WARNING

Don't try this at home, kids! I would be ECSTATIC if you all tried baking bread, but please don't try to use the recipe I posted! Go out, get a cookbook, and make a leaven! I wasn't detailed enough on here for you to be successful!

Should I keep Going?

Do y'all want me to keep posting? yes/no leave an answer please!

I'm gonna do it.

I will post the recipe to my sourdough.
Here's the thing, friends, bread is only water, leaven, flour and salt. It really is more the PROCESS than the ingredients that it important. But, nonetheless, I'll show you how it's done.

Ingredients:

• 900 grams white flour
• 100 grams whole wheat flour
• 200 grams leaven
• 750 grams water (700 to start, then add 50 later)
• 20 grams salt

To start, you do the float test of the leaven in water. If it floats in warm water, it's ready. Then, you measure out 700 grams of water, and mix into it the 200 grams of leaven with your hands. 

Next goes in the flour. Your mix all of it with your hand, then once it combines to one mass, you let it sit for about half and hour. 

This is a really crucial rest, because, it lets the flour absorb the water, then relax again. 

Then, you add the extra 50 grams of water, and 20 grams of salt. After this, I usually find a warm space for the dough to do it's bulk fermentation. This is a four hour rise, and every half hour, I turn the dough . 

To do this, I dip my hand in, and scoop up a part of the dough from the bottom, and fold it over the top. This creates air bubbles, which in tuen makes for light, fluffy bread. 

During the bulk fermentation, the bacteria in the leaven eats at the carbohydrates in the flour, and produces lactic acid as a biproduct of anaerobic respiration (yogurt and beer are made in a similar way.) CO2 is another by product -- air bubbles! Good thing I payed attention in cell biology. 

After the four hours, I pour the dough onto an UNFLOURED surface. I recently realized how important that is. I flour the top of the dough, and cut it into two pieces about the same size. I shape the dough with a bread spatula, which looks like a small metal rectangle with a wooden handle. I shape the dough into a round, pulling slightly out from under the loaf with the spatula. 

This creates tension as part of the dough sticks to the unfloured table, and I kind of wrap the dough around itself. 

Then comes the bench rest. I left it rest for about half an hour again, and I usually flour the top and cover the two pieces with a cloth to keep the draft off them. 

After the bench rest, I take the cloth off, flour the top, and flip the dough over again. This time, I shape the for the final rise. I fold in both sides of the somewhat pancake-shaped dough, and then fold in the top and the bottom, and roll it over itself to make a neat little round loaf. 

And then we put it in the fridge over night to rise! And when we return, kids, we'll wield the flames and the hearth. And put those babies in the oven. 

Reply to Comment: Do you ever consider making other types of bread? like ones that you use more for sandwiches or are you really into the sourdough at the moment?

I am forever loyal to sourdough! And you can TOTALLY make sandwich's on sourdough! Panini's are so great on sourdough, especially with tomato and basil...
I have tried adding other things to my bread. I once made a cumin and dried currant loaf, but the outside was so burnt, all the flavor was a bit too smoky to distinguish between the flavors. I also really wanted to focus on getting the basic recipe down pat before I tried new things.
I think I will branch out soon, though. I really want to try to make a semolina or rye bread. Which should I do? Leave a comment!

Reply to Comment: Is Bread Your Favorite Thing To Bake?

Yes! It is! My mother went to school to be a pastry chef, and worked in some cafes and restaurants for a while. My little sister wants to follow in her footsteps and open a bakery. My dad jokes that we should open "The Blakery". (A pun on my last name.) Stazi, that's cool that you like to bake pies at home! That's my mother's specialty!
To answer your question further, I have just recently started trying my hand at pastry, and so far I've had a lot of fun! However, because bread has such a long process, I often find it more rewarding.

Keep commenting! :)

MATH CAKES

For my friend who did most of a math problem set. You can see here a pi cake, a square root cake, an x and y cake, and an M cake. I used a whipped cream frosting leftover from a pie my sister made this weekend, and some decorating sugar we had in the cupboard. They were TASTY.

Pictures from the last batch!

I finally got my camera in order! Yes! Winning!

Sorry for the blurriness. I like how dramatically this loaf rose out of the markings I etched in the top (with my own lil' flat razor!), but the burnt crust was a result of me using a too high temperature. Ah well, it's toast for me for the rest of the week!

Cut open, the loaf revealed a perfectly done inside, with a nice array of bubbles!

Looks like a cave, don't it? Stalagtights and stalagmights and all that good stuff. Only this is better. 'Cause you can EAT IT.

I put some earth balance (a vegetable-based spread I use in place of butter) on this slice...

Pretended I was a silver-screen star...

and took a photo of it. I love love love how the spread and the lighting make the bread look like gold! 

What was interesting about this loaf was that I added a bit too much water in the beginning, so it was a very wet, heavy, and sticky loaf for the whole process. I rose alright in the oven, but it was a very small, and round loaf. I'll add less water next time, and play around with the hydration level of the dough.