Today is World Baking Day

Photo Credit: https://nationaldaycalendar.com/world-baking-day-third-sunday-in-may/

World Baking Day is a day that is all about celebrating the glory that is baked goods.

People have been baking for thousands of years. Bread baking goes all the way back to 600 BC in Ancient Greece. The Egyptians were the first to use yeast when baking bread. During the 16th and 17th centuries, baking was transformed by access to an abundance of syrups, spices, and currants discovered through globalized trade. Watch a brief history of baking throughout the world.

For a truly homemade baking endeavor, I encourage you to forage for some, perhaps all, of the ingredients you’ll need for your selected recipe. For a great resource regarding wildcrafted baking ingredients, I encourage you to thoroughly read How to Make Cookies after the Apocalypse (Wild Foraged Cookies) from the Practical Self Reliance blog. Ashley’s excellent post covers all topics associated with baking: flour alternatives and supplements, sweeteners, fat sources, binders, spices, and leavening sources. The comprehensive post also provides a list of foraged cookie recipes that you may need to consider should an actual zombie apocalypse ever occur.

Recipes for Your Culinary Consideration:

Foraging Calendar: (Click on table to enlarge for viewing)

Looking for helpful information regarding foraging for those essential ingredients? Read on!

Always be certain that the species you collect is edible and that what you collect is indeed the species you were seeking.

Need-to-Know Information regarding the Targeted Plants:

Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) = ripened fruit; good source of vitamins A, C, and E, contain high levels of flavonoids and essential fatty acids, a rich source of lycopene, and it has strong antioxidant activity

Where found: Open areas: successional fields, pastures, hedge rows, utility rights-of-way, thickets
Tall shrub (generally 10-20 feet) that branches frequently; it is usually a little taller than wide
Young branches are silvery green to brown and covered with small scales
Alternate leaves are up to 3″ long and 1¼” across, and are elliptical, oblong or ovate with smooth margins, blunt tips, and wedge-shaped to rounded bottoms
Lower surface of leaf is whitish green to white and densely covered with small silvery scales
Drupe-like fleshy fruits are silvery bright red (when fully ripened), about 1/3″ long, and ovoid in shape – View Foraging for Wild Edibles: Autumnberries for info about foraging for ripened fruit

Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) = leaves

Where Found: Dry hillsides and margins of woods
Perennial herbaceous plant that grows 24 to 36 inches tall on a square stem
Leaves are oppositely arranged on the stems and are slightly toothed and hairy
Flowers bloom in summer and are showy having individual pink to lavender blossoms emanating from center seed head

Common Blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis) = ripened fruit

Where found: Dry fields and clearings
Canes are green where there is new growth at the tips, otherwise they are brown or reddish brown and have visible ridges and stout thorns
Alternate leaves are usually trifoliate or palmately compound with long petioles
Berries are ready for picking when they are dark black in color and look quite plump – View Foraging for Wild Edibles: Blackberries for info about foraging for ripened fruit.

Common Cattail (Typha latifolia) and Narrow-leaved Cattail (Typha angustifolia) = pollen

Photo Credit: https://growing-wild.ca/2020/03/06/cattail-a-gift-of-all-seasons/

View Foraging for Wild Edibles: The Many Culinary Uses of Cattails for info about foraging.

Common Cattail:

Where Found: Always in or near water, usually shallow
Little or no gap between the male flow
- Leaves usually broader than Narrow-leaved Cattail

Narrow-leaved Cattail:

Where Found: Always in or near water, usually deeper
- Distinct gap of a few inches between the male flower (top) and female flower (bottom)
Leaves usually narrower than Common Cattail

Large Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) and Small Cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos) = ripened fruit; Where Found: Bogs

Large Cranberry:

Berries generally 1/3 to ½ inch across

Small Cranberry:

Berries generally smaller than Large Cranberry

Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) = fiddleheads

Photo Credit: https://fearlesseating.net/fiddleheads/

View Foraging for Wild Edibles: Fern Fiddleheads for info about foraging.

Where Found: Moist rich woodlands; Low woodland borders, swamps or soggy thickets
Fiddleheads emerge in clusters
Stem is smooth (no “wool”) and bright green with a deep groove inside
Feathery-brown, paper-like material covers the sides of each “fiddlehead” coil
Will remain tightly coiled until they reach a height of about 4-6”

American Hazelnut (Corylus americana) and Beaked Hazelnut (Corylus cornuta) = nuts; Fully ripened when shell (not outside husk) is brown in color; each hazelnut kernel is 50-75% oil and a rich source of mono- and polyunsaturated fats that contain a good amount of omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids, such as oleic acid – View Foraging for Wild Edibles: Hazelnuts for info about foraging for these nuts.

Hazelnut harvest (American on left, Beaked on right)

American Hazelnut:

Where Found: Woods borders and thickets
Deciduous, rounded, multi-stemmed, thicket-forming shrub that typically grows 6-16′ tall
Tips of twigs are hairy and leaves have double-toothed margins
- Nut enclosed in a pair of hairy leaf-like bracts (involucres) with ragged edges

Beaked Hazelnut:

Where Found: Woods borders and thickets
Deciduous, rounded, multi-stemmed, thicket-forming shrub that typically grows 6-16′ tall
Tips of twigs are hairless or few hairs and leaves have double-toothed margins
- Nut enclosed in a pair of hairy bracts (involucres) that join together to form a long narrow beak

Pignut Hickory (Carya glabra) and Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata) = nuts

Fully ripened when shell is brown in color – do not wait for husk to turn brown; Excellent source of dietary fiber, protein, manganese, copper, magnesium, zinc, and Thiamin; nutmeat is a high-energy food because it contains 66% oil that is rich source of mono- and polyunsaturated fats and contains good amount of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids – View Foraging for Wild Edibles: Hickory Nuts for info about foraging for these nuts.

Pignut Hickory:

Where Found: Dry woods
60-80′ tall tree with single long straight trunk
Ascending to spreading alternate branches with pinnately compound leaves
Trunk bark is gray to gray-brown and somewhat rough with elongated ridges that have flattened tops and shallow furrows
Husks are thin, smooth and hairless and comprised of four segments; tan shell of the nut is ovoid and slightly flattened in shape

Shagbark Hickory:

Where Found: Mature woods and fencerows
60-80′ tall tree with single long straight trunk
Upper branches ascending, middle branches widely spreading, and lower branches descending with pinnately compound leaves
Trunk bark is light to medium gray, rough textured, fissured, and shaggy from narrow plates that peel away from the trunk at their tips and/or bottoms
Husk divided into 4 segments that are indented at their margins, providing the fruit with a ribbed appearance; nut of each fruit is light tan and slightly 4-angled

Jerusalem Artichoke (AKA Sunchokes) (Helianthus tuberosus) = root; Unlike most root vegetables, these tubers consist mainly of inulin (7 to 30% by weight) instead of starch and sucrose – Inulin is converted to fructose when pickled; Sunchokes also have a number of vitamins and minerals including niacine, thiamine, vitamin B6, and vitamin C

Photo Credit: https://www.growforagecookferment.com/how-to-cook-jerusalem-artichokes-sunchokes/

Where Found: Roadside ditches, stream banks, and wet fields
Dig the roots with a digging fork, shovel or hori hori knife; be sure to go deep, as you may find tubers as much as a foot or so down in the dirt – View Jerusalem Artichoke Harvest (beginning @ 3:30) for info on how to dig up the roots.
After harvest, Jerusalem Artichokes may be kept in a paper bag in your fridge’s crisper drawer for a week or two
After cutting or peeling, the tuber flesh will darken, so pickle them as soon as possible.

Morel Mushrooms (Morchella semilibera and Morchella esculenta)

Where Found: Forests, orchards, yards, and gardens
“Head” or brown chambered top of the fungus resembles a pine cone and is the spore-bearing surface
“Head” is comprised of chambers formed by distinct ridges and pits (unlike false morels, which lack the pits) and is attached directly to the stalk (unlike false morels, which attach to the top of the stalk as if a separate piece)

Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago) = ripened fruit; Fruit are high in fiber and contain various substances and micro-nutrients, such as: alkaloids, alkaline salts, proteins and flavonoids (powerful antioxidants with anti-inflammatory and immune system benefits)

Where Found: Swamps, marshes, roadside ditches, and wet successional fields
Multi-stemmed shrub generally 9-18’ tall with ascending branches that have a tendency to arch
Pairs of opposite leaves serrated along their margins; leaf bases rounded to broadly wedge-shaped, while leaf tips taper abruptly, becoming long and slender
Mature drupes ovoid in shape, dark blue-violet color, and each containing single flattened ovoid seed; fleshy interior somewhat juicy and sweet, tasting like a date – View Foraging for Wild Edibles: Nannyberry for info about foraging.

Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) and Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor) and White Oak (Quercus alba) = nuts – View Foraging for Acorns: Identification, Processing + Acorn Recipes for info about foraging and processing acorns.

Bur Oak:

Where Found: Moist bottomland woodlands, upland woodlands, and savannas
Tree grows 80-120′ tall at maturity, forming an ovoid to globoid crown whose branches are ascending to widely spreading and somewhat crooked, and a tall stout trunk (up to 5′ across) whose thick trunk bark is gray to gray-brown with flat corky ridges and deep irregular furrows
Alternate obovate or broadly elliptic leaves about 4-10″ long and 2½–5″ across with rounded lobes that extend moderately to deeply into the leaf blade and the deepest lobes usually occur along the lower one-half of the blade; upper leaf surface is dark green and smooth, while lower surface is pale gray-green and covered with dense short fine hairs
Nuts are either solitary or occur in pairs on short stalks up to 1″ long and 1½–2½” long and similarly across, becoming brown to grayish brown when ripe; distinctive cups extend at least one-half the length of the nuts, sometimes nearly enclosing them and they are rather knobby in appearance with soft awns up to 1/3″ (8 mm.) in length along the rim of each cup, forming a conspicuous fringe around the nut

Swamp White Oak:

Where Found: Swamps (often on ridges and hill tops therein), wet depressions, and thickets
Tree grows 60-80′ tall at maturity, forming ovoid to obovoid crown, and a straight trunk about 2-3½’ across whose trunk bark is brown, gray-brown, or gray, rough-textured, and developing either irregular furrows with flat ridges or large flaky scales
Alternate leathery and stiff leaves about 4-7″ long and 2½-4½” are usually obovate with 4-8 pairs of shallow to moderately deep lobes along their margins that are either rounded or taper to blunt tips; upper leaf surface is medium to dark green and smooth, while the lower surface is whitish green to white and densely covered with short white fine hairs
Nuts are either solitary or occur in pairs on long stalks that are are ¾-1″ long and ½-¾” across, becoming brown when ripe; tan-colored or light gray cup extends to about one-third of the length of an acorn whose scales are somewhat recurved and pointed

White Oak:

Where Found: Dry forests
Tree grows 60-100′ tall at maturity, forming a globoid to subgloboid crown with widely spreading lower branches and ascending upper branches and a straight trunk whose bark is light gray, shallowly furrowed, and divided into flat narrow plates
Alternate leaves are 4-7″ long and 2-4½” across and broadly elliptic or obovate with 3-5 pairs of deep to medium lobes that have round tips and round sinuses; upper leaf surface is medium green and smooth, while the lower surface is dull light green or gray-green and hairless (or nearly so)
Mature acorns are ½-1″ long, ovoid, greenish brown to light brown; light tan or light gray shallow cap with warty scales extends downward to about one-fourth the length of the acorn

Pear (Pyrus communis) = ripened fruit

36 pears (golf ball- to tennis ball-sized)

Where Found: Hedgerows, young successional forests, forest edges, thickets, and roadsides
Trees typically grow to 25-30’ tall with upright branching and pyramidal form
Ovate to elliptic glossy dark green leaves (to 4” long) whose margins have either rounded or forward pointing teeth
Foliage turns shades of red and yellow in fall
Fruit shape varies from globelike to the classic pyriform (elongated basal portion and a bulbous end)

Canada Plum (Prunus nigra) and Wild Plum (Prunus americana) = ripened fruit

Photo Credit: Mariann Watkins, https://www.wildflower.org/gallery/result.php?id_image=8303

Canda Plum:

Where Found: Woods and thickets
Small tree (typically 10-25′ at maturity) with short trunk and a crown with an ovoid or broadly ovoid outline and whose trunk bark is gray and rough-textured
Usually thorny spur-twigs along the branches and, to a lesser extent, on the trunk; these thorn-like twigs are up to 4″ long and relatively straight
Alternate leaves are 2½–4½” long and 1–2½” across, obovate in shape and tapering somewhat abruptly into long slender tips; upper surface is smooth and it is indented along the veins, while the lower surface is sometimes hairy along the central and primary veins
Fruits are about 1–1¼” across and globoid to broadly ovoid in shape and may be red, orange, or yellow when ripe; fruits are edible with a fleshy yellow interior (tart to slightly sweet or tart) and a large stone in the middle, which is broadly ellipsoid and somewhat flattened in shape with a narrow ridge on one side and a shallow narrow groove on the other

Wild Plum:

Where Found: Hedgerows, thickets, forest edges, young successional forests, and disturbed soils often in valley bottoms and floodplains
Small tree up to 25′ tall with stout short trunk and widely spreading to ascending branches; grey trunk bark
Smaller branches rather contorted in their growth habit with small stout twigs or spines
Alternate leaves are up to 4″ long and 1¾” across, medium to dark green, ovate to obovate, hairless, sharply toothed along their margins, and whose tip is somewhat elongated; upper surface is slightly wrinkled in appearance, rather than smooth
Fleshy fruits are globoid and about 1″ across, becoming yellow or red (usually the latter) when fully ripened; fruits are fleshy and juicy, becoming sweet when fully mature, and each has a single large stone, which is ovoid and somewhat flattened, tapering at both ends

Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) = ripened fruit

Where Found: Damp woods and along streams
A single- or few-stemmed, deciduous shrub, usually 6-15 feet tall, with graceful, slender, light green branches.
The leaves are simple, alternate, with smooth margins and a leathery feel.
Plants are typically found in moist, shady places.
Use your fingernail to scratch a small part of the bark off a twig and sniff its distinctive spicy aroma – that will confirm your identification.

Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) and Woodland Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) = ripened fruit

Wild Strawberry:

Where Found: Successional fields, pastures, lawns, roadsides, young successional forests, forest openings, disturbed soils, and along the edge of paths
Herbaceous perennial plant is 4-7″ tall, consisting of several trifoliate basal leaves and one or more flower stalks; leaflets are up to 2½” long and 1½” across, obovate or oval in shape, coarsely toothed with rounded tips, smooth and medium to dark green upper surface with variably hairy lower surface, and conspicuous venation
Fruits are up to ½” long and across, globoid or globoid-ovoid in shape, bright red at maturity and whose small seeds are scattered across the surface in sunken pits; fleshy interior has a sweet-tart flavor

Woodland Strawberry:

Where Found: Young successional forests, thickets, forest edges, edges of dirt roads and paths through forests, and disturbed soils
Herbaceous perennial plant with basal leaves and flowering stalks; Leaflets are 1 to 1½ inches long, ¾ to 1 inch wide, coarsely toothed, nearly hairless on upper surface, prominently veined, oval to egg-shaped, rounded towards the tip and tapered toward the base
Fruit is egg shaped to conic with tiny seeds (achenes) raised on the surface and typically rise above the leaves

Wild Thyme (Thymus pulegioides) = flowers and leaves

Where Found: Dry, sandy soil where there’s plenty of sunlight
Reddish-brown, woody stems and small (¼″ – ½″ long), green, oval, opposite leaves
Develops dense clusters of tiny aromatic pink-purplish flowers at the top of each stem
Plants often found in dense colonies that carpet an area

Eastern Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) = nuts – View Forage and Process Your Own Black Walnuts! for info about foraging and processing these nuts.

Where Found: Floodplain forests, low hardwood forests, and successional forests
Grows to height of 100–130 feet tall, but in open areas it has a short trunk and broad crown
Leaves are pinnately compound and alternately arranged on branches
Bark typically grey-black and deeply furrowed into thin ridges that gives it a diamond shaped pattern
Fruit is spherical with a brownish-green, semi-fleshy husk and a brown, corrugated nut

Yellow Wood Sorrel (Oxalis stricta) = flowers and leaves

Where Found: Cultivated ground, fields, pastures, disturbed soils in forests, stream banks, gravel and sand bars in streams, roadsides, and disturbed soils; becomes a weedy species of disturbed soils in open habitats
Herbaceous perennial plant typically 3-8″ tall that often branches abundantly, particularly toward its base
Alternate trifoliate leaves occur along the stems; in the absence of sunlight, the leaflets will droop downward and fold along their central veins – this process reverses itself when sunlight reappears
Individual leaflets are ¼-½” long and similarly across; both surfaces are pale green with the upper surface smooth or nearly so, while the lower surface is covered with short flattened hairs
Small umbels of 2-6 yellow flowers are produced from the axils of leaves, each about ¼” or a little more across

Happy foraging!

3 thoughts on “Today is World Baking Day”

jcardazzi on May 21, 2023 at 7:14 am said:

Thanks David, impressive post!

Reply ↓
Kendra Pratt on May 21, 2023 at 9:21 am said:

I must tell you that Ruth Schottman once treated us to May apple jelly! made from May apples

>

Reply ↓
- curiousbynature on May 21, 2023 at 9:38 am said:
  
  That must have been delicious! I’ve never found enough ripe fruit to use them in any type of recipe.

Curious By Nature

Inquisitive observations of nature, featuring wildflowers and wild edibles.

Today is World Baking Day

3 thoughts on “Today is World Baking Day”

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Share this:

Related

3 thoughts on “Today is World Baking Day”

Leave a comment Cancel reply