My icing didn't look very pretty but it was yummy. Wednesday, December 30, 2009
A Sweet Treat for Christmas Morning
I made the cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. I thought they were relatively easily and very tasty. I did realize that I need to buy a sifter with a hand crank. My hand almost wasn’t able to squeeze my sifter handle enough times to sift four cups of powder sugar. I ended up not using all of the icing so I think next time I will cut the recipe in ½ or maybe ¾ for the icing. And there will be a next time! I think this might be a Christmas tradition and it would be a great treat to serve to visiting families and friends throughout the year.
My icing didn't look very pretty but it was yummy.
My icing didn't look very pretty but it was yummy. 
Friday, December 4, 2009
How to win friends and Influence People
I have never read the book How to Win Friends and Influence People. As a SAHM with 3 kids under the age of 5, I don't think that book is very relevant to me. Besides, I have found the answer and it's called "Rich Man's Brioche."
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving found me in the kitchen with a formula for a dough that asked for 5 eggs and 2 cups (!) of butter. I knew it was going to be good. I wanted these to be the rolls for our Thanksgiving feast and I knew I didn't have the talent or the patience to make them in neat little shapes. Plus, I would be doing it while my family was watching. Too much pressure!! So I decided to roll them into little balls and make them into pull apart rolls.
Next time, I think I will just make the little rolls and keep them spaced apart. The edge rolls were done perfectly, but the inner core (if you will) was a little underdone. However, they were still oh. so. very. good. I think it was Renee that said they tasted like crescent rolls. I would agree, but these were so much better. I am salivating just thinking about them.
I wouldn't make them very often, because, did I mention, they have 2 cups (!) of butter in them. If you are looking to make some friends or at least impress your in laws, this is the way to do it. I think they will be a tradition at our Thanksgiving table. We didn't even need to use the butter I had set out. I was a little nervous about making them because you know those French and their carbs, but I thought the recipe was really easy. Maybe because there wasn't any kneading involved. Apparently Marie Antoinette wasn't kidding when she said "Let them eat brioche!"
Will do Marie, will do.
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving found me in the kitchen with a formula for a dough that asked for 5 eggs and 2 cups (!) of butter. I knew it was going to be good. I wanted these to be the rolls for our Thanksgiving feast and I knew I didn't have the talent or the patience to make them in neat little shapes. Plus, I would be doing it while my family was watching. Too much pressure!! So I decided to roll them into little balls and make them into pull apart rolls.
Next time, I think I will just make the little rolls and keep them spaced apart. The edge rolls were done perfectly, but the inner core (if you will) was a little underdone. However, they were still oh. so. very. good. I think it was Renee that said they tasted like crescent rolls. I would agree, but these were so much better. I am salivating just thinking about them.
I wouldn't make them very often, because, did I mention, they have 2 cups (!) of butter in them. If you are looking to make some friends or at least impress your in laws, this is the way to do it. I think they will be a tradition at our Thanksgiving table. We didn't even need to use the butter I had set out. I was a little nervous about making them because you know those French and their carbs, but I thought the recipe was really easy. Maybe because there wasn't any kneading involved. Apparently Marie Antoinette wasn't kidding when she said "Let them eat brioche!"
Will do Marie, will do.
Bagels, finally.
Well, I made my bagels two weekends ago. I started the process on Friday without much thought. Surely finding high-gluten flour and malt powder would be a piece of cake. Not so much. I spent about 3 hours on the phone calling just about every natural and/or organic food store, grocery store, bakery, and bagel shop in the metro area looking for high gluten flour. No luck! Found out that the bagels stores by me (Einst@ins and P@nera) don't make their bagels from scratch. Rather, they are shipped in frozen and baked in the store. So there was no hitting up "my local bagel shop" for any flour. There were some baking suppliers that sold the flour in 50-100 lb. bags. Yeah, not going to make that many bagels. What to do? I did finally find a store that sold barley syrup and some Vital Wheat Gluten. The gluten was $4.00 for a box, but the barley syrup was $7 for a bottle. I really couldn't justify buying the whole bottle of the syrup for just 1 teaspoon when honey would be a sufficient substitute.
After being mentally and financially o.k. with these substitutions, I made the dough as directed and added 1 teaspoon of gluten for every 1 cup of flour and instead of the malt syrup I used a tablespoon of honey. As I was kneading (by hand) I couldn't get the dough to do the elusive "window pane test," and I did have to add a few drops of water to get it to the right consistency. Not sure if that's from the gluten I put in it or not or just a lack of kneading skillz.
Because we were having 18 people in the house for Thanksgiving, I decided to make 24 of the smaller bagels. I made the bagels by poking a hole in the ball and widening the hole with my thumb. The "float test" was fun. I found it very suspenseful. Would my little bagels I had worked so hard on float or sink directly to the bottom? I held my breath and dropped one bagel slowly into the water and it immediately floated like a pool floatie. I did a little sigh of relief and kinda felt like a proud parent! I put the bagels on a baking sheet with some parchment paper and kept them in the fridge until the next day.
Saturday started with me preheating my oven to 500. Sure enough, the smoke alarm went off three times (thankfully I waited until everyone was up). What is it with us gals and our dirty ovens? (That reminds me I was going to put my oven on "self clean" today). Annnywaayy, I dropped the little bagels into my boiling water and boiled them for about a minute a side.
I made some with sesame seeds and salt, some with some dried minced onion, and some were plain. I forgot to lower the oven to 450 after I rotated them, but oh well. Don't know what the difference that would have made. After baking the plain ones, I brushed some with some melted butter and sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on them while they were still hot. Didn't want the sugar to burn in my 3 alarm oven.
I ended up freezing them and setting them out on the counter the night before Thanksgiving to thaw. Thanksgiving morning, we had some yummy bagels to stretch our stomachs until our big meal later on in the day. I thought they were really good and they seemed to please the crowd. Next time I will make more of the cinnamon and sugar ones as those went over well. I will definitely make these again. Maybe by then I will have found me some high gluten flour! Even though the gluten additive and the honey worked really well.
After being mentally and financially o.k. with these substitutions, I made the dough as directed and added 1 teaspoon of gluten for every 1 cup of flour and instead of the malt syrup I used a tablespoon of honey. As I was kneading (by hand) I couldn't get the dough to do the elusive "window pane test," and I did have to add a few drops of water to get it to the right consistency. Not sure if that's from the gluten I put in it or not or just a lack of kneading skillz.
Because we were having 18 people in the house for Thanksgiving, I decided to make 24 of the smaller bagels. I made the bagels by poking a hole in the ball and widening the hole with my thumb. The "float test" was fun. I found it very suspenseful. Would my little bagels I had worked so hard on float or sink directly to the bottom? I held my breath and dropped one bagel slowly into the water and it immediately floated like a pool floatie. I did a little sigh of relief and kinda felt like a proud parent! I put the bagels on a baking sheet with some parchment paper and kept them in the fridge until the next day.
Saturday started with me preheating my oven to 500. Sure enough, the smoke alarm went off three times (thankfully I waited until everyone was up). What is it with us gals and our dirty ovens? (That reminds me I was going to put my oven on "self clean" today). Annnywaayy, I dropped the little bagels into my boiling water and boiled them for about a minute a side.
I made some with sesame seeds and salt, some with some dried minced onion, and some were plain. I forgot to lower the oven to 450 after I rotated them, but oh well. Don't know what the difference that would have made. After baking the plain ones, I brushed some with some melted butter and sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on them while they were still hot. Didn't want the sugar to burn in my 3 alarm oven.
I ended up freezing them and setting them out on the counter the night before Thanksgiving to thaw. Thanksgiving morning, we had some yummy bagels to stretch our stomachs until our big meal later on in the day. I thought they were really good and they seemed to please the crowd. Next time I will make more of the cinnamon and sugar ones as those went over well. I will definitely make these again. Maybe by then I will have found me some high gluten flour! Even though the gluten additive and the honey worked really well.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Thanksgiving Brioche
I made the Middle-Class Brioche for Thanksgiving. I picked the middle-class recipe because of this comment by the author, "It is also easier to handle than the richer version." I still found the mixing part difficult. I don't think I could have mixed in an additional cup of butter with my hands. I was afraid to try it with my Kitchen-Aid.
For dinner, I gave each person their own little brioche. I thought it tasted very similar to a croissant.
After dinner I baked the rest of the dough in a loaf pan. I actually made French toast with this loaf. It was delicious! As it should have been with all that butter in the bread. I thought the French toast was very sweet but of course my kids wanted syrup with it.
I might make this bread again next Thanksgiving. It seems like it should only be a once-a-year indulgence.
For dinner, I gave each person their own little brioche. I thought it tasted very similar to a croissant.
After dinner I baked the rest of the dough in a loaf pan. I actually made French toast with this loaf. It was delicious! As it should have been with all that butter in the bread. I thought the French toast was very sweet but of course my kids wanted syrup with it.
I might make this bread again next Thanksgiving. It seems like it should only be a once-a-year indulgence.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Me Vs. the Dough Wad
I was so proud of myself for completing the recipe before the deadline and then I totally forgot to blog about my bagels.
Further proof I should not be in this club.
For no other reason than pure stubbornness, I insisted on using my fresh ground whole wheat flour for this recipe, because I'm all hippy like that. I did have gluten on hand, so I added in two tablespoons per every four cups of flour. This worked well, I guess, except that I had to add a lot more water to the dough to get it to do up right. And it took me awhile to figure that out.
Plus, I doubled the recipe, which means I was wrestling a good ten pounds of dough.
You can imagine the angst.
I was pretty sure my handy-dandy Electrolux could handle "the toughest dough out there," but when I doubled that recipe, I could swear I heard my mixer wheeze at me, "Really?"
So I yanked the dough wad out and threw it on the table, where I proceeded to push it around for about two minutes. I got frustrated, threw it back in the mixer, and reached for my dough hook. Then we did another round at the table. Finally, I added more water, used the dough hook again, kneaded by hand some more and Voila! We reached the right temperature!
I will never, no, never pass the window pane test. That test is dead to me.
The rolls rose up nicely, they retarded well, etc. I had a hard time getting them to look nice and smooth when we rolled them up into bagels. My friend in culinary school told me it was because I used the whole wheat flour.
And yet I persist in my stubbornness.
We've enjoyed these so much, I forgot to take an "after" shot. So all of my photos are of dough balls, which you've seen before. I'll admit, these aren't very soft bagels. They're delicious, tasted great right out of the oven. But they're sort of a pain to cut in half. Which means I've been making lots of cream cheese dips so I don't have to cut the bagels for the kids.
At least I don't have to knead the cream cheese. My mixer handles that stuff juuuuuust fine.
Further proof I should not be in this club.
For no other reason than pure stubbornness, I insisted on using my fresh ground whole wheat flour for this recipe, because I'm all hippy like that. I did have gluten on hand, so I added in two tablespoons per every four cups of flour. This worked well, I guess, except that I had to add a lot more water to the dough to get it to do up right. And it took me awhile to figure that out.
Plus, I doubled the recipe, which means I was wrestling a good ten pounds of dough.
You can imagine the angst.
I was pretty sure my handy-dandy Electrolux could handle "the toughest dough out there," but when I doubled that recipe, I could swear I heard my mixer wheeze at me, "Really?"
So I yanked the dough wad out and threw it on the table, where I proceeded to push it around for about two minutes. I got frustrated, threw it back in the mixer, and reached for my dough hook. Then we did another round at the table. Finally, I added more water, used the dough hook again, kneaded by hand some more and Voila! We reached the right temperature!
I will never, no, never pass the window pane test. That test is dead to me.
The rolls rose up nicely, they retarded well, etc. I had a hard time getting them to look nice and smooth when we rolled them up into bagels. My friend in culinary school told me it was because I used the whole wheat flour.
And yet I persist in my stubbornness.
We've enjoyed these so much, I forgot to take an "after" shot. So all of my photos are of dough balls, which you've seen before. I'll admit, these aren't very soft bagels. They're delicious, tasted great right out of the oven. But they're sort of a pain to cut in half. Which means I've been making lots of cream cheese dips so I don't have to cut the bagels for the kids.
At least I don't have to knead the cream cheese. My mixer handles that stuff juuuuuust fine.
Alarming Bagels
I saved this recipe to enjoy on a weekend we the entire family was at home. This month has been quite busy so it went past the 15th. On Thursday I went to my local bagel store (CB for you locals) and asked if it was possible if I could buy some of their high gluten flour from them. I explained what I was doing and the owner was very excited of my upcoming journey and sold me 7 cups of flour for only $2.00! Sweet! My son is on a gluten free/casein free diet and as guilty as I feel twice a month baking these lovely formulas, I couldn't bear to purchase a flour called high gluten. (silly I know) I was also able to enjoy some malt powder from a fellow half-baked beauty - thank you friend! So on Friday I made my sponge and completed steps 1-8. Renee was right - much harder to knead. I decided to talk on the phone for those 10 minutes instead of staring at the clock. It went a little faster.
So the next morning, my sweet boy who is my early morning partner and I were downstairs before the rest of the family. I planned to surprise them all and have the bagels ready for when they woke up. I had forgotten that I was going to make some chocolate chip bagels, and I guess they should have been mixed into the dough at step 3? similar to the raisin instructions. So I improvised and stuck them in there right before boiling.
The boiling process was quite fun. I completed it for a minute on each side but next time I might go for 90 seconds to have a little more chewiness.
So the next morning, my sweet boy who is my early morning partner and I were downstairs before the rest of the family. I planned to surprise them all and have the bagels ready for when they woke up. I had forgotten that I was going to make some chocolate chip bagels, and I guess they should have been mixed into the dough at step 3? similar to the raisin instructions. So I improvised and stuck them in there right before boiling.
The boiling process was quite fun. I completed it for a minute on each side but next time I might go for 90 seconds to have a little more chewiness.
I had pre-heated the oven at 500 and these beauties were in the oven for about 3 minutes and then....the fire alarm went off. (There must have been something on the bottom of my oven to cause a little smoke for our over-active alarm) So much for my great plan of surprising everyone - SURPRISE! at 6:50AM. But after they wiped the sleepies from eyes and realized hot bagels were in there future, everyone was happy. We had sesame seeds, chocolate chip and cinnamon sugar for our toppings. Hubby said it smelled like a real NY bagel shop and everyone (except my little gluten free guy - he got a Trader Joe's GFCF english muffin) enjoyed these lovely beauties! Definitely we'll be making these again!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Break Bread and Give Thanks
I delayed on our next bread because I noticed a few less posts with the bagels so I thought I would give you all a chance to catch up. I am tardy on my bagel post but only because my hubby was out of town and I thought it would be fun to have fresh bagels this Saturday morning together....more on that soon.
But moving on...to Brioche and his relatives. At your Thanksgiving table will you have Uncle Rich Man Brioche and his fancy 2 cups of butter, Cousin Middle-Class Brioche with his average 1 cup of butter, Grandma Poor-Man Brioche with her simple 1/2 cup of butter or Casatiello the In-law with his meat and cheese? I can't wait to read about who is at your table, however this is only after you do your Black Friday shopping!
I had a proposal to throw out to the group. You can let me know your thoughts in the comment section or e-mail me directly. For the month of December, instead of adding to our busy schedules, what if we only make one bread but you can choose from three holiday formulas. We'll have to jump ahead a bit, but these three formulas make the most sense for Christmas. The first will be Cinnamon Buns on page 143. The second is Panettone on page 202 and then finally Stollen on page 252. Depending on your families preferences and your availability, you can make one, two or all three. Panettone and Stollen make great Christmas gifts for neighbors! So let me know what you all think and if everyone is on board then we'll return to our regular scheduled program in January with some delicious Challah!
But moving on...to Brioche and his relatives. At your Thanksgiving table will you have Uncle Rich Man Brioche and his fancy 2 cups of butter, Cousin Middle-Class Brioche with his average 1 cup of butter, Grandma Poor-Man Brioche with her simple 1/2 cup of butter or Casatiello the In-law with his meat and cheese? I can't wait to read about who is at your table, however this is only after you do your Black Friday shopping!
I had a proposal to throw out to the group. You can let me know your thoughts in the comment section or e-mail me directly. For the month of December, instead of adding to our busy schedules, what if we only make one bread but you can choose from three holiday formulas. We'll have to jump ahead a bit, but these three formulas make the most sense for Christmas. The first will be Cinnamon Buns on page 143. The second is Panettone on page 202 and then finally Stollen on page 252. Depending on your families preferences and your availability, you can make one, two or all three. Panettone and Stollen make great Christmas gifts for neighbors! So let me know what you all think and if everyone is on board then we'll return to our regular scheduled program in January with some delicious Challah!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Two Baking Buddies Take on Bagels
Mel and I decided to take on the bagel challenge together! TMM was kind enough to share her malt powder with us and we decided to just use the bread flour we had on hand. Melissa was kind enough to get the sponge part ready before I arrived, and so after some gab time, we set to making the bagels! However, neither of us read the directions ahead of time, so we didn't exactly allow for the overnight retarding in the fridge. Ah, no big deal, we'll just skip that step we decided.
Since we had two batches of dough, the whole process took quite a while, but I have to say, the boiling thing was pretty cool. The bagels puffed up quite large in the pot. I was in charge of boiling and I think that may have been where things turn a turn for the worse as far as taste was concerned....I am pretty sure I over-boiled them... I thought I liked chewy bagels, but maybe not so much. Anyway, we had dozens of bagels and it took forever!! We topped some with a mix of seeds and salt, others with cinnamon sugar, a few with sprinkles for Melissa's son, and left a few plain.
Before
After
We were starving by the time they came out of the oven, so we made ourselves a delicious toasted bagel sandwich for lunch!
In my opinion, the bagels were okay, but really not that great. I am guessing it had to do with the flour we used and the over boiling. But, they were just kinda plain and did not have a lot of flavor. I an a big bagel lover, but I think I've been spoiled by commercial bagels! Nonetheless, this was definitely the most fun I've had so far in our baking adventures since we decided to tackle the project together! Thanks Melissa (and O) for a fun day!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
If At First You Don't Succeed
Last Wednesday I made bagels using regular bread flour. I could not get it to a high enough temperature when kneading it for over ten minutes but my arms and hands were exhausted so I just stopped and let Wesley take over. Believe it or not his shirt already looked like that. They did PaperMache at school. 
I ended up with 26 mini-bagels. I don't have a food scale so I just made small rolls and then shaped them into bagels. The main problem occurred on Friday morning when I baked them. I am embarrassed to admit this, but I had something in the oven that spilled at some point and I never cleaned it up. It wasn't a problem at 350 degrees but at 500 degrees, it started smelling really burnt. Chris said the bagels tasted like campfire but they were actually worse than that and I trashed them.
The kids and I ate them with butter this morning. They were delicious.
For lunch, we had bagel sandwiches. We used a counter top grill to make them panini style. I think I am going to order some high gluten flour and malt powder (instead of using Carnation Malted Milk) and make bagels at home instead of buying them. It would be cheaper.
I ended up with 26 mini-bagels. I don't have a food scale so I just made small rolls and then shaped them into bagels. The main problem occurred on Friday morning when I baked them. I am embarrassed to admit this, but I had something in the oven that spilled at some point and I never cleaned it up. It wasn't a problem at 350 degrees but at 500 degrees, it started smelling really burnt. Chris said the bagels tasted like campfire but they were actually worse than that and I trashed them.
On Saturday, I followed Kendra's lead and went to buy high gluten flour. One of the employees was nice enough to help me (while Lydia slept in my arms) but he lectured me on how bad gluten is for everyone. I must say that I didn't agree with the majority of what he said and I was annoyed by his comments. When I asked for malt powder he told me that was terrible for people. I don't plan to go back to that store.
I needed another item to help me with kneading the stiff flour. I stood on an Ikea step. The extra five inches really helped. I was able to get the flour to right temperature in ten minutes and it passed the windowpane test.
I divided the dough into approximately equal quarters and then made three rolls out of each section and they looked pretty even. After they rested for approximately 20 minutes, I shaped the bagels by poking a hole in the rolls. One bagel floated after sitting at room temperature for 20 minutes. I put them in the fridge overnight and boiled them this morning.
My oven wasn't as hot as it should have been so I baked them for a total of 14 minutes. I had some plain bagels and some with sesame seeds and some with Garlic Garlic.
The kids and I ate them with butter this morning. They were delicious.
For lunch, we had bagel sandwiches. We used a counter top grill to make them panini style. I think I am going to order some high gluten flour and malt powder (instead of using Carnation Malted Milk) and make bagels at home instead of buying them. It would be cheaper. So, if at first you don't succeed, try again!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Bagel-rific
I was excited to see our challenge was a bagel recipe. I love bagels!
And I blogged all about it, over on my blog. I hope you don't mind that I posted it there. Hop on over to read about my Bagel-rific baking experience.
ps- I have a tip for a local source for hard-to-find ingredients for my local friends
~Kendra
The Meanest Momma
And I blogged all about it, over on my blog. I hope you don't mind that I posted it there. Hop on over to read about my Bagel-rific baking experience.
ps- I have a tip for a local source for hard-to-find ingredients for my local friends
~Kendra
The Meanest Momma
Monday, November 2, 2009
You talkin to me? (In your best NY accent)
That's right folks, it's time for some New York style bagels. I so agree with the author on bagel preference. Every time I go to my husbands parents or sisters, I look forward to that delicious NY style "water" bagel. There is nothing around here that even compares and I agree with the comment that it something about that NY water. Let's see if we can recreate it without driving to the Hudson for some of that NY water!
This formula looks like it takes a bit more time, so prepare your schedules over the next two weeks. I can't wait to read these posts - large or mini, toppings and kitchen messes!
Looking ahead......if you're cooking Thanksgiving dinner - the next recipe of Brioche will make a lovely addition to your dinner!
This formula looks like it takes a bit more time, so prepare your schedules over the next two weeks. I can't wait to read these posts - large or mini, toppings and kitchen messes!
Looking ahead......if you're cooking Thanksgiving dinner - the next recipe of Brioche will make a lovely addition to your dinner!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
This One's a Keeper
We are big fans of anything Mediterranean- gyros, feta, olives, Greek salad, baklava, tzatziki sauce, .. I could go on and on. So, no big surprise, we love, love, love the the Greek celebration bread! I am also a huge fan of dried fruit, so I was anxious to try one of the variations.
Here are a few of the changes I made to the formula:
1. I halved the poolish ingredients, except for the yeast, and it was just about perfect as far as how much I needed for the rest of the formula.
2. I used half whole wheat flour and half white flour and then used more yeast because of the whole wheat flour.
3. Went with vanilla extract since I didn't have any of the almond variety on hand.
4. Used fresh lemon zest, about two or three times the amount called for in the formula.
5. I divided the dough in half and mixed in the add-ins in just one of loaves (Drew doesn't like fruit in his bread!) I mixed in the following: walnuts (not toasted), dried cranberries, cherries, figs, and apricots.
6. I skipped the glaze.
When my husband, who loves to read about the Greek culture and food, etc, came down to look at the bread, he said, "Oh, well, the Greeks would have used goat's milk." We have some in the fridge and if I had known that before, I would have tried it! Maybe next time. So anyway, the bread turned out delicious!! And of course, I'm in love with the fruit variety. Turns out, Drew even likes the loaf with the fruit. It is seriously yummy, and smells even better, with a very lemony scent. Here's a couple snaps. Oh, and I didn't really love it right out of the oven, but it got better and better as the weekend progressed! We enjoyed some of the plain loaf with turkey chili and spider cupcakes for Halloween!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
end product: Delicious....Disaster
B ~ forgive me for jumping the gun!!
I was looking forward to making these first of the month. But an unforeseen change of plans for Thanksgiving has me travelling on November 2nd and gone all that first week.
I can't fall behind!!! (please know I'm kidding ~ I just don't go very many places so I have extra time to do these projects. More than I even thought I'd have at this weird season of life!)
When reading this new recipes in advance I usually don't worry too much about ingredients. But with this one, I was a tad concerned about the high-gluten issue and malt flavoring. Neither one of these were available at my (usually) trusty store. And when I visited KingArthur.com, prices weren't too bad. So...I ordered and waited.
They arrived Tuesday of last week and I opened my BBA again to get a refresher.
Oh. a two day project. Good times.
I started on Wednesday afternoon and finished up Thursday afternoon, just before heading to the airport to get my man.
Day one was long, but "easy." Setting the sponge, working the dough, etc. wasn't too different than the other breads we've made. However, as mentioned in the commentary prior to the formula, this is a very stiff dough. I wouldn't recommend using the KitchenAid for long at all.
I've not done the window pane test yet, nor do I check the temperature of the dough. All's been well. With the dough balls, my option was to poke the hole and stretch. My thoughts were that the proportions were good to start with and if I "snaked" them, something wrong was bound to happen when they reconnected. Ha!
Now, Day two: Lord have mercy! I've taken a picture of my stove top at the boiling of bagels 1 and 2 out of all 12. I did two pots (with baking soda) because only one 4.5 oz bagel could fit in at a time. As the pots boiled over, my oldest would get vocally concerned! Oh. my. I purposefully didn't take an "after" picture. If you have a gas stove top, this is likely not going to happen to you.
I boiled most of them for 2 minutes on each side. But the ones only done for 1 minutes had no significant difference in taste or texture. I also decided to go plain jane on them. No toppings at all.
Tray one ~ done!!
Thursday was a rainy and cozy afternoon. This was my snack before the airport. Delish!
At the end of the project, I'd have to say it was my favorite bread to date. But because of the time involved and the mess that ensued, it's likely to be one I do not make often...
Looking forward to others' adventures!
~rw~
I was looking forward to making these first of the month. But an unforeseen change of plans for Thanksgiving has me travelling on November 2nd and gone all that first week.
I can't fall behind!!! (please know I'm kidding ~ I just don't go very many places so I have extra time to do these projects. More than I even thought I'd have at this weird season of life!)
When reading this new recipes in advance I usually don't worry too much about ingredients. But with this one, I was a tad concerned about the high-gluten issue and malt flavoring. Neither one of these were available at my (usually) trusty store. And when I visited KingArthur.com, prices weren't too bad. So...I ordered and waited.
They arrived Tuesday of last week and I opened my BBA again to get a refresher.
Oh. a two day project. Good times.
I started on Wednesday afternoon and finished up Thursday afternoon, just before heading to the airport to get my man.
Day one was long, but "easy." Setting the sponge, working the dough, etc. wasn't too different than the other breads we've made. However, as mentioned in the commentary prior to the formula, this is a very stiff dough. I wouldn't recommend using the KitchenAid for long at all.
I've not done the window pane test yet, nor do I check the temperature of the dough. All's been well. With the dough balls, my option was to poke the hole and stretch. My thoughts were that the proportions were good to start with and if I "snaked" them, something wrong was bound to happen when they reconnected. Ha!
Now, Day two: Lord have mercy! I've taken a picture of my stove top at the boiling of bagels 1 and 2 out of all 12. I did two pots (with baking soda) because only one 4.5 oz bagel could fit in at a time. As the pots boiled over, my oldest would get vocally concerned! Oh. my. I purposefully didn't take an "after" picture. If you have a gas stove top, this is likely not going to happen to you.
I boiled most of them for 2 minutes on each side. But the ones only done for 1 minutes had no significant difference in taste or texture. I also decided to go plain jane on them. No toppings at all.
Tray one ~ done!!
Thursday was a rainy and cozy afternoon. This was my snack before the airport. Delish!
At the end of the project, I'd have to say it was my favorite bread to date. But because of the time involved and the mess that ensued, it's likely to be one I do not make often...
Looking forward to others' adventures!
~rw~
It's a plane, it's a bird, it's my Greek Celebration Bread
I was very excited to make this bread because they're seemed to be a lot of "wiggle room" for individuality. However due to the course of our month, my baking unfortunately got pushed to the end. But I finally did have an hour of children at school and no classroom volunteering, classroom Halloween parties, doctor appointments or room mom duties to make my bread. It was my only hour this whole week and I kept focusing all week - Friday at 2...Friday at 2. After making my bread with children last week, I really wanted to savor the moment by myself.
After reading JC's post last formula, I was intrigued by Lady Antebellum. I never have liked country, and I'm reporting that I downloaded my first official song in the country category. (my niece will Lauren will never believe it) I love music and I often categorize certain music to specific seasons or times of life. It files along with the memory for me. And I'm not afraid to dance around my kitchen a little bit. So I decided to capture my short time of baking/kneading Artos with a few songs that I'll share. I started with Lady Antebellum - Need you now and then added Forever by Chris Brown, Lose My Soul by Toby Mac and ended with Come on Get Higher by Matt Nathanson. What is your bread making mix?
But back to the bread....so I'm not a fruit fan either but was trying to think of good alternatives. I consulted Rebekah on using candy corn (the best invention in the entire world) however she didn't think they would bake well and although I was disappointed, I agreed with my wise friend. So since I was out of allspice, I decided to use Pumpkin Pie Spice instead. I used double for what they called for in allspice and also increased the cinnamon. And then I decided to get a little fancy and make the formation of the Christopsomos. It was fun to make but I know I need a little more practice. I was also rushed as the family was gearing to carve pumpkins as I was on this last critical step. The house smelled amazing as it baked. So here is my Artos in the form of Christopsomos.
Now you can see it's quite odd looking - hence my title. My husband had a remark but we'll keep that to ourselves since my Mother In Law is one of the Half-Baked Beauties. ;0) But regardless how it looked - it was DELICIOUS! And husband and I agreed that it topped Anadama....easily. But then again, neither of us are molasses fans. So if you're going to attempt the Artos again - give the ole Pumpkin Pie spice a try!
After reading JC's post last formula, I was intrigued by Lady Antebellum. I never have liked country, and I'm reporting that I downloaded my first official song in the country category. (my niece will Lauren will never believe it) I love music and I often categorize certain music to specific seasons or times of life. It files along with the memory for me. And I'm not afraid to dance around my kitchen a little bit. So I decided to capture my short time of baking/kneading Artos with a few songs that I'll share. I started with Lady Antebellum - Need you now and then added Forever by Chris Brown, Lose My Soul by Toby Mac and ended with Come on Get Higher by Matt Nathanson. What is your bread making mix?
But back to the bread....so I'm not a fruit fan either but was trying to think of good alternatives. I consulted Rebekah on using candy corn (the best invention in the entire world) however she didn't think they would bake well and although I was disappointed, I agreed with my wise friend. So since I was out of allspice, I decided to use Pumpkin Pie Spice instead. I used double for what they called for in allspice and also increased the cinnamon. And then I decided to get a little fancy and make the formation of the Christopsomos. It was fun to make but I know I need a little more practice. I was also rushed as the family was gearing to carve pumpkins as I was on this last critical step. The house smelled amazing as it baked. So here is my Artos in the form of Christopsomos.
Now you can see it's quite odd looking - hence my title. My husband had a remark but we'll keep that to ourselves since my Mother In Law is one of the Half-Baked Beauties. ;0) But regardless how it looked - it was DELICIOUS! And husband and I agreed that it topped Anadama....easily. But then again, neither of us are molasses fans. So if you're going to attempt the Artos again - give the ole Pumpkin Pie spice a try!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Did the Aroma of Fresh Baked Bread Cause the Hunger Pangs at 3:30 AM?
Yesterday I made my poolish and let it ferment at room temperature for four hours and then immediately used it for the Greek Celebration Bread. Taking my cue from Our Plain Life, I made only have of the poolish and had plenty for the Greek Bread.
I was talking on the phone as I added ingredients and I completely forgot about the lemon zest I had planned to add until the dough was already forming a nice ball. It seemed too late to add it at that point. I mixed the dough with my Kitchen Aid on the lowest setting. The dough passed the window pane test after mixing for ten minutes.
I do not like nuts or dried fruit in baked goods so I just made the plain Celebration bread.
I made two boules.
The bread smelled so good that I had to try it as soon as it came out of the oven. I was also ready to go to bed and I didn’t want to wait an hour to taste it. I loved the way the bread tasted right out of the oven. It was almost like I was eating Christmas! It was delicious.
I like the bread less the longer it sits. It was okay this morning but I do not like the way it taste now. Maybe it is because it is drying out.
At 3:30 AM Lydia woke up to go to the potty. When it was time to go back to her room she said, “I want to go downstairs. I am hungry.” She threw a big fit when I put her in her crib and she continued to scream out off and on for 90 minutes. She was screaming, “I am hungry” and “I want to get up now.” We ignored her and dozed between the screaming. She then slept from 5:00 to when I woke her up at 8:20.
This morning Wesley helped me make French toast using Our Plain Life’s recipe. It was delicious and a nice treat.
I would like to the make the Anadama Bread again but I don’t think I will make the Greek Celebration Bread again. The Anadama Bread also froze well.
I was talking on the phone as I added ingredients and I completely forgot about the lemon zest I had planned to add until the dough was already forming a nice ball. It seemed too late to add it at that point. I mixed the dough with my Kitchen Aid on the lowest setting. The dough passed the window pane test after mixing for ten minutes.
I do not like nuts or dried fruit in baked goods so I just made the plain Celebration bread.
I made two boules.
The bread smelled so good that I had to try it as soon as it came out of the oven. I was also ready to go to bed and I didn’t want to wait an hour to taste it. I loved the way the bread tasted right out of the oven. It was almost like I was eating Christmas! It was delicious.
I like the bread less the longer it sits. It was okay this morning but I do not like the way it taste now. Maybe it is because it is drying out.At 3:30 AM Lydia woke up to go to the potty. When it was time to go back to her room she said, “I want to go downstairs. I am hungry.” She threw a big fit when I put her in her crib and she continued to scream out off and on for 90 minutes. She was screaming, “I am hungry” and “I want to get up now.” We ignored her and dozed between the screaming. She then slept from 5:00 to when I woke her up at 8:20.
This morning Wesley helped me make French toast using Our Plain Life’s recipe. It was delicious and a nice treat.
I would like to the make the Anadama Bread again but I don’t think I will make the Greek Celebration Bread again. The Anadama Bread also froze well.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Smells like Christmas
There are many things I love about being Dutch...the cheese, Wilhelmina peppermints, stroopwafels, the cheese, windmills, strong coffee, the cheese. However, much to the chagrin of my ancestry, my palate doesn't like things that are almond flavored. Many Dutch pastries and desserts have that hint of almond extract that I just don't enjoy. So, when I read the recipe for Greek Celebration Bread and it asked for almond extract, I wasn't too excited. Additionally, many of my friends may also know that I don't like lemon flavoring. Nothing ruins a great cheesecake or white cake like the taste of lemon. Strange thing is I love lemonade, hmm.
Anyway, enough about the Dutch, let's talk about Greece. Going into this recipe this bread had two strikes against it, lemon and almond flavoring. I decided to be bold and change up the recipe a little. I added about 1/2 the amount of zest, and I used orange zest because I had some oranges on hand. Then I added 1 teaspoon vanilla extract rather than 1 teaspoon almond extract. Since the recipe called for only 1 cup of poolish, I made just a half of a recipe of the poolish and it came out to just about right. I made the poolish on Wednesday, and the rest of the bread on Friday. It made my house smell so good. Mmmm...cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg that's a recipe for Christmas right there. Rachel's huge boule kinda freaked me out, so I decided to make two smaller ones. Figured our family couldn't finish one whole boule before it went bad.
So here I was on Saturday with two boules, what to do? I made some good old fashioned French Toast. It's a sturdier bread so it was able to withstand the soaking and griddling just fine. I am not sure how it would taste if I had added the almond extract but we thought it worked really well.
In case you want to make some French Toast with your loaf, here is the recipe I used (I used only one of my boules so I cut this recipe in 1/2):
1/3 c. flour
2 T sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups milk or half and half
1 tsp. vanilla
6 eggs
18 slices of bread cut about 1-inch thick
Mix first 7 ingredients together. Dip each slice into egg mixture, turning to coat. Cook each slice on a slightly greased griddle or skillet for about 2-3 minutes per side.
Top with some butter, syrup, and powdered sugar and you have a winner!!
(I just read BG's comments on Kendra's post...great minds think alike!)
Anyway, enough about the Dutch, let's talk about Greece. Going into this recipe this bread had two strikes against it, lemon and almond flavoring. I decided to be bold and change up the recipe a little. I added about 1/2 the amount of zest, and I used orange zest because I had some oranges on hand. Then I added 1 teaspoon vanilla extract rather than 1 teaspoon almond extract. Since the recipe called for only 1 cup of poolish, I made just a half of a recipe of the poolish and it came out to just about right. I made the poolish on Wednesday, and the rest of the bread on Friday. It made my house smell so good. Mmmm...cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg that's a recipe for Christmas right there. Rachel's huge boule kinda freaked me out, so I decided to make two smaller ones. Figured our family couldn't finish one whole boule before it went bad.
So here I was on Saturday with two boules, what to do? I made some good old fashioned French Toast. It's a sturdier bread so it was able to withstand the soaking and griddling just fine. I am not sure how it would taste if I had added the almond extract but we thought it worked really well.
In case you want to make some French Toast with your loaf, here is the recipe I used (I used only one of my boules so I cut this recipe in 1/2):
1/3 c. flour
2 T sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups milk or half and half
1 tsp. vanilla
6 eggs
18 slices of bread cut about 1-inch thick
Mix first 7 ingredients together. Dip each slice into egg mixture, turning to coat. Cook each slice on a slightly greased griddle or skillet for about 2-3 minutes per side.
Top with some butter, syrup, and powdered sugar and you have a winner!!
(I just read BG's comments on Kendra's post...great minds think alike!)
Monday, October 19, 2009
Motorcycle, Wind in Her Hair, Baker
Somewhere in the first 50 pages the author mentioned something about being one of two kinds of bakers. I cannot even remember what the other baker was called. I just know I am the baker he described on a motorcycle with the wind in her hair. Yep, that's me. And in case you don't know, I just had a baby. He was five weeks old when I baked my bread. My older two knew I was occupied, and proved it to me. So I did not exactly take the author's advice on baking without distractions. Impossible. I did my best and planned to bake on a day the Hubs was home, to juggle baking nursing, and the older two boys. But my steps were all rushed. When I realized my butter was not room temperature, I sat it in the sun by the pool. It was 79 degrees at my house, and that butter was room temperature in minutes.
The yeast was what really messed me up. For a motorcycle, wind in her hair, baker I should have found instant yeast rather than use active dry yeast. I bought the kind in the jar that needs to be proofed with sugar. When the two teaspoons of yeast were measured from the yeast proof, I probably took too much froth, or bubbles, and not enough yeast. My dough never really bubbled after 60 minutes. So, I took my dough outside and sat it by the pool. I exchanged the towel covering for cling wrap. I hoped with the sun's reflection from the water and cling wrap, perhaps the dough would start to bubble. After nearly two hours it poofed, but it did not look quite like the book. This was the first indication this bread baking was definitely taking a motorcycle ride, with wind in it's dough.
About this time, my husband had all kinds of comical things to say with his dry sense of humor. They were so funny I had tears in my eyes. But if you are not of the motorcycle baking persuasion, you might not find them funny. If you want to know what he said, you will just have to come to my house and hear them in person.
I started kneading the bread by hand. I let my five year old join in, but we threw it in the Kitchen Aid after several minutes. The bread had reached the right temperature but was not passing the window pane test. Soooo, we let the bread knead in the mixer for a few minutes. Still the right temperature, but we failed the window pane test again. So we kneaded. Then Hubs kneaded. Still we failed the window pane test. Did this have something to do with the yeast? Who knows. But I went back and reread Kendra's post, and decided that it was safe to move on, even if we did fail the window pane test. But before we moved on, I wanted to show you all my interpretation of the motorcycle, wind in her hair, baker in San Diego. Yes, that is me with my dough, on the closest thing we own to a motorcycle.
I proofed my bread over night because it took that long to rise. Again, I blame this on my failed yeast attempt. I noticed the bread had this risen look on top, but it was still moist and oily on the underside. So every few hours I would flip the whole loaf and then that side would rise. Now don't ask me how but it would not stay risen on the underside. So I did this a few more times until we got this far, and I called it quits. After all, I was expecting company from this sweet family and we still had to finish cleaning house.
Finally, I threw the bread in the oven, and figured I had a pretty good chance it might just turn out. And voila!
When Naturally Caffeinated Family arrived, we polished off nearly two loaves in one day, between the four adults and three older boys. The bread tasted fresh and dense. The maple was not too heavy. I shared all of my calamities with them, as well as the Hub's comments, and they laughed, too. So that is it for this motorcycle ride!!!
The yeast was what really messed me up. For a motorcycle, wind in her hair, baker I should have found instant yeast rather than use active dry yeast. I bought the kind in the jar that needs to be proofed with sugar. When the two teaspoons of yeast were measured from the yeast proof, I probably took too much froth, or bubbles, and not enough yeast. My dough never really bubbled after 60 minutes. So, I took my dough outside and sat it by the pool. I exchanged the towel covering for cling wrap. I hoped with the sun's reflection from the water and cling wrap, perhaps the dough would start to bubble. After nearly two hours it poofed, but it did not look quite like the book. This was the first indication this bread baking was definitely taking a motorcycle ride, with wind in it's dough.
About this time, my husband had all kinds of comical things to say with his dry sense of humor. They were so funny I had tears in my eyes. But if you are not of the motorcycle baking persuasion, you might not find them funny. If you want to know what he said, you will just have to come to my house and hear them in person.
I started kneading the bread by hand. I let my five year old join in, but we threw it in the Kitchen Aid after several minutes. The bread had reached the right temperature but was not passing the window pane test. Soooo, we let the bread knead in the mixer for a few minutes. Still the right temperature, but we failed the window pane test again. So we kneaded. Then Hubs kneaded. Still we failed the window pane test. Did this have something to do with the yeast? Who knows. But I went back and reread Kendra's post, and decided that it was safe to move on, even if we did fail the window pane test. But before we moved on, I wanted to show you all my interpretation of the motorcycle, wind in her hair, baker in San Diego. Yes, that is me with my dough, on the closest thing we own to a motorcycle.
I proofed my bread over night because it took that long to rise. Again, I blame this on my failed yeast attempt. I noticed the bread had this risen look on top, but it was still moist and oily on the underside. So every few hours I would flip the whole loaf and then that side would rise. Now don't ask me how but it would not stay risen on the underside. So I did this a few more times until we got this far, and I called it quits. After all, I was expecting company from this sweet family and we still had to finish cleaning house.
Finally, I threw the bread in the oven, and figured I had a pretty good chance it might just turn out. And voila!
When Naturally Caffeinated Family arrived, we polished off nearly two loaves in one day, between the four adults and three older boys. The bread tasted fresh and dense. The maple was not too heavy. I shared all of my calamities with them, as well as the Hub's comments, and they laughed, too. So that is it for this motorcycle ride!!!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
It's All Greek to Me
I tackled the "Greek Celebration Bread" this weekend and am ready to report my results.
Approach Taken:
My palate is pretty simple, and I'm not a big fan of dried fruits, so I stuck with the simplest of options when making this bread. I opted to use the poolish and I made the simple Greek Celebration Bread without attempting any of the more complex or fruit variations.
Observations:
I made my poolish (simple and easy) the day before and let it sit out to ferment. The book says 3-4 hours, but mine was out much longer as we went out in the afternoon and I didn't get to put it in the fridge til much later in the evening.
For my citrus flavoring, I opted to zest a lemon - I didn't have any orange or lemon extract and one .50c lemon was way cheaper than a $6 or $7 bottle of extract.
When mixing my dry ingredients and adding my poolish - I once again blew up my kitchen. Flour flew everywhere and curses were uttered. Not appropriate, I know, but I beg forgiveness, especially since the Redskins were playing while I was attempt to bake.
I tried to augment the batter by adding more flour, but have no idea how much I lost. I was going for the "soft, but not sticky" ball, but I fear my dough fell on the sticky side. Even after 12 min. of kneading in the mixer, my dough ball was very tacky. Tried the windowpane test and failed again. I got closer, but it didn't seem windowperfect. None-the-less, I soldiered on.
After reading RW's post, I got bold and made some deviations. Instead of one giant loaf, I decided to make 3 smaller boules. I wasn't sure about the glaze, so I halved the recipe and only glazed one of the boules.
I'm not sure my boules doubled in size before I put them in the oven, but I was ready to bake and threw them in. They definitely took less time since they were smaller. After the initial 20 minutes, I think they only baked another 10 or so (maybe 15?). Here's how it turned out:
The glaze certainly adds visual appeal
The two I didn't glaze
A view of the insideOutcome and Lessons Learned:
#1 - My bread turned out looking nice, but I agree with RW, the glaze didn't do much for me. I glazed one mini-boule, but only seeded half of it.
#2 - The combo of spices sounded and smelled appealing, but wasn't a big hit with either hubby or I. He reported he doesn't like allspice (or cloves ... or nutmeg - who knew?), so he wasn't wowed by the flavor, though he did give his approval to the texture. I kinda agree. The spices were okay, but didn't blow me away and I'm not sure what sort of meal I would serve this bread with/for - the sweetness seems to say it is more of a dessert bread, but it wouldn't be my first choice. The texture of the bread did turn out pretty well.
#3 - In the future, make sure you use the $#@!$% pouring shield when adding a bunch of dry ingredients at once. Seriously, if I flour bomb my kitchen again I'm gonna... well I don't know what I'm gonna do - hopefully I've learned my lesson now.
That's it for me - I look forward to hearing what the rest of the half-baked beauties thought.
Kendra aka The Meanest Momma
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Sideways
There's a reason this little experiment is called "Half Baked Beauties." And I am it. Not the beauty part, that half-baked thing. I try to do too many things at once and I do everything "half-brained." There was a lot that went right for the Anadame bread. But, like most of my endeavors, things just went a bit "sideways."
A few adjustments to the recipe (probably my first problem, I can't follow directions): I used whole wheat flour. I used dark molasses. And I used whatever medium grind cornmeal I could find. I also doubled the recipe. Because no recipe comes into my house that doesn't get doubled. With 7 people, making two loaves of bread would be a colossal waste of time. I'd blink and they'd be gone.
Oh, alright, and I also used my mixer. Because it's fancy and I'm lazy.
I never use the windowpane test with my mixer, I just watch for the dough to clean the bottom of the bowl. Windowpane test: FAIL. But I wasn't concerned. I kneaded it about 8 minutes and it felt okay to me.
Of course, I picked the Saturday that the heat downstairs was broken, so it was about 65 in my kitchen. I put the dough under my stove light to rise.
Oh, and I also didn't sponge it. I thought I had read all the directions the night before, but I discovered about midway into the mixing that there was a Page 2. Gah. I got four small loaves out of the dough. (Fourth loaf not pictured. It was shy.)
I baked them on 350 in my convection oven (my oven runs cold, so I don't adjust the temperature to convect) for about 25 minutes. They came out looking like little bricks. But they were tasty little bricks. The texture was lovely. They were just... stunted, I guess.
The flavor and texture really reminded me of Outb@ck's dinner bread that they serve with honey butter. The entire family approved. We ate it with our chili for dinner and I'll pull out another loaf from the freezer to make grilled cheese sandwiches tomorrow night. The other two loaves ought to last us til... Wednesday, at best.
We've got a lot of mouths to keep happy around here.
A few adjustments to the recipe (probably my first problem, I can't follow directions): I used whole wheat flour. I used dark molasses. And I used whatever medium grind cornmeal I could find. I also doubled the recipe. Because no recipe comes into my house that doesn't get doubled. With 7 people, making two loaves of bread would be a colossal waste of time. I'd blink and they'd be gone.
Oh, alright, and I also used my mixer. Because it's fancy and I'm lazy.
I never use the windowpane test with my mixer, I just watch for the dough to clean the bottom of the bowl. Windowpane test: FAIL. But I wasn't concerned. I kneaded it about 8 minutes and it felt okay to me.Of course, I picked the Saturday that the heat downstairs was broken, so it was about 65 in my kitchen. I put the dough under my stove light to rise.
Oh, and I also didn't sponge it. I thought I had read all the directions the night before, but I discovered about midway into the mixing that there was a Page 2. Gah. I got four small loaves out of the dough. (Fourth loaf not pictured. It was shy.)
I baked them on 350 in my convection oven (my oven runs cold, so I don't adjust the temperature to convect) for about 25 minutes. They came out looking like little bricks. But they were tasty little bricks. The texture was lovely. They were just... stunted, I guess.
The flavor and texture really reminded me of Outb@ck's dinner bread that they serve with honey butter. The entire family approved. We ate it with our chili for dinner and I'll pull out another loaf from the freezer to make grilled cheese sandwiches tomorrow night. The other two loaves ought to last us til... Wednesday, at best.We've got a lot of mouths to keep happy around here.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Sticky, Slightly Sweet
Well, I decided to go really simple on this one.
My poolish started at 8 p.m. last night and was left on the counter for 12 hours (wasn't sure about that...) I'd love to have the patience for the other fermentation method. But to keep something on the counter for days...with possible showings...I just don't think that would go over well with clients (call me crazy!)
In the actually recipe, I used lemon extract which was indistinguishable in the final product. I loved all the spices because each one reminds me of fall! And I also liked the fact that there was a minimal amount of "sugar" added to the actual dough.
Additionally, once the poolish was fermented, the whole formula was accomplished fairly quickly. I started just after 8:30 a.m. and was done with the oven by 12:45 p.m. It's possible that one reason it went fast was that I used my KitchenAid mixer this time (pretty handy while working on Reading with my oldest.) The motor did get a bit hot, as I expected, and I'll have to keep a closer eye on it next time.
The final product turned out fine...and was HUGE! I should have put up a ruler, but it was at least 12 inches in diameter. Let me know how large yours is so that I know it this is normal!
I would not, next time, do the glaze. (Incidentally, I made it with orange extract because I ran out of the lemon used in the dough itself.) It makes the outside too sticky, too sweet and for some crazy reason, my sesame seeds tasted terrible. These "side-effects" took away from an otherwise delicious loaf!
view from the top
My poolish started at 8 p.m. last night and was left on the counter for 12 hours (wasn't sure about that...) I'd love to have the patience for the other fermentation method. But to keep something on the counter for days...with possible showings...I just don't think that would go over well with clients (call me crazy!)
In the actually recipe, I used lemon extract which was indistinguishable in the final product. I loved all the spices because each one reminds me of fall! And I also liked the fact that there was a minimal amount of "sugar" added to the actual dough.
Additionally, once the poolish was fermented, the whole formula was accomplished fairly quickly. I started just after 8:30 a.m. and was done with the oven by 12:45 p.m. It's possible that one reason it went fast was that I used my KitchenAid mixer this time (pretty handy while working on Reading with my oldest.) The motor did get a bit hot, as I expected, and I'll have to keep a closer eye on it next time.
The final product turned out fine...and was HUGE! I should have put up a ruler, but it was at least 12 inches in diameter. Let me know how large yours is so that I know it this is normal!
I would not, next time, do the glaze. (Incidentally, I made it with orange extract because I ran out of the lemon used in the dough itself.) It makes the outside too sticky, too sweet and for some crazy reason, my sesame seeds tasted terrible. These "side-effects" took away from an otherwise delicious loaf!
view from the top
side view - they split a bit
glimpse inside - I was surprised at the density "look" but the light touch and taste. (I really have no idea what I'm talking about...it's just my impressions!)
~rw~
Holding pattern
I do have to thank BG for picking this book and starting this project when she did because I can't think of better bread baking weather. Even though it would be nice to see the sun again, it does make a cozy house with the smell of bread baking.
I started the process of making the Anadame bread on Tuesday night with the soaker like everyone else. On Wednesday, I proceeded to make the bread according to the recipe, oops, I mean formula but at step #7 "Proofing at room temperature" I took a little detour. Knowing that we were going to have a guest come over for dinner on Thursday night and that I would be busy during the day, I decided to hold back the loaves before the proofing process and stick them in the fridge so I would have fresh baked bread on Thursday rather than Wednesday.
Here are the loaves in their holding pattern or nicely "retarding" in the fridge in my basement:
I took them out four hours before I wanted to bake them (6 hours before dinner to account for the baking and cooling time) and sat them on my counter until they had come back to room temperature and did their proofing:
Overall, we thought the bread was really good. I used the only kind of molasses that my Super Wally World had which was Grandma's Original UnSulphured Molasses. I don't think it was that dark so our bread didn't have a strong molasses flavor. (I do agree with BG and the smell of molasses...whoowhee that's some strong stuff!) The bread was nice and soft and was perfect with butter and for dipping in our Cheese Tortellini and Sausage soup. We ate one loaf with our soup, I froze the other loaf, and the third loaf is making a trip back to the West Coast for the P. household to enjoy.
In the end we gave this bread a thumbs up!
I started the process of making the Anadame bread on Tuesday night with the soaker like everyone else. On Wednesday, I proceeded to make the bread according to the recipe, oops, I mean formula but at step #7 "Proofing at room temperature" I took a little detour. Knowing that we were going to have a guest come over for dinner on Thursday night and that I would be busy during the day, I decided to hold back the loaves before the proofing process and stick them in the fridge so I would have fresh baked bread on Thursday rather than Wednesday.
Here are the loaves in their holding pattern or nicely "retarding" in the fridge in my basement:
I took them out four hours before I wanted to bake them (6 hours before dinner to account for the baking and cooling time) and sat them on my counter until they had come back to room temperature and did their proofing:
Overall, we thought the bread was really good. I used the only kind of molasses that my Super Wally World had which was Grandma's Original UnSulphured Molasses. I don't think it was that dark so our bread didn't have a strong molasses flavor. (I do agree with BG and the smell of molasses...whoowhee that's some strong stuff!) The bread was nice and soft and was perfect with butter and for dipping in our Cheese Tortellini and Sausage soup. We ate one loaf with our soup, I froze the other loaf, and the third loaf is making a trip back to the West Coast for the P. household to enjoy.
In the end we gave this bread a thumbs up!
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