Any Home Bakers Here?

I’m not the Guru, but his is similar to mine. Just cover it with a damp tea towel and go ahead to bed. It’ll rise slowly overnight.

I mix my dough up about 8 pm and let it rest for 30 min. I do the first set of stretch and folds about 8:30 and let it rest for 15 minutes, then do the 2nd set of stretch and folds and turn the dough over.

I cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and go to bed. In the morning I check to see how much it’s risen. (our house is kinda chilly) If it looks good, I do the real stretchy stretch and folds, let it rest for 15 minutes, and repeat, but I let it drop, seam side up, into a floured banneton or bowl with a floured tea towel in it.

I pop it uncovered into the fridge for an hour or more, then flip it into my preheated Dutch Oven. Score, and bake. I wash the bowl and I’m done.

topochico225 said:

Here’s how I do my starter!

First I stir it down or stir the hooch back in if it’s been in the fridge for a while.
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Then I mix 50g starter with 250g water.
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I then add 240g rye flour— this is a very stiff starter! IME a stiffer starter = a sourer starter. I like mine sour as an old bat in church
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I then let it sit out until it’s bubbly and pretty. Will update with happy starter pics when she’s eaten! It may take a couple rounds of feeding to get there.

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Thanks for the Sharpie tip @Blooie !

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Rye flour does make a super stiff starter!! Thats what I’m using for my no discard, no name yet starter and it surprises me! When I started the start of my Lazy Joe starter, I used the wheat flour rather than the rye. Even then I had to add a couple of extra grams of water for the flour to be able to get totally moistened and stirrable. Is that a word?

Anyway, you’re welcome for the Sharpie tip. I use the corner of a Scotchbrite scrubby pad to get it off sometimes, but it comes off really well. Then I can just dry the spot well and re-mark. I do the same thing to mark the date on the no discard starter in the fridge. No particular reason for doing that - I just like to know how long it’s been sitting there. That one was started with 25 grams of rye flour and 25 grams of water. Everyday for about a week I added the same amounts to what was in the jar. That stuff was like trying to stir concrete! Then when it started acting reliably and nice and bubbly, I made my bread, discarded what was left, and just left the scrapings in the jar until I wanted to use it again. I could stick with it totally, but me and Lazy Joe have become good friends over the last year and I’ve grown accustomed to those private moments we share while I get him fed. He also has a milder flavor than No Discard No Name.

topochico225 said:

Thank you so much, Sourdough Guru! What do I do with the dough overnight between the last stretch/fold and the morning shaping?

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Leave it out on the counter covered with plastic wrap. It does not have to be super warm. After shaping, it should be in a warm place until it goes into the fridge. In the fridge, cover with plastic wrap buy do leas space for some expansion. It will rise a bit in the fridge.

added: like Blooie posted, a moist tea towel will work too.

I use too much plastic wrap around this house the way it is and I’m such a penny pincher after buying this new house that I’m determined to save whenever and wherever I can. I just learned tonight, though, that if I pick up a shower cap at the dollar store and cover the bowl with that, it works great and is reusable a gabillion times!! Who knew? Well, Katie knew and she told me about it tonight. Bless her little heart!

Okay, bread is done, cooled and bagged up after being sampled. One loaf turned out a little deformed but hay, it's bread and who cares!?

So here is the recipe for the sour cream chocolate cake. I have no idea where my Grandmother got it. It seems to be an 'old family recipe'. My Dad was Pennsylvania Duetch and his mother and father pure German. Grandma spoke with a strong German/Pennsylvania Duetch accent. Her maiden name appears as having an Amish origin but NaNa was not Amish.

Mom's Sour Cream Chocolate Cake


Combine in a pan and bring to a gentle boil: 2 cups sugar
1/4 pound (one stick) oleo
1 cup water
6 tablespoons coco
Stir above mixture frequently to prevent scorching.

In a large bowl, add:
2 cups of flour
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream with 1 teaspoon of baking soda stirred into it
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla

When coco comes to a low boil, slowly stir it into the flour mixture and blend until smooth.

Pour mixture into two 9 inch round cake pans or one rectangular baking pan/greased and floured and bake at 350 degrees until a straw inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

Cool and frost with chocolate frosting, garnish with shaved white or dark chocolate

I would love to post a picture of one of these cakes but in all truthfulness this is a lot of cake and very rich. I would make these for funeral dinners at our church and they would call it my 'Death By Chocolate' cake.


This isn't this current batch of Amish Sweet White bread but one of my past projects. Just experimenting with different sizes.

microchick said:

Hi everyone. Mind if I join in? I bake all of our bread, my favorite to make and my husband's to eat is an Amish white sweet bread. I have a batch in the makes now with yeast, sugar and water proofing for me while I gobble down lunch.

I'm hoping to learn to make tortillas in the near future.

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Hi, Chick! we likes pics! Welcome, glad to see you over here!

Thanks @BigBlueHen53. Been meaning to get over here for some time. Finally made it happen.

microchick said:

Okay, bread is done, cooled and bagged up after being sampled. One loaf turned out a little deformed but hay, it's bread and who cares!?

So here is the recipe for the sour cream chocolate cake. I have no idea where my Grandmother got it. It seems to be an 'old family recipe'. My Dad was Pennsylvania Duetch and his mother and father pure German. Grandma spoke with a strong German/Pennsylvania Duetch accent. Her maiden name appears as having an Amish origin but NaNa was not Amish.

Mom's Sour Cream Chocolate Cake


Combine in a pan and bring to a gentle boil: 2 cups sugar
1/4 pound (one stick) oleo
1 cup water
6 tablespoons coco
Stir above mixture frequently to prevent scorching.

In a large bowl, add:
2 cups of flour
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream with 1 teaspoon of baking soda stirred into it
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla

When coco comes to a low boil, slowly stir it into the flour mixture and blend until smooth.

Pour mixture into two 9 inch round cake pans or one rectangular baking pan/greased and floured and bake at 350 degrees until a straw inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

Cool and frost with chocolate frosting, garnish with shaved white or dark chocolate

I would love to post a picture of one of these cakes but in all truthfulness this is a lot of cake and very rich. I would make these for funeral dinners at our church and they would call it my 'Death By Chocolate' cake.

View attachment 2979548
This isn't this current batch of Amish Sweet White bread but one of my past projects. Just experimenting with different sizes.

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Oh, I can almost smell that bread from here!!

The chocolate cake recipe sounds a lot like the one my Gramma used to make. She and Grampa were sooooo German!! I guess that’s where I got my deep love of foods like schnitzel, and sauerkraut, plain boiled potatoes, and having several sweets and sours on the table with every meal! I screen shot your recipe. Hope that’s okay.

Blooie said:

Oh, I can almost smell that bread from here!!

The chocolate cake recipe sounds a lot like the one my Gramma used to make. She and Grampa were sooooo German!! I guess that’s where I got my deep love of foods like schnitzel, and sauerkraut, plain boiled potatoes, and having several sweets and sours on the table with every meal! I screen shot your recipe. Hope that’s okay.

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I grew up with the same foods, Blooie. Did you ever have Shoo Fly Pie?

On top of the German foods, Mom was from southern Kentucky. She was Irish and Cherokee so we also ate a lot of southern cuisine tossed into the menu like ham hocks and beans, pork chops and gravy, grits. Plus she was an excellent cook.

Bakers good morning one and all!

The temperature is 45 and sunny.

I baked an applesauce cake yesterday.

Made a quiche last night for dinner and froze one.

Have a great day!

Ladies-Eight said:

Bakers good morning one and all!

The temperature is 45 and sunny.

I baked an applesauce cake yesterday.

Made a quiche last night for dinner and froze one.

Have a great day!

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YOU have been busy. YES. I made one loaf of Bread. And this morning it is 4 and forecast to go in the 20 plus today and rest of the week. Our
weather has been OK for Winter. Not too much
snow. Aria