When Breadmaking Becomes Art

By
Jas Cilas
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Image via sourdough_nouveau/Instagram

People certainly don’t appreciate bread as much as they should since it isn’t just tasty but also feeds us and gives us energy for the day. One California-based baker named Lisa is set to change that perception and has taken the breadmaking process to a whole other level.

The bread this passionate baker makes in her oven is pure art. She doesn’t just makes it in various shapes and sizes but also uses numerous baking tricks to give it more appeal. We also bet that it smells fantastic as well.

Check out some of her baked goods below.

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Honeyed spelt and oatmeal sourdough with added barley flakes. Did you know that a worker bee only produces about 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime? 🍯 I recently bought a large liter jar of local honey, that's the lifetime honey production of approximately 2400 bees! 😱 The stuff really must be treasured. In this loaf I used buckwheat honey. I have been curious about this honey for a while as I heard mixed opinions although the general consensus seems to be that it has a robust flavor and is slightly less sweet than traditional honey, and that it also has a slightly sharp tang to it which I definitely noticed. I have often wondered if my slight obsession with honey, esp when used in bread baking, is justified and whether the flavor actually comes through in the bread, but in this case I think it definitely did and it is delicious! (Honey used = 25g or 17ml per loaf = lifetime honey production of 40 bees! 🐝🐝 Thank you bees!!)

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First loaf since returning from a 12 day holiday in Costa Rica where I saw such a huge diversity of wildlife in the tropical rain forests and mountain cloud forests that we visited. In the past I may have felt sadness at leaving a holiday destination, but I don't remember ever feeling like I missed it in the way that I do Costa Rica. I miss being woken up to the cries of howler monkeys and a cacophony of birdsong, almost tripping over a huge iguana on the way to breakfast or rescuing a Halloween crab from a sink whilst trying to do some laundry. I don't think I have ever been anywhere where I felt such a strong presence of life all around me before and I wished it didn't have to be something I can only experience as a tourist. Departing the country I was also filled with a deep sense of sorrow as I caught an aerial view of palm oil plantations as far as the eye could see. I have been aware of the threat of this industry to the environment through deforestation for some time now but, having finally witnessed what is at stake first hand, it really hit home our collective responsibility to be more aware and not support products that lead to the destruction and devastation of something so incredibly precious and irreplaceable. Loaf pictured is a wheat and semola sourdough made with the same recipe as my layered sourdough, but without the outer skin. Thought it would be a good candidate for detailed stenciling as this soft loaf has a nice round bloom that doesn't require much scoring. Swipe left if you would like to hear a recording I made at 4:30am on my first morning is Costa Rica. Being woken up to this sound coming from the pitch black forest behind our lodge was actually very eerie without knowing what was responsible for it! It is a thing of myths and legends.

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It's been particularly gloomy so far this year here by the coast of LA, but as of yesterday it seems spring has arrived. Last week I planted some milkweed in the hope of attracting monarch butterflies to the garden. I recently learned that the number of monarch butterflies is dwindling dramatically and one of the main causes is the widespread eradication of milkweed plants, which monarch caterpillars feed on exclusively. These incredible animals, which only weigh 1g, start their annual 1,800miles (2,900k) migration here in Southern California and four generations of butterflies will have lived and died before they return. It takes about three generations for them to reach Canada, each generation living 5-7 weeks. But when autumn rolls around again, a special 'super generation' of monarchs that can live up to eight months will make use of air currents to wing all the way back. How incredible is that?! #smallbutmighty (Butterfly stenciling on a purple carrot sourdough loaf – slide left for baked loaf)

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Another winterscape: deer in a snowy forest🦌. I am experimenting with a new stenciling technique (which I will share in due course) to try to get sharper edges, and I'm pretty happy with it. But here I also experimented with using two types of flour on the surface, white wheat flour for the stenciling and then a sprinkling of rice flour on top to try to emulate falling snow, and I really like the results. Hopefully you can see the effect when you zoom into the picture. The loaf here is Apple and Cinnamon Oatmeal. I combined a couple of recipes I liked the look of and incorporated grated fresh apple as well as slices of dried apple into the dough made with white wheat, whole wheat, rye and a cinnamon oatmeal soaker. I'm not actually the biggest fan of fruit in my morning bread but I really loved the flavor of this loaf and it's made for a really comforting breakfast on these slightly chilly mornings.

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