Tag Archives: Baking

Bread frustrations

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There are two areas in my life where I frequently feel like a complete failure. Number one is getting my kids to bed and number two is baking bread.

Me and the bread have a long history of ups and downs. In my younger days, it seemed like such fun thing, but I never could get a decent loaf on my own until I got a bread maker. I loved the simplicity and waking up to the smell of fresh bread. However, I detested the crusts and then resorted to doing all the prep in the machine but baking in the oven with good results. Then I moved to Kosovo and I couldn’t take the bread maker with me.

When I lived in Kosovo, I felt it was a necessity because there was only one kind of white bread available. Once again, I was unable to have success with yeast breads, so I turned to all manners of quick breads and decided I didn’t need to deal with yeast. Next I moved to Germany, and there was such a variety of whole grain breads available that I decided there was no point to go through the effort.

At my Thermomix demonstration, the rep made rolls by grinding while wheat and spelt grains, using fresh yeast, and the whole thing was done in just 30 minutes. I thought, now I have my answer, and I entered a big bread kick using Thermomix recipes. Fortunately most have turned out quite well, but now I have added the challenge of trying to use all whole grains, and I am meeting very mixed success.

It seems sometimes I get a perfect loaf, but half the time it is a failure and I can’t figure out how to guarantee success – especially if I use all whole grains. For example, yesterday I used a recipe which has made perfect sandwich bad in the past, but yesterday it didn’t rise at all (now I have learned I can just make crackers with that). Today I tried a recipe with a soaker and a sponge (I read somewhere that soaker whole grain wheat overnight before baking is supposed to help, and I even added several tablespoons of vital wheat gluten hoping to help), but no matter how much flour I added, the dough was so sticky that I couldn’t shape a loaf. I know I can keep adding flour, and that is what I usually do, but I have also read that the most common novice bread maker mistake is to add too much. It seems I need to usually add about double the called for flour get the right consistency, and I know I shouldn’t add that much.

I’ve decided I need to go to a bread making course to be able to witness and feel the proper dough consistencies, but living in Germany, I have no idea how to go about it. Plus, I am getting tired of trying with bread. I keep reading that it shouldn’t be hard, and I should be able to make much healthier and cheaper bread. So what is my problem? Does anyone have any secrets to baking whole grain bread? I am tired of experimenting and just want to have some success!!!

What kind of flour to use?

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Multi Flour

Flour Mix

Have you ever been confused about the variety of flours?  Most recipes seem to call for ‘all purpose flour’, but evidently professional bakers would always use a specialized flour (see my baking page for more info on flours).  Also, my healthy food guru, Dr. Joel Fuhrman suggests not to buy anything where regular wheat flour is listed in the first 4 ingredients.  So in the interest of being healthy and choosing the right flours for the job, I have tried recipes  using whole wheat, spelt, brown rice, soy, amaranth, chickpea and various densities of  regular flour.  Each flour does have different properties and for those needing to cut back on gluten, it is important to try out the alternatives.  I also believe that we benefit nutritionally from having variety in our diets.  HOWEVER, I am now totally confused as to what to use each flour for, and having bought so many flours for specific recipes, I found I had about 6 mini bags of flour in my cupboards.

I decided I was tired of all these bags cluttering my space, but I wanted to have the benefits of them. Therefore, I simply dumped them all together in a big plastic (BPA free, of course) container.  At first you could see the different flours, so I did decide to mix them up.  Now I use this every time a recipe calls for ‘all purpose’ flour.  Basically, with all these flours, you always need a mix since most of them have properties do no lend well to being the sole flour.  I will admit that my baked goods may not be rich and fluffy like something cooked with regular white flour, but it works (at least nothing has been a total disaster).  One of the flours was a bit bitter, so most of my baked treats are as well.  Now my container is almost empty, and I think I will continue creating mixes.  Ideally I will be able to stick to whole and variety grains, and then I won’t feel quite as bad having a baked good!  My goal is to eliminate plain wheat flour and increase the variety of grains in my diet, and this seems a relatively easy way to reach that goal.

I would be interested to hear what flours you like and have used with success as well.

No more rice milk for me

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I have to say that I was quite happy at first to find that there were so many choices for non-dairy milks, but I was also overwhelmed. After all, with dairy milks it’s just what percentage of fat and organic or conventional. So I have been buying the ones I have found here: soy, almond, rice, oat, spelt, coconut. They do have different tastes and some places I have read suggests different ones for different purposes.

I know that soy is the mainstay, but I enjoyed experimenting some. Rice sounded like a good idea, and when you pour it, it looks just like dairy milk However, I found that I just didn’t like it, so I decided to figure out what the difference is. Basically, there are a lot of differences among the milks, and that does make the choice more complicated. On the positive side, you can go for different milks for different purposes.

From my initial reading, it seemed that rice milk didn’t have much to offer. It is one of the lowest milks in nutritional value and one of the lowest protein choices. However I also found this site http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/pros-and-cons-of-rice-milk.html which points out that it is good choice for people with a lot of allergies. (On the other hand, it is a terrible choice for diabetics). So it seems that for me, rice is not an option I need to include. Honestly, I am happy to simplify my choices by making that decision.

My First Vegan Pizza

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Last night I made my first pizza without cheese, and I thought it was delicious. I think it would have been approved by Joel Fuhrman as it was certainly healthy as well.

I started by making a whole wheat crust. I then spread it with some leftover hummus which had sundried tomatoes. I then threw on a bunch of vegetables that I wanted to use up. One was 2 leeks that my assistant sauteed in olive oil, and I think that really added to the flavor. There were some cooked mixed veggies as well, and fresh mushrooms, red pepper and tomatoes. I sprinkled salt, pepper and dried basil over the top. In the end a tasty healthy pizza with so much flavor that you didn’t even notice there was no cheese!

The only drawback, the kids wouldn’t eat it. They certainly have a preference for the unhealthy stuff!

Stevia USA

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One of the things I have been thrilled to see while on my US travels, is the selection of Stevia everywhere. It seems to have hit the mainstream, and there is quite a selection at every grocery store I have been to. I decided to buy ‘Stevia in the Raw’ as it said it could be used cup for cup like sugar. Unfortunately, I waited until I got home and wanted to bake some cookies before reading the fine print on the back (it has been very time consuming trying to read all the labels every time I go shopping!!!).

I was trying to figure out how to use this product and noticed several strikes against it. First of all, the package doesn’t even really recommend ‘cup for cup’ as the front claims. On the back, it suggests using only half of your sugar quantity for sugar, to reduce the pan size and baking temperature, add an egg white or increase baking powder, reduce salt and increase moisture with pursed fruit. There goes the simplicity of a cup for cup packaging!

Finally, I decided to check the ingredients as I figured something had to be added to give it volume. There are only 2 ingredients (good), but the first one is maltodextrin (bad). Wise Geek claims that is a ‘natural’ carbohydrate made from the starches of plants, but my go to list of sweetener choices at Organic Lifestyle Magazine list maltodextrin as the absolute worst sweetener to be avoided at any cost!

Sounds like this Stevia product has suffered the same processing as the typical American food product and should be avoided. How disappointing.

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Vegan Cream Cheese

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This morning I had my first taste of vegan cream cheese, and I liked it. I was amazed how ‘real’ it tasted. I gave it to my kids as well, and they didn’t even notice the difference!
I also bought some coconut milk creamer for my coffee, and I don’t notice any difference.
Being able to buy pre made products such as these makes going vegan a lot easier in the US than in Germany. However, I wonder if these count as ‘whole’ foods. Having lived abroad for so long, I am used to making everything from scratch, and I have come to prefer being able to control my ingredients. I also believe that eating whole foods is more pure and better for my body. I really enjoyed both of these vegan products as they are two tastes that I miss and would often ‘cheat’ on, but I also noticed that there is actually quite a long list of ingredients in each. I don’t mind the oils and salt in the cream cheese, but what about tricalcium phosphate? And what exactly makes up ‘natural flavors’ and ‘vegan culture’? If I choose to avoid animal products because I want more wholesome food, does choosing these pre-made foods defeat my purpose?

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Whole Foods, Whole Paycheck?

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Being home in the states I was excited to check out Whole Foods now that I am making a bigger effort with my eating. The comment I get when I mention my desire to visit Whole Foods, is how overpriced it is. When I started buying all bio back in bonn, my husband’s only comment was how much is this costing me.
Yes, a pint of organic strawberries IS more expensive than non-organic, but I personally think it is worth it. I don’t want those toxins in my body or washing off into the ground water. I think we all pay long term costs for all the toxins we are exposed to. For example, I’ve read that male fertility rates in all species are only a fraction of what they were 50 years ago. It also seems that because we have become so accustomed to cheaper products, we simply over-consume. Our overeating is fairly obvious as you look at the people in America. However, one of my own failings when I come to America is constant shopping because everything is cheaper. There is a movement called freeganism that refuses to buy anything because they are against the consumerism in America. So if we buy higher priced quality items, will we show more restraint and buy less and stick to what we need? That is my personal hope. I still get carried away when in America, but in Germany, I carefully plan menus, make lists and try to stick to what I need.
Finally, as a counter-argument to the ‘whole paycheck’ argument, if you are buying actual ‘whole’ foods, as opposed to ore-made or processed food, your grocery bill should actually be less. Additionally, if you drop animal products, you will also be dropping the most expensive items. So in the end, I think I am getting a much better value for my money by buying ‘whole’ foods!

Silken Tofu

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Honestly, I think silken tofu is one of the coolest things ever. It is so versatile. It can be eggs. It can be cheese. It can be fudge. But of my favorite things about it when baking is that you can just put all your ingredients in a food processor and viola your batter is ready. Even better, you can sample your batter guilt free since there are no eggs.
Tonight’s delight was a brownie batter. I loved the rich fudgy consistency and can’t wait to try the brownies tomorrow

Failed Stevia Experiment

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So I just tried to make cream cheese frosting with Stevia and it was a disaster!

Since discovering Stevia, I have been excited to find a way to have my sweets with absolutely no guilt.  For those of you who haven’t heard, Stevia is a plant from South America whose leaves are used to make a sweetener that is 300 times sweeter than sugar with no calories and NO impact on blood sugar.  In addition, it is supposed to offer some health benefits.

I found the powdered extract at the Goll Reformhaus in Bad Godesburg, and did some research o discover that approximately 1/2 teaspoon of the extract equals 1 cup of sugar.  You need to fiddle with the other indgredients as a cup of missing sugar has an impact on the volume.  It is usually recommended to replace with 1/3-1/4 cup of fruit puree.

I tried it in some muffins, and the sweetness was right on, but the consistency was definitely off.  The muffins weren’t as light and fluffy as usual, but I figured I can still work on that to fix that problem.

This morning I tried to make cream cheese frosting by adding another 1/2 package of cream cheese (for missing volume) and a full teaspoon of Stevia since my recipe calls for 3 cups of powdered sugar.  After beating on high for a couple of minutes, the consistency looked just right, and I was excited to try it.  So I dipped my finger in, and it was terrible!  It had an extremely strong, bitter taste, and I immediately dumped it down the toilet.

I am not sure what went wrong or how to fix this problem.  I had read that some people didn’t like Stevia, and it seemed to me it was because they were using too much.  Perhaps there wasn’t enough other ingredients to counter balance the potency of the Stevia.  If I had had perhaps another package of cream cheese?

If you have any ideas, I would love to hear what you think!

Arrowroot

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You CAN get it in Germany!

 In Vegan literature and recipes I keep coming across ‘arrowroot’.  I had never used it before and wasn’t really sure why I should.  Arrowroot is a thickener, and according to the Cook’s Thesarus (see Cook’s Thesaurus: Thickeners) it is superior to cornstarch in many ways, EXCEPT with meat and dairy, so it is an ideal thickener for Vegan meals.

So I looked up the German translation, and it is “Pfeilwurzmehl”.  I went into Bad Godesburg and asked at the Goll Reformhaus.  The shop keeper had no idea what I was talking about.  I tried to explain I was looking for a starch that was NOT corn based, but still no luck.

I also searched on Amazon.de, since they often have items not available elsewhere, but no luck.

Then, I was shopping at ‘Dinn’s’ just north of Bonn center’s Oxford Strasse, and I found it!  It is called ‘BindeFix Backen’ by ‘Biovegan’ and it even has English instructions and says ‘Pfeilwurzmeh/Arrowroot’ on the package.  I don’t remember how much it was, but it seemed reasonable and the amount is reasonable.  The photo is one from my phone because I have some lens issues with my ‘real’ camera, but I think you can good idea of what to look for.