Sourdough Epi Baguettes with Rhubarb Blood Orange Ginger Jam
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It’s a very special Saturday edition of Spontaneous Tomato, in honor of two momentous occasions:
Today is the final day of #BrunchWeek and the long-awaited Virtual Vegan Potluck!
I think these two sensational celebrations of food deserve a double recipe post; I am bringing you two recipes, perfect for hosting a vegan brunch!
Tart, sweet Rhubarb Blood Orange Ginger Jam and Sourdough Epi Baguettes (pain d’epi, shaped like stalks of wheat). Scroll on down for the recipes.
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But first, a little about the two events of the day:
- This is the 3rd biannual Virtual Vegan Potluck, a vegan feast and recipe blog hop, featuring over 170 bloggers! Check out the other recipes by following the navigation buttons at the bottom of this post, backward (through the beverages and appetizers) or forward (through the rest of the breads, as well as the salads, sides, soups, main dishes, and desserts). Or start at the beginning!
- My fellow Brunch Week bloggers have already posted a whole week’s worth of over 100 brunch recipes. I’ve included links to the other Saturday #BrunchWeek posts below. (Or check out all the recipes from the week on the Pinterest Board for #BrunchWeek 2013.)
This is the very first recipe created with our homemade sourdough starter. (No, you do not have to start your own sourdough starter just to bake these baguettes– see below– but it just might be worth it…)
Starting a starter is tough work. You “feed” it flour & water once every 24 hours for the first two days, which is a piece of cake. But after that you have to feed it every 12 hours for 2 weeks, which is not…
My fiancée, Paula, tried to create a starter once before, but couldn’t keep to its feeding schedule (she works full time + goes to school), so we had to toss it.
This time, it had to be a team effort: Paula would feed the starter in the evenings, and I’d feed it in the mornings. This time, I decided that if other people can have pets, who they feed and keep alive, then we could do the same with our sourdough starter! So I named it. Fido.
And it worked! After just two weeks of “did you feed Fido yet?”, “can you pick up some more flour at the store for Fido?”, and “how’s Fido doing?”, we had our very own mature sourdough starter. Sour smelling, bubbly, and super sticky. It was time to bake.
Pain d’epi means bread in the form of a stalk of wheat, with little wheat grain-shaped “leaves” of bread, baked together. Epi baguettes look fancy (and won’t fail to impress your dinner or brunch guests!) but they are really simple to create, just by taking a pair of scissors to the dough before its final proofing.
Epis are now our go-to for parties– it’s so easy for guests to neatly tear off an epi leaf or two, and voilà! Dinner rolls! (Or slider buns!)
Baguettes to serve a crowd without the cutting board or the crumbs.
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If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, then I’m sure you’ve guessed it: this Sourdough Epi Baguette recipe is entirely Paula’s creation. I just helped eat it. That’s why I also made jam!
I’ve been anxiously awaiting the arrival of rhubarb to the farmer’s market and grocery stores. After all, it’s finally spring! But either it’s taking its sweet time showing up this year, or I must have missed the tiny window of rhubarb ripeness on one of those rare stretches of days when I devoted more time to my dissertation than to this blog…
At any rate, rhubarb has been hard to come by around here (though I have NOTHING to complain about in Southern California, where everything else is so very easy to come by). So when I finally spotted some at the grocery store, I knew I didn’t just want to buy it, cook it, and eat it; I also wanted to preserve it.
Blood oranges have been staining our cutting boards for months now– I just can’t get enough of them. I planned to make a Rhubarb Ginger Jam, but then added the blood orange juice impulsively after spotting a rhubarb orange jam recipe in the Ball Blue Book, thinking the flavors would pair nicely together, not to mention the intense colors.
This jam gelled up nicely (and tastes amazing!)– so nicely that you can see in the photos that I added a little too much pectin (a gelling agent that occurs naturally in fruit, especially citrus). I would venture to guess that this recipe might not need pectin at all in order to gel (see the recipe for how to check for gelling), but I also decreased the amount when I typed up the recipe, so your jam should be an even nicer texture than mine.
Thank you for joining me on this special edition double recipe blog post day. I hope you all get a chance to check out the rest of the Virtual Vegan Potluck and #BrunchWeek recipes.
Thanks so much to Christine from Cook The Story and Terri from Love and Confections for dreaming up and organizing #BrunchWeek!
Thanks to Annie of An Unrefined Vegan, Somer of Vedged Out, and Jason of Jason and the Veganauts for organizing today’s Virtual Vegan Potluck blog hop/feast!
(If this is your first time visiting Spontaneous Tomato, welcome! I love to eat– and cook– and travel. I try to share recipes from all over the world, and for many different diets. Check out the vegan recipes section of my recipe index, and if you like what you see, you can subscribe via RSS or follow Spontaneous Tomato on Facebook or Pinterest.)
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RECIPES:
Sourdough Epi Baguettes
(Makes 4 epi baguettes)
Ingredients:
~ 3½ cups all-purpose flour
~ ½ cup liquid levain (sourdough starter; or just use 4 cups flour instead of 3½)
~ 1½ cups water (room temperature)
~ 1 tsp. yeast
~ 1 tsp. salt
Special equipment needed: pizza stone or cookie sheet with parchment paper; steaming pan (like an old metal cake pan); spray bottle filled with hot water.
How to make it:
1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Dough should come cleanly away from the sides of the bowl and not be too sticky. If it’s too dry, add a little more water; if it’s too sticky, add a little more flour. Knead for 8-10 minutes on a floured surface.
2. Lightly grease or spray a large bowl with olive oil, place dough in bowl and lightly spray the top with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and ferment for 2 hours in a warm place, like the inside of a cool (turned off) oven. After 2 hours, the dough should have doubled in size.
3. Gently place the dough on a lightly-floured surface and cut it into four equal pieces. Shape into baguettes. If you plan on baking your baguettes on a pizza stone, take two cookie sheets and turn them over, place parchment paper on the backs of the cookie sheets. These cookie sheets will allow the safe transfer of epis to your pizza stone (wooden pizza peels could also be used for this). If your pizza stone is not wide enough, go ahead and just use the cookie sheets for baking (right side up, with parchment paper). Cut baguettes into epis, using scissors held directly above the baguettes at a 45 degree angle, and twisting each cut section off to alternating sides, creating leaves. Check out this video demonstration for how to cut epi baguettes.
4. Lightly cover the epis with a kitchen towel and let them proof (rise) for another 30 minutes, while you pre-heat oven to 500 degrees and place your empty steaming pan on the bottom rack of the oven (and the pizza stone on the rack above it, if using one).
5. Once the final proofing is done, pour 1-2 cups of hot water into the pan on the bottom rack (to create steam in the oven, which gives the bread a nicer crust). Place baguettes into the oven (bake two at a time) by carefully transferring them– parchment paper and all– onto the pizza stone. Spray hot water onto the sides of the oven to generate steam. Close the oven and wait 30 seconds before you open it to spray more water. Repeat twice more and lower the oven temperature to 450 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer the epis to a cooling rack or serving board carefully, as they may be fragile depending on how deeply you cut the leaves.
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Rhubarb Blood Orange Ginger Jam
(Adapted from the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving
(Makes 3-4 half-pint jars of jam)
Ingredients:
~ juice of 2 medium blood oranges
~ juice of 1 lemon
~ 2½ lbs. rhubarb (about 10 stalks), trimmed and chopped (yielding about 2 lbs. or 6 cups)
~ 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, grated (about 1″), or more to taste
~ 1 Tbsp. pectin, like Pomona’s Universal Pectin
~ 2-2½ cups sugar (depending on sweetness preference)
How to make it:
1. Combine blood orange juice and lemon juice, and measure out 2/3 cup. (More is fine; but if there’s less, add more citrus juice or a little water to fill out 2/3 of a cup.)
2. In a large saucepan, combine rhubarb, citrus juices, and ginger, and cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 6-8 minutes, until the rhubarb starts to soften, then cover and simmer for 2-3 minutes until rhubarb is fully cooked.
3. Mash rhubarb with a potato masher (or fork) as desired, then stir in the pectin. Bring to a boil, then stir in the sugar until it dissolves.
4. Bring back to a boil, stirring constantly, until you feel the jam start to thicken (only 1-4 minutes should be sufficient; you can test your jam by dabbing a bit onto a plate stuck in the freezer, or any cool ceramic dish– it should gel up nicely on the plate, despite appearing more liquidy in the saucepan).
5. If canning, ladle hot jam into hot, sterilized half-pint jars, leaving ¼” headspace, and process in a boiling water canning bath for 10 minutes. (Read my Canning 101 post about Strawberry Jam for more information on home canning.) Store canned rhubarb jam in a cool, dark pantry for up to a year, or refrigerate open jars and consume within 2-3 weeks.
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Saturday’s #BrunchWeek Recipes:
Brunch Drink Recipes
- Frozen Grasshopper by Amanda’s Apron
- Gin and Sparkling Red Wine Cocktail by Take A Bite Out Of Boca
- Chocolate Trifle {kid friendly} by Real Housemoms
- Vanilla Pomegranate Mojito by Noshing With The Nolands
- Cherry Sangria by Cooking In Stilettos
Potato Recipes for Brunch
- Parmesan Roasted Red Potatoes with Vidalia Onions and Thyme by Cook the Story
- A Salad Called German Potato by The Vintage Cook
Breads, Grains, Cereals, and Pancake-type Yums
- Chocolate Chip Craisin Granola Bars by Big Bear’s Wife
- Dandelion Pesto Pizza by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Biscoff Walnut Granola Parfaits by White Lights on Wednesday
- Stuffed French Toast by poet in the pantry
- Pina Colada French Toast by The Domestic Mama & The Village Cook
- Carrot Cake Pancakes by Love and Confections
Spreads and Dips for Brunch
- Strawberry-Kiwi Jam by Sweet Remedy
- Grilled Pineapple and Walnut Dip by Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
Brunch Dessert Recipes
- Raspberry Sweet Rolls with Meyer Lemon Glaze by by Cravings of a Lunatic
- Florida Strawberry, Lavender Farmers Cheese and California Walnut Braided Pastries by Vanilla Lemonade
Your Virtual Vegan Potluck navigation buttons:
Related recipe posts (all 4 are vegan):
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| Canning 101: Strawberry Jam |
Maple Cinnamon Bagels | Pain à l’Ancienne (No-Knead) Baguettes | Banana Biscoff Muffins |
Trackbacks
- VVP: Herby Olive Tomato Kale Bread (or Rolls) | My Good Clean Food
- Mango Margaritas! | Turning Veganese
- Looking back at an Awesome VVP | The Vegan's Husband
- Berry Rhubarb Crisp (Gluten-Free) | spontaneous tomato
- Let’s Try That Again: May 11 Virtual Vegan Potluck Winners! | Virtual Vegan Potluck
- Kumquat Cardamom Marmalade | spontaneous tomato
- Pomegranate Focaccia with Dipping Sauce | spontaneous tomato
- Cranberry Swirl Challah | spontaneous tomato
spontaneous tomato 
Wow, so pretty and that jam sounds delicious!
Thank you! I think most types of bread are pretty, and epi baguettes especially so. :) The jam was pretty awesome, too… we’re still enjoying it on toast and english muffins!
Well I know what I’ll be making when I next get some rhubarb! :)
This looks fantastic!
Looks delicious! I need to taste that jam ASAP.
Yowza!! What a beautiful sight. Nothing makes me happier than fresh, home-baked bread and the jam puts it over the top! Thank you for joining the Potluck!
Thank you for organizing the potluck, Annie! And for your nice comment. :) I am a sucker for home-baked bread, too. The jam was just a bonus!
These look absolutely incredible!
That jam is gorgeous! I’ve been looking for a jam that uses ginger and this one sounds perfect!
Thanks! Yes, rhubarb and orange make for a very nice gingery combination. If you really want to taste the ginger– not just hint at the presence of it– then you could try adding a little bit more than I did, too!
1. Your plates are too cute!
2. I love this bread + jam idea. I’m currently waiting for rhubarb here in Chicago.
3. I didn’t know you were a dissertator! Excellent!
1. Thank you! Thrift store. :)
2. Waiting for rhubarb is the worst; I hope it shows up soon.
3. I am! And I just refreshed my memory on your “about” page and saw that you’re a linguist too?! (I’m getting a ling PhD writing about second language acquisition of Japanese.)
Yes! I’m a sociolinguist!
Nice! Glad to find virtual friends who overlap in both linguistics and food blogging. :)
I seriously need to get blood oranges now. We have rhubarb coming up like crazy so I need recipes. This looks amazing.
Thanks! You are very lucky to have rhubarb coming up like crazy! Nice. It might actually be too late for blood oranges already, if you’re having trouble finding them… but you could also make this jam with any type of orange!
Waw, my friend! You did it here! 2 perfect combined recipes! The sourdough epi baguettes look so fancy & special & that jam is calling my name! MMMMMMMM! A grand & very appetizing entry for the VVP!
Thank you, Sophie! You always leave the most encouraging comments. :) :) Hope you are well!
Oh my goodness, I totally want to make these baguettes for my next get together. They are absolutely stunning!
Thank you, Somer! (And thanks so much for organizing the VVP!)
I would love to hear how these epi baguettes are received if you get a chance to make them for your next gathering. :)
Great recipes, Allison! The ginger in rhubarb jam makes a great flavor combo:)
Thanks, Peri! I know; I love ginger and rhubarb together. One of my friends just made a strawberry ginger pie and shared a generous slice with me, and that was an amazing combination, too.
Oh yes, that sounds like one awesome combination! Sad how the role of ginger is so underrated in desserts:)
That’s true! Ginger + desserts = so much potential!
My sourdough needs new purpose. I think this might be it. And if I can catch him, I’ll get my husband to pick some rhubarb and we’ll call it awesome!
Yes! This is a very noble purpose for sourdough. :) These baguettes aren’t even very sour actually, because of the short fermenting time. They are more something quick to throw together for a potluck/brunch, but the small amount of starter does add a nice little boost of flavor. That’s lucky that you & your husband have a place to pick rhubarb, too– nice!
I had to throw all of my pot plants away because I am rubbish at remembering to water them so I’m far too nervous to try a sour dough starter :) these look so delicious though it is definitely worth the effort! Can’t believe I haven’t had any rhubarb yet this season either! This recipe has pushed me to get my butt into gear and try both!
Oh man, I am the same way! I have the opposite of a green thumb; in fact I have a dead plant cemetery on my balcony! (Dead tomato plants, dead basil plants, dead Thai basil, dead cilantro, dead chives, etc.)
But with the help of my fiancee we were still totally able to keep our sourdough starter alive– I promise you it’s way easier than gardening!! Also, you can try naming it. :)
I’ll call mine Frank! :)
Love it! :)
Yum, yum, and yum, Allison! I love me some good rhubarb and ginger! Totally a taste of early Spring =) Thanks so much for sharing this … looks delicious! xo
Thanks, Christina! Yes, I love the rhubarb/ginger combination, too. Rhubarb is one of those foods whose season I really cherish, since it seems so hard to locate, even in southern CA. And I love it so. so. much.
NOW I know what Audrey’s next outing is going to be! She did me proud with a sourdough carrot cake, on to bigger and better things! Cheers for a wonderful recipe :)
Yay, somebody else who named their sourdough. :) I’ve been taking a little flak for it in the form of “so you’re eating your pet?” teasing, but I’m glad to know that I’m in good company. A sourdough carrot cake sounds intriguing!
I never had success with carrot cakes before I attempted a sourdough one. They were always too moist and dense but now I have the perfect recipe :)
http://waywardoven.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/cran-carrot-sourdough-cake.html
I add milk kefir (you could use non-dairy kefir) to get a nice moist dough and this cake is one of Steve’s favourite cakes and he doesn’t like “sour”
I also named my kefir. I maintain a jar of milk grains in case my crazy experimentation into just what kefir WILL live in goes belly-up. So far I have managed to sour chickpea milk, coconut milk, homemade soy milk and almond and oat milk (also homemade) I think the trick is having enough sugar for the kefir to feed on. I don’t use regular sugar and add a good dollop of homemade date puree into every batch and whisk it in to ensure the kefir has something tasty to feed on till it gets it’s weekly dunk in milk again. Works for me! My milk kefir is called “Kid Creole” and the non-dairy babies are his “coconuts”…do you remember that old band? ;) Steve gave me the name, he’s from the U.K. It seemed very fitting as his “coconuts” were initially for culturing coconut cream/milk but I find it a bit rich for me so they graduated to other less rich non-dairy milks :). This vegan lark is certainly fun and you never get bored messing about in the dark fermentation arts ;)
Whoa, so much info! I love it; thank you. :) That sourdough carrot cake looks dense-ish but delicious. (I guess that’s why it’s called cake “bars”…)
So awesome that you made (& named) your own kefir, too! I’m not actually vegan so I could try with dairy or non-dairy milk (I do love almond milk…); it sounds really nice to work with for baking! This sounds like a project for my post-dissertation days… yet another reason I am counting down to them.
Wow SO beautiful Allison!! I have a ton of rhubarb in my garden now I know what to do with them :-)
Thanks, Anne! You are lucky to have rhubarb in your garden!! I’m jealous, since it’s tricky to find here. I hope you get to try making this jam!
I really like the epi technique. I had no idea. Looks delicious!
Thanks! I know, I had no idea what the technique was before we tackled this recipe. I’d seen bread shaped like that before, but not very often, and I’d never stopped to think about how it was accomplished. Once you’re used to making baguettes, it’s a pretty mind-blowingly easy adjustment for such pretty results!
Wow i’ve never seen a baugette like that, how beautiful. The jam sounds fabulously refreshing!
Thanks! I know, I think epi baguettes are just gorgeous. And I had always thought they were way more complex and challenging to make before we first made them! The jam is pretty refreshing! I tried not to use too much sugar. :)
WOW! This bread is stunning, absolutely incredible. I love the jam, I haven’t had rhubarb in way too long. Love the idea of making jam out of it. Nothing beats homemade jam (or bread!) What a great way to start the bread course in the VVP!
Aw, thank you for the compliments! :) We’ve been making this bread really often, but this was my first time turning rhubarb into jam… I usually love larger pieces of rhubarb in pies or galettes, but the jam turned out to be really delicious, too! (And I felt like I was honoring the baguettes more by making it!)
Beautiful epis! Looks like Fido has been trained well! ;)
Thanks! Yes, I like to think he/it has… :) We’re proud of our little Fido, all grown up!
Mmmmmm the bread looks fabulous and that jam!! Yum. Happy VVP~
– alexis
Thank you! Happy VVP to you, too! :)
Rhubarb and orange sounds GREAT together! What a perfect dinner roll.
Yes, I think so, too! Originally I was thinking I’d make something with rhubarb and raspberries (even before my rhubarb/ginger epiphany), but it’s not the right season yet, and meanwhile the blood orange season is still going strong around here, so I switched up the plan and I was so happy I did.
The epis do make perfect dinner rolls! We never used to have any kind of bread or rolls with dinner growing up… but I could get used to this! :)
i love the shape of the bread.. so pretty.. i need to step up my game and try my hand at sourdough this summer!
Thank you! Yes, it’s really worth it to have a sourdough starter around. The starting it takes a lot of flour and work and time (well not very much time, but a lot of commitment to a regular feeding schedule), but it is worth it! :) …it could be a nice summer project too, since sourdough starters are happier in warmer air.
My sourdough starter is named Jo-Bob, lol. Your baguettes are beautiful and I adore the combo of rhubarb, orange and ginger, I can’t wait until rhubarb is in season here!
Jo-Bob?! That is awesome. I am really enjoying hearing everyone’s sourdough starter names; thanks for sharing yours with me, too. :) I hope rhubarb season reaches you soon!
this is such a fab share allison! I’ve never dared to try a sourdough plant, the dedication required seems too great for my absent mind. But that baguette is so very pretty, and looks perfect for a brunch with girlfriends!
Thanks, Jess! It really is a lot of dedication to get a sourdough starter going initially, but easier if it’s a team effort, and after that you can just “hibernate” it (for lack of a better word…) in the fridge. Epi baguettes really are perfect for having guests over, like a gathering for brunch! :)
This is gorgeous Allison. Amazing work. I tried doing a starter once after attending a sourdough class and then gave up. But your post has inspired me a lot. Love Love Love the Baguette. I am bookmarking this.
Yay, this is the kind of comment I love to read! :) Thank you for your kind words, and I’m so glad to hear that I inspired you to maybe give sourdough another try.
Yes you surely did. Will try soon and let you know.
Hey! your food looks and sounds terrific! I really love the white plates with the red design. I’m curious, what camera do you use to take your pictures?
Wow, thank you! I’m so excited and flattered to get a question about what kind of camera I use! (<– nerd alert)
I use a Canon G12 powershot, and I nearly always have it on the automatic setting, because I know nothing about photography (yet), but I sometimes use the macro setting and/or attempt to mess with the white balance. Oh and those plates are from a thrift store! :)
Wow my friend, two recipes made for each other :)
Love it!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks, Uru! :)
Yum! I’m coming over to your house for brunch next weekend! :)
Please do! :) We can have a brunch potluck!
Rhubarb! Blood orange! Ginger! Sounds amazing. I love the color. Sometimes my rhubarb (or rhubarb-ginger) jam turns out dingy, so I’m going to try this both for the flavor combination and color fix!
Hm, this is good information! I’d never made any rhubarb jam before this, so I didn’t know it had the potential to lose some of its bright color… but yes, this jam turned out so so colorful, thanks to the blood orange juice I guess! It’s maybe even a little pinker than it seems from the photos, but still just as bright. It’s a good flavor combination, too. :)
What an absolutely GORGEOUS contribution Allison! This is just beautiful, you make me want to make this bread in a big big way and that jam is just perfection!
Thank you, Shira! That’s high praise coming from you, since everything you make for your blog is also completely gorgeous! I hope you do get a chance to try the bread, since I know you are a breadmaker, too. :) (…I say “too” even though Paula made this bread, not me.)
Aw I love this! Anything with rhubarb makes me nostalgic. My nani Dorothy used to make rhubarb jam and strawberry rhubarb pie.
Nice! :) Do you ever try to reproduce her recipes for those? I really had no experience with rhubarb jam (making or eating it) before this, but strawberry rhubarb pie has got to be one of the best things out there in the universe. Ever.
I love baking bread, especially sourdough bread. It takes a bit longer, but it is so worth it.
I think the epi idea is fantastic. My next batch is going to be a very brave attempt at making an epi(c) loaf. Everything about this post is just beautiful and very inspiring. thank you, thank you!
Aw, thank YOU! I love getting comments like this one. :) :)
And I wish you luck in your brave attempt at an epi(c) baguette. (I should have titled my blog post like that!) It’s really not too difficult to shape them– they’re only a little fragile to move into/out of the oven. I’m sure yours will turn out wonderfully, too!
You made your own epi-baguettes?! WHAT. So impressive. I want to eat this for breakfast Right. Now. even though it is noon.
Yes! Well… my fiancée, Paula, makes her own epi baguettes (and I just eat them). Just one of the many reasons why I love her.
Also I hope we got the point across that epis are actually easier to make then they would seem based on how fancy-looking they are… you should totally try making some, too! They are good to eat morning, noon, and night. :)
I’m a sourdough newbie. I just got a starter going and am so excited to get a first batch of bread made. Your beautiful presentation gets me even more excited. Thanks for sharing!
Yay, congratulations on your new sourdough starter! (I’m curious… did you name it? :) Thanks for commenting!
Wow! Both the baguette AND the jam look so beautiful. I can’t wait to try that scissor trick for my next dinner party. You’re right, it does look fancy! How fun!
Thanks, Christine! Yes, it’s a lot of fancy-looking payoff just for a little scissor trick, like you said. I hope you do get to try it soon; let me know what your dinner party guests think! :)
Goodness! I can’t decide what sounds better—the sourdough baguettes or the rhubarb jam! Amazing. I’m loving all this use of rhubarb on the blogosphere lately. I’ll have to jump on the bandwagon before their season ends. Thanks for sharing this!
Thanks! I know the rhubarb season is sweet but far too short… even with some of this jam in my fridge, I feel an urgency to make more things with rhubarb before the season ends!
Oops, commented with the wrong account! Anyway, I think I’ll give this jam a shot. Thanks again :)
I have some unopened pectin in the cupboard that I was waiting whimsically for something good to make with (I’m a pectic newbie). I’m in! This looks fantastic!
Thanks! Oh and since you’re a pectin newbie, I’m pretty sure you don’t actually need pectin at all to make this (so much naturally-occurring pectin in the citrus), but it will definitely help it gel more firmly (and with a little less cooking time).
Just make sure– for this or any jam– that your jam is as mashed/smooth/un-mashed/whatever as you want it to be *before* you add the pectin, because then it will gel at that stage of smoothness.
this is gorgeous and sumptuous all at the same time!
Thanks, Katie! :)
I love, love your bread! The jam looks delicious too but the bread I simply cannot resist!
Thanks, Katerina! The bread is all thanks to my fiancée, Paula… she’s been making it for all of our dinner parties since the day we cooked for this blog post– I’m feeling pretty lucky about that! :)
This is such a beautiful presentation! What a creative way to bake bread. You got my vote!
Yay! Thank you so much. :)
How beautiful! Love it! I am usually quite lazy about bread but you have inspired me to give these a try. I am intrigued by your adventures in sourdough though… I have always started starters by feeding them once a day for just 1 week, and have mostly been successful! I use organic rye flour for this purpose…
Thanks! Oo and a rye flour sourdough starter sounds wonderful; maybe Paula and I will try starting one like that eventually, too. (In the meantime she’s been incorporating rye flour into some sourdough bread recipes using Fido.)
You might be right that we could have just fed it once a day for a week. We were using the Levain recipe from the Bouchon Bakery cookbook, which did mention that after one week the sourdough would already be ready to bake with, even thought it would continue to ferment after that until fully mature at the two week point. It definitely would have saved us lots of time, energy, and flour(!) to feed it only once a day, though!
I adore rhubarb jam – but damn that bread steals the show! I’m definitely going to have to try that because it looks spectacular. Bookmarked this to try!
Yay, thanks for commenting! Let me know how you like the bread recipe! It’s good with plenty of things besides rhubarb jam, too. :)
I’m excited for both recipes – not sure which one is more because both looks something I’d love to eat! The baguettes – oh my! I really hope that I can spend more time from this fall (after my daughter goes to school for a long time) I can practice making bread. This bread is one on my to make list too! Now the rhubarb + blood orange ginger jam? How do you stop eating this??? I’ll totally love the flavor!
Thanks, Nami! Haha, I loved your comment, “how do you stop eating this???” It’s a good question… And yes, the flavor is great. I don’t actually have a problem with eating too much jam, though, because after a certain amount, it’s too sweet for me– the real question for me is how do I stop eating the bread?!? :)
(Can’t wait to see what bread creations you come up after your daughter starts school this fall!)
My wife and I keep a sourdough starter, and I was surprised when using it for the first time just how easy it can be. These epi baguettes are the perfect way for me to step it up to the next level. So happy I came across this. Thanks!
Wonderful to hear this! Thanks for your comment. :) It’s definitely easier than many people think to keep + use a sourdough starter… it’s starting it initially that’s most of the work! Hope you enjoy trying this epi baguette recipe!
I am beyond impressed by the fact that you made your own sourdough starter. And what a beautiful bread it produced! The bread and the jam are both completely gorgeous.
Thank you so much! What a nice comment. :) To be honest, I’m a little impressed with ourselves too, only because I had NO IDEA how much work (and flour) it would take to start the starter before we’d started it! I have to say, I think it was worth it, though…
The rhubarb jam looks lovely! I have a patch in the garden but I’ve never tried making jam with it. It usually just gets turned into crumble. The bread looks very tasty as well.
Thank you! You’re so lucky to have rhubarb in your garden! (I just posted a new recipe for a rhubarb crisp/crumble today, where I lamented the fact that it’s so hard to find around here…) Let me know if you ever get a chance to try turning it into jam! (Though if I were you, I’d probably just make lots of crumbles as well… :)
What an epic post! And totally up my street – bread, fruit, jam – amazing!
Thank you for calling this post “epic”! That made my day. :)