Baking Corner, Part 7.

Dear Community,

So here’s Part 7 of the Baking Corner. I hope you all continue to have fun baking.

You can read the previous posts here via the link. Baking Corner, Part 6.

Oh, Inge, just looking at your moist marble cake with raisins and apples is making my mouth water. I totally believe you when you say it was super delicious. You two make a great team!

Best regards, Ina

Yes, really, Inge, that looks so moist—it makes you want to take a bite right away. It’s nice to read how you’re all working together in the kitchen. 

Lovely evening greetings from me :-)

Dear Inge, that cake sounds really delicious (though I’d leave out the raisins—I don’t really like them😉).

To be honest, I have to say: I prefer to work alone in the kitchen—I need my “freedom of movement.” 😇 I think the last time I baked a cake was two weeks ago; it was a very tasty and creamy cheesecake with blueberries on a shortcrust pastry crust. And last night I mixed up a large (1 kg) loaf of bread (using the stand mixer), let it rest overnight in the fridge, kneaded it by hand again this morning, and now the shaped dough is in a cast-iron pot, ready to rise. It’ll be baked right in that pot—that’s how I always do it; it makes a nice, big, round loaf. Once it’s baked and cooled, I’ll slice it all the way through and freeze the slices in portions. That way, I never have to throw away any bread 🍞. 😉

Best wishes, Regina 

Inge your cake must have been very delicious. It’s nice that the two of you do that together and complement each other. 

In our house, I’m the baker. And quite often, since both I and my sweetheart like to enjoy a piece of cake or some cookies in the afternoon. 

Regina I also bake our bread for us in a Roman pot. I divide my dough into 4 equal-sized pieces and then bake it. 

That way, the bread can be broken apart easily after baking, and I always freeze part of it too.

This week we already baked bread and pizza (natural wheat sourdough — it needs to be baked regularly), and with coffee we had cookies and cinnamon rolls. I can even lure the kids home with my cinnamon rolls. 

Best, Petra 

The pot is cast iron—a great thing; nothing sticks to it, and the finished bread just slides right out. About three-quarters of the way through the baking time, I turn the pot upside down; the bread comes out easily, and then I let it bake for the rest of the time without the pot. Fresh bread like this is just delicious 😋

But now the dough still needs to rise a bit; in the meantime, I preheat the oven so the dough gets a little warmth to help it rise. I also have a container of water in the oven, and I always spray a little water into the hot oven with a spray bottle once the bread is inside.

When it was so hot outside, the dough rose faster😉; now that it’s 23° outside, it takes a little longer—even though my apartment is still pleasantly warm.

Best, Regina

My husband bakes bread here, too—ever since he retired, he’s discovered a passion for the kitchen, or rather, for cooking and baking. I let him tinker away because that way he doesn’t get on my nerves and stays busy ;-) :-) Since I have trouble standing for long periods anyway and my hands can’t handle kneading dough anymore, I’m really happy when he takes over.

My daughter Martina always says, “You two don’t have a kitchen—you have a test lab ;-)” because we’re always trying out something new.

Love, Inge

We’re having a carrot cake this weekend, without the usual frosting, since I reduce the sugar in my recipes by about a third anyway. So just dust it with powdered sugar—it’s still more than sweet enough and very delicious. 

I also always freeze bread and rolls, so we always have fresh bread on hand. I’ve collected a few really good recipes by now. For example, an oatmeal bread or a spelt bread with yeast that doesn’t need to rise.

Woolly greetings and have a pleasant rest of your Sunday

Irene

Today I was browsing through the baking posts and kept coming across the “apple clouds.” Where can I find the recipe? Baking isn’t a big priority for me right now—I hope I’ll get back to it more once I’m in my new apartment. But tonight I’m planning to make some vegetable muffins for tomorrow’s lunch: that means I’ll finally be back knitting in good company again. I’m really looking forward to it—I haven’t knitted at all in the last few weeks thanks to being “banished” to my office without a sofa or a TV! (I watch TV on my computer, from bed! Luckily, it’s only three more weeks!)

Good morning, those apple cloud cakes were originally from Inge. I love these little cakes and bake them regularly. 

So you don’t have to search for long, here it is. I saved it back then, so I can find it quickly whenever the apples don’t taste the way we like them. 

Warm regards, and wishing everyone a good start to the new week

Petra 

Hello, you hardworking bakers,

I have a question for all you “bread-in-a-pot” bakers.

I bake fresh bread every week, so I’m not exactly a beginner, but this “bread-in-a-pot” thing just isn’t working out for me at all. I even bought a cast-iron pot—it’s coated on the inside and great for searing—but the bread never comes out. I’ve also tried using parchment paper in the pot, but the dough just swallowed it up 🫣

Is it maybe the wrong pot, am I just too clueless, or what could be going wrong?

Maybe someone will figure out the root of the problem and have a tip for me 😊

Best regards, Anja

Dear Anja, I also really enjoy baking my bread in a cast-iron pot. Here’s how I do it: I preheat the pot, lid and all, to a very high temperature—without the dough inside—for at least half an hour, until it reaches baking temperature. Then I place the bread in the hot pot to bake. Whether I use parchment paper or not, nothing sticks. I bake with the lid on—that saves me from having to steam it. I take the lid off for the last twenty minutes if I want it to brown more and get darker. 

Maybe this will help you. 

Best regards, Karola 

Dear Karola, maybe that’s the solution already! I don’t preheat the pot; instead, I always let the dough have its final rise in the pot.
I’ll definitely give that a try.

Thank you very much!

I wish you every success✊🏽

I bake in a cold Römertopf because I’ve regularly burned my fingers with the hot cast-iron pot. 

I bake with the lid on and let the steam escape briefly after 40 minutes by lifting the lid slightly. For the last 10 minutes, I bake without the lid, usually when the temperature has already started to drop. But I grease and flour my Römertopf before putting the dough in in the morning to rise again. 

Anja, good luck trying this out.  

My cast-iron pot seems to have a smooth interior coating—it’s very smooth and doesn’t have any “large pores.” Nothing ever sticks to it. I also place the dough directly into the pot for its final rise and spray it with lukewarm water. After it’s risen, I put the pot into the preheated oven, which also contains a container of water. I bake without a lid and occasionally spray water into the oven to create steam. And—as I mentioned before—I take the bread out of the pot before the end of the baking time so that it browns evenly on all sides. 😉

Of course, it should say “coating.” 😁

So I also put my bread dough in a pot and put it into the hot oven while still cold.😇 First at 210°, then after 10–15 minutes I turn it down to 180°; baking time is 45–60 minutes—depending on the size of the loaf. 

For smaller loaves, though, I use a different baking pan 😉.

Love, Regina

I’m checking in again about the apple clouds.

I always bake these for my grandchildren—they even take them to school for their snacks. I always bake a large batch because they’re gobbled up so quickly. You can also freeze them. What makes my version special is that—aside from 2 packets of vanilla sugar (for flavor and browning)—it contains no refined sugar. The natural fruit sugar in my garden apples is more than enough.  

Since we bake this recipe all the time—even with the grandkids—I’ve printed it out and laminated it. It’s hanging on the bulletin board with a magnet, right where I can reach it. 

Best regards, Ina

Hi there, everyone! I baked a birthday cake for my husband yesterday. I bought apples, but he said I could have made a plum cake instead—so I went with half and half.

I bake with spelt flour (it has such a lovely nutty flavor), and I also cut the amount of sugar in half—which is plenty, in my opinion.

I’ve read that you’re all busy baking bread—I always use the ready-made mixes (rye and spelt flour). I’d love to try making one with sourdough (but I don’t know how to start it)—could one of you hardworking bakers help me out? 

Best regards, Petra

This is my finished bread.

Dear Petra, I usually use ready-made flour mix, then combine sunflower bread flour with farmhouse bread flour and add some seeds (I have a lot of flaxseed on hand). The bread always turns out well and tastes good. 

I don’t know much about sourdough; you have to start it and then keep “feeding” it. Actually, all you need for that is warm water and rye flour, but I’ve never tried it—I don’t like rye bread 😉. You can find the relevant patterns for it online, though.

Thanks, dear Rusalki—I’ll have to try that mixing idea. Unfortunately, I can’t just add grains (my husband says he’s not a bird)... 

Warm regards, Petra

Dear Petra, sunflower bread flour already contains sunflower seeds. But I’ve also mixed white bread flour with farmhouse bread flour—it turns out delicious, too. ;-)

Thanks for the tip—I’ll definitely give that a try 

Best regards, Petra

It’s fascinating how differently the methods work: a hot cast-iron pot on the one hand, a cold, greased Römertopf on the other. In the end, it seems there are several ways to achieve a good crust.<\/p>

Ever since my husband retired, he’s discovered a passion for baking—especially making bread. He’s been baking our bread for 7 years now, and it’s delicious. He mixes wheat and rye flour, yeast, salt, a little sugar for the yeast, and a splash of grape vinegar into the dough. I’ll tell you, it’s a real treat every time, and he bakes it in regular loaf pans.

Best regards, Inge

Dear Inge, I just read about grape vinegar in bread dough.🤔

That piqued my curiosity so much that I Googled why vinegar is added to bread dough. And wow, that’s really interesting—I’ll definitely give it a try the next time I make bread 🍞—I’ve never done that before. 

Thanks for explaining it like that.👍

Best regards, Regina 

Hi everyone,

This weekend we’re having a pear marble sheet cake with a thin layer of white chocolate coating. Have a
lovely, sunny weekend, and enjoy!

Best regards, Jana

I’ve also noticed while baking bread that there are many ways to achieve the same result. Like Inge’s husband, I also really enjoy baking in standard loaf pans.

Spelt bread from a (preheated) cast-iron pot (no parchment paper; the lid stayed on for the entire baking time). Without a preferment, but with a long fermentation period. I really like this simple method, where you don’t have to knead the dough—just stretch and fold it a few times during bulk fermentation.

The marble cake looks delicious 🤩.

Best regards, Karola

Have you been baking?

Yesterday we had a baking marathon :-) My husband is celebrating his 70th birthday today, and we’re expecting quite a few guests.

We baked bread, a chocolate cake, my husband’s favorite cake, and an apple cake with crumble topping

Best regards, Inge

Happy birthday to your sweetheart!

Cookies were baked today

I baked an apple cake and a crumb cake today—I’ll need them tomorrow because I’m having guests :-)

Best regards, Inge