The Cheese Board (10 page)

Some recipes (mostly sourdoughs) require
steaming
during the bake; this step creates a crunchy crust with an attractive color. The Cheese Board ovens have powerful internal steaming mechanisms that help produce the shiny baguettes and crusty Suburban Breads. We have developed a home-oven method using a metal roasting pan filled with ice water that reproduces pretty closely what occurs inside a Cheese Board oven. (In addition, we mist certain loaves with a spray bottle to further enhance the crust.) If the recipe calls for steaming, prior to preheating the oven place a large metal roasting pan directly on the floor of the oven and proceed with the instructions in the recipe.

At the Cheese Board, we like to bake sourdoughs until they have a dark, rusty brown finish. Challah is baked to a deep mahogany color and brioche a golden brown. The final aesthetic judgment is up to the baker (this means you).

After you bake a loaf of bread, let it cool and cut a slice or two to assess the crumb.
Crumb,
in the baking world, refers to the interior texture of the bread. Obviously, a different type of crumb is desirable in different baked goods. A much-prized goal at the Cheese Board is to bake a sourdough bread riddled with large holes, as this means that the bread is light, chewy, and moist. Generally speaking, a moister sourdough dough will give a better crumb. The length of the kneading time and the rising period also influence the crumb of sourdough breads.

If you are a new baker, you will find wet doughs hard to knead and shape at first. As you become more experienced in making sourdough breads, try increasing the amount of water by a small amount each time you make the recipe and lengthening the kneading and rising times, too. The holes in your bread will get larger and larger, until the only way to keep the butter and jam on your bread will be to cut it lengthwise.

In breads that employ commercial yeast, the prized end result is not chewiness and big holes, but a system of even, tiny holes that are not compacted or compressed at the bottom crust. Moisture, kneading, and an adequate rising time will help bring about the desired texture.

In the case of scones and muffins, a delicate cakelike crumb is achieved by adding enough liquid, mixing briefly and gently, and handling the dough or batter delicately.

WE CALL THE HOURS BETWEEN 7 AND 10
A.M.
at the Cheese Board the Morning Bakery. This is when we serve coffee, tea, and many of the pastries featured in this chapter. During Morning Bakery hours, the cheese counter and refrigerated cases remain closed. The store’s space is rearranged to make a counter for fast service and the preparation of hot drinks. Many of the pastries are taken out by customers to eat on the way to school or work. Regulars pause at the few tables and chairs inside, or take their chances with the weather out front on the benches under the store’s awning. At ten o’clock, as if stagehands were changing sets, the coffee urn is wheeled behind the counter and covered, and the coffee-line counter is disassembled to assume its next role as a supporting member of the show by becoming the express line for breads and prepackaged cheeses.

In this chapter we have included most of our Morning Bakery goods: scones, muffins, brioche-dough breads, granola, and shortbread cookies.

What we refer to as a “scone” at the Cheese Board is actually closer to a rich buttermilk biscuit. Our scones have a fine, cakelike crumb, and we use sweet butter, cream, and buttermilk as basic ingredients. The two secrets to making them are to barely combine the liquid ingredients with the dry, and to add extra cream or buttermilk if the mixture seems too dry. Just enough liquid will produce a succulent scone, while too much liquid produces a flat scone. One other helpful piece of advice: To keep the dough from sticking to your hands when shaping scones, dip your fingers into a bowl of water first.

Our very moist, large muffins are quick and simple to make. A successful muffin is made by combining the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients in a few quick strokes. The batter should be somewhat lumpy. Overmixed muffins are tough and will fail to rise properly. The batter for most of our muffins can also be made into
small loaves
.

Brioche dough is a simple, sweet egg dough. Chocolate Things, pecan rolls, and brioche are all made from this dough. At the store we refrigerate the dough over-night before we roll it out the next morning. This works well for our schedule and may work best for yours, too.
However, the dough is also sublime when made and baked the same day.

Shortbread is the only cookie we make regularly at the Cheese Board. This simple, classic cookie is prepared with sweet butter, flour, a little sugar, and a pinch of salt. The most important step in making shortbread is to cream the butter and sugar together sufficiently to make a very light, fluffy mixture (using room temperature butter makes this step much easier). The amount of flour used can vary, depending on weather conditions and the moisture content in the ingredients. Once the right amount of flour is added, mix briefly to incorporate the flour and butter into a smooth, stiff dough that can easily be rolled out to the desired thickness. Use as little flour on the rolling surface as needed to allow the dough to move outward as it is rolled. If the dough begins to stick, sprinkle flour on the top of a metal spatula and slide it under the dough to deposit the flour where needed.