A Delicious Hybrid Croissant for the Babes

One of the delights each month is seeing what one of my fellow Bread Baking Babes, our Kitchen of the Month,  has come up with for us to bake. If you check out the post from the last twelve months we have had prunes and chocolate, various delicious flat breads, a water proofed bread, breads with lard and breads with nuts, with Italian flavors, with wine...lots of wonderful ways with bread.

This month we returned to croissants, but with a twist. Thank you Heather of Girlichef! This croissant is a hybrid of a croissant and a soft pretzel. The dough contains beer and the shaped croissant is dipped in a solution, just like pretzels, and has a sprinkle of seeds and salt, like a pretzel. They are totally delicious! I made a few without the salt and seeds and Sweetie decided that he liked them better. In truth, although I enjoyed trying the hybrid, I really like regular croissants better, so probably won't be making these again.

As with all laminated doughs, the flakiness depends on very thin layers of butter rolled between thin layers of dough. Some of the butter melted out, but the croissants soaked it up again during the five minutes of cooling after being removed from the oven.

Do try these and see if you enjoy the hybrid. The method isn't difficult, it just requires time and attention to detail. I only made a half recipe, which worked well, since I ended up with mini-croissants and they were cute, even if not the most perfectly shaped. If I did this again, I would make the triangles long and thin, not fat and short as I did. There was hardly enough dough to wrap around themselves. Didn't harm the taste any!

To be a Buddy, and you know you want to be one, just bake the croissants and the e-mail our wonderful Kitchen of the Month, Heather, with a link to your post and a photo by April 29th to be included in the roundup and to get a badge. You can find all of the information on her blog.

Check out the lovely croissants baked by my fellow Bread Baking Babes:
Bake My Day - Karen
Blog from Our Kitchen - Elizabeth
Bread Experience - Cathy
Girlichef - Heather
Life's a Feast - Jaime
Living in the Kitchen with Puppies - Natashya
Lucullian Delights - Ilva
My Diverse Kitchen - Aparna
My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna
Notitie van Lien - Lien
Thyme for Cooking - Katie our BBBB with the wonderful round-ups

Pretzel Croissants
yield: 1 dozen
Note that the dough takes from 24-48 hours from start to the time you form them. The butter block should be formed sometime while the dough is rising. Baked baking soda is an alternative to using lye; it needs 1 hour in the oven (see notes).

for the dough:
1/2 cup (120 ml) lukewarm milk (~110° F)
7 g (1/4 ounce / 2-1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar (golden or dark)
410 g (3-1/4 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour + more for work surface
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temp
1/2 cup (120 ml) cold pilsner-style beer

for the butter block:
340 g (12 ounces / 24 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

to finish:
60 grams (1/4 cup) baked (see notes) baking soda
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon milk
coarse salt
sesame seeds and/or poppy seeds, optional

making the dough:
Stir the yeast and 1 tablespoon of the brown sugar into the lukewarm milk and allow to sit  until foamy, 5 minutes or so.

Whisk the flour, remaining brown sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour mixture, breaking it up into tiny flour-coated pieces the size of breadcrumbs. Stir in the yeast mixture and the beer using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to form a shaggy mass.

Turn the dough out onto an unfloured work surface and knead eight to ten times, until all of the flour is just incorporated. You don't want to over work it, because you don't want the butter to melt too much. The dough will not be a smooth mass; you will see some flecks of butter. It should be soft and tacky, but not sticky. Adjust as needed with flour or water.

Lightly oil a large bowl  and set the dough into it. Cover with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator for 8 to 24 hours (24 will give you the best flavor).

making the butter block:
Beat the butter and flour together in the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment until it forms a smooth mass (or by hand, using a lot of elbow grease). This should take about a minute. You want the butter to be pliable without beating air into it or melting it.

Spread the butter between 2 large sheets of plastic wrap (or parchment or wax paper), and use a rolling pin to shape into a rectangle that is about 8"x9". Use a straight edge to form corners, but work quickly as you want the butter to stay cool. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until you're ready to roll out the dough.

1st turn:
Scatter a little bit of flour on your work surface, then turn the dough out onto it. Roll it out into a rectangle that is 10"x15" and about 1/4" thick. Using your hands, gently pull and stretch the dough to form straight edges and sharp corners. Brush excess flour off of the dough. Set the dough with a long edge facing you.

Mentally divide the dough into 3 equal portions. Place the butter block over the right 2/3 of the dough, leaving a 1" border on the outer edges. Fold the empty left portion of the dough over the middle third. Now, lift and fold the right section of dough over that. You should have 3 layers of dough that encase 2 layers of butter. Pinch the outsides and the seams together and lightly press the layers together using a rolling pin. This completes the first turn. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2nd turn:
Remove the dough from the fridge and set it on your lightly floured work surface. Roll dough out into a 10"x20" rectangle, pulling and stretching to form straight edges and sharp corners. Brush off any excess flour. Set the dough with a long edge facing you. Fold both of the short ends in to the center, leaving a 1/4" gap where they meet (think of a book jacket). Fold one side of the dough over the other. Lightly press the layers together using a rolling pin, and square and sharpen the edges and corners. This completes the second turn. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.

3rd (and final) turn: 
Lightly dust your work surface and the top of the dough with flour. Roll dough out into a 10" by 15" rectangle. Do another trifold, as done in the first turn (mentally divide into thirds, then fold one third over the center, followed by the last third). Square the edges and sharpen the sides; wipe off excess flour. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but up to another 24 hours.

(At this point, you can wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap, slide it into a freezer baggie, and freeze for up to 1 week. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before proceeding to final shaping.)

final shaping:
Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Lightly dust your work surface and top of your dough with flour. Roll out into a 15"x18" rectangle that is ~1/4" thick. Pull and stretch to form straight edges and sharp corners. Patch any holes where butter may have popped through by dusting them with flour.  Brush any excess flour off the dough.

Cut the rectangle in half lengthwise, creating two 15"x9" sheets of dough. Using a pizza cutter or bench scraper, cut each piece of dough into three equal strips, the short way. Then cut each strip in half diagonally, so that you left with 6 triangles. Repeat with other piece of dough.

Beginning at the base, roll the triangles up, tugging on the tip to elongate it slightly, then gently pressing it into the dough. Place on the prepared baking sheets with the tips tucked under, and curve the ends to form crescent shapes.

Cover the croissants with damp, clean kitchen towels and allow to rise at cool room temperature until they have almost doubled in size and feel spongy, ~2 hours.

At this point, slide the croissants into the refrigerator for 20 minutes while you prepare the dipping solution. Preheat oven to 425° F, positioning one rack in the upper third of the oven, and one in the lower third.

Prepare the dipping solution:
Add the baked baking soda in 8 cups of cold water and stir until completely dissolved. One by one, dip the croissant dough into the dipping solution, allow the excess to drip off, then set back on the lined trays.

Finish them off (finally):
Brush the tops with the egg wash, then sprinkle with coarse salt and sesame seeds or poppy seeds, if using.

Slide into preheated oven immediately and bake for 14-18 minutes (rotating pans from front to back and top to bottom halfway through), until they are deeply browned, crispy, and flaky. They should feel light and airy if you pick them up.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before serving. They are best enjoyed the day they are made, ideally warm from the oven. Store any extras in a paper bag for a day. You can reheat them by placing them in a 350° F oven for ~5 minutes.

notes:
Baked baking soda is an alternative to working with lye that still lends pretzels their dark, burnished crust. To make the baked baking soda, spread 1/4 cup (~70 grams) of baking soda out on a baking tray lined with parchment paper or foil (or in a pie pan). It will decrease in weight, but shouldn't decrease in volume. Slide it into an oven that has been preheated to 250° F/120° C and bake for 1 hour. Cool completely, then store in an airtight container at room temperature. If you see lots of pretzels in your future, make a large batch to store since it keeps indefinitely.

-slightly adapted from Pretzel Making at Home by Andrea Slonecker

Chocolate Prune Bread a Babes Delight

Last month the Bread Baking Babes had a cake that was actually a bread (Lardy Cake) and this month we have a bread that has many of the flavors of a cake. If you love chocolate and bread combined, you'll love this loaf. I made mine with chopped pecans in the dough and with chunks of bittersweet chocolate and dried cherries (instead of prunes) kneaded in before shaping. It is full of flavor from the cocoa in the dough, too. I only made half the recipe, which makes one loaf...plenty for two people. In the recipe below the amounts in parentheses and italics are the amounts of ingredients I used for the half recipe.

Although I had expected some rise in the dough when I first set it out to expand, it was pretty inactive for a couple of hours. Then it was bedtime, so I covered the bowl (same one I made it in, unwashed, un-oiled Elizabeth!) and put it into the fridge. The next day I was too busy to deal with it, but the next day, after the dough had warmed up some, it rose just fine. Back into the fridge it went. The next day I kneaded in the cherries and chocolate and shaped it into a loaf shape. Working with fairly cold dough is helpful. I had already buttered the pan and sprinkled it with sanding sugar, so in went the shaped loaf. It rose by about 1/3 in the pan while the oven preheated. After an egg wash and more sanding sugar on top, I slashed the top to allow for oven spring. Glad I did that because the oven spring was awesome! The bottom of the loaf was a little more browned than I would have like...chocolate can burn easily, but overall it was a delicious, decadent bread. Although many flavors were cake like, you could still see the bread texture and still taste the yeast, so not cake...BREAD!

Thank you Jaime, our Kitchen of the Month, blogging at Life's a Feast, for choosing this interesting recipe.

Thank you Elizabeth for lending me your Battle Apron, which I felt I needed when the dough refused to rise the first day. That and some patience seem to be what was needed to be successful with this lovely loaf.

Do try it for yourself! You can be a Buddy by making it, taking a photo or two and sending Jaime an e-mail (please include your name and your blog’s name) by January 26th to jamieannschler AT gmail DOT com with January Bread Baking Buddy in the subject line. Do visit all the Bread Baking Babes to see their bountiful versions, too.  OOPS! Buddy deadline is actually Jan. 29th! Still time....

Karen - Bake My Day 

Elizabeth - Blog from OUR Kitchen 

Heather - Girlichef 

Jaime - Life's a Feast

Natashya - Living in the Kitchen with Puppies 

Ilva - Lucullian Delights

Tanna - My Kitchen in Half Cups

Lien - Notitie van Lien   

Chocolate Prune Bread:
Makes one 1 ½ pound loaf if half recipe used

1 ½ pounds (about 680 g – the size of a small cantaloupe) (full amount if half recipe was made) of the Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bread dough {SEE BELOW}
Softened unsalted butter for greasing the pan
2 ounces (55 g) high-quality bittersweet chocolate - * use 6 ounces (170 g) if you did not add chocolate chips to the original Chocolate Bread Dough
¾ cup chopped pitted prunes (or dried cherries...like I used)

Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 Tbs water)
¼ cup (50 g) sugar for sprinkling over the top of the bread and preparing the pan

On baking day, generously grease an 8 ½ x 4 ½ - inch (22 x 11 ½ cm approx) nonstick loaf pan with butter, sprinkle some sugar evenly over the butter and shake the pan to distribute.

Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1 ½ pound piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a ½ - inch-thick (scant 1 ½ cm) rectangle. As you roll out the dough, use enough flour to prevent it from sticking to the work surface but not so much as to make the dough dry.

Sprinkle the chocolate and chopped prunes over the dough and roll up the dough jelly-roll style to enclose them. Fold the dough over itself several times, turning and pressing it down with the heel of your hand after each turn. This will work the chocolate and prunes (or cherries) into the dough; some may poke through.

With very wet hands, form the dough into a loaf shape and place it into the prepared pan. Allow to rest and rise for 90 minutes, loosely covered with plastic wrap.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). A baking stone is not required and omitting it shortens the preheat.

Using a pastry brush, paint the top of the loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake the loaf in the center of the oven for 50 to 60 minutes until firm. Smaller or larger loaves with require adjustments to baking time.

Remove the bread from the pan and allow to cool on a rack before slicing and eating.

**************************************************************************

CHOCOLATE BREAD DOUGH RECIPE (Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bread)

Makes two 2-pound loaves. This recipe is easily doubled or halved. Amounts in parentheses and in italics are for the half recipe.

2 ½ cups (565 ml) (282.5 ml) lukewarm water (100°F or below)
¾ cup (170 ml) (85 ml) vegetable oil
1 Tbs (0.35 oz / 10 g) (5 g) granulated yeast
1 to 1 ½ Tbs (17 to 25 g) (6 to 12 g) kosher salt – * use less if using fine table salt, more if using coarse salt
1 cup (7 ounces / 200 g) (100 g) sugar
5 ½ cups (1 pound, 11 ½ ounces / 780 g) (390 g) all-purpose flour
¾ cup (3 ounces / 85 g) (1.5 oz/ 42.5 g) dark, unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ cups (6 ounces / 170 g) (3 oz/ 85 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips (or finely chopped pecans) - * can omit (for the chocolate prune bread you will be adding chocolate, the amount changes depending upon whether or not you added chocolate chips to the dough at this point)

Mixing and storing the dough:

Mix the oil, yeast, salt and sugar with the water in a 6-quart bowl or a lidded (not airtight) food container.

Mix in the flour, cocoa powder and the chocolate chips without kneading, using a spoon or heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle). If you are not using the machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.

Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle with cold. Refrigerate the container of dough and use over the next 5 days. Beyond the 5 days, freeze the dough in 1-pound (about 450 g) portions in airtight containers for up to 4 weeks. When using frozen dough, thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours before using, then allow the usual rest and rise time.       

Aloooo Bread Baking Babes

One of the blessing of being part of a bread baking group is that different members bring assorted interests to the table. This month as be gather around the table of our Kitchen of the Month Babe Baking Soda of Bake My Day blog, I have been introduced to a bread I never knew existed. It's called Aloo Parantha and it's an Indian unleavened flat filled bread that is baked on a griddle or hot frying pan. It is most often eaten in the northeastern part of India, usually with a savory filling of potatoes and herbs, although vegetables are sometimes used, for instance cauliflower and spinach.

These packets of non-yeasted dough are filled, rolled out carefully so the filling stays inside, and then cooked on a hot griddle or, in my case, a hot cast iron skillet. They are surprisingly filling and quite delicious.

After reading various recipes online, I changed the filling from regular potato to a mixture of roasted sweet potato and roasted winter squash. I seasoned the filling with sage, cayenne, salt & pepper and lemon juice, plus minced cilantro. It's a very enjoyable variation. The winter squash was a gift from a neighbor and I don't really know the variety.  First I cut it in half and removed the seeds and stringy parts. Then I roasted it in a hot oven, then peeled it and cut it into chunks. It is a brilliant orange-gold and very tasty.

One of the things I discovered while making these is that the dough springs back a little as you roll it out, so be patient...you WILL get larger, thinner circles of dough if you persevere.

I also found out that after you pull the extra dough atop the filling and twist it a little, it helps to dip the twist top and then the bottom of the packet in flour, turn it with the twist side down, then push down on the center with your fingers to begin the flattening process. With the first one I started rolling vigorously with the rolling pin and filling immediately squirted out a couple of places...not what I had in mind. Even when I had flattened it a bit with my fingers I used the rolling pin gently and straight down to flatten it more, then moved the rolling pin off the packet and to a different angle, then pressed straight down again, so I never actually rolled the pin over the packet.

While cooking these, I brushed them with butter every time I turned them over and I turned them over at least 6 times while cooking. You could use oil instead of butter if your are doing a vegetarian or vegan version. The key thing is to get both sides crisp and browned. You may have to use a spatula to gently flatten them as they cook, too. It is worth the effort since they are warm and savory, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside and overall very delicious. Thanks Baking Soda! Great choice.

Be sure to see the versions that the other Babes post:
THE BREAD BAKING BABES!
Bake My Day - Karen
Blog from OUR Kitchen - Elizabeth
Girlichef - Heather
Life's a Feast - Jaime
Living in the Kitchen with Puppies - Natashya 
Lucullian Delights - Ilva 
My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna
Notitie van Lien - Lien

Thyme for Cooking - Katie - our Round-up Babe       

If you would like to be a Bread Baking Buddy, bake the bread and post about it, with a photo or two, then send the link in an e-mail to Baking Soda of Bake My Day  bakemyday AT gmail DOT com with Aloo Paratha in the subject line before 29th November . I wonder what filling you'll come up with?

Aloo Paratha
("how to cook everything by Mark Bittman")

1.1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1.1/2 cups all purpose flour plus more for rolling out the dough
salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn, plus more for brushing the breads
1/2 medium sweet potato (I used a garnet yam), cooked, cooled, peeled, and cut in half (use 4 oz of it)
8 oz. winter squash, roasted, peeled, and deseeded
1/4 teaspoon rubbed or ground dried sage
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
freshly ground pepper
juice of 1/2 small lemon
melted butter or neutral oil

Directions

Combine the flours with 1 teaspoon salt and the thyme in a food processor. Turn the machine on and add the oil and 3/4 cup water through the feed tube. Process for about 30 seconds, until the mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticky to the touch. If it is dry, add another tablespoon or two of water and process for another 10 seconds. In the unlikely event that the mixture is too sticky, add flour a tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough and, using flour as necessary, shape into a ball; wrap in plastic and let rest while you make the potato mixture. (At this point, you may wrap the dough tightly in plastic and refrigerate for up to a day or freeze for up to a week; bring back to room temperature before proceeding.)

Mash the sweet potato and winter squash, along with the sage, cayenne, and cilantro a large pinch of salt, some pepper, and the lemon juice; taste and adjust the seasoning (you may prefer more cayenne; sometimes aloo paratha are quite hot).

When the dough has rested, set out a bowl of all-purpose flour and a small bowl of oil, with a spoon or brush, on your work surface. Lightly flour your work surface and your rolling pin. Break off a piece of dough about the size of a golf ball. Toss it in the bowl of flour and then roll it in your hands to make a ball. Flatten it into a 2-inch disk, then use a floured rolling pin to roll it into a thin round, about 5 inches in diameter, dusting with flour as necessary.

Mound about 1 tablespoon of the filling into the center of one of the rounds of dough. Bring the edges of the round up over the top of the filling and press them together to make a pouch. Press down on the “neck” of the pouch with the palm of one hand to make a slightly rounded disk. Turn the disk in the bowl of flour, place 'neck' side down, and roll it out again into a round 6 to 7 inches in diameter. Pat it between your hands to brush off the excess flour. Put the paratha on a plate and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap. Continue to roll all of the remaining dough into parathas and stack them on the plate with a sheet of plastic wrap between them. You can keep the paratha stacked like this for an hour or two in the refrigerator before cooking them if necessary.

Heat a griddle or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat for a minute or two, then put on a paratha (or two, if they’ll fit) and cook until it darkens slightly, usually less than a minute. Flip the paratha with a spatula and cook for another 30 seconds on the second side. Use the back of a spoon or a brush to coat the top of the paratha with oil. Flip and coat the other side with oil. Continue cooking the paratha until the bottom of the bread has browned, flip, and repeat. Do this a few times until both sides of the paratha are golden brown and very crisp, 2 to 3 minutes total for each paratha. As the paratha finish, remove them from the pan and brush with melted butter (or oil for vegan) if you’re going to serve hot; otherwise wait until you’ve reheated them.

I served mine right away with some plain yogurt and they were excellent.

A Bread Baking Babes Bread Revisited

Sometimes you get a chance to sort of go back and rewind. There are things that you would have done differently, or, in fact, done at all. Making Sukerbolle, a very sweet bread that was a Bread Baking Babes choice for September 2008, is a case in point. This was the eighth bread that the Babes had baked as a group. Since a number of the Babes had blogs which I read fairly regularly, I had seen the posts on this bread and it looked good. The truth is that this was also before I became totally immersed in sourdough starter making and then frequent bread baking, so I mostly admired the breads the Babes baked but didn't really think to become a Buddy.

Now Carola of Sweet and That's It has given us another opportunity to bake the bread as a group. I'm hoping that Monique, who originally was the Kitchen of the Month for this bread, approves of the choice and of my unorthodox approach to it. I know that Carola will find it interesting because she is a true breadhead...and that is one of the best compliment I can give.

The recipe calls for ginger syrup. You can use the syrup that candied ginger comes in or you can make your own. As it happens, I had some apple cider syrup in the fridge and there was just enough left for this bread. I also have loads of Gravenstein apples this year on the trees. I decided to tweak the recipe so that it is a Caramel Apple Bread version, using store bought caramels, cut into small pieces. There is still a lot of cinnamon and all the rest of the ingredients are pretty much the same, but I used the apple cider syrup instead of the ginger syrup and I added 1/2 cup grated, peeled tart apple, and traded the caramel pieces for the sugar nuggets. Going back to the original version, I decided to knead the apple and caramel into the dough instead of doing the jelly roll thing. I borrowed Carola's versions use of a mixture of melted butter and plain yogurt.

This is a delicious bread with a lovely crumb. It is pretty sweet, so I hope you enjoy sweet breads. When it is first baked and just barely warm, the caramel is still gooey, which I love. You can just taste the apple and there is lots of cinnamon flavor. It can be eaten just as it is, but do try one slice with just a bit of butter. Sublime. Great for breakfast with some fruit and coffee. A nice afternoon snack with a cup of tea, too.

Thank you Carola for creating the Back to the Future Buddies group and for choosing this great bread. Can't wait to see what other versions there will be.

If you would like to join the group and bake the bread, contact Carola for the deets.

Sending this to Susan at Wild Yeast for the Yeastspotting weekly event. Do go there and see the wonderful collections of a wide array of yeasted breads.

Sukerbolle

From Monique's blog:

500 grams all purpose flour
10 grams salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon-powder (a little more if you like it)
3 tablespoons of ginger-sirop (use the sirop that comes with those gingerballs you buy in a jar, see picture)
Make that gingersirop up to 2 dl with handwarm milk. (from your Frisian cow in your backyard, maybe ?)
25 grams fresh yeast
75 grams unsalted, melted butter (let it cool down before use)
2 eggs
150 grams sugar grains, see picture. Or use sugar lumps /cubes, and make small pieces of them.( by beating them with….whatever). Or…but I didn’t try : Spread the sugar and the cinnamon on your cutting board and sprinkle,drop by drop, with 2 tablespoons of water. Stir until it sticks in thicker lumps and let dry for a couple of hours.

Make a nice dough with all the ingredients , except the sugerlumps or sugergrains and the cinnamon, and let it rise for 45 minutes. After that, you can fold in the sugar, mixed with cinnamon, and work it through your dough.

Form a nice bread and put it in a small bread-tin. Make sure it is greased with lots of butter !!

On top, you can sprinkle granulated sugar, so it can form a caramel on your bread.

Cover and let it rise for 15 minutes .

Bake it in a warm oven in 30 minutes until brown and done.

Sorry, no temperatures…in those days living and cooking where very easy…
(For me, I use 200 C or 400 F).

From Carola's Blog:Ingredients for one loaf of about 1 kg (35 cm long)

For the dough:
25 g fresh yeast (1 package (7 g) instant active dry yeast)
3 tablespoons (45 ml) of ginger-syrup
155 ml of lukewarm milk (milk + gingersyrup = 200 ml) 
500 g all purpose flour (350 all purpose flour + 150 g whole wheat flour)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten at room temperature
75 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled down (40 g butter mixed with 40 g plain yogurt)
10 g salt (= 2 teaspoons) 

For the Filling:

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (1 1/2 teaspoons)
150 grams sugar grains 

For the top:
Milk for brushing the loaf (or eggwash) 
Granulated sugar (or sugar in grain)

Directions for the stand mixer (or you can knead it my hand, if you prefer):

Grease well a loaf tin with butter or line it with parchment paper.

In the bowl of your stand mixer dissolve the yeast with the milk and the ginger syrup and wait 5-10 minutes for the yeast to activate = it will foam.

Add the sifted flours and shortly knead with the dough hook . Then add the eggs, the butter-yoghurt mixture and the salt and knead for 8-10 minutes, until the dough is soft and no longer sticky.

Transfer the dough into a lightly oiled big bowl , cover with a plastic foil and let rise for 45-60 minutes, until it doubles in volume .

Pour the dough on a floured surface, fold it twice and cover it with plastic
foil.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar grains and gently press down with your hands the sugar into the dough. 

Roll tightly beginning from the short edge of the rectangle (or follow the original recipe: “fold in the sugar mixed with cinnamon , and work it through your dough”). 

Carefully transfer it into the loaf tin, seam side down.

Brush the top with some milk (or egg wash) and sprinkle with granulated sugar or sugar grains.

Cover with plastic foil and let it rise for the second time for about 30-40 minutes (to check if it’s ready, make the finger test:  when the dough springs back leaving a light indention, the dough is ready to go in the oven).
In the meantime preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) with a ramequin full of water (it will create steam and help the dough rising).

Bake the bread for about 30 minutes, until brown. Should it get brown too quickly, cover the bread with parchment paper (I do not like aluminum foil).

The first 10 minutes I've baked it at 400°F (200°C), then 10 minutes at 356°F (180°C). As it started getting too brown, I covered it with parchment paper and baked it for another 10 minutes; then I took the paper away and baked it for the last 3-4 minutes (total baking time: 34 minutes). PS: I always do the thermometer test: when the internal temperature reaches 200°F (93°C) the bread is ready. 

Remove from the loaf tin and place on a wire rack to cool.

 

Elle's versions:

500 grams all purpose flour
10 grams salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons apple cider syrup (45 ml)

155 ml with handwarm milk.
1 package (7 g) instant active dry yeast
40 g melted and cooled butter mixed with 40 g plain yogurt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
150 grams caramels, cut into small pieces. I also dusted them very lightly with confectioners sugar to keep them from sticking together
1/2 cup grated tart peeled apple
cinnamon-sugar and a bit of milk for the top of the loaf

Make a nice dough with all the ingredients, except the caramel and the apple, and let it rise for 45 minutes. After that, you can fold in the caramel and apple, and work it through your dough.

Form a nice bread and put it in a small bread-tin. Make sure it is greased with lots of butter !!

On top, sprinkle cinnamon-sugar, so it can form a nice topping on your bread. Some of the caramel pieces may poke through the dough. That's OK. They might drip a little over the crust, but will look great.

Cover and let it rise for 15 minutes.

Bake it in a warm oven in 30 minutes until brown and done. You may want to put some foil on the rack under the oven rack the bread is baking on, just in case some of the filling drips.

Bake in a hot oven until baked through.
(For me, I used 200 C or 400 F for 10 minutes, at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes, then I covered it with foil and continued to bake it another 10 minutes at that temperature. Turned out just right.)

Cool on a wire rack 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides to loosen and turn the loaf out onto a rack to cool...if you can wait. It actually is wonderful just slightly warm, with the gooey caramel in little pockets here and there in each slice.

 

Crispy Crackers for September

Many people who know me have this illusion that I can easily do anything I put my mind to, mostly because I often am successful when I try something new. There are times, however, when I'm miserably unsuccessful, even after a few attempts. Making my own crackers has been one of those areas. If you check past posts you will see very few crackers...a clue...and when I have posted crackers they have usually be somewhat thick and not crisp, or the toppings fall off, or both.

 The Bread Baking Babes are a lively group of baking women and one of the liveliest and loveliest is Tanna, our Kitchen of the Month. I have to admit that when I read that our September recipe was for crackers that I became nervous right away. Would this be another case of not-quite-what-I-wanted crackers? The original recipe came from King Arthur Flour, which was encouraging since their recipes usually work well. Tanna's version used grams for many of the measurements, another plus since weighed ingredients are usually in better balance than ones made up of cups and half cups. Best of all the second batch can be made another day, so if one batch doesn't work out I get a second chance. OK, guess it's time for crackers...with seeds.

 For my version, I decided to use some King Arthur Flour Irish Whole Meal Flour that I had in the fridge, plus some all-purpose flour. For the topping I used poppy seeds and chopped pecans.

Guess what? I actually made crackers that were crisp and crunchy and behaved like crackers instead of shortbread. Sweetie loved them, especially the second pan that I left in the oven to dry. Those turned a deep brown and were just this side of burnt and very crunchy, indeed. I like the flavor that the Irish flour added and I loved the toasted nuttiness of the pecans.

 

 

 

I think the key was that I rolled them out very thin. Although I started out rolling half the dough, after the first rolling out to about 1/4 inch, I divided that dough in half and rolled each piece even thinner, to about 1/16th of an inch, on a sheet of parchment paper.

 Now it's your turn. Bake these, take some photos, and send Tanna an e-mail with a short description of your baking experience and a photo, so that she can include you in the round-up at the end of the month and send you a Buddy Badge. Hurry, you have until Sept. 29th to do that, plus these are so good, no time to waste.

 Sending these over to Susan at Wild Yeast for her excellent Yeast Spotting weekly event. Check it out!

 Last, but never least, do visit my fellow Bread Baking Babes to see how they went crackers...er, made crackers this month. If they have not posted yet, check back. Sometimes we have computer troubles that hold us up.

 

 

 Kitchen of the Month - Tanna, My Kitchen in Half Cups

Bake My Day - Karen
Blog from OUR Kitchen - Elizabeth
Girlichef - Heather
Life's a Feast - Jaime
Living in the Kitchen with Puppies - Natashya
Lucullian Delights- Ilva
Notitie van Lien - Lien (who also creates the beautiful badges!)
Paulchen's Foodblog - Astrid
Provecho Peru - Gretchen

Crunchy Crackers

Recipe By: KAF
Yield: 2 cookie sheets

Summary:
This recipe mimics an extra-crunchy, seed-topped whole-gain cracker you may find at your supermarket. These are great for spreads and dips of all kinds.

Ingredients:

198 to 227g lukewarm water
170 g King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
120 g King Arthur Whole Wheat/Spelt
2 tablespoons non-diastatic malt powder or sugar - I used malt syrup
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
30 g whole ground flax
14 g sesame seeds
*Substitute 28g golden flax seeds for the flax and sesame, if desired.
topping
71 g sunflower seeds, midget preferred*
28 g sesame seeds*
28 g whole flax seeds,* golden preferred
sea salt or your favorite flavored salt, if desired
*Substitute 3/4 cup artisan bread topping + 1/4 cup whole flax seeds for the sunflower, sesame, and flax seeds, if desired.
(I used poppy seeds and chopped pecans instead of the toppings above.. I didn't measure them, but the dough wasn't covered thickly. I also added some sea salt on top of one roll out of dough.)

Directions:

1) To make the dough: Mix and knead together all of the cracker ingredients (except the seeds) to a smooth, fairly stiff dough. Add 1-2 more tablespoons of water if the dough is dry.

2) Knead in the seeds.

3) Let the dough rise, covered, for 60 to 90 minutes, until it's expanded a bit.

4) Divide the dough in half. Working with one piece at a time, roll it into a rectangle approximately 14" x 9", a generous 1/8" thick. This will probably require you to roll the dough until it fights back; give it a 10-minute rest, then come back and roll some more. It may need two rest periods to allow you to roll it thin enough.

5) For easiest handling, turn the dough onto a piece of parchment paper. Spritz the dough with water. Sprinkle with 1/4 of the topping seeds, lay a piece of parchment on top, and press the seeds in with a rolling pin. Turn the dough over, peel off the parchment, and repeat. Set the seeded crackers on a baking sheet, and repeat with the remaining piece of dough.

6) If you don't have parchment, roll on a rolling mat or on a very lightly floured or lightly greased work surface; and transfer the seeded crackers to a lightly greased baking sheet. Sprinkle each sheet of crackers with some sea salt or flavored salt, if desired. Crush the sea salt between your fingers or grind it in a salt mill if it's very coarse.

7) Prick the dough over with a fork, and cut it into rectangles, whatever size you like. Pull the crackers apart just a bit; you don't need to separate them completely. Let the crackers rise for 30 to 45 minutes. while you preheat your oven to 350°F; they'll get just a bit puffy.

8) Bake for 20 minutes, until the crackers are a medium brown. Turn off the heat, wait 15 minutes, then open the oven door a couple of inches and let the crackers cool completely in the turned-off oven. When they're completely cool, break apart, if necessary, and store airtight. 
Two balls of dough ... why bake them at the same time.  Put one in fridge for the next day.  Fabulous.

August BBB Delight Hints at Autumn

 

The days are truly getting shorter and school started in our neighborhood yesterday, so this month's Bread Baking Babes bread, Nut Roll Coffee Cake from our Kitchen of the Month Jaime of Life's a Feast, is perfect because it has the cinnamon and nuts that hint of holiday baking to come.

I only made half the recipe, baking it in a long loaf pan, but this one is so delicious that I urge you to make the full recipe, if only so that you can share it with friends. A rich, brioche-like dough is rolled around a most unusual filling. It's a nut meringue with cinnamon and the combination is amazing. Two of those lovely rolls are stacked, one on top of the other, in a tube pan, then allowed to rise a bit. After it is baked you let it cool a little bit before removing from the pan. You are supposed to let it cool completely according to the recipe, but don't. The warm, buttery, fragrant with cinnamon bread is tender and, frankly, addictive if you eat it while it retains some of the heat from the oven.

 

The remarkable thing about this bread is that it is a no-knead one. Rolling up the bread once you have spread on the meringue filling is about the hardest part of making this. If you have done anything with a jelly roll type rolling up, it will be a snap for you. The results will bring a smile to your face...and a desire for just another piece. The finished roll didn't look pretty when it came out of the pan, and it was a little hard to cut without making a mess since it had sunk a little while cooling, but it tasted so spectacular that we didn't care a bit.

 

Thanks to Jaime for picking such a perfect recipe for August. Do check out the bread baked by the other Bread Baking Babes. I'm also sending this over to Susan (Alumnae Babe) at Wild Yeast for her Yeast Spotting round up of the week.

Last, but not least, come bake with the Babes this month. Make the bread, snap a photo, send an e-mail to Jaime with a brief description of your baking experience (plus that photo) and she'll send you a Buddy Badge and include you in the round-up.

If you have kids going to school between now and the 29th, I can assure you that they will be thrilled to arrive home to the warm fragrance of cinnamon which will perfume the house when you bake this Nut Roll Coffee Cake.

 

Here is the full recipe from Jamie:

NUT ROLL COFFEE CAKE
You will need a stand mixer or beaters to whip egg whites for the meringue filling and a 10-inch (standard) tube pan.

For the dough:
2 packages (1/4 ounce/7 g each) active dry yeast
¼ cup (@ 65 ml) warm water (110°F to 115°F)
16 Tbs (225 g) unsalted butter, melted
½ cup (125 ml) warm 2% fat/lowfat milk (110°F to 115°F)
4 egg yolks
2 Tbs sugar
¾ tsp salt
 2 ½ cups (350 g*) all-purpose flour (I use French regular flour), more as needed

* when I measure flour I spoon lightly into the measuring cup and then level off so 1 cup usually weigh approximately 140 g 

For the filling:
3 egg whites
1 cup + 3 Tbs sugar, divided
2 cups ground walnuts
2 Tbs 2% fat/lowfat milk
2 tsps ground cinnamon

The day before, prepare the dough:
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water. Add the butter, milk, eggs yolks, sugar, salt and flour. Beat until smooth – the mixture will be sticky. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The day of baking, prepare the filling:
In a small bowl, beat the egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in 1 cup sugar, about 2 tablespoons at a time, on high speed until the sugar is incorporated and dissolved.

In a large bowl, combine the walnuts, milk, cinnamon and remaining sugar; fold in the meringue.

Prepare the Coffee Cake:
Grease a 10-inch tube pan.

Divide the dough in half. On a well-floured work surface, roll each portion into an 18 x 12 –inch (45 x 30 cm) rectangle. Spread half of the filling evenly over each rectangle within 1/2 –inch (1 cm) of the edges. Roll each up jelly-roll style, starting with the long side; pinch seam to seal.

Place one filled roll, seam side up, in the greased tube pan. Place the second roll, seam side down.

Let rise for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).  Bake in the preheated oven for 40 – 45 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before removing the coffee cake from the pan to a cooling rack to cool completely. Top may crack when cooling.

Eat as is or drizzle with glaze or dust with powdered sugar.