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π High summer baguettes and stone fruit
Published 2 months agoΒ β’Β 3 min read
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High summer baguettes and stone fruit
Italy, again? My kids ask.
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Why, yes! In just a few weeks, I'll be heading back to Italy for our TASTE x The Perfect Loaf trips (you can see last year's trip here).
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I'm excited to try all the local delicacies on the agenda, but I'm equally excited to meet returning travelers and some new faces as well. It's one thing traveling with a group, and something completely different to travel and bake together! You go from stranger to close friend instantly.
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On both trips, we'll be doing plenty of baking, and in prep, I've been running through my "menu," baking baguettes, large country loaves, and ciabatta.
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All the while, my fruit trees have produced so much fruit: peaches, nectarines, and apples.
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With my peaches, I make jam with Earl Grey tea and vanillaβmy go-to and such an easy way to use bowls of peaches (plus give myself a taste of summer in the winter, when everything seems impossibly cold).
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But in addition, I'm using a few of these super-flavorful peaches for a sourdough clafoutis, and apples in a galette, and I've also just eaten them straight out of hand.
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With all this produce, this is one of my favorite times of the yearβminus the summer heat, of course.
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Read on!
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In this week's newsletter:
Recipes: Clafoutis, baguettes, cookies
Baking Tip: As a baker, how do you keep your kitchen clean?!
Links: A wood-fired bakery making hundreds of pastries a day
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But first...
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π The Halo Pro Mixer is Back in Stock!
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As many of you have written, the long-out-of-stock Ooni Halo Pro spiral mixer is finally back!
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I've been using this nonstop since I got it to make bread, pizza, and a wide range of other doughs. In fact, I have baguette dough in there right now π. It's a great mixer for the home.
Doesn't it look incredible with peaches? Well, it tasted just the same. Such an easy way to use any stone fruit you have in the kitchen or at the market (my favorite being peaches and cherries).
I've been working from this recipe, adding 20% whole hard red wheat to my trials in preparation for Italy. Baguettes are certainly finicky, but making them at home is incredibly satisfying (and tasty).
Or... A low-key baguette, these taste just as great and are so much easier to shapeβthere literally is no wrong way to do it. Get 99% of the baguette vibes with 1% of the shaping stress.
Are you unsure if your starter is ready for baking? Or how to change a recipe to include mix-ins, scale it up or down, or just about anything else? Come join the community and ask awayβwe're all there to help. Plus, get all my best baking tools and discounts!
Here's something I literally HATE. Cleaning the sourdough containers. How do you do it?
First, be sure to clean your containers immediately after removing your dough, starter, or levain from them. I do my best to scrape as much flour/water as I can from the container, and then I'll take it right to the sink and wash it out with soap and warm water. This prevents almost all of the dough from going down the drain, and it's much easier to wash containers when the dough is still moist and pliable.
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If the dough has dried in the container, I will put a little soap and warm water inside, let it soak for 30 minutes or so until it's softened, and then wipe out and clean the container.
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If you have a mixer that doesn't have a removable bowl, you can take it into the sink. It's even more important to clean and wipe out that bowl immediately after removing your dough. Once the dough dries, it's tough to take out!
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I prefer using a reusable cloth to clean all these items, and then I wash the cloth in the sink. A tight-knit cloth is best for this; it makes it easier to remove the dough.
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It's essential to be aware of the piping in your kitchen. If you have "sensitive" pipes, scrape out as much dough as possible from your bowls before washing them in the sink.
Want to make bakery-quality sourdough bread from home? Subscribe for the best sourdough guides and recipes to take your bread from ordinary to incredible.
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