May Babes Open the Lover's Window

I had every intention of making the May bread bake just as posted by our lovely Kitchen of the Month Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories. Really, I did. The Shubak el-Habayeb is a wonderful bread to make, with the fragrance of flower waters and the exotic taste of mahleb. Here is what she says about it:
"Shubak el-Habayeb is an Iraqi bread, and the name, translated, means The Lover's Window.

I found this bread in the book, The Book of Buns, from Jane Mason. To quote Jane: ".. The Lover's Window, which kind of makes me want to cry every time I think about it - it's just lovely! I would love to know who named it and whether they ever found their true love."

This is a fragrant bread, with orange blossom water, rose water, cardamom, and mahleb. Mahleb (or mahlab) is a powder made from the seeds of the St. Lucy's cherry. I had a jar in my pantry, which I had hunted down from when I made Ka'kat, so when I spotted this recipe, I knew I had to make it! "

But, as often is the case, life had other plans for me. My lover has kept me guessing this month. After Sweetie rolled the tractor over and narrowly avoided consequences much greater than the cracked ribs and massive bruise that he did get, time really got away from me as I tried for a few weeks to be two people for all the usual chores, plus as I did my best to take good care of him and keep him from overdoing.

Then, yesterday, he was told by a medical professional to avoid eating foods with small seeds. Aaakk.The tops of these rolls are supposed to have sesame seeds. So I made the rolls as seed-less long oblongs and filled them with Italian turkey sausage links,

but with no seeds, just a little sea salt after I brushed on the glaze. The spaces that I cut into the rolls didn't seem to hold, either, but then the rolls had great oven spring! I measured them at 1/2 inch when they were first shaped, but they did puff up some during the rise before baking, and then a lot in the oven.

These were delicious rolls, moist, exotic in flavor, only a little sweet, and really lovely to look at, too. Very nice, tight crumb, perfect for soaking up the sausage juices.

I found the dough very easy to work with. I only used half the dough because I plan to mix some currants into the rest and make pan rolls. Thanks you Karen for a great recipe. Use this link to go to Karen's page for the full recipe.

You know you'll want to be a Buddy and do better than I did, which won't be all that difficult, really. Bake the rolls, take a snap and send Karen a short description of your bake, the photo, and a link. She'll send you a Buddy badge and include you in the round up.

Do, also, check out the lovely buns of my fellow Babes...wait, that doesn't sound right...erm, check out their Shubak el-Habayeb rolls.

• Blog from OUR Kitchen – Elizabeth
• A Messy Kitchen – Kelly
• Judy’s Gross Eats – Judy
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories – Karen
• Notitie Van Lien – Lien
• My Diverse Kitchen - Aparna
• Bread Experience - Cathy
• Thyme for Cooking - Katie
• My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna
• Bake My Day - Karen

Happy May!

Wonderful With Jam

Elizabeth of Blog From Our Kitchen is our Kitchen of the Month for this new year, January 2017. She chose a bread she heard of from another BBB, the lovely Jaime. Jaime has a bed and breakfast property in France and one of the impressive things about the breakfast she serves is the amazing variety of homemade jams.

These rolls are wonderful with jam! They have a rich taste, have a tight crumb, and a nice crust, and are light and flavorful. If you don't like jam, that's OK because they are fine all by themselves (or with a little butter).

I did the orange version. The orange is just hinted at, but I think it is lovely. I also used wheat germ and Irish Wholemeal Flour (instead of whole wheat flour) because I like the flecks of germ and bran in it. I did use the orange blossom water and a bit of dried orange peel, plus the orange liquor.

I made the dough as the recipe was written, making sure that the milk mixture was body temperature and everything, but it's been cold and damp around here...lots of rain and wind and power outages...so I found that the dough really wasn't rising. It wasn't part of the recipe, but I decided to boost the dough a bit by taking a cup of all-purpose flour, some additional dry yeast (maybe 1/2 teaspoon...not sure, didn't measure it) and adding enough water to make a soft dough. I let that dough sit for about an hour to let the yeast get feisty, then kneaded it into the recipe dough until it was pretty well combined. Then I let that dough rise as if it were the first rise. I think that all of the butter, milk, eggs and alcohol might have bested the original yeast a bit, so the reinforcements were needed. From that point the dough rose really well and the resulting rolls were heavenly.

I shaped the rolls just as the recipe called for. Because I had added more dough, they were pretty large. Next time I think I'll make eight or nine rolls so they are a bit smaller. Might put them in a cake tin, too.

So try this lovely French roll bread, especially if you like some jam (and butter) with your rolls.
If you want to be a Buddy, let Elizabeth know how your rolls turned out and be sure to include a photo for the roundup. She needs that by January 29th. Check her blog for details.

Check out what the other Babes have baked this month, too.
A Messy Kitchen - Kelly - Fouace-Nantaise -an Orange Scented Bread 

Blog From Our Kitchen -Elizabeth - Dreaming of Orange Blossoms

Bread Experience - Cathy - Fouace-Nantaise Orange Star Bread

Judy's Gross Eats - Judy
Karen's Kitchen Stories - Karen - Fouace-Nantaise /Two Ways
Life's A Feast - Jaime - Life's A Feast

My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna  - BBB Fouace- Nantaise

Notitie van Lien - Lien - BBBabes Give You An Orange Flower 

and our queen of the round-up:

Thyme for Cooking - Katie  -  http://thymeforcookingblog.com

Here is the recipe that Elizabeth gave us:

Fouace Nantaise 

based on Jamie Schler's recipe for Fouace Nantaise

   

·                     50g (3+1/2 Tbsp) unsalted butter

·                     60g (60ml) milk

·                     3g (3/4 tsp) active dry yeast

·                     250g (~2c) flour
   » 50g (6 Tbsp) 100% whole wheat
   » 185g (1+1/2 c) unbleached all-purpose
   » 15g (2 Tbsp) wheat germ

·                     4g (~1/2 tsp fine) sea salt

·                     25g (2 Tbsp) sugar

·                     45g (45ml) orange liqueur (Grand Marnier or Cointreau)

·                     7g (~1+1/2tsp) orange blossom water

·                     2 eggs, body temperature, lightly beaten

·                     zest of one orange, optional

·                     milk or cream, for wash on shaped loaf

·                      

1.             mixing: Melt butter.

2.             Pour milk into a largish mixing bowl. Add the melted butter to the milk to raise the temperature to body temperature (check with a thermometer OR by placing a drop on the inside of your wrist - if the milk feels cool, it's too cold; if it feels hot, it's too hot; if it feels like nothing, it's ju-u-u-st right). Add yeast and whisk in until it has dissolved.

3.             Adding them one at a time, whisk in eggs, then pour in orange liqueur and orange blossom water. Place flours, sugar, salt, and orange zest (if using) on top. Using a wooden spoon, stir until the flour has been absorbed. (Traditionally, the bread is made with rum rather than orange liqueur. The first time I made this, I did use rum, but I really wished that the flavour was more orangey so decided to use orange liqueur instead.)

4.             kneading: Using one hand to turn the bowl and the other to dig down to the bottom to lift the dough up to the top, turn, fold, turn, fold, etc. the dough until it is smooth and elastic. As you knead, resist the temptation to add more flour or water.

5.             Once the dough is kneaded, cover the bowl with a plate and allow the dough to rise, until almost completely doubled, on the counter in a non-drafty area.

6.             shaping: When the dough has doubled, it's time to shape. (To check to see if it's ready, poke a hole in the top of the dough. If the hole fills up, it hasn't risen enough. If there is a whoosh of air and the dough deflates a little, it has risen too much. If the hole stays in exactly the same configuration and the dough remains otherwise intact, it is ju-u-st right.) Turn the risen dough out onto a very lightly floured board (just the smallest dusting will be enough). Divide the dough evenly into 7 pieces.

7.             Shape each piece into a ball. Place one ball in the center of a parchment-lined cookie tray. Arrange the other six balls of dough loosely around the center ball - to form a flower. Cover with a damp (clean) tea towel followed by plastic grocery bags and leave to rise until almost doubled. (To test, using a floured finger, gently press against the side of the shaped bread. If the indentation immediately jumps back, it's not ready; if it stays indented, it has over-risen; if it gradually fills in, it's ready to go.

8.             baking: Preheat the oven to 350F. Gently brush the top of the risen bread with milk (or cream). Put the tray onto the top shelf of the oven (to prevent the bread from burning on the bottom) and bake for about 30 minutes until the bread is a "deep golden brown". Jamie also writes that the outer "petals" of the flower "will have just started to pull away from the center ball".

·                     Other recipes for Fouace Nantaise:
» Foodista: Jamie Schler's Fouace Nantaise
» Trouver en Bretagne: Fouace Nantaise (en français)