The 50 Best Labour Day Sale Is Coming ๐
We're getting close! My 50 Best Recipes Workbook is going on sale for Labour Day weekend at the best price I offer all year.
The workbook has 50 of my bakery-tested formulas, all built into Excel so you can scale recipes up or down, adjust formulas and keep the math organized without having to calculate everything from scratch.
The sale will run Friday, September 4 through Labour Day, Monday, September 7.
I'm building a list specifically for the sale, so if you want me to send you the sale when it goes live, click the button below. I'll send the offer directly to everyone on that list over Labour Day weekend.
If you don't want the extra emails, don't click easy as that. You'll still get my regular Friday newsletters as usual.
Just click the button, and you're on the listโnothing else you need to fill out.
Back in the Micro Bakery: Light Rye Sourdough ๐
I came home from Muskoka this week and somehow ended up back in the micro bakery mixing a 12.6 kg batch of sourdough. Honestly, after spending most of the summer cooking, it felt SO good to mix a big batch of dough and shape 15 loaves again.
I didn't bring any whole wheat flour home from Muskoka, so I opened up my 50 Best Recipes Excel, started with my Beginner Sourdough formula and changed it into a light rye.
I went with 80% bread flour and 20% rye, 80% hydration to start, 2.2% salt and 20% levain. I ended up adding a little extra water during mixing, so the final hydration was actually slightly higher.
How the bake went:
- Autolyse: Flour + first water for about 1 hour.
- Final mix: Added the second water, then salt, followed by a little extra water as the dough developed.
- Mixing: About 18 minutes total. I started on first speed and gradually increased the speed as the dough gained strength.
- Final dough temperature:28.5ยฐC / 83ยฐF.
- Bulk fermentation: About 3 hours 15 minutes.
- Temperature at shaping: About 25.5ยฐC / 78ยฐF. My AC was running, so the dough cooled quite a bit during bulk.
- Final proof:30 minutes at room temperature after shaping, then into the fridge overnight.
- Bake: Straight from the fridge the next morning in my Simply Bread oven.
By the end of mixing, I was looking for a strong, smooth, well-developed dough that was pulling together beautifully.
And the crumb was pretty damn nice tooโespecially for a loaf with 20% rye. ๐
I made 15 loaves altogether. Two are coming back to Muskoka with me for dinner Thursday night, one (plus a little mini loaf ๐) is for my kids, and the other 11 went to the micro bakery.
Basically enough to put some gas in the car for another drive to Muskoka. ๐
But honestly, I loved doing it. I love the process of making bread, and this is exactly why I built the Excel in the first place. I can take a formula I know, change the flour, hydration or dough quantity, and immediately have everything calculated for the bake I actually want to do.
With the 50 Best Labour Day Sale coming next weekend, this was a pretty perfect reminder of why I still use this thing myself all the time.
Brie, Fig Jam & Sourdough Toast ๐ง
This is such an easy appetizer and one I've made a few times this summer.
Take a whole wheel of Brie and stud it with a few thin slices of garlic, then spread a generous layer of fig jam over the top.
Bake at 375ยฐF convection or 400ยฐF regular until the Brie is warm and JUST starting to melt. Don't overbake itโyou want the cheese soft and gooey inside, but still holding its shape.
Once it comes out, finish with toasted pecans and serve with lots of toasted sourdough. That's it!
I did another version this summer where I studded the Brie with fresh rosemary, baked it on its own, and then finished it right in front of the guests with truffle honey and toasted pecans. Served that one with toasted focaccia and OMG... so good. ๐
You can really get creative with thisโdifferent jams, honey, herbs, nuts and whatever good bread you have around. It's simple, but always a hit.
Lemon & Yuzu Madeleines ๐
Madeleines will always remind me of working for Daniel Boulud in New York and Toronto. At the end of every meal, each guest would get freshly baked madeleines, still warm and dusted with icing sugar. I've made thousands of these things over the years and somehow I still love them.
This week I made my lemon madeleines at work and added a little candied yuzu in the centre.
You do need a special madeleine pan to get that classic shell shape, but honestly, I think it's worth having one. I'll link the madeleine pan I use here. The batter can also be made ahead in fact, when I worked at Boulud, we would make it the day before and bake the madeleines fresh to order.
And then there's the famous madeleine hump. That little bump on the back is exactly what you're looking for. Cold, rested batter going into a hot oven helps create that beautiful rise while giving you golden, slightly crisp edges.
They're one of those pastries that look fancy but are actually pretty simple once you understand the techniqueโand they're SO good straight from the oven.
This Week in Muskoka: Tangzhong Milk Buns ๐ฅ๐
This week I made a batch of my Tangzhong Milk Buns for my boss to take to a lobster dinnerโand honestly, these are SO good.
If you've never used tangzhong before, it's a simple technique where you cook a small portion of the flour and liquid before making the dough. It helps the dough hold more moisture and gives you an incredibly soft, fluffy bun that stays fresh longer.
The recipe on my blog uses whole wheat flour and seeds, but you can absolutely leave the seeds off like I did here. You can also play around with the flour depending on what you have and the style of bun you want.
They're simple, incredibly soft and perfect for a dinner like this. I mean... fresh milk buns and lobster? Hard to go wrong. ๐
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Happy Baking,
MJD
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