Challah For My Neighbor

Our neighbor down the road, Wally,  celebrates the Jewish holidays and Sweetie and I knew that this year was going to be hard for him since he is a new widower of only a few months. That first holiday season is really tough. I also wasn't sure if his dear departed wife had baked for him at holiday time. It seemed like a good gift for him would be a home baked challah loaf...plus it gave me a reason to bake bread. That might sound strange, but Sweetie has been losing weight and has asked that I not bake bread very often if at all because the fragrance is so tantalizing! This way the bread was going out of the house untasted and so we were not tempted...or so I thought!

I brought the loaf, wrapped in plastic wrap and tied with a blue ribbon, to a neighborhood bar that also serves great breakfast. We were joined for brunch by Wally and another couple who are also neighbors. We didn't get to see each other over Christmas because of some illnesses and visiting families, so the brunch was a gift exchange, too. I had made the bread the day before and shaped it, then put it in the fridge overnight. That way I could bake it early in the morning and still have a warm loaf by brunch time.

Wally was delighted with the loaf, but was concerned because he is the only one at home and it was a big loaf. His solution was to use his pocketknife to cut pieces, which he handed around to each of us! We had coffee but our orders were being prepared, so this was a treat to have something to nibble on while we waited for our meals. We had just started to taste the bread when the owner arrived. Sweetie gave him a piece of bread and he, in turn, brought out some homemade butter to enjoy with the bread. Made our treat even better! Sweetie and I have eaten breakfast and some other meals there for many years and have gotten to know the owner, so we figured that he wouldn't mind the outsourced bread, but adding butter was such a charming gesture.

It was really good bread! I used a King Arthur Baking recipe, which I'm giving below. The only change I made was to add a decent amount (about 1/2 cup) additional flour. I think that my eggs were extra large, so that increased the moisture, which meant more flour.

Wishing you a magical year...and lots of good bread!

Classic Challah
from King Arthur Baking Company
makes 1 braided loaf

Ingredients

Dough

• 4 to 4 1/4 cups (480g to 510g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 3/4 cup (170g) water, lukewarm
• 6 tablespoons (74g) vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons (63g) honey
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk (white reserved for topping)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (9g) table salt
• 4 teaspoons (12g) instant yeast

Topping

• 1 large egg white (reserved from above), beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
• poppy seeds or sesame seeds, for sprinkling; optional

 

·         To make the dough: Weigh 480g of flour; or measure 4 cups by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. 

·         Combine the flour with the rest of the dough ingredients. Mix and knead them by hand, mixer, or bread machine, until you have a soft, smooth dough. If the dough is very sticky, add an additional 1/4 cup (30g) of flour.

·         Allow the dough to rise in a plastic wrap-covered bowl for about 2 hours, or until it's puffy; it won't necessarily double in bulk.

·         Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface.

·         Divide the dough into pieces, the number depending on what kind of braid you want to make. You may braid the challah the traditional way, into a three-strand braid. For a fancier presentation, make a six-strand braid.  

·         Once you've decided which braid you're doing, divide the dough into the appropriate number of pieces. Roll each piece into a rope about 20" long. If the dough starts to shrink back as you roll, cover it and let it rest for about 10 minutes, then resume rolling. The short rest gives the gluten a chance to relax.

·         Braid the loaf. I made a three strand braid, which is easy, but you can go for four - or six-strand braids. King Arthur Baking has videos on each type of braiding. 

·         Gently pick up the braided loaf, and place it on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.

·         Cover the loaf with lightly greased plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature until it's very puffy, 60 to 90 minutes. Toward the end of the rising time, place a rack in the upper third of your oven and preheat the oven to 375°F.

·         To make the topping: Whisk together the reserved egg white and water. Brush the mixture over the risen loaf. Sprinkle generously with poppy seeds or sesame seeds, if desired.

·         Bake the challah on the oven's upper rack for 25 to 30 minutes, or until it's a deep golden brown and a digital thermometer inserted into the center reads 190°F.

·         Remove the challah from the oven and transfer it to a rack to cool.

·         Storage information: Store any leftover challah, well wrapped, at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage. While challah does tend to dry out after a day or so, it's always good toasted, or made into grilled sandwiches or French toast.

A Hearty Bread

I'm not baking bread as often as I used to. Lots of things getting in the way of it, but mostly it's because Sweetie asked me to not tempt him with warm bread quite so often...he has no resistance to bread hot from the oven but wants to continue to fit in his clothes.

Still, I have a sourdough starter and it seems a shame to waste the 'toss off' that comes with feeding it. Before I went to LA I used it to make some pizza dough, which I then froze. One day soon I'll make pizza for dinner, but for now the calories are held at bay.

I fed it again a couple of days ago and decided that it had been a long time since I've made a hearty, seedy bread. If I give half of it away then Sweetie and I can still have some and feel virtuous at the same time. After doing a half-feeding of the toss off (1/2 cup each all-purpose flour and water, instead of a full cup of each), I let that sit in the fridge over night. The second day I fed the mixture with a feeding of 1 cup graham flour (Bob's Red Mill brand) and 1 cup water. It made for a soupy mixture since the last time I fed the starter I added extra water knowing that it would be well over a week before I could feed it. The reason I mention this is that I started with more hydration in the dough than usual. If you have 100% hydration starter, you won't need as much flour for the bread.

The graham flour mixture sat on the counter for about 20 hours before I started the dough and it was nice and bubbly, plus there was a great yeast fragrance, but I knew I would be adding a lot of things needing a bit of extra lift, so I whisked in 1 teaspoon active dry yeast.

In a bowl I mixed together dark rye flour, flax seed, all-purpose flour, and salt. These were added to the sourdough mixture using my stand  mixer and the dough hook, letting everything come together and finishing with some all-purpose flour to stiffen the dough a bit. Once the machine kneading finished, I did some more on a floured board. The dough was just a bit tacky, so I used my bench scraper to lift the dough up and over for kneading.

After kneading a few minutes, I flattened the dough out into an oval, then sprinkled on 1/4 cup chopped pecans and 1/4 cup of Salad Toppings, a mixture I found at Costco that contains pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and dried cranberries. Rolled up the dough, folded the ends over, then flattened it again to allow for the remaining 1/4 cup chopped pecans and 1/4 cup Salad Toppings to be worked in. More kneading until all was evenly distributed, then into the rising container for a few hours to rise. I like to spray the bottom and a bit up the sides of the container with spray olive oil, then turn the dough in it to coat surface of the dough with oil. Probably not necessary, but I like the dough to stay soft on the surface and that takes care of that.

After the dough doubled in bulk, I turned it out on a floured board, punched it down, used the bench scraper to cut it into three pieces, then weighed them so that they were each about 14 oz. Rolled each into a snake shape and put them, lined up, on a baking sheet. After braiding them loosely, I covered the braid with a clean tea towel and let it rise. All that was left was preheating the oven, painting the plait with beaten egg, and baking it until golden.

This makes a hearty bread. It has a fairly fine grain and is studded throughout with seeds, nuts, and the occasional cranberry piece. I served it with dinner and one guest described the variety of flavors and 'lots of musical notes', but they all work well together. This is not a sweet bread since the proportion of cranberries in the Salad Topping is small. It has lots of seeds, which is lovely, and makes great toast.

I had a couple slices today for lunch as Avocado Toasts with some smoked salmon on top. Yum!

Hearty Seedy Braid
my own creation

1 cup sourdough starter, plus about 2 tablespoons water if your starter is 100% hydration
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup water
1 cup graham flour
1 cup water
1 cup dark rye flour
1/2 cup flax seeds
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus additional (about another 1/2 cup or so)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup mixed sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and dried cranberries
1 egg, beaten

Take the 1 cup sourdough starter and put into a large bowl. In a smaller bowl whisk together the all purpose flour and the water. Whisk into the sourdough starter until well combined. Leave on counter, uncovered for 2 hours, then lightly cover and refrigerate.

The next day whisk together the graham flour and the water in a small bowl. Add it to the sourdough starter mixture and let sit, uncovered, on the counter until the next day.

The next day, whisk together the rye flour, flax seeds, all-purpose flour and salt in a medium bowl. Put the sourdough mixture into a stand mixer bowl. Attach the dough hook to the mixer. Stir about 1/3 of the flour mixture into the sourdough mixture with a wooden spoon or a spatula. Put the bowl on the mixer base and start up the dough hook on low speed. Slowly add the remainder of the flour mixture. If needed, add additional all-purpose flour as the mixer kneads the dough for at least 8 minutes. When kneaded, dough should clean the sides of the bowl and be tacky but not sticky.

Remove the dough from the dough hook and bowl onto a lightly floured board or clean work surface. Knead the dough a few turns, then flatten into a large oval or circle. Sprinkle half the pecans and half the seed mixture over the dough, roll up jelly-roll fashion and flip end up over the log. Press down to flatten the dough again, sprinkle on the remaining pecans and seed mixture, roll up again, then knead until the pecans and seeds are well distributed in the dough.

Oil lightly a rising container. Place the dough in it, then turn dough over so that all is coated with oil. Flatten the dough in the rising container, cover with a clean shower cap or with plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free place to double in bulk.

When dough has doubled, turn out onto a lightly floured board or work surface. Using a bench scraper, cut into three pieces (weigh if necessary to keep about the same weight), then roll each piece into a snake shape. Place the three snakes next to each other in a baking sheet, braid loosely, tuck ends under, cover with a clean tea towel and let rise until about doubled.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. When braid has almost doubled, use a pastry brush to paint the plaits with beaten egg. Bake for about 40 minutes, until golden brown. When you tap the bottom of the loaf, it should sound hollow. Cool for at least 10 minutes on a rack, then slice and serve.

Romania Spring Braid with the Babes

Welcome to my Kitchen! This month it's the Kitchen of the Month for the Bread Baking Babes. After spending some very delightful time looking at various bread recipes, I decided that since Easter and spring were going to be here during the bread baking time for April that I would invite all of the Babes around the kitchen table to have fun with a Romanian Easter Braid. Even if Easter isn't your thing, this braid is delicious with its nut filling and spring time flavors of butter, egg, and lemon. I like the idea of filling the braid ropes. Wasn't sure how it would actually go, but that's part of the fun, isn't it?

The description of the recipe in The Festive Bread Book, by Kathy Cutler talks about "The delicious walnut filling" but the recipe calls for ground almonds. I suspect that you could use any ground nut you desire...walnut, almond, pecan, hazelnut...and you will get a nice filling. The full description is, " the delicious walnut filling of this bread helps make it a Romanian classic. Serve it as a snack or with Easter dinner." It doesn't have any icing, so it may be a bread that is somewhat unsweetened. You can always add a sweet glaze and/or nuts once the baked bread has cooled if you prefer it a bit sweeter.

The Wiki information is interesting: " In Romania, the recipes differ rather significantly between regions in what concerns the trimmings. The dough is essentially similar throughout the country: a plain sweet bread made with flour, eggs, milk, butter, sugar and salt. Depending on the region, one may add to it any of the following: raisins,... grated orange or lemon rind, walnuts or hazelnuts, vanilla or rum flavour.

Cozonac, (the Romanian bread for Easter similar to Italian pannettone), may be sprinkled with poppy seeds on top. Other styles dictate the use of a filling, usually a ground walnut mix, ground poppy seeds mixture, cocoa powder, rum essence and raisins. The dough is rolled flat with a pin, the filling is spread and the whole is rolled back into a shape vaguely resembling a pinwheel. In the baked product the filling forms a swirl adding to the character of the bread."  Apparently there is also a Christmas version with dried and/or candied fruit included.

It sounds like this version is the braid that uses lemon rind and a nut filling. Maybe the author prefers almonds to walnuts or poppy seed. I know that we Babes are a creative bunch, so this recipe leaves plenty of room for creativity and should yield a nice loaf for any spring celebration.

Be sure to check out what the other Babes have done with this recipe, then make it yourself. To become a Buddy and get a badge for your blog, just e-mail me by April 29th at elle dot lachman at gmail dot com. Include a photo of your bread and a short description of your baking experience and I'll include you in the round-up. I know Easter has come and gone, but it's still spring and this bread is one your family will love...and pretty. Come join the fun...I know you want to.

This braid has a fairly rich dough, including both butter and eggs, and it has a nut-based filling. After making it and eating a slice the morning I made it, I think the next time I make it that I will spread a thin layer of softened butter on the dough before putting on the filling and I will increase the filling by half as much again to allow for a thicker layer of filling and a bit more flavor. In addition I'm going to increase the citrus zest (I used orange) to twice the amount called for in both the dough and the filling. I might also increase the salt by a 1/4 teaspoon to 3/4 teaspoon...the dough was just a tiny bit flat tasting and I think that will take care of that. The crumb was great and so was the crust. I made a quick glaze of a small amount of hot milk, 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and a few drops almond extract to be drizzled over the top, then scattered on a few sliced almonds. Made for a pretty loaf and went well with the other flavors in the braid.

After reading over the recipe I just couldn't add yeast to a mixture that was going to be heated to such a high heat, so I put the yeast in 1/4 cup tepid water to proof, then added it to the milk/butter/egg mixture when the mixture had cooled to 100 degrees F before adding all of it to the dry mixture as the recipe calls for. I did mix everything by hand (no stand mixture) and it really is a lovely dough to knead for a while. I let mine sit in the fridge for a day before rolling out and shaping, then again overnight so that I could bake it this morning (it warmed up and did the final proofing this morning) which worked well. Nice oven spring, too. Because I used a little additional liquid in proofing the yeast, I decreased the milk by the same amount. As a result the flour called for was just about right.

Really yummy still slightly warm and taken with a nice hot cup of coffee! Love the swirls of filling...but I wanted more filling. My original plans to bake it again with friends was ruined by my coming down with a case of the flu.

Here are the links for the other Babes:

BakeMy Day  -  Karen
Blog from OUR Kitchen -  Elizabeth
Bread Experience -  Cathy
Girlichef -  Heather
Life's a Feast -  Jaime
Lucullian Delights -  Ilva
My Diverse Kitchen - Aparna
My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna
Notitie van Lien - Lien

Romanian Easter Braid
makes one loaf

from The Festive Bread Book, by Kathy Cutler
 

3 1/2 - 4 cups flour, divided
1/2 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest (or use orange zest)
2/3 cup milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs

Filling:
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup finely ground almonds (or walnuts, poppy seeds, etc)
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest (or use orange zest)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Glaze:
1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons milk

Preparation:
Combine 2 cups flour , the yeast, and lemon zest in mixing bowl.

Heat milk, butter, sugar and salt until butter melts; remove from heat and let cool until it reaches 105 - 115 degrees F.

Add milk mixture and eggs to dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly.

Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth - about 10 minutes.

Place in greased bowl, turning to coat top. Cover; let rise in warm place until double - about 1 hour.

Punch down dough. Divide dough into 3 equal pieces. Roll each into a 7 x 16-inch rectangle.

Use 1/3 of filling one each rectangle, spreading filling, but leaving a margin around edges; roll up jelly-roll style. Seal seam and ends. You will have three filled and sealed ropes.

Braid ropes; place on greased baking sheet.

Cover; let rise in warm place until double - about 30 minutes.

Make glaze and brush on loaf.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 40 minutes or until done. Cool on wire rack.

(Optional: Make a sweet glaze with 1 tablespoon warm milk and enough powdered sugar to make a drizzle glaze. Drizzle cooled bread and then sprinkle with sliced almonds, for decoration, while glaze is still wet. Let dry.)

Apricots and Almonds

Fragrances are often a memory trigger, especially food aromas. From now on, warm apricots and almonds will remind me of the trip to bury my Mom. I knew that we would be getting in late and might want something easy for breakfast, so I baked an apricot almond bread to take with us. I could smell it in the car on our way to the airport, even though it was inside my carry-on bag. I even ate some of it, pulled roughly from the end of the loaf and eaten with my airplane coffee when I felt the need of a snack. It was wonderful. The morning after we arrived I had a slice, toasted, with some coffee before getting ready to get out the door. It was comforting and the heat from the toaster brought out the fragrance of apricot even stronger.

It was an emotion filled time. I grieved over the loss of not only my Mom, but of the place she held in the family and how her home was the true home place for so many. We had no choice but to begin taking things out of the house, which was a jolt, even though expected. One day before 2015 winds down someone else will buy it and the house will start the next chapter in its life. It is the place of my childhood, filled with mental snapshots of long ago excitement and disappointments, birthdays and Christmases, books and baking, puzzles and plantings. Time to bid childhood places good bye, too. I hope that someone with a young family moves in. It's a good house for a family. My family grew together there and we held together these past few days, too, sharing photos and memories, exchanging hugs and stories, supporting each other as we buried Mom with Dad as the air was filled with drizzle which mingled with my tears. On either side of me, solid with love, was my Sweetie and my wonderful daughter. Even in my sadness I know that I'm truly blessed.

Hope you try this bread and hope it evokes good memories for you the next time you smell almonds and apricots.

Apricot Almond Braid
a variation on the Autumn Festival Bread in The Festive Bread Book by Kathy Cutler

This is a rich and elegant bread, flecked with dried apricots and sliced almonds. It has a texture similar to a brioche and is wonderful toasted.

Makes 1 loaf

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons warm water (105 – 115 degrees F)
2 ¼ - 3 cups unbleached bread flour
½ teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup diced dried apricots
3 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup warm milk (105 – 115 degrees F)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
½ cup sliced almonds

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Set aside for 5 minutes.

Combine 1 ½ cups flour, salt, nutmeg, diced dried apricots and sugar in mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly.

Mix together the warm milk, egg and almond extract. Add the milk mixture, yeast mixture and butter to the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly.

Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth, about 10 minutes.

Place in greased bowl, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in warm place until double in bulk – about 1 hour.

Punch down dough. Flatten dough and sprinkle half of the sliced almonds over it. Roll up like a jelly roll, then fold the two ends towards the center. Flatten dough again. Again sprinkle on the sliced almonds, using them up. Again roll up like a jelly roll and fold the two ends towards the center. Knead dough about ten turns to fully incorporate the sliced almonds. Divide the dough into thirds. Make three ropes. Braid on a greased, parchment covered, or silicon mat covered baking sheet. Be sure to tuck the ends under.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until double – about 30 -45 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 15 minutes.

Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and return the loaf to the oven. Bake an additional 30 – 35 minutes or until done. Check at 20 minutes and cover lightly with aluminum foil if loaf looks like it is getting too dark or the nuts are burning.

Cool on a wire rack. If desired, drizzle with Confectioners Sugar Icing and sprinkle on some additional sliced almonds for decoration.

Confectioners Sugar Icing: Mix together 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract and 1-2 tablespoons milk. 

Orphan Bread

You probably know someone who is a vegan. We used to call them vegetarians, but then vegetarians divided up that world and some were ovo-lacto vegetarians, meaning they could have eggs and milk, some were non-meat eating vegetarians, so they could have fish, too, and then the strict vegetarians who don't consume meat, poultry, fish, eggs or milk decided to call themselves vegans to make sure that it was clear.

There is a lot to be said for eating that way, but it is not an easy diet. The same is true for Paleo eaters, although they can't eat half (or more) of what vegans eat and they do tend to eat a lot of meat. If you find that either works for you, then go for it. If you are Paleo, this bread probably isn't for you.

I recently spoke with my older sister and she is a vegan. Her description of how to know if something is OK to eat is it can't have a mother. I doubt that it can have a father, either. This bread qualifies, so I'm calling it Orphan Bread.

This bread is based on a recipe from Soups and Breads - The Irish Kitchen by Nuala Cullen, but I increased the Irish whole meal flour and decreased the bread flour for added texture, flavor and fiber, plus I took out the walnuts and put in pecans. For one thing, the walnuts tend to tint the bread pink. Pecans don't do that and are delicious, too. The apricots are the same and they go really well with pecans.

To keep it an orphan bread, the milk was replaced with almond milk. It is a really wonderful, full flavored bread and lovely toasted. In keeping with the vegan theme, don't use butter on the toast, but top it instead with a nut butter or apricot jam...or both. I admit it, I added a bit of butter to the toasted piece, but then one feels so sorry for an orphan.

Apricot and Pecan Orphan Bread
Based on a recipe in the cook book Soups and Breads - The Irish Kitchen by Nuala Cullen
Makes one loaf

75 g finely chopped dried apricots
75 g roughly chopped pecans
405 g strong white flour (bread flour)
120 g coarse brown flour (I used King Arthur Irish Whole Meal)
one packet instant dried yeast
325 ml/12 fl oz/1 ½ cups liquid with 2/3 water and 1/3 almond milk
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons almond milk
additional 1 tablespoon finely chopped pecans for topping

In a large mixing bowl mix together the flours, apricots, nuts, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the yeast and water or water mixture and let stand 10 minutes for the yeast to 'bloom'. Add the olive oil and stir.

With dough hook in place and mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry mixture until the dough is soft and cleans the sides of the bowl. Knead with the machine for 3-4 minutes.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead 2-3 minutes until dough is satiny.

Oil the mixing bowl, put in the dough, turn to coat with oil, cover with plastic wrap/clingfilm and allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Knock the air out of the dough and knead briefly before turning out onto a floured surface. Shape as desired. I did a three strand braid. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk.

Brush some almond milk over the risen loaf and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon chopped pecans.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree F oven for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and tap underneath. If a hollow sound results, the bread is cooked. If not, bake a little longer and test again. You could also shape the dough in two loaves and bake them in two 8 x 4 loaf pans.

This is the kind of bread recipe that you can play around with, substituting different dry fruits for the apricots, different nuts for the pecans. Have fun with it!

Springtime Breads

There are few things more satisfying than sharing a skill or talent with people you really like. It's also true that teaching someone so they can acquire the skill and exercise their own talent is better than just doing your thing for them.

Last week I had the fun of sharing my baking skills with some women friends and showing them how to make some springtime breads.

Because for yeast breads it is sometimes easier to start with the dough already made, I showed them how to work a little magic on plain, ordinary frozen bread dough from the supermarket. I used Bridgeford brand and so I had three one-pound parcels of dough. I thawed them out overnight which worked very well.

The first recipe was perfect for Easter morning (if you make it the night before as I did) because you end up with totally cute nests surrounding a colored egg which cooks while the bread bakes. This time the egg was barely hard boiled. The last time I made thee the eggs were soft boiled on the way to hard boiled, so there was some runny yolk but no runny whites. It all depends on how long you bake the bread. This time I used plain white bread dough and then sprinkled sesame seeds on the nests before baking. That worked better than the sweet dough I used in THIS post in the spring of 2009 in the Bread Baker's Dog blog.

1) Egg nests: When I made this a few years ago the eggs came out of the oven soft boiled and you should remove the dyed egg from the nest within the first 10 minutes after you serve them because otherwise the shell tends to stick to the dough a bit.

I dyed the uncooked eggs the day before, created the nests, then put it all in the fridge overnight, baking them in the morning. Use the illustrations from THIS post if you want to see how to put them together.


Egg Nests

1 pound thawed frozen bread dough
8 eggs in the shell, uncooked, dyed or plain
1 egg, mixed with 2 tablespoons water, for egg wash
sesame seeds, or finely chopped nuts

Divide dough into 15 equal portions, about 1 oz each. Set three (3) portions aside. Cover half of the remaining twelve(12) portions with plastic wrap (six portions), but leave on the counter. You can unwrap them when you've made the first 3 nests from the six (6) portions you will now work with.

Take a portion. Roll it into a rope about 12 inches long. Repeat with another portion. Twist the ropes together. I find that if you start in the middle, twist one side to the end, then twist the other side to the end, it works very well.

Form the twisted rope into an oval and trim off any excess and make a continuous twist rope oval.

Take one of the three portions that were set aside and divide it into 2. Take one of those pieces and form an oval…you can add any dough you trimmed off, too. Place the oval on a Silpat mat, parchment lined baking sheet, or greased baking sheet. Place one of the uncooked eggs in the middle.

Put the rope oval in the palm of your hand, turn it over and lightly pat it with a wet hand.I also patted the inside rim of the rope.

Set the rope oval over the egg and let the wet dough seal with the flat oval already on the pan.

Repeat with the rest of the dough. You should finish with 6 nests.

NOTE: I used uncooked eggs and dyed them in a water bath that had been made from about 6 drops food coloring, 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, and boiling water. The eggs should be close to room temperature so they don’t get shocked and break when put in boiling water. The eggs dye very quickly and can be removed to a paper towel lined glass baking pan or pie pan to drain and dry. They are in the dye bath only about 5 – 10 seconds. I dyed them right before I rolled out the ropes and then refrigerated the pans of rolls overnight.The photos are from right after I shaped them. I added the seeds the next morning before baking, but forgot to take any photos! They sat out for about 1/2 hour before I baked them. If the house or kitchen were very warm, you could probably pre-heat the oven and bake them about 15 minutes after removing from the fridge.

If shaping and baking on the same day, cover nests and let rise in a warm, draft-free place 30 – 45 minutes if baking right away, or until nearly doubled.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven. Brush the dough, but not the eggs, with egg wash; sprinkle dough with sesame seeds, or finely chopped nuts. (The sweet dough and coconut from an earlier version didn't go well with the soft boiled eggs, but savory would so I made savory with sesame seeds.)

Bake 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from pan and let cool on racks about 5 minutes then serve while hot.

I'm submitting this to fellow Bread Baking Babe Astrid of Paulchen's Food Blog since she is the hostess of the current Bread Baking Day with the theme of bread with eggs - it's #48. You can send her an entry too and I bet you will find a different way to combine eggs and bread dough...maybe with eggs IN the dough? Go to her post HERE to learn all about it.

I'm also sending this over to fellow Bread Baking Babe Susan at Wild Yeast for her weekly Yeastspotting event. If you ever bake with yeast, do visit Yeastspotting for lots of yummy bread inspiration.

Next post will continue the talent sharing baking...with a Raspberry Almond Braid. It's fun, it's easy and one of my friends saw me make it and made one herself that was a big hit with her family. You could do that too. Coming soon.....

Have a Heart

This is a super late Valentine's post (due to a trip to Monterey this past weekend), but you could use this idea for St. Patrick's Day by making three braids, coiling each into a circle, placing on the baking pan in a clover shape, and using a bit of dough cut off one end to make a stem for the clover. It would also make a fine triple braid loaf (well actually two triple braid loaves) if you are not into holiday celebration craftiness.

I made the Valentine's heart bread for Grandma L since she invited us for dinner on Valentine's day and she is more of a savory person than someone who likes sweets. She loved it and we ate about half of it with dinner.

I like that it is an easy dough to work with and that it has seeds throughout. There is also the goodness of oatmeal and whole wheat flour plus the happy use of sourdough starter for the leavening. Makes great toast, too. I was making the savory biscotti dough at the same time as this dough, so I put the seeded dough into the fridge for a day and a half which deepened the sourdough flavor and meant that I could bake it up fresh for the dinner party.

Yesterday I made the same dough again, but didn't retard it as long as Grandma's loaf. I also make enough for three loaves, each about a pound and a half. Two became long braids and one a braid coiled to fit a 9" cake pan.

As you can see, this is all about fun with delicious bread as the product.

I'm sending this over to Susan at Wild Yeast for the weekly Yeastspotting event. This is a wonderful weekly roundup of great yeast based recipes, and a few things made using bread. Do jump over there and check it out.

Sourdough Oatmeal and Whole Wheat Bread with Seeds

Poolish
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups sourdough starter

Second
1/3 cup oats
1/3 cup water
1 cup bread flour
1/3 cup water
all of the Poolish

Third
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup mixed seeds (I used King Arthur Ancient Grains which also includes some rolled grains) like sunflower, flax, poppy, sesame, pumpkin
all of the Second mixture
1/2 cup milk (I used 2% but any milk will do, even canned evaporated)
1/2 cup water

about 1/4 cup additional bread flour

Olive oil to oil rising container and plastic wrap

Glaze:
1 egg
1 teaspoon water

Poolish:
In a large bowl combine the all-purpose flour and the whole wheat flour. Stir in the water until it is combined and fairly smooth. Stir in the sourdough starter and combine well. Let sit at room temperature about two hours. Tiny bubbles will form in the mixture.

Second:
In a microwave safe bowl combine the rolled oats and 1/3 cup water. Microwave on high one minute. Stir. Return to microwave and cook and additional two minutes. Set aside to cool.
When oatmeal is cool, break it up with a spoon. Take the Poolish mixture and stir in the flour, water and cooled oatmeal. Let sit on the counter 2 hours.

Third:

In a large bowl or measuring cup combine the bread flour, whole wheat flour, salt and seeds.
Place the Second mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the milk and water and beat on low speed with the paddle attachment to combine.

Switch to the bread hook and add the flour/seed mixture, about a 1/2 cup at a time, letting the dough form and climb the hook. As the dough becomes supple it will mostly clean the sides of the bowl. Use the additional flour, if needed, adding it about 1 tablespoon at a time, to keep the dough from slumping off the hook and into the bottom of the bowl. Knead 6 - 8 minutes or until dough is soft and supple.

Use olive oil to prepare a large bowl or container for letting the dough rise. Cover with oiled plastic wrap or a clean shower cap and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.

Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured board. Divide into two or three equal portions.

Each portion can be shaped as you wish, put in a pan if desired or put onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or Silpat mat. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and a tea towel and let rise until doubled in bulk.

Glaze the loaves with a wash made of one egg beaten with 1 teaspoon of water.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20-35 minutes (depending on shape) until golden brown and loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the back. Let cool a bit before slicing into bread.

Fruits and Nut Braid

For a number of reasons I needed a vacation, so Sweetie and I took one last week and visited some grand and natural wonders in southern Utah and northern Arizona.

You would be hard pressed to find more spectacular scenery, especially if you like rocks. We were able to squeeze in Las Vegas (well the airport anyway),

Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks.

and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

as well as a number of National Forests. We even took an unplanned trip past the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by heading in the opposite direction to where we wanted to go on our last day in Utah.

If you ever find yourself in the area, I can highly recommend two B&Bs. In St. George which is about 1 1/2 hours north of Las Vegas, we stayed in the Green Gate Village Inns,

which is a collection of buildings from the late 1800s which have been renovated beautifully. The accommodations were excellent and the breakfasts were lovely.

At the Purple Sage Inn in Kanab, further east near to Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon north rim, it was almost like staying in your own restored Victorian. The details were exceptional from unusual and beautiful bath and sink fittings to gorgeous wallpaper to lovely light fixtures to fine china on the table for breakfast. I fell in love with the kitchen and can imagine how great it would be to cook in a kitchen that is so well laid out and planned.

The front parlor is welcoming and we found that it was cool enough for a fire in the fireplace. The innkeeper, a native of Kanab, is hospitable, friendly and enjoyable to talk with...plus she is a great cook. Even though we had interesting conversations with other guests at the St. George B&B, at the Purple Sage it was somehow more like sitting around your own table and talking with new friends.

In the evening conversation was lively in the living room around the fireplace, too, although there are plenty of places to just hang out and read or spend some quiet time if that is what you prefer.

Now that we are home, the sourdough starters were fed and I decided to make a braid similar to one I made last year. Somehow the combination of golden raisins, cranberries and pecans seems right in the fall. This time I used some sourdough starter instead of dry yeast and I substituted maple syrup for the brown sugar. After all, maple syrup is a fall/winter kind of ingredient.

The braid baked up beautifully and is delicious with a cup of tea, toasted. We also enjoyed it as sandwich bread today as part of a turkey sandwich. Since it isn't very sweet it worked quite well.

I'm sending this over to Susan at Wild Yeast for the weekly Yeastspotting event...a wonderland of bread recipes...I highly recommend following the link if you love bread and other yeasted delights.

Festive Braid with Raisins, Cranberries, Pecans, Maple and Orange

1 cup sourdough starter
2 ¼ - 3 cups unbleached bread flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated orange zest (colored part only)
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons golden raisins
¼ cup dried cranberries
½ cup chopped toasted pecans
¼ cup maple syrup
1/3 cup warm milk (105 – 115 degrees F)
1 egg, slightly beaten
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

egg wash- 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water
sanding sugar

Place sourdough starter in bottom of stand mixer bowl. Add the maple syrup, warm milk, and egg and mix to blend. Set aside.

Combine 1 ½ cups of the flour, salt, orange zest, raisins, dried cranberries and toasted chopped pecans in large measuring cup or bowl. Mix thoroughly.

Add the dry ingredients and the butter to the yeast mixture. Mix thoroughly.

Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead using the stand mixer and the dough hook or knead on lightly floured surface until smooth, about 10 minutes.

Place in greased bowl, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in warm place until double in bulk – about 1 hour.

Punch down dough. Divide the dough into thirds. Make three ropes. Braid on a greased, parchment covered, or silicon mat covered baking sheet.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until double – about 30 -45 minutes. Brush with egg glaze and sprinkle with sanding sugar right before putting in the oven.
Bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 30 - 40 minutes. Check at 20 minutes. If crust is getting too brown, tent with aluminum foil. Interior temperature should be about 210 degrees F.

Cool on a wire rack.

Optional: Make the Confectioners’ Icing, then drizzle it over the cool loaf. Sprinkle with the additional pecans and some candied cherries to decorate. Let the icing dry before serving.

Confectioners Sugar icing: Mix together 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest and 1-2 tablespoons milk.

California Summer-Bear Claws & Burger Buns

It’s been a looooong time since I was a recent high school graduate but I still remember the feeling that life is filled with possibilities and adventures still to come. I do remember the excitement of visiting California for the first time, many moons ago. Partly due to movies and TV and partly because the Free Speech movement, which was it's height at the University of California during my own college years, had made the news, I had an impression of California long before I arrived. My mom had also told us about her time living in San Francisco during World War II, so when it was time for my first vacation as an employed adult I chose to visit the San Francisco area.

We have been fortunate that The Captain, a recent high school graduate, has been here a few days and he knows just how it feels to have tossed his tassle-less cap in the air recently and has been sharing the excitement that comes with being an East Coast guy visiting California for the first time.

We started with a visit to Spengers, the old time fish market and restaurant that used to be on the Berkeley waterfront, although it’s a bit inland now since they did so much filling in of the bay decades and decades ago. We enjoyed some great seafood and lots of nautical memorabilia, too. The highlight was billed as an upside down apple pie. Not sure what that meant but it was delicious and came with cinnamon ice cream.

Since then we’ve been to a county fair where we took in the food, farm animals, 4H

and a horse race,
to the town of Sonoma where he checked out the old Spanish mission and its adobe bricks and ancient cactus plants, plus we had dinner with Natasha and Miss L. He’s also visited hardware stores, a roadhouse and a salvage yard with Sweetie.

Another day we went to Bodega bay for the beach and Bodega Head


views and fun,

including fun with Xam who looked like a puppy again running along the sand,
and another fish market at Valley Ford where we discovered pretty authentic North Carolina style barbecue. Leaving the coast we stopped at one of the iconic places


where The Birds by Hitchcock was filmed at the town of Bodega. Further fun included a walk in the redwoods

and a picnic overlooking a panoramic view of Austin Creek Recreation area, followed by a drive by the Russian River where we spotted dozens of folks enjoying rafting and kayaking in the late afternoon sunshine. Not all of this happened on the same day, so we’ve been getting in some just-sitting-around-reading-and-sketching-and-enjoying-hobbies time, too. The Baker’s Dog has been thrilled to have the Captain here. Lots of walks, play time and outings have kept Xam happy and a touch worn out.

One day we got into the kitchen in the morning and managed to make hamburger rolls, a braided loaf of bread and bear claws by the end of the day with sightseeing in between! The Captain did most of the work, although I found the recipes and sort of directed the action. My main job (which I assigned to myself so I wouldn’t ‘help’ too much) was kitchen wench washing all the stuff as he was finished with it and putting stuff away in the cupboards. I want one of those when I bake!

For the bear claws we went with a dough based on the dough in Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice for Sticky Buns, plus my own filling recipe. The last time I made bear claws I used walnuts but this time we went with toasted almonds, plus a little almond flour. Perhaps it was the Captain’s light touch or maybe the coolness of the day and long rise, but these were outstanding and far better than the walnut ones.

I still think that the instructions for putting them together is suspect. Next time I plan to only roll the dough 8 inches wide, to put filling in sections and seal the dough between sections, then cut the claws along the fold and not the cut edge as we did this time.

The pastries will probably be bigger that way but the filling will stay put.

For the buns and braid we went with a cooked cereal recipe and modified it. Quick rolled oats was the cereal of choice.

The flour mixture was about half unbleached white bread flour and half a secret, proprietary mixture of the Captain’s that contained barley and whole wheat flour and millet. Raw sunflower seeds topped the hamburger buns, held on with an egg white wash.

Recently I read somewhere that the secret to shaping hamburger buns is to press them down once you have shaped them into balls. Should have thought of that myself, but my last attempt yielded buns that were too tall and bready and not wide enough for a decent burger. This time we patted them down well and they were just the perfect size and height.

The braid is the same dough as the buns and has a whole egg wash. It made a great base for sandwiches for the picnic!

The Captain has been fun to have around, but he has also been a big help. He met Grandma L right after he had mowed her whole yard. While he was doing that Sweetie took a header when the mower he was using decided to head down a bank unexpectedly. All is well except for some scratches but it sure startled a woman driving by on the hill. The two guys also took the old tub to the dump and had fun poking around the recycled area. Wish I had been there but someone has to show up at work now and then. We still have some fun ahead of us...and a surprise guest...with a post next week to update you.

These breads are going to the weekly Yeastspotting over at Susan's blog Wild Yeast. Every week there is a collection of wonderful yeasted breads, rolls and other goodies. Check it out!

If it isn’t too hot to bake where you are and if you enjoy a sweet, tender pastry with a nice crunchy filling, give these bear claws a try. The Captain’s outstanding oatmeal and multigrain braid and buns recipe follows.

Almond Bear Claws
Days to Make: One (1) Active/Resting/Baking Time: 15 minutes to mix, 3 1/2 hours fermentation/shaping/proofing, 20 - 40 minutes to shape and bake
Recipe Quantity: sixteen (16) small rolls

Making the Dough

Ingredients:
6 1/2 tablespoons (3.25 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 1/2 tablespoons (2.75 ounces) shortening or unsalted butter or margarine
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon grated zest of 1 lemon
3 1/2 cups (16 ounces) unbleached bread or all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast*
1 1/8 to 1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk, at room temperature OR 3 tablespoons powdered milk (DMS) and 1 cup water (I used 1 1/8 cups evaporated milk)
*Instant yeast contains about 25% more living cells per spoonful than active dry yeast, regardless of the brand. Instant yeast is also called rapid-rise or fast-rising.

Step 1 - Making the Dough: Cream together the sugar, salt, and shortening or butter on medium-high speed in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a large metal spoon and mixing bowl and do it by hand).

(Note: if you are using powdered milk, cream the milk with the sugar, and add the water with the flour and yeast.)

Whip in the egg and lemon zest until smooth. Then add the flour, yeast, and milk. Mix on low speed (or stir by hand) until the dough forms a ball. Switch to the dough hook and increase the speed to medium, mixing for approximately 10 minutes (or knead by hand for 12 to 15 minutes), or until the dough is silky and supple, tacky but not sticky. You may have to add a little flour or water while mixing to achieve this texture. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

Step 2 - Fermentation: Ferment at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.

Almond Filling
1/3 cup unsalted butter
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup diced dried figs
1 cup lightly toasted almonds, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons almond flour (finely ground almonds/almond meal)
¼ teaspoon salt

Melt and simmer for about 2 minutes the butter and brown sugar. Stir in the figs and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring as needed to keep fruit from sticking. Remove from heat and stir in the almonds, almond flour and salt. Cool slightly before using.

Step 3 - Form the Buns: Lightly flour a board or flat surface or counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Divide dough in half. Return one half to the bowl and cover with oiled plastic wrap.

Roll out one half on a floured board into a 9-by-18-inch rectangle. You may have to add additional flour to the board and/or rolling pin as you work. Sprinkle half of the almond filling over the middle third of the dough. Fold outside third of dough toward center. Fold dough once more to make three layers. Pinch ends of dough to seal. Place sealed side down on greased (or silicon mat lined) baking sheets. Cut into eight pieces. Make four 1/4-inch cuts through the open side of each section and shape into bear claw by separating the four cut sections and curving slightly.

Repeat procedure with remaining dough and filling.

Let rise, uncovered, until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden.

If desired, combine egg yolk with water and brush the tops of bear claws then sprinkle with some sliced almonds before baking.
After baking cool on a rack. When cool drizzle on glaze.

White Glaze: In a Ziploc bag combine ½ cup confectioners’ sugar, the juice of ½ a lemon and enough warm milk (less than ¼ cup usually) to make a glaze that will drizzle out if you cut a small notch in one bottom corner of the Ziploc bag.

Now for the burger buns and bread braid:

The Captain’s Multi-grain Burger Buns and Braided Loaf

1 cup rolled oats, cooked and cooled
1 cup sourdough starter, or 3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F) with 1 package of dry yeast sprinkled over, and allowed to proof for 5 minutes
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup milk at room temperature
About 1 ¼ pounds mixed flours. We used about 2 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour and the rest a mixture of barley, whole wheat flour and ¼ cup millet seeds, weighed to make1 pound 3 oz.

About another ounce of unbleached flour was used for hand kneading. (If using sourdough starter you may find you need extra flour depending on what percentage hydration your starter has.)

1 teaspoon salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the cooked and cooled grain cereal mixture, the sourdough starter or proofed yeast, the egg, butter and milk with a wooden spoon. Set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the flours, millet and salt. Place a dough hook on the stand mixer. With the machine running on low, gradually add the flour mixture (plus the additional flour, if needed) until the dough comes together, climbs the dough hook, and cleans the sides of the bowl. Continue to run the mixer on slow to let the dough knead for another 5- 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and silky.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead another minute to completely combine the ingredients. Gather dough into a ball and place in an oiled large bowl or other container large enough for the dough to rise in. Turn the dough over to oil the whole ball. Cover with a tea towel or oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a draft free warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

To make hamburger buns and a braided loaf divide dough into two pieces.

Shape one piece into a braid by dividing the dough into thirds, shaping each third into a rope, laying the ropes side by side on a parchment or silicon mat lined baking sheet and braiding the ropes, tucking under the ends. Braid loosely since the bread needs to rise before baking (and some in the oven, too!). Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a draft free warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1- 1 1/2 hours. While dough is rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Brush top with an egg wash (1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water). Place baking pan into preheated oven and bake braid until golden brown. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom and is golden brown.

Take second half out of bowl and divide it into 6 pieces. The Captain weighed the pieces so that they were pretty close in weight to each other.

Take each piece and pull pieces from all around toward the bottom, creating a ball. Place with the bottom down, then gently push down from the top to flatten the ball by about half. This will also make the bun a bit wider. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and a tea towel and let rise a draft free warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1- 1 1/2 hours.

While dough is rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (We baked the buns first and then baked the braid while we were having dinner, but if your oven allows two large baking sheets to be used at one time you can bake both together. Often it helps in such cases to switch pans top to bottom and back to front about half way through the baking.)

Bake the risen buns about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool on a wire rack once baked and before slicing either buns or braid. Makes 6 burger buns and a big braided loaf.