Biga Fail
Patricia @ ButterYum
This week's baking project was the Golden Orange Panettone. I had a feeling I was starting off on the wrong foot when I completed the first step of making the biga above. The directions were to "stir" the flour, water, and yeast together for 3-5 minutes until very smooth. I carefully weighed my ingredients, but there was no stirring anything until smooth - I had a lump of dry, shaggy dough that barely held together.
So I kind of mashed my tough lump of dough with a silicone spatula, and I even went in there with my hand, squeezing and pressing until it kind of held together.
Then I placed it in an oiled container and set is aside for 6 hours to rise, then placed it in the fridge to chill for 3 days. It smelled really good after 3 days, but I still wasn't sure my biga had the right consistency because it still seemed too stiff. Then some of the Alpha Bakers were discussing flour and protein content on our facebook page and I realized I should have read the directions more carefully. I used King Arthur bread flour instead of Gold Medal bread flour (as Rose suggested). KA flour has a higher protein content so that would account for the stiff texture. Since I had already invested 3 days into the 5 day recipe, and there were only 3 days left until the group was supposed to publish their results, I opted to forego this week's reveal. I'll make the panettone in the coming weeks and post my results on Feb 9; a week reserved for group members to catch up on any recipes they've missed to date. Stay tuned.
links to more alpha baker photo tutorials
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2016
- Dec 7, 2016 TBB - Luxury Chocolate Buttercrunch Toffee
- Sep 26, 2016 TBB - Bourbon (Whiskey) Pecan Butter Balls
- May 11, 2016 TBB - Blueberry Buckle
- Apr 5, 2016 TBB - Meringue Birch Twigs
- Jan 26, 2016 TBB - Lemon Almond Cheesecake
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2015
- Nov 19, 2015 The Hazelnut Praline Cookies that Never Were
- Sep 1, 2015 TBB - Flaky Cream Cheese Scones
- Aug 23, 2015 TBB - Woody's Black and White Brownies
- Jul 1, 2015 TBB - Praline Meringue Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Jun 23, 2015 Ricotta Loaf - The Bread Bible
- Jun 4, 2015 TBB - French Orange Cream Tart
- May 19, 2015 TBB - Double Chocolate Oriolos
- May 15, 2015 Touch of Grace Biscuits - The Bread Bible
- May 7, 2015 TBB - Blu-Rhu Mini Pies
- Apr 27, 2015 TBB - Lemon Jammies
- Apr 2, 2015 Pita Pizzas - The Bread Bible
- Mar 22, 2015 TBB - Luxury Oatmeal Cookies
- Mar 15, 2015 TBB - Sour Cherry Pie (Pi Day)
- Mar 9, 2015 TBB - Caramel Buns
- Mar 4, 2015 TBB - Hamantaschen (Purim)
- Feb 23, 2015 TBB - Lemon Posset Alma
- Feb 15, 2015 TBB - Chocolate Pavarotti with Wicked Good Ganache
- Feb 11, 2015 TBB - Golden Orange Panettone with Chocolate Sauce
- Feb 9, 2015 Panettone Delay
- Feb 2, 2015 TBB - Swedish Apricot Walnut Bread
- Jan 26, 2015 TBB - Gingersnaps
- Jan 19, 2015 Biga Fail
- Jan 12, 2015 TBB - Black and Blueberry Pie
- Jan 5, 2015 TBB - Chocolate Cuddle Cake
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2014
- Dec 29, 2014 TBB - Frozen Pecan Tart
- Dec 22, 2014 TBB - Almond Coffee Crisps
- Dec 15, 2014 TBB - The Ischler
- Dec 8, 2014 TBB - English Dried Fruit Cake
- Dec 1, 2014 TBB - Kouigns Amann (kween ah-mahn)
- Nov 5, 2014 Rose's Alpha Bakers - Intro