On 2018-10-25 2:16 PM, U.S. Janet B. wrote:
> On Thu, 25 Oct 2018 14:13:02 -0600, graham > wrote:
>
>> I decided to have a baking session yesterday. I had discovered that my
>> sourdough levain had gone really dormant and it took a few feedings to
>> get it up to strength. I then made a poolish with all the water and half
>> of the flour with some of the levain and left it overnight. I made the
>> dough in the morning and while it was proofing, I went to the store to
>> get the ingredients for some chocolate-pistachio-cranberry muffins. In
>> the relatively short time I was out, the dough almost tripled in volume
>> indicating a now healthy levain. I made 3 loaves:
>>
>> https://postimg.cc/qgxgvMmV
>>
>> Then I made the muffins following a recipe from the British Bake-Off
>> competition. I followed the recipe very carefully. $7 worth of
>> pistachios and about $11 worth of chocolate in the mix and another ~$7
>> worth in the ganache!! The cupcakes were a bit dry and it took much more
>> chocolate to get the ganache to a setting consistency.
>> The results were unimpressive. However, I'm sure my grandson and
>> granddaughter will soon polish them off.
>> I shan't make that recipe again.
>> Graham
>
> at least your bread came out great! Too bad about the muffins. I
> hate when a should be trusted recipe turns out uninspired.
> Janet US
>
Yes, and it was damned expensive! 200g of melted Belgian chocolate and
100g of pistachios in the mix. The most annoying thing was the ganache.
I was a bit suspicious of the recipe so cut the cream content by 20%
when I should have halved it.
I hadn't fed the levain for months and it took 2 feedings to confirm
that it was still alive and with the next feeding it really took off.
It's getting on for 30 years old.
Graham