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~

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

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~

First Round, Fabulous!

I finished and tasted this first recipe late tonight. It was a crazy whirlwind of prepping and baking many things these last 24 hours. But the Anadama bread was DELISH!

I found Polenta, regular yeast and used the Molasses found at Target ~ not too refined. The flavor wasn't strong at all. I had wanted to use butter but forgot to take it out and ended up choosing the shortening. The percentage is so small, I doubt it made much taste difference.

To begin, I did use my Kitchen Aid. However, I was not confident enough to continue because the dough seemed too soft during the kneading. So I ended up doing it on my counter top and adding much more than the 20.25 oz of flour (probably about 1/4 to 1/2 cup more.)

I'll leave the photo-chronicling to my more accomplished friends. Here are a few snapshots of the final product!

side, top and "inside" views


~rw~