Baked goods without yeast or other leavening - suggestions needed!

[sallysadie]

Have any great recipes for flatbreads or crackers that do not call for yeast or baking powder or soda? I'm interested in sweet or savory. Are there cookbooks that specialize in this?

[JungMann]

I was just reminded of a type of pastry called bibingka, which is made from glutinous rice soaked in water overnight before being ground and mixed with coconut milk. Natural yeasts cause the batter to rise during baking and it can be made as sweet or savory as desired.

[stilton]

Puff pastry?

[tullius]

mmm the best one so far.

[sallysadie]

Thanks all for the encouragement! Love these ideas.

[chowser]

What about gougeres or another pate a choux type pastry?

My favorite gougeres recipe:

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/alain-ducasses-gougeres

Cheese crackers:

http://www.eatingcleveland.com/2008/0...

[nuts4food]

Bon Appetit has a really good scone recipe. I made it yesterday and it came out great. If lemons aren't local for your challenge, then leave them out. If you can use them, I added the juice of one lemon along with the zest.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[PSZaas]

That recipe does have leavening in it; note the self-rising flour.

[nuts4food]

I made it with all purpose and it came out fine. (albeit a little flat)

[icecone]

Carbonated soft drinks can also serve as a leavener, but you have to account for the extra liquid in the recipe.

[PSZaas]

Google recipes for matza, which is traditionally unseasoned, but can be made sweet or savory. Very simple to make, from a variety of flours. Here's a recipe from the NYT, but there are many others out there: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/din... .

[tullius]

How about nun's puffs, or popovers? Angel Food cake generally uses cream of tartar which is a comon ingredient in baking powder, is that a problem? Souffle is another possibility.

These dishes all use eggs to make them rise.

[tullius]

Oh I didn't read that right about flatbreads or crackers.

So how about hard biscuits?
http://thefoody.com/mrsbbaking/hardbi...

[sallysadie]

Fantastic! I love the idea of giving lightness and structure with eggs! Not sure if I can find cream of tartar locally, but it looks like vinegar may be a passable substitute. I didn't mean to limit to crackers; that was all I could think of.

[PSZaas]

For angel food cake, any acid can be substituted for the cream of tartar, which is a stabilizer for the beaten egg whites.

[tullius]

okay so maybe flourless chocolate cake then. mmm

[chowser]

Or the other end of the spectrum, a souffle.

[rainey]

Crackers don't require leavening. That's why they're rolled thin and don't rise.

I can't think of a flat bread that doesn't have some leavener. Is there some reason why you don't want to use any? Would a sourdough or levain work for you? They can be prepared from wild yeast -- tho it's a laborious and time intensive process. Or they could get off the ground from a minimal amount of yeast and thereafter provide the juice to get the air in the dough to develop the crumb (structure) that defines bread. ...even flat breads.

[sallysadie]

Yes, sourdough sounds great. We are trying to make the starter now. I don't have an allergy or anything like that, just am doing a challenge to eat local foods in September. I am lucky that a lot of fruit, veg, beans, meat and grains are grown in the area, but I cannot seem to locate packaged yeast or baking soda/powder collected/grown/manufactured in the area. Seems like a good chance to expand my repertoire to try sourdough and make things with flour other than leavened breads and cakes.

[Vetter]

I'm eating sourdough right now. No yeast cheat for a sponge, either. You can do it! I just did the water and flour gig, no grapes or such.

I've seen recipes for sourdough chocolate cake, but I'm guessing they cheat with some additional soda.