Monday, February 25, 2008

Looks can be deceiving

On Saturday morning I fed my sourdough starter and let it sit out all day. I made a double batch of the dough on Saturday night. I let it rise all night. On Sunday afternoon I made 4 pans of cinnaomon rolls, 2 loaves of blueberry bread, and 2 mini loaves. I was planning on giving these to special people who have been so kind to our family recently. After putting it all in pans and letting it rise overnight I baked them this morning. The blueberry bread came out first. It was beautiful. It smelled wonderful. It was browned perfectly and just in time for breakfast. I cut 4 slices and generously spread butter over it. Ella took the first bite and said,"mommy, I don't care for it." Jonas took one bite and said, "mommy, can I save the rest for later?" It looked so good and I couldn't understand why they weren't loving it- until I took a bite for myself. It was AWFUL! The bread tasted like that art dough stuff that you make shapes out of and paint. It was soooo salty- like playdough. The cinnamon rolls were no better. I purposely used a lot less sugar because this dough is normally so sweet and I found out the hard way that the sugar is very important in the whole process. I won't be experimenting with grandma's recipe anymore. I learned the hard way to leave it alone! There's a reason it's lasted this many decades. Why mess with a good thing? Sorry friends and neighbors you'll have to wait 5 to 7 days until it's time to feed the starter again!


10 comments:

AnneB said...

Wow! They do look soooo yummy! I have never even thought to ask for Grandma Donna's recipe...Mark would love some cinnamon rolls! Can you e-mail me the recipe when you have th chance...no rush 'cause I know you are busy! Yes, I did leave a comment for you...but just so you know there have been numerous times I have tried to leave a comment...but Mark had changed the password username combo on our account...and I could never remember them both, so I couldn't sign in for the longest time. But now that I am not pregnant anymore...I can remember it all:)

Janelle said...

WOW, those do look great!!! What a bummer! Hope they work out this next time! That picture makes my mouth water!!! I'm sure your friends and neighbors will love them!

Erin Neiner said...

OH SAD, all that work too!! :(
So, is it a starter that you can pass on the recipe??? It looks soooo good and the list of things you make is making my mouth water. I'd love the recipes...

:P"

Beth said...

all- it's a sour dough starter that you have to feed every 5 to 7 days. then you let it sit out for a day or overnight (like I said in the post) and then you mix the dough. I could pass on the recipe for the dough, however you'd have to acquire a sour dough starter somehow! Jenn M. just made her own somehow so I know you can start your own somehow. I'll research!

Beth said...

I just read what I wrote- did I say "somehow" enough times? lol!

Erin Neiner said...

SOMEHOW...i think you did! :)

sc3b said...

I have learned some very important lessons from you...
1)follow the starter dough recipe
2) given time, a graham cracker crust mix WILL go bad ;)
(at least Jonas did not eat it all this time!)

Future of Hope said...

How much less sugar did you use?!?!?! I usually cut down on the sugar when I bake it (I put around 1/3 of a cup in the dough), but I always keep the same amount of sugar when I feed the starter.

That starter is tricky, though. I ruined one starter in January because I used a metal spoon to stir the starter when I fed it. I didn't think it would be a big deal so I made a small batch of bread. It was horrible! The texture was way off, and it tasted almost like metal.
I too have learned to follow the recipe closely!

Oh, and I am curious about adding blueberries. Please tell me more!!!!!

Oh, and one final note. There is an original recipe for the starter. I have it in a recipe book somewhere. I will find it and pass it along.

Future of Hope said...

I posted the original recipe on my site:

http://erinlk.blogspot.com/

the johnson crew said...

that is SO SAD! oh my. what a bummer. they do look beautiful!