Of shopping malls and English gardens

How the heck does either of these things have anything in common, let alone anything to do with bread? Is there some queer reference in a Shakespearean play to the current economic situation of our local shopping centre? Or perhaps Hugh Grant was appearing at our local Macy’s doing a book signing for his latest seller “Pancake and me: Love syrup.”

No, none of this is how they relate, but it was a good guess, and I’ll give you a slug of chewing gum for a best effort. They tie in very nicely I think and relate to all the baking that I did this weekend for the bread. I had decided last weekend not to make anything, due to our vacation and the keen knowledge that I was saving the Cinnamon Bun recipe for our annual Thanksgiving Day tradition of said sweet treat. This year, however, I opted for the home made kind rather than the store bought pre packaged exploding tube of goodness.

You see, I have not eaten a T.J. Cinnabon, ever (the mall reference). You might find that odd, but every time I watch them create these devilishly sinful treats, I just can’t bring myself to consume such large and concentrated forms of delectable goodness (never mind the 8billion calories.) So, when last week’s recipe switch came to be, I decided mine would be just as good, but with considerably less sugar. This one was only difficult from a shaping and proofing aspect. I rolled up the dough, but the cinnamon sugar acted as a barrier and I was unable to seal the seam together nicely and the two ends were uneven, and came apart. However, they browned up nicely and after a glaze of fondant, they were ready to eat. They tasted pretty good and I even shared with the neighbors.

This weekend’s next bread was English muffins (hence the English reference.) And these seemed like they would be fun to me. The neat part that I didn’t know was English muffins are fried on a griddle, and then finished in the oven to get the center done. I think they turned out ok. They look like real English muffins from the outside, and they taste like them too, but on the inside I was missing the trademark big holes. The recipe said wet dough will help to get the big holes and I thought I had that, but apparently not. I decided then to make English muffin loaf bread instead of the actual muffins for work since I know I couldn’t make enough of the muffins for everyone.

Next week: Focaccia

Cranberry Walnut Celebration Bread

What exactly are we celebrating? Today is National Day for Tolerance. Sweet, and this bread to celebrate that historic day when put up with everyone’s BS. Or, perhaps it’s an engineering holiday when we test tolerance limits on various metals. I don’t really know. I purposely did not cut this bread ahead of time because I wanted people to be able to see the braiding that went into it. I still don’t have the braiding down to the point, where the ends stay together. During the rising and baking process, they seem to come undone, and the ends start to expand apart.

What I love about this bread is the smell and taste. It should evoke all of the flavors and smells of Thanksgiving. It has a very similar taste to a Christmas stolen, without the glaze and candied fruits. I think this bread would taste great with a flavored butter, perhaps cinnamon and sugar.

Next week I'll be doing home made cinnamon rolls, but that will be for Thanksgiving morning, so I'm afraid that my coworkers will most likely miss out on that one.

Corn Bread

Dear Wonderous Man/Woman who invented bacon. Let me thank you with the up most cured salty goodness in the bottom of my deep soul for that meat which you invented. It not only brings joy to us poor souls who love all the cured meats, but also rapture for the smoky fatty goodness that clogs our veins. In this we praise your name.

To be honest, I wasn’t too excited at first to make this recipe. After all, Corn Bread is really bread in name only. It’s considered a quick bread. That bread by which is chemically leavened so as to not have to wait for fermenting and yeast cultivating. However, I should not shun all that which is not made by yeast, because yea, this bread can stand on its own as a great American Bread.

It has a great combination of flavors, and textures. From the sweetness of the corn and honey, to the smoky and crunch flavor that the bacon helps to finish. This bread is moist enough to seemingly stand on its own for a meal, but yet was ok to mingle nicely at a church gathering we had, where our entrée brought was chili (what compliments chili better than corn bread?) Perhaps with our new canning endeavors, I’ll be able to use fresh/canned corn rather than the frozen stuff.

This bread was so beautiful when I just pulled it out of the oven, as I had to make a second batch for everyone who so craves this at work. I only wish that I could serve it warm as intended.

Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread

Wait Brian, what happened to the Ciabatta?

Um…what?

What happened to the Ciabatta?

Ah…nope, don’t know what you’re talking about. You mean Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread. That’s what I worked on this week. Don’t know what a Chi-bata is. Is that some kind of new fangled exercise you buy on T.V. from that guy who used to play The Incredible Hulk? No, not Bill Bixby, that other dude. Never mind, can I get on with this?

I have done this recipe before, and pretty much came to the same results. This particular recipe of cinnamon raisin bread has all the qualities one wants from raisin bread. Namely, cinnamon and raisins. It is light, flavorful, good finish and fills your mouth with a nice little after taste of roasted walnuts. The recipe indicated that I could have eliminated the walnuts without any further changes to the recipe itself and I may do that in the future.

I find that kneading nuts into the dough tends to tear the dough ever so slightly, which is what I thought was preventing it from rising properly. However, after some measurements after I set the pans for proofing, I discovered my pans were too small. I thought they were losing air or not rising because of the tears, but it turns out my loaf pans are too big. I never really paid attention to the sizing requirements. This recipe calls for an 8.5 x 4.5 and as it turns out my loaf pans are 9 x 5. That’s a big difference in bread making when you’re trying to make a proper loafs. So, in these pans, the loafs look particularly small, when they really aren’t.

I have since asked for smaller pans for Christmas.

Incidentally, I’m lazy, and just didn’t post the Ciabatta from last week. Truth be told, it didn’t turn out how I wanted. It lacked the large irregular holes that are the signature of a Ciabatta. It would have been like serving Cinnamon Raisin bread, without raisins.

Next week, in time for Thanksgiving…Corn Bread

Let me Challah at you!

Ok, dumb joke, but I thought it was kind of clever. Challah (pronounced holla) the braided Sabbath bread of Judaism, is a type of European celebratory loaf (similar to the Greek bread I made) symbolic of God’s goodness and bounty. I find myself reminiscing of my great-great-uncle, Tevye. I would spend time with him and countless hours in his simple house in a small village in Russia. We would celebrate the Sabbath by making many loaves of this slightly crusty, yet soft bread. Normally we would gather up the eggs to use up just before the Sabbath since gathering is obviously considered work in that Orthodox Jewish Community.

The key, apparently, to making great looking Challah, is to braid it so that it is tapered at the ends and plump in the middle. This is by far, the most beautiful bread that I have made. I may do this one again, just for the aesthetics. You can vary the shape of the bread based on the message you are trying to convey. You can curl the dough into a round shape for Rosh Hashanah. The round shape symbolizes how the world has no beginning and no end; three strands symbolize truth, peace and beauty; and the spiral coil indicate the ascent to God.

I am a little sad that the people who get to eat this tomorrow will not be able to eat it fresh, but it still tastes great, and I will include the pictures since I’ll have to slice it before I serve it tomorrow.

Next week, Ciabatta.

TU VUO' FA l'AMERICANO

Castatiello

This is a rich bread, only an Italian version of the French Brioche from the previous baking. It’s loaded with flavors that stem from the combination of a cured meat (in this case Salami) and soft cheese (provolone.) You may notice the same crust and texture of the Brioche in this loaf comes from the eggs and nearly 1 cup of butter. This time I let the dough site before adding the butter so as to let the gluten develop. By letting the mixture sit before adding the butter, I was able to avoid having the butter coat the gluten before it could form.

It’s noted that in this type of bread other types of cheese may be used, but it should be a good melter with distinctive flavors, such as Swiss, Gouda, or good old Wisconsin Cheddar. What I discovered is that my blending technique needs to be improved as you can see the folds and I managed to get a seam on top which leads to an uneven rising. However, this is primarily due to my desire to get the bread done since I had company coming over and I really didn’t have a lot time this weekend. No…I didn’t make this in my kilt. The bread is traditionally baked in paper bags or panettone molds, but I really didn’t want to push my luck with this rich bread, so I just stuck to a loaf pan.

The hollow parts come from the cheese being centered and then melting into the bread itself. The bread was a success, but I think next time I will mix the cheese in a little more to ensure a more even distribution. It’s awesome warmed, and if you’ve ever had that cheesy mozzarella bread at the Madison’s farmer’s market, it was similar to that. I would like to cap this weekends ethnic activities for those who knew was going on. I a Mexican in a Scottish wedding, made an Italian bread similar to a French bread and preparing for a Jewish bread next week.

Next week, Challah

Brioche

It wasn’t until just now that I figured what I did wrong with this week’s bread. No don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I accidently mixed in a tablespoon of industrial waste and everyone who consumes my bread becomes BRIOCHE MAN! (Queue dramatic music)

No, rather, I didn’t read close enough and I didn’t wait until the gluten had time to develop. Here is what happened. It started way back in History, with that rhyme MCA and me, Mike D. No…wait, it started more like this.

I had created the sponge with no problem, and it even became a bubbling mass, just like the directions. It struck me odd that this bread was going to be something special, as no water is/was required and it was totally laden with fat. Whole milk, 5 eggs, and a crap load of butter. In case you don’t know, a crap load is a unit of measurement developed by Enos Jenkins in central Tennessee in the mid 1920’s.

I followed the recipe to (what I naively thought) the tea, or Tee, or T. However, once I started mixing and adding the butter, remember 1 pound of it, I knew something wasn’t right. There wasn’t any of the typically “doughy” feel to the mass, as any bread so far has felt. In fact, when I was done mixing the butter in and shaping the “loaf” to chill overnight, it reminded me more of sugar cookie dough.

After I took it out the next day and put it in loaf pans, I realized that there indeed was not going to be much in the way of rising. There was just not enough strength. Even if the bread could ferment, I doubted it could rise to any significant level. After a couple hours at church and running errands, I came back to loaves that barely filled the pans. I forged ahead and baked everything. Afterwards, to my surprise, the bread turned out. The crumb was tight, but it tasted good and wasn’t dense at all. It tasted like a good biscuit, and tasted even better with jam on it.

When I read the commentary on this bread, here’s what I found. We’ll see if you can decide what happened. “When a formula calls for lots of fat, whether butter, shortening, or oil, it is usually beneficial to wait until gluten had has an opportunity to develop before adding the fat. If the fat is added at the beginning, it coats the protein fragments and makes it difficult for them to bond into the longer, stronger gluten molecule.”

Next week I’m off, after that Casatiello.