The New Malted Wheat Flake Loaf and Pie Pan Focaccia

Last week Mrs PG and I took a road trip across the Great Plains to visit Yellowstone National Park. On the way, we stopped at Carhenge in Alliance, NE, and the Little Bighorn Battlefield site. While visiting the Park, we toured the Yellowstone Inn- a must see for lovers of architecture and woodwork, the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in W. Yellowstone, MT, and the Geyser Basins. I'm a big fan of YNP because it renews the sense of child like wonder in me. We've been there twice and I still can't scratch it off my bucket list.

Right after we emptied the car of the accumulated detritus of a road trip, I started the build for my New Malted Wheat Flake Loaf. The shaping for a pan loaf could've been better but I'm way out of practice. I was really quite fortunate on my guesswork for the formula because KAF states on the package of the flakes that no soaking is needed. It wasn't the first time I didn't follow instructions.

Starter
150g at 100% hydration

Soaker
120g malted wheat flakes
120g water at room temperature
Pinch of salt, < 1g

Dough

266g bread flour
134 white whole wheat
250g water at 85F
10g kosher salt
1 Tbs honey
All of starter
All of soaker

The Mrs and I thought it had a good flavor, well suited to a schmear of peanut butter in the morning. We usually don't toast our bread in the morning so I can't report on that.

The other bread that I experimented with this week was a focaccia that for better or for worse, that was baked in a couple 9" pie pans. One was to accompany the pasta dish planned for that evening and the other went into the freezer.

Without adult supervision looking over my shoulder to see if I followed the rules, I started with a sponge instead of a biga to get a little flavor going and give me some time to go to the gym. What, you think those calories and carbohydrates self deport themselves?

Sponge
70g bread flour
30g bolted Turkey Red flour flour
210g water at 85F
1/2 tsp active dry yeast

Main Dough
200g bread flour
6g kosher salt
1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 Tbs olive oil
All of sponge
2 Tbs grated Parmesan for topping (optional)
1/4 C shredded mozzarella for topping(optional)
Up to 2 Tbs fresh roemary for topping(optional)
olive oil to brush pans and top of dough before baking.

Pie pans or cake pans aren't the best but are acceptable as a compromise for focaccia when you just can't eat all the bread. I have used some parchment paper and a baking stone for a larger project and that works out fairly well. This style hasn't been a regular in my baking rotation scheme but I enjoy it when I take my shot at it.

Outside, the there are some sever thunderstorms in the area, accompanied by high winds which should strip a lot of leaves of the trees and create clean up work for me. I've identified a red breasted nuthatch as an early season visitor to the feeders. My next bread project is cooling off on the counter as I type away. It's an almost accidental loaf that looks very good so far. The report will follow in a day or two.

The latest pageview of note this week originates from Greece.

Comments, humor, and questions are welcome.