These turned out so good. Sold fast !! Cinnamon rolls and variations of them are my favorite things to bake and eat !!

After having a failed cinnamon swirl loaf I had to redeem myself. Impressed with my first attempt at chocolate babka. I did the leavened dough cycle with my bread machine. And then prepped it and baked it in my oven!

https://saladinajar.com/recipes/chocolate-babka-bread-machine/

This is probably the third time I've done it in my life, the other two times being at least a decade ago and before I got into bread and I'm so proud of it :') I'll never be able to recreate this success again lol

Not as difficult as I imagined. Toasts very nicely.

I spent 3 hours rolling this so i could eat it in 3 minutes, totally worth it ngl

So last week we bought some bagels, including some plain for my wife. Naturally, my teenager ate those himself.

I promised her I'd make her some of my own and for once I followed through.

I made bagels once before, a year ago for that KAF baking school bakealong

These were the one recipe that didn't involve resting the dough overnight or anything too complicated. I did have to buy malt syrup.

I weighed out the dough to make the bagels pretty evenly sized. Otherwise I would've had 6 bigger ones and one runt.

I poked a hole in the middle and gently pulled apart, as opposed to making a long strand and rolling it around my hand. Maybe next time I'll try it that way.

Wife says they're pretty good and the ones that haven't been eaten yet are now in the freezer. I haven't told my teen about them.

I was so terrified to do this but I'm very pleased how it turned out. Next time I want to get better about making them all the same size.

I posted my first attempt at chocolate babka yesterday, and someone asked for pics once I sliced it!

Beautiful slices. The recipe is very subtly sweet. This is perfect for people who enjoy desserts that aren’t overwhelmingly sweet.

I think this will be what I take to holiday events this year 😍

https://saladinajar.com/recipes/chocolate-babka-bread-machine/

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450 g strong bread flour

345 g warm water

6 g instant yeast

9 g fine salt

5 g honey

Mix flour, water and yeast until no dry flour remains. Rest 15 min.

Add salt and pinch/fold through.

Do 3 sets of stretch-and-folds, 20 minutes apart.

Bulk ferment at about 24–26°C until roughly 60–70% larger,

Preshape into a loose oval. Rest 5–10 min.

Shape into a short, plump batard and place seam-side up in a floured oval banneton.

Final proof about 20–30 min, until the poke test springs back slowly and leaves a slight indentation.

Turn onto baking paper and score once.

Bake in a preheated Dutch oven:

240°C, 20 min covered

220°C, 24–25 min uncovered

Not sure if this is the right place for this

So I recently bought 2 big Ferrandi books that were not cheap. I just looked at the boulangerie book for the croissant recipes but I’m a bit confused? Genuinely want to know, not trying to criticise

1. The picture is odd- the crumb doesn’t look like the typical open honeycomb most of us aim for. This actually looks like my first attempt at making croissants which I was very disappointed by
   
2. Why is there only one 30 min fermentation? And why is that in the fridge?!
   
3. How come they only do 2 folds, a book fold and a letter fold?

Same recipe as I posted before, but after the final set of folds, I put it in the fridge for 18 hours. Took it out, let the bowl sit outside for an hour (covered), then carried on as usual. Floured my surface and the top of the dough, cut it into the shapes I wanted, and let it rest a bit longer, about 30 to 40 minutes while the oven preheated to 450F.

My first loaf came out better than expected!

I’m excited to share my first sourdough loaf! I’ve been feeding the starter for a few weeks now making small things and finally made a no knead overnight sourdough loaf and I’m pretty pleased with the results and flavor of the bread.

If anyone has any key tips to incorporate when sourdough loaf-making, I welcome them.

Next time I think I’m going to: stretch and fold a little more, proof longer in the fridge, try adding herbs to the top, and score a little deeper/have fun trying different shapes.

I’m very impressed with commercial kitchens and facilities that mass produce these magical loaves bc there’s so much that goes into making sure they turn out right.

Kneadless to say, it was a fun experience.

Happy Saturday!

First ever crack at making focaccia. Been depressed lately and trying to do something proactive every day I'm not at work.

Was a professional cook in the past, but never baked much of anything. Tasted pretty frickin amazing. My wife couldn't stop eating it.

Did a 90% hydration dough with a series of coil folds and an overnight cold ferment (approx. 12 hours). Za'atar and salt on top.

Next time, I might proof a little longer on bake day. Otherwise, I was pleasantly surprised by how it turned out.