ongoing projects...

Last night I made a double batch of the challah bread recipe, did a first proof and shaped the loaves. These I covered and kept in the fridge overnight, and in the morning set them out for about 90 minutes before baking for 45 minutes. They turned out nicely, so I know that I can retard the proofing overnight after shaping successfully.

One bread we are eating, the other went to a friend because she won a game of "Guess When the Repair Guy Shows Up" (my washer was broken, and they always give you a 4 hour window of when the repair guy may show. I usually post a contest to guess when this is on my LiveJournal.)

Loaf #5 of 100 for 2007, oatmeal rolls

I got the starter recipe from The Bread Book, which is a decent book although it has all the measurements in grams and uses cake yeast measurements. I usually end up translating the recipes to my usual methodology anyway, so here is how I did it.

Oatmeal Rolls

Mix together
8oz rolled oats (not instant!)
1 3/4 cup milk
Cover and let sit for 2 hours.

Combine
4 oz whole wheat flour
4oz bread flour
3 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t instant yeast

blend with the rolled oats mush, knead 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes by machine. Proof for 1 hour, punch down and shape the dough. The recipe called for the dough to be divided into 16 rolls (I did 2 oz rolls and got 15 out of the batch). On a second try I did eight 4 oz rolls and liked the size better, pictured on the right. I also used high gluten flour for the larger rolls, but don't think it fluffed them up that much.

Let the rolls proof for 30-45 minutes, then brush with egg and sprinkle on some rolled oats. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes, cool throughly.

Overall I liked this recipe, the results tasted pretty good. I did try a batch with apple cinnamon granola, but the results were so bad that I cropped them out of the pictures and will pretend they didn't happen. A sweet cinnamon raisin version of this is probably possible, but will require some experimentation.

My kids loved the rolls to dip into their soup. Then they tore them apart and scattered them all over the floor. So it's not just food, it's entertainment.

Loaf #4 of 100 for 2007, Purple Challah Ring

A friend gave me some purple yam powder he got from an Asian market. The ingredients were just powdered purple yam, it's only purpose was to make the challah loaf purple. After baking it was slightly purple if you saw it in good light, but I was just adding it for the novelty. It was also my first time making a ring of rolls.


Purple Challah

Mix together
12 oz high gluten flour
12 oz bread flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons purple yam powder
1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Add
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon yeast
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
9 oz cold water

Knead until smooth, put in an oiled bowl. Cover and proof at room temp, or put in a cold oven with a pan of hot water, for about 2 hours until double in size. Punch down, fold over on itself a few times and shape the dough. In this case I made 8 equal boule balls (I think they were about 4 oz each) and formed them into a ring. Let proof for another hour or more (I was distracted and this rose for 3 hours without ill consequences.)

After second proof, turn oven to 350, glaze the bread with egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired. Bake for 30-45 minutes depending on the size of the loaf (this one baked about 40 minutes.) Cool. Bread tears away easily at the joints between the boule balls.

ongoing projects...

Besides trying out new methodology to create a good tasting loaf, I'm also playing around with just how much bread dough I can make at once. I got a used Electrolux mixer a few weeks ago, and it is able to get more bread kneaded than my Kitchen Aid mixer can due to the bowl rotating rather than the dough hook. There are some thing about it that are less intuitive than the Kitchen Aid, but I like the fact that it can do larger amounts and there are fewer moving parts to get my hand mangled in if I have to scrape dough for any reason while it's moving.

Today I made about 5 lbs of dough in one batch (haven't weighed it yet, I'm guessing based on ingredients). I'm playing with sourdough at the same time, so we'll see how these loaves turn out.

Loaf #3 of 100 for 2007, Caterpillar bread

After some earlier success with pull-apart rolls, I wanted to try them on a French loaf pan. For this recipe I used teff flour and seeds along with the regular bread flour, high gluten preferment and whole wheat flour.

After making the dough I divided it in half, and each half into eight pieces and formed them into small rolls, which were placed side by side on the parchment covered French loaf pan. After proofing I applied a wash, scored the top and sprinkled on teff seed (which should have gone on after the wash and before the scoring, but I almost forgot).

The result was a tasty bread, and a nice tear apart function to the loaf. A friend dubbed it caterpillar bread, and that's what I'm going to call it (better than gator tale bread, my first thought). Basic bread recipe was used with teff and whole wheat flour.

Preferment
8 oz high gluten flour
15 oz water
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast

Mix together in a container that allows for expansion (I mix them together with a whisk), cap with a loose fitting lid or with plastic wrap and a few tiny holes poked through the plastic.

The Dough.
8 oz bread flour
2 oz teff flour
6 oz whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon instant yeast
2 teaspoons salt
preferment
egg for glaze
teff seed for sprinkling

When it's time to make the dough, put all of the flour into the bowl of your mixer. Add 1 teaspoon instant yeast, 2 teaspoons salt and the preferment. Put in your dough hook and mix until the dough just comes together, about 5 minutes. Cover with a towel and let rest 15 minutes to let the water saturate the dough, then turn on medium speed for 5-8 minutes to knead the dough.

While the dough is kneading, bring a teakettle full of water to a boil. Pour about 3-4 cups of hot water into a bowl in the oven and close the door. This creates a warm, moist enviornment that the yeast loves. When the dough is through kneading, transfer it to a greased bowl (I sprits a bowl with nonstick spray, then do a quick spray over the dough). Put the dough and bowl into the oven with the hot water and let proof (rise) for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, it's time to shape the dough. I will cover shaping techniques later, so I'll assume you can form a basic boule or put it in a loaf pan for now. Once the dough is shaped, refresh the hot water in the oven, and put the loaf back in for 1 hour. When the hour is up, remove the loaf and start preheating the oven (mine takes about 10 minutes to preheat). While the oven heats, scramble and egg and brush it over the surface, then use a serrated knife to make slashes on the top of the loaf. sprinkle with teff seed. Bake at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes for a whole loaf, 25 minutes for a French loaf.

Loaf #2 of 100 for 2007, millet whole wheat with flax meal

Again I used the basic bread recipe for the loaf, with high gluten flour for the preferment and the remaining dough half bread flour, a quarter millet flour and a quarter whole wheat, plus 2 Tablespoons flax meal for added texture, flavor and nutritional value.

I made a boule, but it spread out a bit more than I intended, and the large slashing let it spread out a bit more than intended. It was still tasty, slightly nutty and grainy.

Preferment
8 oz high gluten flour
15 oz water
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
The Dough.
8 oz bread flour
4 oz millet flour
4 oz whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons flax meal
1 teaspoon instant yeast
2 teaspoons salt
preferment

When it's time to make the dough, put 1 pound (16 oz) of bread flour into the bowl of your mixer. Add 1 teaspoon instant yeast, 2 teaspoons salt and the preferment. Put in your dough hook and mix until the dough just comes together, about 5 minutes. Cover with a towel and let rest 15 minutes to let the water saturate the dough, then turn on medium speed for 5-8 minutes to knead the dough.

While the dough is kneading, bring a teakettle full of water to a boil. Pour about 3-4 cups of hot water into a bowl in the oven and close the door. This creates a warm, moist enviornment that the yeast loves. When the dough is through kneading, transfer it to a greased bowl (I sprits a bowl with nonstick spray, then do a quick spray over the dough). Put the dough and bowl into the oven with the hot water and let proof (rise) for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, it's time to shape the dough. I will cover shaping techniques later, so I'll assume you can form a basic boule or put it in a loaf pan for now. Once the dough is shaped, refresh the hot water in the oven, and put the loaf back in for 1 hour. When the hour is up, remove the loaf and start preheating the oven (mine takes about 10 minutes to preheat). While the oven heats, scramble and egg and brush it over the surface, then use a serrated knife to make slashes on the top of the loaf. Bake at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes.

eggs, trouble in a shell...

I just had an interesting experience today while making some challah. Last night I'd gotten more eggs, but instead of my usual jumbo sized eggs I got large eggs because they were cheaper at that grocery store. When I made the challah dough, it was too dry. I realized I was using smaller eggs, and cracked one into a measuring cup. Sure enough, a full ounce smaller. Jumbo eggs are about 4 oz (1/4 cup), these were 3 oz. With 2 eggs in the dough, it was 2 oz short.

So from now on, I'll be listing the egg content in ounces rather than by the number of eggs, because that's just more accurate. And no one wants dry challah dough.

Loaf #1 of 100 for 2007, spelt whole wheat bread

In my experience, you can make a loaf with whole wheat but you want at least half of it to be bread or high gluten flour for a lighter loaf. For this one I used high gluten flour for the preferment, and the rest of the dough was half bread flour, a quarter spelt, and a quarter wheat. An egg wash and simple boule and slash made for a hearty and tasty loaf. I used the basic bread method to make the loaf.





Preferment
8 oz high gluten flour
15 oz water
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
Let proof in fridge overnight, store up to a week.

The Dough.
8 oz bread flour
4 oz spelt flour
4 oz whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon instant yeast
2 teaspoons salt
preferment
egg for glaze

When it's time to make the dough, put 1 pound (16 oz) of bread flour into the bowl of your mixer. Add 1 teaspoon instant yeast, 2 teaspoons salt and the preferment. Put in your dough hook and mix until the dough just comes together, about 5 minutes. Cover with a towel and let rest 15 minutes to let the water saturate the dough, then turn on medium speed for 5-8 minutes to knead the dough.

While the dough is kneading, bring a teakettle full of water to a boil. Pour about 3-4 cups of hot water into a bowl in the oven and close the door. This creates a warm, moist enviornment that the yeast loves. When the dough is through kneading, transfer it to a greased bowl (I sprits a bowl with nonstick spray, then do a quick spray over the dough). Put the dough and bowl into the oven with the hot water and let proof (rise) for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, it's time to shape the dough. I will cover shaping techniques later, so I'll assume you can form a basic boule or put it in a loaf pan for now. Once the dough is shaped, refresh the hot water in the oven, and put the loaf back in for 1 hour. When the hour is up, remove the loaf and start preheating the oven (mine takes about 10 minutes to preheat). While the oven heats, scramble and egg and brush it over the surface, then use a serrated knife to make slashes on the top of the loaf. Bake at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes.