Thinking About Bringing Back the Baguette Course… 🥖
Every summer, I seem to fall back into a baguette obsession.
Maybe it’s the warmer weather, maybe it’s all the sandwiches and outdoor meals this time of year, but I’ve been baking a lot of baguettes again lately and it’s making me think about reopening the baguette course for a short period this summer.
Last year’s launch was honestly one of my favourite projects I’ve ever worked on. We covered everything from mixing and fermentation to shaping, scoring, steaming, and getting consistent results at home.
It also included multiple styles of baguettes:
- levain baguettes
- poolish baguettes
- whole wheat
- rye levain
- baguette de tradition
- and more
I’m still figuring out timing, but if you’d like me to bring it back, you can join the waitlist below, and I’ll send details first if I decide to reopen enrollment.
Juniper's Cookie Business 🍪
This week, Juniper accidentally started a business.
She wanted an Our Generation doll vending machine and asked if I'd buy it for her. I told her no 😂, but I said she was welcome to help out in the bakery and earn some money. She bagged a few loaves of bread, swept the floor, and after her first shift, I paid her $5.
That’s when things got interesting.
She started doing some quick math and realized that if a loaf sells for $10–15 and we sell quite a few of them, there might be a better way to earn money than sweeping floors. A few minutes later, she looked at me and said, “What if I do my own bakery drop?”
Fair question.
I told her if she wanted to do it properly, she needed to choose a recipe herself and do the work. The next day, I came home and found her sitting at the table with a baking book open and a calculator beside her. She had already tripled the recipe on her own and written out all the new ingredient quantities. She asked me to check her work, and somehow the math was perfect.
The next step was scaling ingredients. She measured everything into little mise en place containers and had the entire recipe ready to go before we even started mixing.
The following day, we mixed the cookie dough together. While she was at school, I baked most of the trays, and when she got home, she finished the final batch herself.
Then came the big test. Would anyone actually buy them? She made 50 cookies, and they sold out (for $5 each) in less than two minutes. Not bad for a first bakery drop.
The cookies were incredible, too. Crisp around the edges, soft in the middle, and definitely something I’d happily buy myself. But my favourite part wasn’t the baking. Afterwards, we sat down and talked about the difference between sales and profit. She paid me back for the ingredients she used (which I secretly put back into her piggy bank), kept the rest of the money, and immediately started talking about what she should bake next.
Maybe she’ll buy the vending machine. Maybe she’ll reinvest in another cookie drop. Either way, I think she learned a lot more than baking this week.
👉 Curious about the cookie recipe she chose?
Multigrain Sourdough 🌾
This multigrain sourdough is still one of my favourite breads on the blog and probably one of the best ways to start working more whole grains into your baking.
I first started baking versions of this loaf years ago while working at Langdon Hall. We were constantly experimenting with local grains, different soakers, and ways to build more flavour and texture into the bread program.
One of the biggest game changers in this recipe is the grain soaker. Using boiling water to hydrate cracked grains and seeds overnight gives the final loaf so much more flavour, texture, and shelf life.
The nice thing, too, is you can really make it your own. Different grains, seeds, cracked rye, oats, flax, sunflower… once you understand the method, the combinations are endless.
Also, this bread makes unbelievable toast.
Served with Sourdough - Salt Spring Island Mussels 🍽️
I made mussels at work this week, and there are very few things better than a big bowl of mussels with really good bread on the table.
These were beautiful, large mussels from Salt Spring Island, which I absolutely love when I can get them.
The base was super simple:
- 2 lbs mussels
- 1/2 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
- 1–2 handfuls cherry tomatoes
- 3–4 cloves garlic, sliced
- Small handful of fresh dill
- 1 cup white wine (I used Chardonnay)
- Splash of chicken stock or water
- About 1/4 lb butter
- Olive oil
- Salt + pepper
Heat a large pot over medium heat and add a good splash of olive oil. Add the fennel and cook for 2–3 minutes until it starts softening. Add the tomatoes and garlic and cook another minute or two.
Add the mussels, dill, white wine, and a splash of stock. Add the butter, put the lid on, and let everything steam until all the mussels open.
If your mussels are sandy or not perfectly clean, strain the broth before pouring it back over top.
Pile everything into a bowl and serve immediately with baguette, sourdough, or, honestly, whatever crusty bread you have nearby, because soaking up the broth is the best part.
I always think bread becomes way more enjoyable to bake once you start thinking about what to serve with it.
Soup.
Roast chicken.
Cheese.
Mussels.
That’s when it really becomes part of everyday life and not just “a baking project."
Happy Baking,
MJD
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