Tag Archive: bread

May 08 2013

#BrunchWeek: Brioche (& The #Giveaways Continue!) #ad

Categories:

#BrunchWeek, Baking, Food, Giveaway, Recipes

Disclosure: Giveaways are sponsored by The Food and Wine Conference and #SundaySupper, Stonyfield Organics, Bob’s Red Mill, Whole Foods Orlando, Blackgold Farms, Flavors of Summer, California Walnuts, and Lodge Cast Iron. All opinions and recipes remain my own, unless otherwise noted.

#BrunchWeek continues and I want to know: What kinds of foods do you usually serve at a brunch? Quiche? Bacon? How about a nice, soft loaf of bread? With a hint of sweetness, brioche is the perfect brunch bread, whether you’re toasting it and slathering with jam or saving it for loftier pursuits. It’s just a little bit special–not something you make every day–which will make Mom feel all that much more appreciated. Pull out all the stops–she’s worth it!

Brioche bread

Watching brioche dough knead is a little like watching magic happen. Or I’m just light-headed from holding my breath so long, half anticipating my mixer will blow up in the process. Regardless, when you go from a sloppy, sticky mess to a smooth ball of dough, there is nothing short of magic in the transformation, even if it takes the brute force of a stand mixer kneading for 20 minutes to achieve it. I had to hold myself back from adjusting the wetness of the dough like I usually do in bread baking–and it was so hard to do! Patience is rewarded, however, with a soft, buttery bread that will knock your socks off!

Brioche bread

There is very little hands-on time devoted to this special bread. Throw the ingredients in the bowl, watch your mixer knead it, place it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, let it sit overnight, and spend about 2 minutes shaping the dough the next day before you let it sit to rise and bake. Yes, it takes time, but you can wash your dishes and tidy up your house in the meantime. Or sit back with a margarita. Your choice.

Brioche bread

You don’t have to sprinkle the pearl sugar on top–especially if you’re planning on using the brioche for something savory, like shaping it into hamburger buns. But if its end will most likely be on the sweet side, the pearl sugar is a nice extra touch. This is the same stuff used in authentic liège waffles, in case you’re wondering what else you can use this specialty sugar for (also an excellent idea for Mom’s brunch!). Now get to work! Because you’re going to need this for Saturday’s recipe.

Brioche bread

4.5 from 2 reviews

Brioche
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Bread
Serves: 24
Ingredients
  • ¼ cup whole milk
  • 10 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 Tablespoons organic sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 large egg yolk, reserving the white for later
  • 2¾ cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • 1½ teaspoons Himalayan pink salt
  • 1 packet Red Star Platinum yeast
  • 1 large egg white, reserved from earlier
  • 2 Tablespoons pearl sugar
Instructions
  1. Place the milk, butter, sugar, eggs, egg yolk, flour, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and start kneading on medium low speed.
  2. Let the machine do the work, turning the sticky mess into a soft, glossy dough ball. This may take 20 minutes or more to achieve.
  3. Transfer the dough ball to an oiled mixing bowl, cover, and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight, or at least 8 hours.
  4. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and divide it in half with a sharp knife.
  5. Separate each half into 3 equal portions.
  6. Roll out those portions into long ropes, about 12 inches long.
  7. Braid 3 of the ropes together, pinching the ends together. Repeat with the remaining 3 ropes.
  8. Take out 2 loaf pans; if using nonstick, you can put the dough right in the pan. If you’re using stoneware, make sure to grease with butter first. Place the braided loaves into the pans and cover.
  9. Put in a warm place to rise, about 3 hours. It won’t exactly double in size, but it should get nice and puffy.
  10. When you’re getting close to time to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  11. Brush the proofed bread loaves with the egg white and sprinkle 1 Tablespoon of pearl sugar over the top of each.
  12. Bake on the middle rack for 40-45 minutes, tenting the tops with foil after 20 minutes.
  13. Remove to a wire rack to cool.
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Let’s see what else is on the brunch table today….

Brunch Recipes with Eggs

Asparagus and Leek Frittata by Rachel Cooks
Baked Ham and Egg Cups by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Deviled Egg Spread with Home Rolled Crackers by Vanilla Lemonade
Veggie Quiche Cups by Take A Bite Out of Boca
Asparagus and Eggs in Mornay Sauce by Noshing With The Nolands

Brunch Recipes with Potatoes

Traditional Home Fries by Sarcastic Cooking

Meat, Poultry and Fish Brunch Recipes

Chicken Pockets by Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
Turkey Dill Crepes by Kokocooks

Breads, Grains, Cereals and Pancake-type Yums

Cherry Coconut Granola by Katie’s Cucina
Gold Goddess Steel Cut Oats by The Vintage Cook
Quick and Easy Early Morning Parfaits by Cravings of a Lunatic
Caramelized Onion & Bacon Croque Monsieur by The Kitchen Prep
Belgian Liege Waffles by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen

Fruit and Vegetable Brunch Recipes

Warm Salad Three Ways by Cook the Story

Spreads for Brunch

Black & Blue Thyme Jam by Cooking In Stilettos

Brunch Dessert Recipes

Crumb-Top Blueberry Muffins by Love and Confections
Banana Walnut Scone (Gluten Free/Dairy Free) by Around My Family Table
Croissant & Chocolate Bread Pudding by White Lights on Wednesday
Honey Poached Pear “Sundae” by Amanda’s Apron
Strawberries and Cream Muffins by The Domestic Mama & The Village Cook
Lemon Poke Cake by Real Housemoms

Don’t forget to enter yourself for the giveaways! So many wonderful things coming from our awesome sponsors!

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Please note that giveaways are open to residents of the United States only.

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Apr 03 2013

King Arthur Flour Helps You Go Sour…dough #client

Categories:

Baking, Food, Giveaway, Sponsored

Money can’t buy the feeling you get when something you’ve struggled with finally comes together and exceeds your expectations. But $8.95 can help you get a little bit closer.

Sourdough Starter Kit

You may recall that Kate of Food Babbles and I, in our first year of First on the First, attempted sourdough, with quite abysmal results. It was absolutely heartbreaking. I intended to give it another go, but the project had been pushed aside so many times that eventually I forgot about it. Until now.

When the King Arthur Flour catalog arrives in the mail, it’s almost like Christmas. I grab a glass of wine and a ball point pen, ready to start making my wish list. Ink soon fills the catalog, plans forming of what I could do with all this baking booty. Now all I need is Santa Claus to make those dreams come true… or a sugar daddy.

Sourdough Starter

In a recent edition, I noticed something… different. It may have been there before, but I must not have been paying attention. Regardless, King Arthur Flour had the answer to my prayers… my long forgotten prayers. There, so innocently nestled on the page, was a simple little plastic container filled with what could change my life–sourdough starter. Fresh, no less. I was aware of powdered varieties that could be mail ordered, but this was the first time I saw live, thriving, juicy, wet starter that could be delivered directly to my door. This surely would be the solution to my sourdough problems!

Bubbling Sourdough Starter

Bubbling Sourdough Starter

The folks at King Arthur Flour so generously hooked me up with some and I got to work. I have a history of issues with keeping things alive that do not vocalize their needs, but I was determined this time would be different. I could handle a little water and flour once or twice a day, right? I even had a nifty little sourdough crock in which to store it, so it wouldn’t get lost in the refrigerator. The logo would remind me of the contents, and therefore reduce the likelihood of it withering away in neglect. Piece of cake.

getting ready to bake

King Arthur Flour takes their customers seriously. Their relationship doesn’t end when the order is in your hands. They include instructions to help you get off to the right start, and their website hosts a plethora of additional information to help you along the way. There are even videos, in case you’re a more visual learner. If all else fails, you can always utilize live chat support or a quick telephone call–it’s that simple. They’re there to guarantee your success.

I kept my handy-dandy sourdough starter instructions on the counter during the 3 weeks I worked with my starter, just to be sure I was following protocol. For the first couple of days, I only fed it (and dumped, as directed–which I hate doing, as it seems so wasteful, but you must do it in the beginning). Once my starter was thriving, I was able to refrigerate it between feedings. This is a necessity for the busy person working full-time outside the home. While I love baking, I don’t have as much time during the week to indulge in it. Luckily, my sourdough starter was there waiting for me when I was ready, only asking for a bit of flour and water and a little bit of time to be at its best.

Rustic Sourdough Bread

Rustic Sourdough Bread

I started with the Rustic Sourdough Bread recipe, which is included in the instructions that come with the starter. This could not have been easier! Since I already possessed a baguette pan, I lined it with parchment paper and let the shaped loaves rise in it before baking them in the same pan. They weren’t quite so rustic in shape, but with 3 of them to share, they were eagerly eaten. Many commented that this was the kind of sourdough bread you share with those who are put off by the sourness; that it’s a great introduction to sourdough with a much milder tang.

Classic Sourdough Waffles

Classic Sourdough Waffles

Next I moved on to recipes utilizing what you’d normally discard when feeding. I hate throwing away anything that’s perfectly good. If you’re like me, you’ll enjoy the Classic Sourdough Waffles or Pancakes. You need to start it the night before you plan on baking, but there is no waste. The waffles bake up light and fluffy with a satisfying crunchy exterior–I’ve never had anything quite like them. A little bit of tang so you know they’re sourdough, but not overpowering. And they freeze and reheat well (which is excellent because I ended up with 22 of them!). The kids enjoyed the leftovers as breakfast on school days, a rare treat.

Sourdough Pizza Crust

Sourdough Pizza Crust

Sourdough Pizza Crust is another way to use discarded sourdough starter. We had enough dough for 2 thin-crusted rectangle pizzas and it was a dream to work with. I’ve always had problems working with pizza dough, having it tear before I could work it to the right thickness. I learned that you need to give it a couple rest periods to let the gluten relax, and then it will be so much more cooperative when you’re stretching the dough. The verdict? Crispy, crunchy, with a pleasant mild tang. Probably the best pizza dough I’ve had yet.

Bread Machine Sourdough Bread

One of the times I fed my starter, I took the discarded portion and used it to produce a second starter. I’ll admit it was due to a fear of messing up my initial starter, but this turned out to be most fortuitous. I fed it with rye flour for the first feeding, then switched back to all-purpose flour. The rye starter developed a much more potent tang, much like what I’d expect from traditional sourdough bakery bread. I used this starter to make the Bread Machine Sourdough Bread and it was amazing! It was only supposed to be a 1.5-pound loaf without any doming, but it rose to fill the pan completely and even domed. Both times I made it. The second time I prepared it was after work. I removed my starter from its slumber in the fridge in the morning, fed it, and left it on the counter, so it would be ready when I returned home. Upon arrival home, I threw the ingredients into the bread machine and was well on my way to fresh bread. Nothing like the smell of baking bread to ease the stress of a long work day.

Sourdough English Muffins

Sourdough English Muffins

I could go on and on about all the successes I’ve had–Buttery Sourdough Buns, Sourdough English Muffins, Sourdough Cinnamon Buns–but I think I’m going to give you a chance to reap the same rewards at home instead. Because I’m sure you’re chomping at the bit by now, wondering when you can get started on your own sourdough success. And this sourdough starter will ensure that you have it!

King Arthur Flour has graciously offered to send one of my readers their very own Sourdough Starter, King Arthur Flour Stoneware Crock, and a coupon for a free bag of flour–a starter sourdough kit, if you will. Then you, too, can see how easy sourdough can be!! This is a fantastic set that will set you up for a lifetime of sourdough happiness.

The giveaway will be open from today, April 3, 2013, through 12 midnight on April 10, 2013 (the start of the day) and is open to US residents only.

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Okay, now that we have that squared away, how about those Sourdough English Muffins? Have you never had homemade English muffins? Then you’re in for a treat! They freeze quite well, so you can make a big batch and have breakfast ready for the family for the week…or two. And, like I said, you won’t have to discard your discard (ha!) because this will let you use it up nicely. Perhaps this will be the first recipe you make when you win? Good luck!

Sourdough English Muffins

4.6 from 5 reviews

Sourdough English Muffins
 
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Recipe type: Breakfast
Serves: 30
Ingredients
  • 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 cups warm water (110°F-115°F)
  • 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast or instant yeast
  • 1 cup sourdough starter, fed or unfed; fed will give you a more vigorous rise
  • 7 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • ½ cup Baker’s Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
  • ¼ cup (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 Tablespoon Himalayan pink salt
  • semolina for coating
Instructions
  1. Combine all of the dough ingredients, except the semolina, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.
  2. Mix to form a smooth dough, but watch your electric mixer carefully; it was a tough load on mine. The dough should be soft and elastic, but not particularly sticky; add additional flour if necessary.
  3. Remove the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover, and set it aside to rise for about 1½ hours, or until it’s noticeably puffy. (I use my enameled cast iron for this; the lid is a perfect cover and it conducts heat well, so if you rise in a warm oven, it works even better.)
  4. For most pronounced sour flavor, cover the bowl, and immediately place it in the refrigerator (without rising first), allowing the dough to chill for 24 hours; this will develop a more intense sour flavor.
  5. After the dough has risen, gently deflate it, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface, and cover it, letting it sit for a few minutes to relax the gluten.
  6. Using a sharp knife, divide the dough in half.
  7. Working with one piece at a time, roll it out to ½” thickness and cut in 3″ rounds. (If you don’t have biscuit cutters, you can use a drinking glass dipped in flour.) Re-roll and cut any remaining scraps. Repeat with the remaining half of dough.
  8. Line a rimmed baking sheet with semolina and evenly place the rounds on it (12 per sheet). Sprinkle them with additional semolina, cover with plastic wrap, and let them rise until light and puffy, about 45 to 60 minutes. If the dough has been refrigerated overnight, the rise time will be about 2 hours.
  9. Heat an ungreased skillet (cast iron works great for this!) on the stove over medium heat and carefully transfer the rounds (as many as will fit without crowding) right-side up (small rounds allowed for 5 to cook at a time; larger ones limited me to 4).
  10. Cook the muffins for about 5-7 minutes on each side. The edges may feel a bit soft, but that’s OK. Be sure to flatten with a pancake turner after each side has cooked for 1-2 minutes, to keep them from puffing up too much.
  11. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature for 4 or 5 days; freeze for longer storage.
Notes
It took nowhere nearly as long to cook the English muffins as noted in the original recipe (10 minutes per side); I would guess more like 5 minutes per side.
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Disclosure: King Arthur Flour provided me with a sourdough starter, stoneware crock, and coupon for a free bag of flour for review. They will be providing the same to the winner of the giveaway. All opinions and photos remain mine, unless otherwise noted.

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88 comments

Jan 04 2013

PB and Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Categories:

Baking, Food, Recipes

Bananas are the sore losers of the fruit bowl in our house. Last ones picked for the team, they wither away on the table, begging for affection that is now denied. There was a time in my 5-year-old’s life when he would couldn’t stop eating bananas, gobbling 3 a day and asking for more. That seems like eons ago.

PB and Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

On the plus side, I never did get to bake with bananas before–they would be devoured before I could get my recipe selected and prepped. Now I have all the bananas I want to bake with. The scales are tipping the other way!

Bananas are one of those things that I like in theory, but the texture gets me. Especially when they’re really ripe. Much more appreciated pureed in a smoothie or added to some muffins, they don’t get much love from me otherwise. I can’t help it–I gag. It’s such a shame–so many lost opportunities. So many more leg cramps without them.

It’s been a long time since I’ve made banana bread. There are oodles of recipes out there to choose from, all claiming to be the best. Because of this, I rarely make the same recipe twice! Usually I go for something with cinnamon and nuts–the epitome of banana bread. This time I wanted something different. Spunky. Bold. Insists that you stand tall and pay attention to it. What I needed was peanut butter.

PB and Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

This bread is wheaty, yes. It’s my attempt to mitigate the damage from chocolate and peanut butter chips. Because of this, I think it actually tastes better fully cooled. But I’ll leave that up to you. The aroma is difficult to resist–I won’t blame you if you can’t wait. You may want to wrap up  half the loaf right away and stash it in the freezer. It’s pretty easy to eat your way through the whole loaf in no time and not even realize it. Even if you do, I won’t tell. It has bananas and peanut butter–it’s healthy, right?

5.0 from 1 reviews

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
 
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Recipe type: Breakfast/Brunch
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 1¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1¼ teaspoons cream of tartar
  • ½ teaspoon Himalayan pink salt (or sea salt)
  • ⅓ cup buttermilk
  • ⅓ cup creamy peanut butter
  • ⅔ cup raw (turbinado) sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 medium bananas, very ripe, mashed
  • 11 oz package milk chocolate & peanut butter chips, divided
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan and set aside.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In another large mixing bowl, beat together the buttermilk and peanut butter with a hand mixer. Once smooth, add the sugar and eggs, beating until incorporated.
  4. Alternate adding the flour mix and bananas, ending with the bananas, mixing between each addition until incorporated.
  5. Stir in 1½ cups of the chocolate and peanut butter chips.
  6. Spread into prepared loaf pan and sprinkle the remaining chips over the top.
  7. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. You may need to tent the pan with foil for the last 5 minutes to make sure the crust doesn’t burn.
  8. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
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Dec 01 2011

First on the First: Sourdough with Food Babbles

Categories:

Baking, First on the First, Food, Recipes

I’ll admit, I was a little cocky when I added sourdough to my list of goals for this year. I had successfully raised a wild yeast culture before. I baked with it for a few months. The only reason why I no longer have it was the old “out of sight, out of mind” adage–it was pushed to the back of the fridge during a period when I wasn’t baking as much and I forgot about it. There it languished until some pretty foul stuff happened and I eventually had to toss it. Despite this oversight, clearly I was pro–I could do this again!

little slices of sourdough

little slices of sourdough


 
Or so I thought. I didn’t start my project until more than halfway through the month, confident in my success. I followed the procedure on Wild Yeast, which wasn’t exactly the same as what I had done before (my method actually having been debunked by Wild Yeast), but it was close enough. I gathered a half gallon plastic container with lid and my ingredients and set to work.

I knew I’d have to compensate for cooler weather. Yeast is far more active in warmer temps than the modest 66 degrees I tend to keep the house at in the cooler months. Recalling that the Keurig tends to retain a bit of heat on top (and keeping in mind that I would need to keep this culture in sight, or I would forget about it entirely–ruling out the top of the refrigerator), I placed it there and set to work with my twice daily feedings. I’ll admit, they weren’t always exactly 12 hours apart. But there were signs of life–some bubbling in the blob, signaling a yeast had taken up residence and was making itself comfortable.

sourdough culture

this morning, the culture was still bubbling away


 
A week after I started the culture, I decided to bake. It wasn’t as bubbly as Wild Yeast’s, but it had been doubling in size and picked up a sour aroma, so I figured I’d be just fine. I boosted it for a feeding to ensure there would be enough starter available to take when I was ready to bake. Wild Yeast’s recipe for Norwich Sourdough seemed like my best option, so I selected that–halving it, of course, since I do not have enough room to proof or bake 4 loaves at a time (plus I feared my containers and mixing bowl would not have been large enough).

I turned up the heat in preparation and step by step I went, adhering (mostly) strictly to the recipe. I should have known better–I have baked bread before, albeit from commercial yeast–but when it came to time to bake, the loaves did not look right at all. They were still quite flat and gooey. After setting aside the bulk of a day to this project, however, I threw caution to the wind and tried to bake up the loaves anyway.

It was a disaster. It took twice as long as the baking time indicated, and the crust still never browned, except on the bottom. The loaves didn’t rise either. It was the flattest bread I’ve ever made–at least, the flattest bread that shouldn’t have been flat. Curious, I cut a loaf open and almost broke the knife on the tough exterior. Inside, there were some pockets–there had been some life in the dough. But it never reached its full potential before baking. These loaves were hopeless.

sourdough loaves

neither attempt is particularly spectacular


 
With only 2 days left until the post was due to go up, I knew I didn’t have time to start all over again. So I did the next best thing: I adjusted my starter to a stiffer batch and decided to try again 1 day later. One more day of maturity. A bit more food for the yeast, in hopes that it would perform better with attempt #2.

I decided from the start of round 2 that I would let the dough rise longer. I added 50 minutes to the initial 2.5 hours of rising (including adding one fold at 150 minutes) and an hour and a half to the proofing stage. I also put the dough into a warmed-up-but-off oven, just to be sure the temperature wasn’t an issue either. My “patience” didn’t seem to pay off, however. The loaves still looked pretty flat when it was time to bake. Stiffer than the dough from the prior day, but no more likely to produce those gorgeous loaves of sourdough that would bring a crowd to the door at the bakery where I worked when I was 21. I popped them in the oven anyway.

At the 12-minute mark, I opened the oven to remove the water tray for the steam bath and noticed some rise. Some. Not what I intended, but a definite improvement over the day prior, indeed. There was hope!
Sadly, even with an extra 10 minutes in the oven, the crust never browned beautifully, and the loaves remained only about half-risen. They were more edible than the loaves of the prior day (which I tried to eat anyway), but still not quite right. A bit sour and there was clear evidence of activity in the dough, with all the holes inside the finished loaves. We’re on to something here, but not yet.

cross section of sourdough loaves

that does not look like bakery bread


 
I suspect my culture needs another few days to a week to mature enough to produce proper loaves. Allowing for longer rises and proofing helps, but, much like a 16-year-old claims he is an adult and then falls flat with the first big moment of responsibility, my culture is not yet ready to be put under pressure. Soon enough.

Kate at Food Babbles had some issues, too, though for very different, very good reasons. She informed me that her final attempt would be with a sponge instead. I probably should have prepared for a sponge, but I was so sure that I could make this work that I didn’t have a back-up plan. I’ve made countless loaves of 5-minute Artisan Bread. How could I fail at this? Ha! Clearly, I am not yet a bread baker. In due time.

You can read about the method I used for raising a 100% hydration wild yeast starter at Wild Yeast, as well as their recipe for Norwich Sourdough. The only adaptation I did with the Norwich Sourdough is that I do not have couches or bannetons. I just rolled up a towel, placed it in the middle of a cookie sheet, draped a piece of parchment paper over that, and use that contraption for proofing my batards (covered, of course). Necessity is the mother of invention, right?

sourdough slices

holey, but not wholly risen


 
If you attempt sourdough, let me know how it goes! Once you have a viable culture going, there are so many things you can bake with it–not just bread! If nothing else, willing this little creature to live can summon the inner child who loved carrying out science experiments in the family bathroom. You get to be a little bit of a mad scientist in the process.

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