Bread
As promised, here's my assessment of amaranth flour:
In moderation, it works for me. When I first opened the package and took a whiff, I caught a strong grass smell. While I do like the smell of grass, especially right after mowing it, I wasn't certain how that would alter my bread, both in structure and taste.
Out of the 1000 grams of bread flour I use for two loaves, I replaced 80 grams of it with amaranth flour. As it turned out, it tasted pretty darn good. The earthy flavor was more of a background note while the sourness of the rest of the dough came through nicely. It seems that when substituting 10% or less of the flour with an alternative, it will turn out well with a slight note of something different. I've been admiring other baker's artisan loaves on Instagram and enjoy reading about their experimentation. I saw a beautiful purple loaf that included ground butterfly pea flowers. I like the idea of natural coloring in baked goods, so there may be some interesting bakes coming up.
My menu this coming week is going to be chock-full of bread. Only bread. Fougasse is back, along with brioche, a cinnamon/raisin loaf and in addition to my regular challah, I'm offering the eggless cardamom challah that I grew up on. It's really delicious!!
In moderation, it works for me. When I first opened the package and took a whiff, I caught a strong grass smell. While I do like the smell of grass, especially right after mowing it, I wasn't certain how that would alter my bread, both in structure and taste.
Out of the 1000 grams of bread flour I use for two loaves, I replaced 80 grams of it with amaranth flour. As it turned out, it tasted pretty darn good. The earthy flavor was more of a background note while the sourness of the rest of the dough came through nicely. It seems that when substituting 10% or less of the flour with an alternative, it will turn out well with a slight note of something different. I've been admiring other baker's artisan loaves on Instagram and enjoy reading about their experimentation. I saw a beautiful purple loaf that included ground butterfly pea flowers. I like the idea of natural coloring in baked goods, so there may be some interesting bakes coming up.
My menu this coming week is going to be chock-full of bread. Only bread. Fougasse is back, along with brioche, a cinnamon/raisin loaf and in addition to my regular challah, I'm offering the eggless cardamom challah that I grew up on. It's really delicious!!