Saturday Morning Ride

Since the weather is acting so nicely these days, one of my new favourite things to do on Saturday morning, is taking Fleur for a bike ride to The Bread Station. For the past month we have gone and sat there, eating a croissant and having a coffee while watching dogs passing, cyclists riding, and people queuing for the bakery. On the way back we usually hit the playground for at least an hour.

Last saturday I decided to pick up the goods instead (Vincent is back from Armenia and doesn't really enjoy a bike ride or getting up early in the morning). It just so happened that the nice sidewalk in front of The Bread Station has been ruined by a big, ugly scaffold. It is still possible to sit there, but no way as nice as without. Luckily the bread and pastry is super delicious as always, but I guess we'll have to pick up the bread and go somewhere else to eat it for the remaining part of the summer.

Back in the Bread Business

After a bit of a bread drought, where my sourdough starter has been close to exhaustion several times since the beginning of the year, I am finally taking up baking again for real. I have done a bit of homework and am experimenting with some new techniques which seems to be paying off.

Of course I will not bore you with pictures of all the failed attempt - have to admit there were a few - but instead here are some pictures of the first really successful bread in a long time. There has been several after and I am still perfecting my technique and try to experiment with different durations for the fermentation and hydration.

My last obstacle is the gas oven, that does not really allow for the bread to get nice and golden on top without leaving the bottom side somewhat burned. Sadly this obstacle can only be defeated once we move away from this apartment, so I will settle for now and just enjoy the nice newfound fluffiness of my breads.

Julerier

Since I only posted pictures from my trip to France this month, it could almost seem like I forgot it was Christmas. However, December has been full of little Christmas doings and treats, I have just been too busy with stuff to post anything.

I did manage to sit down and write some Christmas greetings, visited a couple of Christmas markets, make some homemade Chrismas wreaths, bake lussebullar for Lucia, make cookies, enjoy the sun in our living room and cook Christmas lunch for three days and have a great time with my friends and lots of good food.

Now with Christmas two days away I am still not completely done with my Christmas shopping, but today my family is arriving in Berlin and I am sure we are going to have some lovely and serene Chrismas days ahead of us. 

Croissant

Last weekend I had another go at making croissants. With the help of my newly bought French bread and pastry book, I am beginning to master the difficult butter pastry quite well. I just wish I had an oven that I could control a bit more, than the one we have.
Anyway, one batch of sourdough croissant and pain au chocolat was made and then they were gone. We could not keep our hands of them for too long.

Birthday

As it often happens, my father came to town to celebrate his birthday with us. It was such a nice day, he has definitely behaved well this year (as they say in Denmark). It was perhaps the first day where it felt like spring, and after the almost obligatory birthday brunch – with sourdough Brunsviger – we went for a very long walk, to burn off some calories and enjoy the sun.

So many bushes had already started to show some green, plus all the little spring related flowers were popping up the ground. We walked along the canal and had a coffee at Concierge before starting to make our way back to home. In the end we dropped by the a new store around the corner, where we stocked up on craft beer so we could have a birthday toast. 

The Tale Of Fastelavnsboller

It has been a couple of weeks since it was Fastelavn, but I just came around to work on these pictures now. As you may have already read, I made fastelavnsboller, or at least my own interpretation of these. From back home I know two different kinds. One is a bun with creme-filling, the other a pastry with a lot more cream-filling. I decided to combine these two in one and attempt choux for the first time. After that decision I also found this recipe that I thought looked amazing. All of a sudden I felt compelled to try out both.

First one - the bun with the cheese and berries - I started a couple of days before, because I adapted the recipe to sourdough. With sourdough the process always takes a bit longer, but I am still amazed every time I am standing with a dough that has risen without any added chemical our yeast. And as I am trying to experiment more and more, it gets to be more and more fun. Earlier I used to hate doing bready dough, but now it has become one of my favorite kitchen activities.

As already mentioned I was trying "choux" out for the first time, and although the dough was fairly easy to do, I think I need to practice using the pastry bag a couple more times before getting it right. My choux turned out rather uneven and in all shapes and sizes. But the taste of coffee and raspberry filling was good, and I don't think anyone would complain if I started practicing more regularly until I have the shape right.