Baking classes rise to the occasion
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker’s man! It may seem like child’s play, but the art and science of producing delicious baked goods can be very complex, particularly when yeast is eliminated from the equation.
Ashley Schmalenberg, the founder of Saltine Baking Company, has spent several years experimenting with fermented sourdough culture, developing techniques that produce light, wholesome breads and pastries without yeast. She sells her creations in the Saltine storefront on Gordon Road in Regina and, by offering several different workshops, she also shares the knowledge she has acquired.
Sourdough bread, which is great for people with yeast allergies, is also gaining popularity with people who have a gluten intolerance. It is believed that the long fermentation time breaks down gluten, making it easier to digest.
Schmalenberg enjoys a challenge, so, for several years, she honed her baking and cooking skills by working in restaurants and bakeries in a variety of roles. “I tried to work different positions and become well-rounded in different areas,” she says. “I was on a little journey to teach myself as much as I could.”
She used that experience – which includes time working as a cook in a fine-dining restaurant – and what she calls her “obsession” with cookbooks, to develop optimum flavour combinations.
In her ongoing quest for a challenge, she decided to work with savoury rather than sweet pastries. “There were so many people doing really great things with sweets,” she says.
But her choice to work with fermented sourdough may have been her most ambitious decision. Using this leavening agent – which is simply fermented flour and water – requires patience, hard work, and a familiarity with its characteristics and requirements. “Any variance any step of the way can change your end product, so I found that a challenge and kind of exciting,” says Schmalenberg. “You can have a different outcome if there’s a variation in room temperature, flour temperature or water temperature, or if your starter has fermented for a shorter or longer period of time when you mix your dough.”
The sourdough starter is created by allowing a mixture of flour and water to sit at room temperature for a number of days. When fermentation begins, a portion is set aside for use in recipes, and the remainder is “fed” with flour and water. “Once you continue feeding that piece daily, it will rise and fall, creating a steady, accurate feeding schedule: when it falls, you know it’s hungry, and, when it has risen to its peak potential, that’s when you use it to create bread,” says Schmalenberg.
Sourdough’s characteristics and requirements are explained at Saltine workshops. In the “Introduction to Naturally Leavened Bread” class, participants experience the creation of sourdough bread from start to finish. This includes mixing ingredients and stretching and folding the dough, which replaces kneading. “You mix it and it sits for about an hour, and then you kind of stretch it and fold it over and onto itself, which traps air inside. You do a series of folds and then you let it rest, and that strengthens it over time,” she says.
Because it takes 36 to 48 hours to prepare one loaf, the bread that is baked and enjoyed in class has been prepared ahead of time by the Saltine team. Participants take their own creations home to complete in the following days.
The two-hour workshops provide a fun evening of making friends, chatting and sharing baking stories. Participants also receive a step-bystep booklet and a piece of Saltine’s five-year-old sourdough culture, and even novice bakers leave with the knowledge and materials required to make their own sourdough creations at home.
Schmalenberg feels that the workshops help her retail customers understand why she can produce only a limited number of loaves and why sourdough bread may cost more than yeast bread.
The Saltine Baking Company uses locally sourced ingredients, including vegetables, fruits, cheeses, honey, eggs and organic grains, providing additional, guilt-free, healthy benefits.