BBA Challenge - Pain de Campagne

This BBA Challenge bread is good for making into different shapes and the book shows a variety of possibilities.  I have one banneton (another one has been ordered!) which is a round coiled basket used to proof a loaf into a nice round shape.  I wanted to try it out so I used it for one loaf.  I used a mixing bowl lined with a floured towel for a second round loaf and I decided to turn the third loaf into an "epi" shape.  The epi is first made into a long loaf.  Then you make cuts into it and twist portions of dough out toward one side and then the other to form a long bread with rolls coming out all along it.  I didn't get a picture of it because it was eaten up too fast.  It was too busy a weekend for good pictures, but I did manage to snap a quick picture of the two round loaves.  The one with the rings was proofed in a banneton:

I floured the banneton and the toweled bowl rather heavily as you can see here for fear of sticking.  I had no problem with that.  What did give me trouble was trying to score the dough before baking to make those nice marks on the top.  I have a special little scoring blade but as soon as I started trying to make the cuts the dough began collapsing.  You can see the loaves are a little misshapen.  I also didn't get a brown color--especially on the loaf in the back, but it was definitely done and delicious. The loaves were rather small and look just perfect for soups "in a bread bowl."  As soon as I get my second banneton, I'd like to make this bread again and get the hang of that scoring.  Then I'll make my soup or chili to serve in it.

BBA Challenge - Pain a l'Ancienne

We took a summer break from bread baking but fall's coming and we're starting back into our BBA Challenge.  Our next bread to make was Pain a l'Ancienne.  This bread is shown as baguettes, but we decided to shape it into focaccia.  Except for a small mistake I made of reaching for the spray water instead of spray oil to spray the parchment paper with before easing the soft, sticky dough onto it (which meant I had the mess of spraying a new sheet with oil and removing wet sticky dough from the first paper and transferring it!)--other than that--I had absolutely no trouble with this bread.

Focaccia can be topped with oil and any combination of herbs, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, etc., before baking.  I chose to simply drizzle it lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. I didn't add any herbs since I wanted the option to add whatever flavor I want when I eat it.  I love it simply dipped in olive oil with salt or in rosemary oil.  Another time I might want to add basil or other herbs to the oil.  I also loved it with my homemade butter spread on it. (See previous post.)  This would make a great panini or a simple sandwich.  My problem is I want to eat the whole loaf right now--I'm well on my way.  I had to hide half of it in the freezer to keep it away from me. 

BBA Challenge - Light Wheat Bread

I have fallen so far behind in my cooking, baking and blogging.  School is starting to wind down now, so I'm looking forward to getting back to it.  I've missed reading everyone else's posts also--got some catching up to do all around. 
We baked our Light Wheat Bread this weekend.  I actually prefer more rustic, crusty bread, but this is a really good sandwich bread for when a light sliced bread is in order.  It rose well and had good flavor.

BBA Challenge - French Bread

This will be one of my favorites and most-often-baked breads.   I prepared the pate fermentee last weekend but didn't have time to make the bread then.  I put it in the freezer for a few days.  That didn't seem to hurt it at all.  This bread was actually fun to make.  I enjoy the softness of the dough--it requires such gentle handling to maintain the rise.  I used a couche for the proofing.  I had a dilemma at this stage.  There was a hot stone in the oven.  I had a peel dusted with semolina and I remembered I also had french bread pans that I had never used.  There were three soft, proofed baguettes waiting to be transferred somehow from the couche folds into the oven.  I decided to use my french bread pans.  I gently lifted one of the long loaves.  It immediately collapsed into a long shrunken loaf into a pan that was smaller in diameter than the loaf.  No good.  Forget the pan.  I couldn't imagine I'd be able to get those soft loaves onto a big wooden peel and then flipped onto a hot stone in the oven--but that was the only option now.  I managed to transfer one loaf onto the peel--looking good!  I opened the oven door and pulled out the rack with the stone and, with courage and confidence, gave a sliding flip and the loaf slid right off the semolina-dusted peel onto the stone!  The second one went just as easily.  That was an exciting moment.  I felt like a bread professional.  I wish I had a picture.  The loaves baked beautifully--but I did forget to slash the tops. 

Notice the nice holes!  This bread was really really good.

BBA Challenge - Focaccia

This was a good bread with so many possibilities for toppings!  I just added an Italian mix of herbs to olive oil to dribble over the top of the bread.

After it was baked, it was delicious dipped in just some salted olive oil.

Definitely have to try this with toppings like sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, cheeses, etc.

BBA Challenge - English Muffins

These were actually made a couple weeks ago, but I'm somewhat behind in posting.  This was another one of those breads that made me say, "Next time, I will . . ."  When I shaped the dough into boules, I took very seriously the instruction to create surface tension to cause the bread to rise up, not just out.  That's just what they did.  They rose up, but didn't widen much.

I thought they might spread out a lot when they were placed in the pan, but they didn't.  I also didn't know how to judge the heat of my skillet and the doneness of the muffins, so, as you can see, I browned them too much.  They didn't have the big holes I wanted.  I'll work on that the next time I make them.

But with butter, cherry preserves and a hot cup of tea, they were still a treat!

BBA Challenge - Cinnamon Buns

Today was a perfect day to mix up some of Mr. Reinhart's Cinnamon Buns.  I  didn't have any trouble mixing the dough.  I used all the buttermilk and added just a bit extra flour to help the dough come away from the bowl.  The dough was nice and soft.  I made the large buns.  Cutting the rolled dough was a little tricky on my first try when I tried to saw back and forth with my knife.  But I found if I used my serrated knife and pulled the knife toward me, then lifted it up and drew it through again and again, I was able to cut the pieces without mashing the dough.  Then I used a little spatula to lift the pieces onto my pan.

After rising the buns were touching like they should:

After baking I only used about 1/2 of the glaze to drizzle over the tops.  It was enough for our taste.

We really liked these with a cup of coffee.  Thank you, Mr. Reinhart.

BBA Challenge Corn Bread

With every bread in Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice, I learn more about baking.  Today we made the corn bread.  Mr. Reinhart's corn bread is more of a moist, flavorful hearty dish than just a dry, crumbly cornbread as so many of them are.  The ingredient list includes buttermilk, honey, brown sugar, bacon and corn kernels, as well as the expected ingredients.  The coarse-grind cornmeal is soaked in buttermilk overnight before the rest of the ingredients are added.  This recipe suggests the bacon be baked in the oven before being crumbled to add into the dough.  That was a neat, easy way to prepare the bacon. My only problem with this recipe was that I used the frozen corn option since fresh corn isn't available here right now.  The recipe didn't mention thawing the corn before adding it so I didn't.  Of course, frozen corn in the batter increased the baking time quite a bit.  I had to leave the bread in the oven about 20 minutes longer than the recipe called for to reach the required internal temperature.  That didn't seem to hurt it any.  It is delicious.

This corn bread has that combination of sweet bites of fresh corn with smoky bacon pieces that go so well together anytime.  It is rich and moist.  As I was eating it, all I could think about was that I wanted a bowl of steaming  brown beans and hot cooked fresh-tasting juicy apples on the side.   If it weren't so late at night, I'd go back out to the kitchen and make both right now. . . .Mmmmmmm.

BBA Challenge Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread

Some of my family asked to be here when I bake the cinnamon rolls, which would be next in our sequence of baking for the BBA Challenge, so we agreed to make the Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread now and the rolls when they could be here later in the month.  This was a pretty easy bread to make.  As usual, there were some decisions to make, though.  First I kneaded the bread by machine.  Then I turned it out onto a board to knead in the raisins and walnuts:

It was hard to believe all the fruit and nuts would mix into the dough, but it did:

Now I had to make a decision--should I make the cinnamon sugar swirl or leave it as it is?  I decided to make the swirl.  After mixing the 1/2 cup sugar with the 2 tblsp. cinnamon, I thought it looked like an awful lot to spread in the breads.  I used about a third of the mixture per loaf.  It still looked like an awful lot:

I went with it and rolled it up:

After the second proofing, I baked the loafs and faced one more decision:  should I butter the tops and sprinkle on yet more sugar and cinnamon or call it enough???  I split the decision and did both:

I can never let the bread cool as Mr. Reinhart recommends because someone here always speaks up and says, "Cut me a one-inch piece and put some butter on it!" as soon as it comes out of the oven, so here is how it looks hot and fresh out of the oven:

Final thoughts:

This is DELICIOUS.  I wouldn't put sugar on top next time--it didn't need that extra sweetening for us.  I would put a little less in the swirl, but would definitely make it with the swirl again.  It gives it that intense cinnamon flavor that you get in a really good cinnamon roll.  And it's simply a really nice bread even if it didn't have the swirl of extra flavor. 

BBA Challenge Ciabatta Bread

Ciabatta is one of my very favorite breads.  It's chewy with a good crust.  I was so busy with Christmas things that I didn't concentrate enough on this bread today--I just put it together quickly.  I used the Poolish starter and read later that the Biga starter produces larger holes.  Also, I would add more water next time--I believe my dough could have been softer and still be workable.  I'd like it to be a little flatter and with more holes.  This bread rises with larger holes when the dough is as wet as it can be handled.  The end had big holes, as you can see, but it's more dense toward the center.  I haven't cut the second one yet--it feels light and airy.

BBA Challenge Dresden Stollen

Dresden Stollen is a traditional German Christmas bread.  This version, from Peter Reinhart's book is delicious and not too difficult to make.  For my fruits, I used 1 cup golden raisins and 1 cup of a mixture of currants, citron, candied orange peel and a few candied red cherries.  I presoaked the fruit in rum and lemon extract for several days before using it.

I rolled the fruit-filled dough around a roll of almond paste before the final proofing. (I used almond paste, not marzipan.)  When the bread was baked, I brushed it with melted butter and covered it in vanilla sugar (confectioner's sugar which has had vanilla bean stored in it).  I had to cut a piece to try before I put it away for Christmas.  It is moist and luscious.  I love this bread.  The fruit combination and the almond paste in each slice are so good. 

BBA Challenge #6 Challah Bread

This was the easiest bread in the BBA Challenge for me so far.  It went together quickly and didn't require much actual preparation time.  It can be totally completed in one day.  This bread is a little plain in flavor, but good for a simple bread and looks really pretty on the table.  I had a little trouble with the written braiding instructions that said to lay strand 3 over strand 2 and then strand 1 over strand 2???  I check Mr. Reinhart's new book, artisan breads every day, and the braiding instructions there cleared up my confusion--strand 3 becomes strand 2 after it crosses over strand 2, so strand 1 is crossed over the new strand 2.  That would have been no problem if I had simply braided the way I know how.  I was just trying to follow the written instruction and found it a little confusing in the way it was worded.  If you simply braid the strips, it's easy.

BBA Challenge Bread #5 Casatiello

I made this bread from Peter Reinhart's book using his recommended ingredients of pepperoni and provolone cheese.  I bought sharp provolone for the extra flavor.  I also used buttermilk because Reinhart mentioned that was his preference for the extra tang it gives.  I cut the pepperoni in small cubes and shredded the cheese using the larger holes on my grater.  The pile of pepperoni looked like too much for the fairly small amount of dough I had.  I almost decided to cut the amount in half, but I decided to trust the recipe.  The dough was a pleasure to work with--I had no problems with it.  I wanted to use an 8-inch cake pan, which the recipe gave as one of the choices.  The way I read it, it sounded like I would use only one pan.  When I put the dough in, it looked like it filled the pan even before I proofed it a final time. 

I considered making it in 2 small loaf pans, but I left it in the cake pan.  It puffed up like a mushroom cloud!

We laughed and laughed at it and worried just a little that it might overflow the little pan.  It didn't.  It came out perfectly!

The outside was brown and chewy and the inside was so soft--it pulled apart in rich, tender strands with the tang of buttermilk and cheese and the bites of flavor from pepperoni.  Next time I would add about 1/2 again the amount of pepperoni.  It seemed to have migrated to the crust and was sparse inside the bread.

Notice the big holes where cheese melted.  I love this bread and will definitely make it again with meat and cheese and, another time, with fruits and nuts.  I'm wondering if it would make a good chocolate bread with dried sour cherries. 

BBA Challenge Bread #4 Brioche

Should we make the Rich Man's Brioche??  The Middle-Class Brioche?? Tiny molds?  Larger molds--which we didn't have?  Or should we just use loaf pans, which we both had?  There were some decisions to make with this BBA Challenge.  We decided that Karen would make the Rich Man's Brioche and I would make the Middle-Class and we would compare the two.  I already had one pan that I thought would work for a larger brioche and we ordered more pans.  Mine were 7-inch and hers were 8-inch.  Both sizes seemed to work just fine.  This recipe kept me on  my toes as I kept switching between the quantities for the middle-class version and the general directions on the previous page.  I almost panicked when I noticed I had forgotten the little note on bottom of page 127, "proceed as for Rich Man's Brioche, extending the fermentation for the sponge to 30 to 45 minutes."  I also missed the little note about allowing the dough to rest 5 minutes before adding the butter.  It still all worked out just fine.  The bread rose (Peter Reinhart would be happy) and the outcome was delicious.    Karen's bread seemed impossibly buttery to her when she was working with it but it did what it should do.  She said it made really delicious french toast. 

Today we compared them.  They were quite different from each other.  The Rich Man's Brioche was very rich and buttery and had the most interesting texture.  The Middle-Class Brioche seemed perfect for just bread or little individual rolls.  Karen brought in some fig jam and I had some of my applebutter--both were so good on our brioche.

BBA Challenge Goes To School

Add bleu cheese to the picture and what do they have in common?  All three belong to the Kingdom Fungi.  In my science classroom we are about to dissect mushrooms, make spore prints and explore the fascinating world of yeast.  I'm going to share with my students what I've learned from the BBA Challenge--that wild yeasts are all around us and we can use them to make some delicious bread. We're going to capture some using Reinhart's recipe in his newly released book, artisan breads every day.  We'll mix some bread flour and pineapple juice and stir and watch until it is active and bubbly. I'll bring it home and bake sourdough bread for the students to sample.  I just received my copy of this bread book and am anxious for Friday night to curl up with my tea and my new book to select the bread for my class.

This weekend is time for our next bread, also, for our challenge.  Karen is planning to make the Rich Man's Brioche and I'm making the Middle-Class Brioche so we can compare the two.  I'll let you know Monday what our vote is.  Reinhart offers to send his readers an autographed bookplate to place in his new book if you send him an sase--check his blog.  Mine came today!  Just in time for my new book!

BBA Challenge and Bagels

I had trouble with this challenge.  Karen made the same ones but hers turned out perfectly.  The only differences we could come up with in our handling of the dough was that I didn't have oil spray, so I brushed my dough with oil before the final rise.  She lightly sprayed hers as the recipe instructed.  When we put the bagels into the water, I added the baking soda and she didn't.  Hers puffed right up as she put them into the boiling water.  Mine stayed flat.  In the oven mine stayed flat and just wouldn't brown.  I kept them in longer hoping for some browning.  It never happened on top, although the bottoms did darken, as you can see on the picture.  As a result, my bagels are tough from overbaking and somewhat denser as they didn't rise well.  The taste is very good.  I think my problem was too much oil before the final rise???  The baking soda in the water shouldn't have affected the rise, should it???  I'll try these again--but I'll have to get some oil spray first.

This is my day of bad beginnings.  I discovered my socks were just too small.  I checked my gauge--a little late, don't you think?  It was quite a bit off.  So these are my socks now.   They were prettier yesterday.  I guess I'll check the gauge with size 3 needles--blagh. 

My daughter drove to State College, PA, last night with some friends.  It's the middle of October.  Did you hear what they had in State College?? SNOW! 

I felt a little better after a bowl of warming potato soup and a soothing dessert of rice pudding.  Tomorrow I'll make a whole pot of tea and start on my socks again.

BBA Challenge Greek Celebration Bread

Bread 2 in our BBA Challenge turned out beautifully.  I opted to add the glaze and felt it added the sweetness that enhanced the bread just enough.  The glaze is a bit sticky, however, if that bothers anyone.  The bread itself has a good mildly spicy flavor from all the flavorings added and an excellent moist texture.  I added equal amounts of light and dark raisins, dried sour cherries and walnuts.  The bit of tang from the cherries and golden raisins was sooo good and balanced by the sweeter dark raisins and the honey glaze.  I had some organic sesame seeds that tasted somewhat raw to me so I toasted those for about 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven before I sprinkled them on top.

I am considering making this bread for my little grandson's baptism as it is a Celebration Bread.

The barm was the starter I chose for this bread.  It was an interesting process.  If anyone saw the old movie, "The Blob," this seemed to fit.  I found, twice, that I apparently had a very healthy, perhaps somewhat aggressive, starter here.  The first time I misjudged the size of the container I would need and it crawled out from under the plastic wrap and ended up coming down the side onto the counter.  The second time I had refreshed it and let it sit out to ferment--planning to refrigerate it about 4 hours later.  I fell asleep watching "Top Chef" and woke up to go to bed.  Barm sat on the counter all night.  The next day it was out of its jar, on the counter and onto the floor!  It's still fine and I have now tucked the remaining barm into my freezer to slow its growth until I need it again.  Karen's barm has not risen so aggressively--we can't figure out the difference.  I did have some wild grapes in my kitchen a couple days so I wonder if some wild yeasts from the grapes could have affected my barm.  Anyone know??

BBA Challenge--Bread 1

We made the first bread in The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart this weekend.  We are now in the Challenge.  Our goal is to make all the breads in the book by baking one every other weekend.  This was Anadama bread.  It turned out really moist and hearty.  I would make one small change the next time I make this bread.  The recipe says to sprinkle the top with cornmeal before baking.  I used the same coarse cornmeal that I used in the dough.  I would use a finer cornmeal for that step next time to prevent biting down on occasional little hard pieces that are present in the coarse-grind cornmeal.  I did have to add some extra flour while kneading to get the dough to the non-sticky stage.  Karen kneaded her bread by hand.  I used my Kitchen-Aid.  We seemed to get the same results.  This bread was delicious with our seasoned pinto beans for dinner.  A cold glass of buttermilk added a delicious refreshing tang to the meal.