The news is good: Menu for Hope has been extended through December 31, so there’s still time to make your donations to the UN World Food Programme, and bid on my items: a class at the San Francisco Baking Institute, and a signed copy of Advanced Bread and Pastry.
Details on how to bid are here (and there are lots of other items to choose from, too). It will make me very happy if you do.
About three years ago, it came to my attention that my pressurized toilets were, literally, ticking time bombs. Nothing bad happened, but it was only a matter of time. I knew this because the company was offering to replace those toilets with new (plain old, non-pressurized) toilets. Free shipping and everything. You’d have to pay for the plumber to install the new ones, but still, replacing them seemed like a no-brainer when you read things like “worst case, they explode and flood the house.”
A simple phone call and everything was arranged, no questions asked. My new toilets would be sent out by UPS within a week. All I had to do was sit back, relax, and hope my back end didn’t meet that worst-case scenario before those babies arrived.
Sure enough, a few days later I came home from work to find one of those UPS post-its on my front door. The gist was, “We tried to deliver your toilets but you weren’t home. We’ll be back tomorrow. Please be home.” Well, I wouldn’t be home tomorrow either, but surely this could be fixed with a phone call to the UPS Lady.
Me: Can you please leave my toilets in my driveway tomorrow?
UPS Lady: I’m sorry, ma’am, those items require a signature. We can’t leave them unless someone is home to sign for them. You have five business days to take delivery before we have to send them back.
Me: Can I waive that signature thing?
Merry Christmas to all!
Today’s post was supposed to be about this year’s panettone, but we’re not going to talk about that right now. If you must have panettone, fine, go, get out! And don’t bother coming back!
Stollen is much easier than panettone. None of this fussy sweet Italian levain business, none of this persnickety adding of the sugar in stages so you don’t overhwhelm your poor fragile gluten, none of this namby-pamby hanging upside down after baking so the sissy little bread doesn’t collapse under its own weight.
No, with stollen you just throw everything into the mixer and mix the hell out of it. The hardest part is shaping the loaf so it looks like the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in the manger. (I think I did a pretty good job with that. I mean, I really see the resemblance there, don’t you?) And you won’t catch our little Lord collapsing under his own weight any time soon, now, will you?
Especially during the holiday season when sweet breads abound, you may run across recipes that call for osmotolerant yeast (also called SAF Gold, as it comes in a gold-colored package; SAF is the brand.)
Osmotolerant yeast is a special strain of instant dry yeast that performs better in high-sugar doughs than other yeasts do. In small amounts, sugar enhances fermentation, but when the amount of sugar exceeds about 5% of the flour weight, it impedes fermentation by pulling water away from the yeast. (If you’re a science geek, you probably know that sugar creates osmotic pressure, and if you’re not, you probably don’t care.)
SAF Gold is available from a number of online sources. However, if you can’t get it and have recipe that calls for it, you can use regular instant yeast (SAF Red, for example), and just increase the amount by about 30%.
May your holidays be filled with peace and light and the joy of breaking bread with family and friends.
Let’s begin with the name: is it “pandoro” or “pan d’oro?” In The Italian Baker, Carol Field writes, “Although the name suggests pan d’oro (golden bread), pandoro is actually a dialect word for a Veronese dessert made more than two centuries ago.”
My own choice of appellation owes more to laziness than a commitment to historical accuracy. “Pandoro” is easier to type, and doesn’t require me to constantly edit after I’ve hit the semicolon key instead of the apostrophe. Let;s face it, I;m a slacker.
Whatever you call it, though, “golden bread” is definitely an apt description for this sweet, egg-and-butter-rich Italian holiday bread.
It’s that time of year! Once again, I am honored to be a part of Menu for Hope, the international food blogging community’s annual fundraising event to benefit the United Nations World Food Programme. This is a unique opportunity to donate to a most worthy cause while bidding on some fantastic culinary raffle items.
Proceeds from this campaign will go to a new WFP initiative, Purchase for Progress, which gives small farmers a market for their surplus crops at competitive prices in their own developing countries. Since its inception, Menu for Hope has raised over $230,000. Please help extend this stunning success by giving as generously as you can.
Each $10 you donate to Menu for Hope between now and December 25 gets you one chance on your choice of bid items from an incredible lineup hosted by food bloggers around the world. The more you donate, the more virtual raffle tickets you earn, and the greater your chances of winning.
You may bid on any items you like, but I’m pretty sure you won’t be able to resist mine, both very generously donated by the San Francisco Baking Institute:
UW18: A 2-Day Artisan Baking Workshop, or 40% off a 5-Day Workshop, at SFBI
SFBI is the only school in the US dedicated exclusively to artisan bread and pastry baking (and also happens to be where I’m spending a very large chunk of my time these days).
If you win this item, select any 2-day workshop (or get 40% off any 5-day workshop) that SFBI offers in 2010, on a space-available basis.
Choose from weekend classes on baguettes, sourdough, French macarons, and more, or go for a week-long introductory or advanced artisan baking course. Check out the SFBI course calendar for a complete list of offerings.
UW19: Advanced Bread and Pastry
If you can’t make it to the school for a course, SFBI founder Michel Suas’ book is the next best thing to being there. He’ll even sign it for you.
This incredibly comprehensive text lays out the theoretical and practical foundation you will need in order to understand and execute its 300 or so bread and pastry formulas, many of which are staples of the SFBI curriculum.
From baguettes, bagels, and brioche to chocolate, ciabatta, and Chartreuse marshmallow lollipops, it’s all in here. Prepare to be inspired!
Thanks to everyone for your gifts of new and old festive favorites — happy holiday baking!
If you’re looking for the promised holiday breads, find them in the YeastSpotting Holiday Edition. And whether you’re baking for a special occasion or making an occasion special with your baking, may your days be merry and bright and filled with the aroma of fresh bread.
RSS Feed