Tag Archives: bread

DB: Tiger Bread

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This is the first time I participate in the Daring Bakers challenge, and I really enjoyed it. I love making bread, so I was very happy to see this was a bread baking challenge. I also like the fact that I had to make something I had never baked, eaten or even heard about. Unfortunately, my bread turned out not that great, and I did not have the time to try it again. It was still fun nonetheless.

You can read more about Tiger Bread in Wikipedia but basically it is a kind of bread which is coated with a paste made of rice flour before baking, which then crackles and provides extra crunch. My coating failed to brown prettily, and this led me to leave the bread longer in the oven and eventually it was a little too dry.

The rolls were just beginning to burn when I pulled them out of the oven. When they cooled, I tried one. The inside was perfect but the crust was quite disappointing. I think it is because it dried and burned instead of browning nicely. Maybe it was too watery.

The next step of the challenge was to make a sandwich using the bread. I decided to put some extra effort in this part to make up for the mediocre rolls.

I started by making some kind of pesto using whatever I had in the fridge. Parsley, olives, basil, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and some olive oil:

I then added some Beaufort cheese and lettuce:

It was a really nice sandwich, even though the roll was one day old by now, and was somewhat stale. For dessert I had some Brie de Meaux:

Later that day I had another sandwich, but this time I put the Brie inside as well. It contributed the missing creaminess and made that sandwich fantastic.

I think the idea of Tiger Bread is very cool, but my version was lacking. I will get it right in time with some experimentation – which will provide opportunities for more sandwich ideas.

Light Rye Bread

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After some failed attempts in the past, I finally managed to bake good rye bread. The key difference between making rye bread and regular bread, is the different consistency of the dough. Rye dough should be sticky, and doesn’t become smooth and elastic like regular dough. When I tried to make smooth non-sticky rye dough, I ended up with condensed bread which did not raise. My cousin Ran (who also bakes, and gave me my sourdough starter) was the one to tell me that rye dough should be sticky and contain around 60% water. I followed his advice and my rye bread turned out great.

I used my new kitchen scale to measure ingredients for keeping the water content around 60%. If you don’t have a scale (buy one, or) you can google conversion rates like “200gr flour to ml”.

Ingredients

  • 100gr sourdough starter
  • 240gr water
  • 200gr rye flour
  • 200gr plain wheat flour
  • 1tbsp honey
  • 2tsp salt
  • 1tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1tbsp caraway seeds (optional)

In a bowl, mix sourdough starter with water using a spoon. Add the rest of the ingredients and start kneading. If using an electric mixer just run it on low speed for a few minutes. Otherwise, knead using a wooden spoon, as the dough is too sticky to knead by hand. When the dough becomes consistent, leave it to rest for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes rest (for both you and the dough), knead again for a few minutes. The dough should be consistent, but sticky and tough. It reminded me of cupcake batter, but much tougher. At this point the dough should be left for proving overnight. I used an English cake tin:

Before
After

If you want round bread, you can let the dough prove in a bowl lined with a heavily floured towel – when ready to bake, take it out of the bowl and free-form your loaf, working the dough as little as possible.

Bake at 190°C. It took me 30 minutes, but it can vary. To check if your bread is done, take it out of the oven, and knock on its bottom – you should hear a hollow sound. When ready, remove from the oven and tin, and let it cool on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

Serve with herring or Brie :)