Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Hello sunflower!

I've been working furiously on perfecting my sunflower seed loaf. Well really, I should backtrack. I am working furiously on perfecting a loaf of bread, this one happens to have sunflower seeds in it. Baking is such a science, especially when you are dealing with different starches, binders, etc. Not to mention the crucial task of getting the water amount right. There are so many different things that have to go right, it's hard to believe it all doesn't go wrong.

And then there's the shaping of the bread, whole different ballgame. When it's gluten free bread, it has a tendency to just glop out of the bowl and into the pan. I've experimented with shaping vs non-shaping, and the bread itself doesn't come out any different, aside from one looking better than the other. I am glad that I was never much of a baker pre gluten-free days, otherwise I'm sure I'd have a tough time with all of the nuances of gf baking. For now, I just keep practicing my art, because as much as it is science, it's also art. There's something about pulling a perfectly rounded, crusty loaf of bread from the oven that is beautiful. At least to me, anyway.

As for the perfect loaf, with or without sunflower seeds, I'll keep working at it. And when I figure it out, I'll pass it along.

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