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Monday, April 28, 2014

Mike Zakowski making cider bread (video by Colin Blackshear) + formula

Not a video of mine but Mike Zakowski has kindly given me leave to share it on this blog and since I think you will probably enjoy it as much as I do, here it is.

I have been in awe of Mike's talent ever since I saw and tasted his bread in Paris in 2012 at Europain when, together with Harry Peemoeller and Jeremey Gadouas, he won silver for the USA in the Coupe du monde de la boulangerie (aka the Olympics of Bread). Thank you, Mike, for sharing both the video and the formula!
Some of the ingredients may be hard to find depending where you live. If you have access to local wheats, you may want to play around with them and figure out which ones make the best combination in support of the taste of apples.  Mike says he makes the apple syrup himself by reducing one gallon of apple juice to about a pint. Mesquite powder is available online but rather expensive. If it isn't readily available where you live (from what I heard it is easier to source in the US Southwest than in other parts of the nation or the world), you may just want to skip it. If your cider bread doesn't turn out to taste just like Mike's, it'll still be fun to experiment with and tasty, not to mention spectacular looking if you decorate it as he does.



For those of you who are using BreadStorm (including the free version), please click on this link to import the formula.  
I work on a Mac and my spreadsheet program sometimes botches the display of Excel formulas. Since it was the case with Mike's, I sent the file to my friend breadsong (an Excel wizard) who kindly sent me the screenshots below. Please refer to the bottom one for Mike's detailed instructions. Thank you, breadsong!


12 comments:

  1. I enjoyed the video very much, thank you and Mike for sharing. I like the idea of cutting an apple shape with a cookie cutter very much, and I would love to have the formula because I still have some home made cider from last autumn left!

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    1. Do I see it right that "Blanc de Mar" and "Red Fife" are wheat varieties? And I just learned what mesquite is, that sounds very interesting! I just have to check if I can buy it somewhere here in Germany!

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    2. Hi Stefanie! Please let me know how the bread turns out if you make it...

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    3. Yes, they are wheat varieties. I don't think I have ever tasted Blanc de Mar but I have had Red Fife bread. The taste is distinctive and very appealing. Mesquite powder sounds very nutritious. I'd be curious to see what it tastes like...

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  2. Thank you so much for sharing that video, very inspiring. Looking forward to trying out the formula

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  3. Thanks MC. However, some of the ingredients are very unusual and probably hard to find (even in small quantities).

    Carl

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    1. Hi Carl, you might just want to play with whatever ingredients are available where you live. If you have access to local wheats, you could try and experiment to see which ones produce the tastiest bread and in what proportions. Same with hard ciders. Mesquite powder and apple syrup are available online but rather expensive. You could skip them to start with (or use something else) and dial them in later if they become available. Bottom line is, you can modify the formula to make your own cider bread and take it from there. My guess is that you'll still have fun and end up with a pretty tasty bread.

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    2. Mike just emailed me to say he made the apple syrup himself by reducing one gallon of apple juice to about one pint. Good to know! I'll add that to the post.

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    3. That sounds like something which is called "Apfelkraut" and which is very common here in Rhineland. Lucky me!

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  4. Hi MC,
    He sure makes all of this look very simple. The sign of a master craftsman indeed. What lovely breads result due to his skill.
    For those who do not want to boil down their own apple juice to get the syrup, I use this product purchased from the King Arthur company when I bake breads in the fall. A little goes a long ways:
    http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/boiled-cider-1-pint
    I do not work for the company *^)
    Thanks for the lovely write up and video and introduction to another wonderful baker.
    JanetH

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    Replies
    1. You are so welcome, Janet! Glad you enjoyed seeing Mike perform his magic...
      I have used KA boiled cider in the past but found it very acidic. A little went a long way indeed! Could be that there hadn't been much sun that year and the apple crop wasn't sweet. I imagine same could happen with homemade syrup...

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  5. MC, I just wanted to stop by and tell you happy mothers day. I think of you and your family daily. Prayers and love.

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