April 23rd CSB Note

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This Weeks Share
Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Sunflower Seed Bread

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It’s Cinnamon Raisin Bread week and time for me to tell you what has been going on with this bread. The last few months these loaves have been unwilling to rise properly and then they kind of blew up when I baked them as you probably have noticed. This whole time I have been wondering what has changed, it wasn’t the starter, it wasn’t the amount of water I used, it wasn’t a shortened rising time, I had days when I gave them twice as much time to rise without any sign of improvement… After many, many test bakes I finally realized that when I transcribed my recipe from tablespoons of cinnamon to grams the amount of cinnamon increased from one to two percent of the total weight. Doesn’t seem like a lot does it? But for cinnamon it is! Cinnamon is a preservative and bacterial growth inhibitor. Since my bread uses natural fermentation I need those little guys to make my bread rise! So I had to reduce the cinnamon again. I am sorry if the cinnamon flavor is reduced, but I hope the over all result is to your liking. I am using a new organic Vietnamese cinnamon that has a stronger, bolder flavor that I am hoping will make up for some of the loss.

It’s time for the May CSB order form. This will be the last CSB before we leave for our guiding job in Switzerland, so this is the time to order any loaves you want to freeze. I will be leading hiking trips in the Alps from late June-September. In June I am planning on having a couple farm stand/ special order bakes. If you have any special requests I would be happy to make them for you in May and June. Thank you for supporting the CSB!!!