Re-entering the foray of yeast breads

It's been a while since I made bread. I used to make my own bread all the time. Unfortunately, I had a jug of water leak while stored under my sink, right next to my Kitchen Aid mixer and its attachments. My uncoated dough hook became a casualty, as the metal oxidized and the finish was compromised. I could no longer use that dough hook; then it took me almost 3 years to replace it. I am now the proud owner of a new coated dough hook, and I'm back in the yeast bread making game.

I tested a recipe for white bread from a cookbook I bought in Jackson, MS. I thought the recipe came together well, but I thought the bread could have been a little more tan on top.




After the bread had cooled and had been wrapped up, I sliced a loaf tonight. I realized that I didn't push enough air out of the dough when I formed the loaves. There are too many air pockets, and the bread looks almost porous. I will be working on my dough techniques through the year.

2009 Minnesota State Fair Entries

It might sound a little crazed, but I have already planned my entries for the 2009 State Fair. I'm feeling even more ambitious and have 20 entries selected. Hey, if you're going to win a ribbon in every category lot, you have to bake a lot of entries!

Here are the scheduled entries thus far:

Yeast Breads, plain dough: Bread, White
Yeast Breads, plain dough: Bread, Herb (Onion Bread)
Yeast Breads, plain dough: Bread, Raisin
Yeast Breads, sweet dough: Coffee Cake
Yeast Breads, sweet dough: Sweet Rolls, plain
Quick Breads: Other fruit bread, may use nuts (Blueberry Almond Bread)
Egg Cakes: Angel food, white
Egg Cakes: Sponge
Cakes with Shortening: Cake, pound
Cakes with Shortening: Vegetable or fruit type (Pumpkin Cake)
Cookies: Chocolate brownies with nuts and/or frosting
Cookies: Cookies, icebox (Chocolate Icebox)
Cookies: Cookies, ball type, not flattened before baking (Gingersnaps)
Cookies: Cookies, chocolate chip
Cookies: Cookies, peanut butter
Cookies: Cookies, oatmeal, no fruit, nuts, chips, or icing
Pies: Pies, Apple
Pies: Pies, Mixed Berry
Pies: Pies, Peach
Ethnic Baking: Ethnic Baking, bread (Julekage)

Some lots were entered in 2008, with results that could be improved. I also finally replaced my dough hook for my Kitchen Aid stand mixer so I could start making more yeast breads. I will be practicing these recipes for the next 9 months!

2008 Minnesota State Fair: Banana Bread

(middle shelf, yellow ribbon)
Quick Breads: Banana Bread, nuts, no other fruit lot: 5th place

I used the same recipe for banana bread as I had in 2007. This time, I made sure I had very ripe bananas, and I used 4 bananas. Three isn't really enough to give the best flavor. The loaves must be a certain size to enter in the fair. I made 4 smaller sized loaves so I could pick the most attractive. I won the 5th place ribbon this year, and my score was much higher than last year.

2008 Minnesota State Fair Entries

I was decidedly more ambitious at the State Fair this summer. After my successes in 2007, I decided to enter 13 lots, with a goal to win 8 ribbons. My overall goal for my State Fair baking is to win a ribbon in every baking lot. I did not enter in the three lots I won ribbons in 2007, but I did enter the other two. There are many lots to enter, so it will take quite a few years to accomplish my goal, but I will enjoy trying!

I spent 2 days baking (immediately after taking a final exam in a summer course at the U of M) pies, cakes, cookies, and bread.



This is how my kitchen and table look when I'm baking so many items. Somehow, I manage to fit them all in!




Here are the final entries.



One item of interest this year...I was not aware that not all entries are scored in a lot if there are over 25 entries. Unfortunately, some of my entries fell into that category. I plan to reevaluate my entries and hopefully this will not happen too many more times!

Quick Breads: Banana Bread (5th place)
Egg Cakes: Angel Food Cake (DNP)
Cakes with Shortening: White Cake, with egg whites (2nd place)
Cakes with Shortening: Spice Cake (2nd place)
Cakes with Shortening: Chocolate Cake (4th place)
Cakes with Shortening: Not otherwise specified (1st place)
Cookies: Brownies, with Frosting, Nuts, or Chips (DNP)
Cookies: Chocolate Chip (Not Scored)
Cookies: Ball type, not flattened before baking (DNP)
Cookies: Bar cookie, with Nuts, Fruit, and/or Chips (Not Scored)
Pies: Apple (Not Scored)
Pies: Mixed Berry (DNP)
Pies: Peach (DNP)

Ms. Findlay-Lampkin wants to hear what YOU have to say.

To all my St. Anthony students,

I have a questionnaire that I hope you might take a few minutes to fill out for me. I will be using your responses in a paper at the U of M.

Paper copies are available from Mrs. Billeadeau. I also have an online version that you can do.

To go to the online form, click HERE.

Thanks again!

What would YOU like to see on Bake-straveganza?

To my students and their parents at St. Anthony,

Some of you have been introduced to the blog in class, and recipes are available if you would like to make some of the 2007 State Fair entries. I plan to post the 2008 State Fair entries this weekend.

I am also going to post the process of making an apple pie. There are so many apples in season for fall that it's a great time to bake with them! I have some Haralson apples I will be using.

Also, if you have any requests for an item you'd like to see on the blog, feel free to comment and let me know! I am hoping to put some of our class labs on here as well, so people can see what we do in our foods labs at different levels.

Have a great 4 day weekend!

2007 Minnesota State Fair: Opportunities

Well, not all my entries made the grade at the fair in 2007. I decided that I needed to re-enter the categories the next year so I could improve my skills and products.

Quick Breads: Banana Bread
(Betty Crocker Cookbook, 1996)

I knew right away what happened with this entry. My bananas were not ripe enough, and I should have used one more. I did not have a great score for flavor. I liked the recipe, so I decided to make the same one in 2008....just with riper bananas.


Cakes with Shortening: Chocolate Cake
Devil's Food Cake (Betty Crocker Cookbook, 1996) with French Silk Frosting (Betty Crocker Cookbook, 1969-1980)

I thought this would be a good choice for a chocolate cake entry, but I didn't realize how competitive this lot would be. It wasn't even my favorite chocolate cake recipe that I use - I like the Cocoa Fudge cake recipe from Betty Crocker (1969 - 1980) with Vanilla Butter Frosting (Betty Crocker, 1969 - present) best. There was nothing special about this cake. It was just a plain old chocolate cake. I decided to make my favorite in 2008 and see if I could improve my showing.