from gelato (and Vegemite) fans who say that "it reminds them of when they were little and they had Vegemite on toast with butter."

The Cinnamon Bun Bread that Alison, from The Flour Room, recently made is the perfect recipe for anyone who loves cinnamon buns but doesn't have the time or the inclination to make a whole batch of yeasted rolls. The recipe is from Fin Arthur Flour and does use yeast in the recipe, but it is no more difficult than a quickbread. The batter is mixed up, stands at room temperature for about an hour while the yeast works and gives the bread some lightness, opening up the crumb of the bread to prevent it from becoming too dense, and is then poured into a loaf pan for baking. A bit of baking powder helps the bread rise even more, making this a pretty foolproof option, even for the yeast-phobic bakers out there.

This loaf has a cinnamon sugar topping and cinnamon chips swirled throughout. Cinnamon chips are available at many grocery stores, but alternative options for this loaf include adding in chocolate chips or doubling (or tripling) the topping recipe, dividing the batter in half, and adding a layer of cinnamon sugar mixture to the center of the loaf.

Say it fast... Fizzy Gin, fizzy gin, fizzy gin! Why? Because it's fun to say, and soon it may be fun to drink. Diageo has come up with a way to make gin, vodka, whiskey, rum, or any other spirit carbonated naturally, using yeast and a "fermentable carbohydrate." In the patent registered with the European Patent Office they say they have a "method for preparing alcoholic beverages having natural effervescence, wherein a blend comprising a distilled spirit is fermented with a microorganism". It sounds like the way real champagne and some beers are carbonated, but I always thought that yeast died off at around 17-18% alcohol by volume (abv.) Vodka, gin, and most spirits are usually bottle at 40%-50% abv. I read the patent, which left me completely confused and with a headache, and it seems they can carbonate spirits up to 30% abv., though preferably in the 8%-12% abv. range. Anyway it seems they have figured out a way for the yeast to live at high alcohol levels. Boy those must be some robust and happy yeasts.

There are three types of yeast you can use in baking; but if you can find fresh yeast anywhere for sale in the UK you are a better man than me!

1. Fresh Yeast - limited shelf life, impossible to find although apparenlty some health food shops stock it. Should be wrapped and stored in a cool place but used as soon as possible after purchase. Can be frozen but defrost for 30 minutes before using.
2. Granular Dried - this is the stuff that needs activating before use; lukewarm milk or water is commonly used. Must be used within use by date or the bread won't rise.
3. Easy Blend Yeast - the little packeted stuff does not need activating before use and can be added directly to the flour. Again will not work if it becomes stale.

Dried yeast is twice as potent as fresh, so use 15g (½ oz) dried to approximatly 26g (1oz) fresh. Two level tespoons is approximatly 15g (½ oz) dried yeast.

The love-it-or-hate-it spreadable yeast extract, Marmite, has been unchanged for over a century. The thick brown spread is made from a byproduct of the beer brewing process and is a pantry staple for the Brits who love it. But Marmite is getting a makeover. The product has always been packaged in glass jars but the makers of Marmite have been developing a new, squeezable version over the past five years. Packaged in a plastic squeeze bottle, the reformulated Marmite will be slightly thinner in consistency than the jarred version is, but company representatives insist that the flavor will be the same. The new bottle is scheduled to hit Sainsbury shelves tomorrow. The smallest glass jar size will be phased out.

I'm always glad to see bloggers trying out homebrew projects. One of the most recent I've found is over at Blog on the rocks, where Andrew has shared his recipe for "Tangpagne," or fermented Tang. Basically, all that's involved is combining Tang powder, a packet of yeast and some warm water in an air-tight container. From there, the yeast works its magic, converting the Tang's sugar into alcohol. According to Andrew, the result "tastes like fizzy Tang that is slightly yeasty and mildly alcoholic." Blog on the rocks has step-by-step photos of the process.

Congratulations! You have successfully made delicious, homemade dinner rolls. After gathering all your ingredients, you proofed the yeast, kneaded the dough, shaped the rolls, baked the rolls and now that the rolls have had sufficient time to cool you get to taste the rolls. They have a hint of crispness to the crust and a soft interior. You can see the color difference in the rolls that are brushed with egg (top left, in the photo) and those that were not (all the others). The rolls brushed with egg bake up darker in color, though the egg does not add anything to the flavor of the roll.

Eat these with butter and jam, or use them to mop up gravy. Enjoy!

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

Lightly beat an egg with 2 tablespoons of water and brush onto your risen dinner rolls. This will give them a lovely brown sheen as they bake. You could brush them with butter instead, for a deeper color, but an egg will always give them the best shine. If you like, you may also sprinkle sesame or poppy seeds on top of the rolls at this point.

Bake the rolls at 400F for about 20 minutes. They will be golden when they are done. Slide them off the baking sheet and onto a wire rack to cool. Yeasted breads can turn a bit gummy inside if they are cut when they are hot, so it is best to let them cool to room temperature before eating them.

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

Take your risen dough and turn it out onto your lightly floured surface. Use a knife or a bench scraper to divide the dough in half, then divide each half into six even pieces, for a total of 12. You can shape these pieces into any shape you like. Rounded balls are probably the simplest, but it is even easier to drop them into lightly greased muffin tins. To make knots, roll each piece of dough into a rope and tie it. (Yes, that is my hand. No, it is not easy to shape a dinner roll and take a photo at the same time. ) Shaping the dinner rolls is a great time to get your kids involved in baking, even if they can only manage snake-like breadsticks or less-than-circular rolls.

Place all your formed rolls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or one that has been lightly greased. Cover the baking sheet with a large, clean dish towel and let the rolls rise for about 20 minutes.

Now is a good time to preheat the oven to 400F, then you can finish preparing the rolls.

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

 

To your yeast mixture, add buttermilk, honey, salt and 2 cups of flour. Stir vigorously. This is made easier if you have a stand mixer, where you can proof the yeast in the attached bowl and use the dough hook to knead it for you. It isn't too difficult to do by hand, though. All you need is a big wooden spoon. Add the remaining flour a few tablespoons at a time, until the dough stops sticking to the sides of the bowl and clings instead to your spoon or dough hook.

Kneading is the best part, so place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead it with the heel of your hand. As best as I can describe without a video clip, here is how you knead dough. Press the dough down with the heel of your hand, fold over the top half of the dough. Rotate the folded dough 90 degrees (1/4 turn) and repeat. Continue kneading, adding a bit more flour to prevent the dough from sticking, for about 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth. Place it in an oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for 1 - 2 hours, until doubled in size. If you kitchen is cold, this rise will take 2 hours, but it will probably take less time if your kitchen is warm. The dough is now ready to be shaped.

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

 

The first step, once you have your ingredients, is to proof the yeast. Combine your active dry yeast with 1/4 cup warm water in a large bowl. You can test the temperature of your water by putting a few drops on the back of your hand, as you would do to test the temperature of a baby's bottle. If the water is too hot for your hand, it's too hot for the yeast. You cannot kill yeast with water that is too cold, only slow its activity slightly, so it is best to err on the side of caution and not overheat your water.

Mix the water and yeast with a fork to blend. After 5-10 minutes, the yeast should look slightly foamy. Time to add the rest of the ingredients in the next step.

[Photo by Nicole Weston]