Celebration Challah

On the spur of the moment I made a batch of challah dough yesterday.  I love making bread, there is something Zen and relaxing about kneading and shaping yeast dough, seeing it rise, and then smelling the fragrance coming from the oven.

Rosh Ashanah, or the Jewish New Year  started last night, and I am sure lots of celebration challah were consumed around the world.  Challah bread is usually shaped in a single three strand braid, but during the High Holidays a celebration or round challah is brought to the table.  The round shape symbolizes the cycle of the year, and the raisins or apples represent a sweet new year.

I adapted Peter Reinhart's challah recipe by adding a cup of raisins and one tablespoon of honey to make the bread sweeter.  I could have added apples, another choice ingredients associated with this Holiday, but I didn't have any in the house, and this was a spur of the moment baking bug.

Braiding a round challah is simple and with few tries you will learn how to shape a beautiful simmetrical bread.  Check out this video who shows also the simple round challah.

The recipe above results in a big loaf or two small ones.  If you make it 1.5x then you can make three one-pound loaves, so you can share it with friends.

Happy New Year to all my Jewish friends and readers!

Country Bread-Tartine Bread Review

Even though I stopped eating gluten few months ago, I couldn't resist eating a fair amount of this bread, it is so good.

I have been a fan of San Francisco famous Tartine Bakery for a while, and if/when I get to open the bakery/café of my dreams (we are working on this, I promise), it will be highly influenced by their model. I will be selling this bread for sure.

I bought the book Tartine Bread on a whim, while waiting in line to pay for few items, after all I had to since I also own Tartine's other book, right? I had seen and heard about their new bread book, I really wanted to try making Chad Robertson's famous bread and see what else he had to offer. The introduction tells you the story of how he learned the art of making bread, about the roads he traveled to get to this particular bread, and it is quite fun to read. The instructions to make his bread are quite long, and could be intimidating, but if you have made bread before they are easily followed.

Can you resist this crust?

For detailed instructions, the recipe, and photos you can check Martha Stewart's site here. I made this bread twice, and it worked like a charm. The starter is super easy to get going (I made a starter before and the recipe was so fussy it was annoying), all you have to do is mix water, half bread flour, and half whole wheat, wait few days and you will have a great starter to work with. The trick to a mild wild starter flavor is to feed it the night before you plan on baking this bread so it won't be sour at all. If the starter is easy, the bread is a work of love though, you have to tend it for few hours, so plan accordingly. I avoided having to stay home all day by letting the bulk fermentation happen overnight, and it worked well since the temperature is still quite cold, in the summer it would be a different story. The second fermentation was done for a long time as well. I think my kitchen temperature never went past 65F this morning, so I was able to leave the house for few hours. Anyhow...once you try this recipe you can adjust the fermentation times to fit your schedule. If you want to speed things up, you can place the dough in a slightly warm oven to shorten the process.

My notes:

*I didn't bake the bread in a Dutch oven since I didn't want to invest in one, I steamed the oven well, and used a perforated pizza pan. The second time I used a pizza stone and it worked well for the small rounds but not for the big loaf, the shape was all warped.

*The bread is really slack due to its 75% hydration so it turns out really flat (that's why baking it in a Dutch oven would help, it allows the bread to rise in a very wet environment). The second time I made little rounds and they turned out pretty well, less flat.

*Because the bread is so slack you have to let it rise in a basket or a bowl otherwise you won't end up with a round shape. I guess the shape of a ciabatta would work too.

*I encourage you to bake the bread to a very dark, almost burnt crust, that is where a lot of the flavor is. The bread that was baked less did not have that interesting earthy flavor, and was a tad chewy.

The rest of the book was a little disappointing as it includes recipes of dishes they serve at their restaurant, I was hoping for more bread material, oh well. In general though, the book is great to have around, but if you don't have a budget for it, or if you don't care for the rest of the book, you can try the link above to find the complete instructions on how to make this bread.

Look at these holes!

I am sending this bread to Susan of Wild Yeast for her weekly showcase of yeasted baked goods, a.k.a. Yeastspotting.

Daring Bakers-Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake

This post is dedicated to all the people of Japan, struggling to rebuilt after the terrible disaster caused by the tsunami. I have been amazed at their courage and grace in the face of such immense tragedy. I hope that nature will spare this country from another such disaster.

Saffron, garam masala, pistachio cake

This months I am prepared and finished a day early, unbelievable! Well...it helps that the 27th is on a Sunday, doesn't it?

Amazing considering the distraction caused by my two new babies, aren't they irresistible?

Baby chicks, two days old

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

I have to confess that I was a little hesitant about this challenge. I love making bread, and I love brioche type doughs, don't get me wrong, but the use of a meringue inside the cake? I didn't think it would be a good thing. Boy was I wrong, the meringue dissolves into the dough and the filling, creating a super moist interior that is just perfect.

Cinnamon apple cake

I made three versions of this cake, the two suggested by the hosts, and one with apples and cinnamon since I had some leftover cooked apples in the fridge. I only tasted the one with the apples, and the one with the saffron and the garam masala. I really preferred the one with the apples, I don't think that saffron and chocolate really work together. Next time I will omit the chocolate and only use nuts. Other very picky (cough) discerning tasters declared the chocolate cake perfect! I was really happy with this recipe, and it would be great to make a savory version like many other daring bakers did. To check out their creations check the daring bakers website.

If you want to download the recipe in a pdf file click here, and for the original posts by the two hosts click here and here.

Chocolate cinnamon cake

Here are my notes...
* I made a sponge with the yeast, the milk, the water, and a little of the sugar. I left the sponge develop for 30 minutes covered with the rest of the flour, the rest of the sugar and the salt.
* I then added the eggs, adjusted the dough by adding some milk, and mixed until I got a good gluten development.
* Four cups of flour are too much for the amount of liquid. Since I normally dump all the ingredients together, I ended up adding more milk to get a softer dough. Either add less flour or be careful, and when the dough start getting together add a little bit of milk.
* I didn't add the butter until I got a good gluten development. Fat inhibits gluten development so by adding it later the dough develops better.
* The amount of saffron is not enough to give the dough a yellow tint, I ended up adding at least twice the amount.
* Because of the high fat content, the dough gets really sticky and soft. After mixing the dough I left it rise in the refrigerator for few hours, or overnight in the case of the saffron dough. The dough that rested overnight was so much easier to handle, I was able to roll it thinner and resulted in a tighter roll and in a visually better cake as well.

The first one to emerge, still working on a name

The second chick, adorable with white spot on her wings

This is off topic, unless you consider that I used the eggs from my own chickens for this cake. Last year one of our chickens became broody, meaning she wanted to be a mommy and kept sitting on the eggs. Sadly, of the four chicks that hatched only one remains, we named her Zorra because she is completely black (onedisappeared when very young, one was a rooster, and one was killed by a dog). About a month ago, Zorra, a bantam black cochin who is just seven months old, became broody too. Broody chickens sit on eggs to no end, get pecked and don't eat well, so we got 6 fertile eggs for her and last Friday two furry babies emerged. I have seen this miracle twice, and three times we had baby chickens in the house but I can't stop looking at them, they are so adorable.

Daring Bakers-Christmas Stollen

I love Stollen! This delicious German sweet belongs to a family of European breads made with eggs, butter, and lots of dried fruit. Panettone and Gubana are other examples, and they probably all generated in the middle ages, when spices, nuts, and dried fruit were used to add nutrition to winter breads. I have made this bread few times when I was in Venice last year, using Whild Yeast Susan's recipe. They were very well received and went quickly. Stollen is normally eaten at Christmas and it represents the blanket the baby Jesus was wrapped in. We were challenged to shape the dough as a wreath, which works really well too.

The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book.........and Martha Stewart’s demonstration.

Sadly I had to give up gluten, so I made this bread but didn't eat it, it was torture let me tell you. I brought it up to the West Point Inn, an amazing place up on Mount Tamalpais, reachable only by foot, where we spent last night. I knew that our friends and their children would love having it for dessert or even for breakfast. We ate it at night and as french toast this morning, delicious! And to make you want to visit San Francisco, here are two pictures of this morning's sunrise, from the Inn, totally priceless!

Amazing views of San Francisco at sunrise

Penny challenged to package the stollen for gift giving so I cooked few mini stollens in these super cute paper molds and gave them as gift to few of my neighbors.

You can find the complete recipe and instructions at the daring kitchen site, but below is just the recipe, edited to make the ingredient list easier to read.

I candied my own peel using the method I normally use, and used grapefruit and lemon peel since that is what I had at home.

I made few changes to the recipe, first in the mixing. I omitted 3 ounces of flour to the dough as the original 27 ounces seemed too much, I prefer a wetter dough in general, plus you can always add more flour if it is not enough. The amount I used, 24 ounces, worked well. Then I didn't add the butter until after the gluten started developing. Fat inhibits gluten development, by adding the butter slowly after the dough has been mixed a while you create a softer, more elastic dough. I used cranberries instead of the raisins to make the bread even more festive (the Germans don't use cranberries as they are a Northern American fruit), and didn't use the cherries the recipe suggests. Last change was in the spice, I used ground cardamom instead of the cinnamon, because it goes so well with the citrus flavor.

Stollen Wreath

Makes one large wreath or two traditional shaped Stollen loaves.
Serves 10-12 people

Ingredients

1/4 cup (60ml) lukewarm water (110º F / 43º C)
2 packages/4.5 teaspoons/14 gr/.5 oz active dry yeast
1 cup milk
5 oz/10 tablespoons/140 gr unsalted butter
5.5 cups/27 oz/770 gr all-purpose flour
½ cup/115 gr sugar
3/4 teaspoon/4.5 gr salt
1 teaspoon/6 gr cinnamon
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
Grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
2 teaspoons/10 ml vanilla extract
1 teaspoon/5 ml lemon extract or orange extract
3/4 cup/4 3⁄4 oz/135 gr mixed peel
1 cup/6 oz/170 gr firmly packed raisins
3 tablespoons/45ml rum
12 red glacé cherries (roughly chopped) for the color and the taste. (optional) I didn't use them
1 cup/3.5 oz/100 gr flaked almonds
Melted unsalted butter for coating the wreath
Confectioners (powdered) sugar for dusting wreath

Directions

Soak the raisins
In a small bowl, soak the raisins in the rum (or in the orange juice from the zested orange) and set aside. See Note under raisins.

To make the dough

Pour 1⁄4 cup (60 ml) warm water into a small bowl, sprinkle with yeast and let stand 5 minutes. Stir to dissolve yeast completely.

In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup (240 ml) milk and 10 tablespoons (150 ml) butter over medium - low heat until butter is melted. Let stand until lukewarm, about 5 minutes.

Lightly beat eggs in a small bowl and add lemon and vanilla extracts.

In a large mixing bowl (4 qt) (4 liters) (or in the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment), stir together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, orange and lemon zests.

Then stir in (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment) the yeast/water mixture, eggs and the lukewarm milk/butter mixture. This should take about 2 minutes. It should be a soft, but not sticky ball. When the dough comes together, cover the bowl with either plastic or a tea cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.

Add in the mixed peel, soaked fruit and almonds and mix with your hands or on low speed to incorporate. Here is where you can add the cherries if you would like. Be delicate with the cherries or all your dough will turn red!

Sprinkle flour on the counter, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mixing with the dough hook) to distribute the fruit evenly, adding additional flour if needed. The dough should be soft and satiny, tacky but not sticky. Knead for approximately 8 minutes (6 minutes by machine). The full six minutes of kneading is needed to distribute the dried fruit and other ingredients and to make the dough have a reasonable bread-dough consistency. You can tell when the dough is kneaded enough – a few raisins will start to fall off the dough onto the counter because at the beginning of the kneading process the dough is very sticky and the raisins will be held into the dough but when the dough is done it is tacky which isn't enough to bind the outside raisins onto the dough ball.

Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling around to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
Put it in the fridge overnight. The dough becomes very firm in the fridge (since the butter goes firm) but it does rise slowly… the raw dough can be kept in the refrigerator up to a week and then baked on the day you want.

Shaping the Dough and Baking the Wreath

1. Let the dough rest for 2 hours after taking out of the fridge in order to warm slightly.
2. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
3. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4 with the oven rack on the middle shelf.
4. Punch dough down, roll into a rectangle about 16 x 24 inches (40 x 61 cms) and 1⁄4 inch (6 mm) thick.
Starting with a long side, roll up tightly, forming a long, thin cylinder.
Transfer the cylinder roll to the sheet pan. Join the ends together, trying to overlap the layers to make the seam stronger and pinch with your fingers to make it stick, forming a large circle. You can form it around a bowl to keep the shape.
Using kitchen scissors, make cuts along outside of circle, in 2-inch (5 cm) intervals, cutting 2/3 of the way through the dough.
Twist each segment outward, forming a wreath shape. Mist the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap.

Proof for approximately 2 hours at room temperature, or until about 11⁄2 times its original size.
Bake the stollen for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees for even baking and continue to bake for 20 to 30 minutes. The bread will bake to a dark mahogany color, should register 190°F/88°C in the center of the loaf, and should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.

Transfer to a cooling rack and brush the top with melted butter while still hot.
Immediately tap a layer of powdered sugar over the top through a sieve or sifter.
Wait for 1 minute, then tap another layer over the first.
The bread should be coated generously with the powdered sugar.
Let cool at least an hour before serving. Coat the stollen in butter and icing sugar three times, since this many coatings helps keeps the stollen fresh - especially if you intend on sending it in the mail as Christmas presents!

When completely cool, store in a plastic bag. Or leave it out uncovered overnight to dry out slightly, German style.

Panini con l'uvetta-Raisin rolls

Well...I have some news...I have not been working for two months but I will spare the details for a variety of reasons. I can't believe that I haven't posted in so long, the past two months have been interesting to say the least, a whirlwind of things; my job ended, my husband broke his ankle and had surgery to repair it (guess who is doing all the driving?), we had a 15 year old visiting from Italy for two months, and then my best friend Paola and her daughter visited from Venice. It was such pleasure having Paola here, and being a great hiker and nature lover I took her to all my favorite places around town, what a blast! I wish she could come here often, two weeks just flew by.

The three months I worked were very exciting but really crazy, opening a brand new restaurant is really hard but very rewarding and I have learned tons. I had never worked such long hours in my life, sometimes 6-7 days a week, I had time for very little, and the blog was seriously neglected. I am now getting some well deserved sleep as waking up at 4:30 for weeks was taking a toll. I started exercising almost every day and I feel great. My garden and house plants are getting some TLC that they desperately needed, and I am enjoying the final days of string beans, cucumbers, tomatoes and basil. The house is getting organized and I am finally baking for my family.

Remember these? When I first tasted them I immediately recognized the flavor, having eaten something very similar all my childhood. I immediately loved the flavor and the texture of these little morsels, and in an effort to create a sweet treat to sell at my dream bakery, I took this recipe out and started working on it. I increased the butter and added sugar, eggs, and raisins to the dough. I didn't change the method, and the water content is the same because I wanted a dough at a higher hydration to compensate for the dry raisins that would absorb some water from the dough.

The resulting bread is really similar to the panini con l'uvetta I grew up eating in Venice as snacks after school, and that is exactly the flavor I was trying to replicate. I am submitting this bread to the wonderful weekly showcase of yeasted bread in Susan's blog, yeastspotting.


Pane all'uvetta-Raisin bread

Biga
200 g bread flour (if you don't have it, use all purpose)
5 g fresh yeast or 1/4 tsp dry yeast
170 ml water

- Dissolve the yeast in the water and quickly work the dough together in a small bowl.
- Cover the biga and let it develop for 15-24 hrs.

Dough
200 ml water, lukewarm
15 g fresh yeast or 2 tsp dry yeast

all the biga
500 g all purpose flour
25 g extra-virgin olive oil
2 large eggs
50 g sugar
12 g salt

50 g butter
150 g raisins

- Dissolve the yeast in the water.
- Add all the ingredients, except the butter and raisins, into the bowl of an electric mixer.
- Work the dough with the hook attachment until it is smooth and doesn't stick to the mixer bowl. Adjust the amount of flour to create a soft and somewhat wet dough.
- Add the softened butter slowly, then mix at low speed for 5 minutes to let the dough develop.
- Add the raisins and mix only until just incorporated (mixing more will break the raisins)
- Pour the dough onto a well floured surface and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Stretch the dough with your hands, fold it like an envelope and form it into a ball, cover it and let rest for 30 minutes. This will further develop the gluten and distribute the raisins evenly.
- Repeat the stretching and folding a second time.
- Put the dough into a container, cover it and leave to rise until doubled (at this point you can refrigerate it overnight).
- After the dough has doubled, divide it into smaller parts, about 70 g/2,5 oz each.

To see how to shape each piece of dough please check Ilva's or Lien's websites.

1. Roll out each portion into long strands and lay them out on a flat surface.
2. Make a semi-circle with a dough strand.
3. Twist the two ends together.
4. Bring the two ends towards the upper part of the circle.
5. Lift/fold the top part over the twisted part.
6. Take the two ends and join them together under the knot, this will make the knot part come out more and will hide the ends.

- Put the knots on baking sheets, brush them with an egg wash, and let them rise until they have doubled in size. Brush them again once risen, before baking.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven (200°C/390°F) for 20-25 minutes.

Venetian Easter Bread

To celebrate Easter, Venetians eat a special bread called Focaccia Pasquale. The best one I ever had was made by Mr. Colussi, an awesome baker who still makes this tasty Easter treat, and despite its price (of which the locals complain constantly), it always sells like crazy. Mr. Colussi's pastry shop was one of my favorite destinations as a kid, only blocks from my home, his craft legendary, his pastries unforgettable (I remember thinking that I would be an overweight child if I were his daughter, stuffing my mouth constantly). One of my dreams is to learn the craft by working with Mr. Colussi before he retires for good, which might be soon. He has three daughters and sadly none of them is taking the craft in her hands, so he and his wife are still making people happy when they should be retired and enjoying their old age. He has been trying to sell his laboratory for years, and I guess he can't simply close it, it has meant everything in his life, it is his child, his soul is permeating every corner, like flour particles.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Last year for the first time I made the more traditional Easter bread shaped as a dove, or Colomba Pasquale. It turned out really tasty and beautiful. This year I plan to make another colomba, and when I saw a recipe for a Venetian fugassa posted by Paoletta, at Anice e Cannella, I decided to try it. Paoletta is always experimenting and finding great recipes on the wide web to keep us wanting for more. She recently posted this recipe not knowing whether it was truly for the Venetian focaccia so I was not only intrigued to try it but to taste it as well.

The bread takes more than half a day to make. I supposed it would be faster if the first two doughs are allowed to rise overnight in the refrigerator. The bread was super springy with a nice crumb and tasted very close to the traditional focaccia from Venice. It would make two small colombe and two small focacce. I was so tired the night I made it that I forgot to bake it before going to bed, luckily it was a super cold night so the bread rose very slowly and by the time I woke up it was perfect. I would make this bread again, but probably I would use the glaze I made last year as it was thicker and really tasty. If using an electric mixer I assume you can add all the ingredients for the third and final doughs at once, except the butter which has to be added after there is some gluten development. Adding the butter beforehand prevents the gluten from developing resulting in a very heavy bread with little holes.

Please read the instructions well, as this is a slow rising dough so you have to plan accordingly.

Focaccia veneta
adapted from Paoletta

Ingredients:
575 gr bread flour
7 gr dry yeast (15 gr fresh yeast)
135 gr water
4 eggs
3 yolks
125 gr sugar
125 gr burro (50 gr of which melted)
10 gr salt

Flavorings:
1 tablespoon of rum
zest of one lemon
40 gr candied orange zest
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or the seeds of one vanilla bean)

For the topping:
1 egg white
whole almonds
sugar
Cake pan with a capacity of 10 cups or two smaller ones.

Method

Sponge:
Dissolve the yeast in 135 gr of warm water, add 125 gr of flour to make a smooth batter. Let rise one hour at room temperature.

Second dough:
to the sponge add one egg, mix well, then add 125 gr of flour, 10 gr of sugar and mix well. Let rise in a bowl for 1h30m.

Third dough:
Add in succession, mixing well after each addition:
1 yolk
20 gr of flour
10 gr of sugar
30 gr of flour
1 egg
30 gr of flour
15 gr of sugar
30 gr of flour, mix well.
Add slowly 50 gr of cooled melted butter. Add 15 gr of flour and mix to develop the gluten, 10 minutes. Cover and let rest for 2 and half hours. The dough should triple its volume.

Final dough:
Grind the orange peel and the lemon zest with 90 gr of sugar.
To the third dough add:
1 yolk
20 gr of flour
10 gr of the prepared sugar
1 yolk
20 gr of flour
20 gr sugar
1 egg
30 gr flour
30 gr sugar
1 egg
50 gr flour
30 gr sugar
Add the salt, then the rest of the flour saving few ounces for the final shaping. Before the final mixing add the rum and the vanilla. After the gluten has developed add the butter slowly, then mix until the dough is elastic and shiny. Turn the dough into a ball and let rest for 20 minutes. Butter one or two cake pans (depending on the capacity), divide the dough into two balls, shape again and add to the pans. Let rise in the pans for 3 or 4 hours. Brush the tops with the egg white, add the sugar and the almonds. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes, lower the oven to 350 and bake until nicely brown and a tooth picks comes out clean or the dough has reached 180F, about 30 minutes.

Buona Pasqua!

Bread Baking Day #24-Tyrolean Ten-Grain Bread

Idania of El Aroma de Idania chose this month BBD's theme (for details on how to participate click here). I haven't participated for a while to this event started by Zorra, and I probably did only twice, but I really wanted to bake some bread with lots of grains, so this is the perfect recipe for this month's theme, mixed breads. This bread is perfect for cold weather, I can see it tossed into a French onion soup or the Italian ribollita, or just toasted with some butter. It would make perfect sandwiches too if baked into a loaf pan.

Idania chose mixed breads as this month's theme and choose a bread made with at least two types of flour to reflect her mixed heritage. I wanted to try an Italian recipe but I couldn't find anything that looked too interesting in my books so I chose this bread that I had made before and comes from Tyrol, a region that spans across Austria and part of northern Italy. The recipe comes from The Bread Bible, written by the super talented and wonderful Rose Levy Beranbaum. The recipe calls for one type of flour but I decided to substitute part of the bread flour with spelt, which is an ancient grain cultivated by the Romans. I also doubled the original recipe since the first time I made this bread I wished I had made more since it was so good. The photos are really bad, they don't give the bread justice, it looks so much better and it tastes grainy and delicious.


Notes: The ten grain mixture needs to be soaked 8 hours to overnight, and the sponge is also made 8 to 24 hours before the bread is mixed. Plan accordingly.

Tyrolean Ten-Grain Bread
adapted from the Bread Bible

Sponge:
1 1/3 cup bread flour (7 oz./200 gr.)
1/2 teaspoon instant dry yeast (0.8 gr.)
1/2 tablespoon malt syrup, honey or sugar
1 3/4 cup water at room temperature (375 gr)

Flour mixture:
1 1/4 cups plus 1/2 tablespoon bread flour (7 oz./ 200 gr.)
1 1/4 cups plus 1/2 tablespoon spelt flour (7 oz./ 200 gr.)
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast (5 gr.)
3 tablespoons wheat germ (24 gr.)
2 1/2 teaspoon salt (16 gr.)

Mix all the sponge ingredients together, cover with the flour mixture and let ferment 1 hour at room temperature, refrigerate 8 to 24 hours in the refrigerator. The sponge will bubble through the flour mixture.

Grain mixture*:
1 cup ten-grain mixture (200 gr.)
1 cup hot water (225 gr.)
Cover the grains with the hot water, let cool and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Make the dough:
Mix the sponge and the flour mixture in the bowl of an electric mixer adapted with a hook attachment. Mix at low speed for 10 minutes. Let rest for 20 minutes. Add the grain mixture and knead for about 3 to 5 minutes until well incorporated. The dough will be tacky, barely sticky, adjust the water or the flour content to achieve the right consistency. Let the dough double in a warm place for 1 1/2 -2 hours. Give the dough 1 or 2 business letter folds and let rise a second time, 45 minutes to an hour. Shape as desired, let double (40-50 minutes), slash as desired, and bake at 450F, spraying the oven well with water. After 15 minutes, rotate the bread, and bake until nicely brown and the internal temperature reaches 200F.

*Ten-grain/seed mixture:
Mix equal volumes of the following:
buckwheat
pumpkin seeds
sunflower seeds
soy nugget granules, toasted
polenta
barley flakes
flaxseeds
millet
steel-cut oats
craked wheat

Don't stress too much about this, I used a different mixture, and I believed it had 8 grains and cereals instead of 10.

Julia Child, Fougasse, and Another Award

August is a very important month for Julia Child. She was born on August 15th, and died in the month of August of the year 2004, two days shy of her 92nd birthday. There are many people I wished I had met before they left this earth, Julia Child being among them. I have gotten to know her through the legacy of her books, her television appearances, and the lives of the many people she touched. I would have wanted to cook along with her, in her kitchen, and laugh with her.

The first time I heard about this amazing person was when I bought the book Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which I don't use as much as I should (note to self!). I was intrigued by this woman who is by far responsible for changing the way Americans eat, who introduced weird ingredients to a populations used to frozen TV dinners, in the land of processed food.

Many people are celebrating her life this month, and the movie Julie and Julia came out on the 8yth. I read the book Julie and Julia as part of my book club, it wasn't one of my favorites, but the movie was better, which is usually rare, and Maryl Streep did an amazing job playing Julia Child. Next I would love to read My Life in France to learn more about Julia, through her own words.

Michael Pollen, the clever journalist that he is, wrote a great article on Julia Child and food in the New York Times.

Dorie Greenspan collaborated with Julia Child in the wonderful book Baking with Julia and she also wrote a nice post on Julia in the form of a tale.

Julia at Melanger dedicated a basil lemon tart to Julia.

I have written many praises to the book Baking with Julia, here, and here , for its amazing array of wonderful recipes. The book was the product of a PBS series hosted by Julia Child, and the recipes are from contributing chefs, so consider it the crème de la crème of baking recipes and styles. For this month Bread Baking Day, an event created by the talented Zorra, I decided to try to make Fougasse since the theme is to bake something you have never made before. I had wanted to make Fougasse for years, since seeing the beautiful picture in Julia's book, but never managed to make it, so now was the time. While reading the recipe, I had a DUH! moment when I realized that Fougasse is the same as Focaccia, but shaped differently, not sure why it didn't occur to me from the name, a DUH! moment indeed.

Fougasse
from Baking with Julia

Makes 2 large or 3 small breads

2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups of tepid water
2 TBS active dry yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
4 tsp salt
EVO oil
fresh herbs

-Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup of water and let it bubble for 5 minutes in the bowl of an electric mixer.
-Add the rest of the ingredients and mix for 10 minutes at low speed with a hook attachment.
-Transfer the dough onto a floured counter, let rest for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, pull the dough and fold it like a letter to develop more gluten. Repeat one more time after 30 minutes. -Let proof until double, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. When doubled, punch the dough down, and let it rise a second time. After the second rise, punch the dough again and chill it overnight.
-On the second day, divide the dough in two or three pieces depending on the desired size of the final fougasse. Shape the dough into a tear drop shape and cut slits with a sharp knife so it resembles a leaf. Transfer the dough onto a paper lined baking pan and enlarge the holes so they will stay open during proofing. Brush the dough with olive oil.
-Proof the fougasse in a warm, draft free place until doubled. When the bread is proofed, sprinkle it with some salt and fresh herbs of your choice and bake it at 450F, until the internal temperature reaches 190F. I made three mini leaves that were 8 oz each, and two big ones that were about 1 pound each.

Lastly, I want to thank Lien, a blogger whom I feel very connected to, for surprising me with this award. I feel very flattered to be included in the group of talented bloggers Lien gave the award to, and to receive my second award in a week.

The rules, copied a pasted from Lien's blog are the following:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

Like Lien, I don't like to talk about myself too much, and to pick 7 things is hard, but here it goes....

1. I am an advanced skier, but blew my left ACL, so now I ski like an old advanced skier.
2. I am a very messy house keeper, and have piles of documents everywhere. My drawers, on the other end, are very organized.
3. Chocolate is my drug of choice ;o)
4. I used to swim a mile a day for a while, until I hurt my left shoulder, now I am very out of shape.
5. Genetics was my favorite subject in College, followed by Biochemistry and Botany.
6. I find Politics really boring, a fact I am ashamed of.
7. Ironically, I failed English twice in High School (studying was not my priority back then I guess).

I am passing this award to 7 creative food bloggers :

*Anna of Kitchenlander, a very creative fellow Daring Baker and Italian blogger.
*Lisamichele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives, where you can find great recipes and wonderful photographer.
*Lolo of Vegan Yum-Yum, who takes beautiful pictures of her vegan creations.
*Marika of Madcapcupcake, another vegan Daring Baker who takes wonderful pictures as well.
*Tuki of La Ciliegina sulla Torta, who writes in Italian and takes great pictures of her wonderful creations.
*Philomena of O pistachio who has wonderful recipes and mouthwatering pictures.
*Y of Lemonpi, an incredible artist and very creative when it comes to dessert, also a Daring Baker who has saved my #@& three times on the challenges because she is a day ahead in Australia so her posts had alerted me that I was in trouble.

Go ahead, spread the love.

Bread Baker's Apprentice #6-Challah Bread

This photo was taken with my friend Jeanne's phone as I forgot to take any picture before I went to her house for dinner and I was surprised by the good quality of this picture. My friends did some extensive work in their house, and now they have a gorgeous kitchen with a huge isle that is perfect for food photography, what an amazing space. Jeanne and I already plan to spend time in her kitchen as she wants to learn more about baking, and what a great space that will be to work in.

This is the sixth week of the challenge started by Nicole at Pinch my salt. We are baking through Peter Reinhart's book The Bread Baker's Apprentice. We are going in alphabetical order because that is how the recipes are organized, and we are not publishing the recipes not to break any copyright laws. This book is a treasure of information, techniques, and stories on the different breads so if you are into bread or would like to start somewhere this is a great book to start. The amazingly prolific Peter Reinhart is coming out with another book this fall and I am looking forward to buying it. Last week it was Casatiello's week, but I left my bread in the fridge too many days, it barely rised, and since I didn't like the taste one bit I didn't write about it. This week was challah's week so I knew it would be good as I love this bread, and what a perfect thing to bring to a friend's house, a bread to break together.

I had made challah before, but this recipe was superior. It resulted in a soft and delicious bread that disappeared in no time with the help of many voracious little kids. It got the seal of approval from my friends who are Jewish, so I know it was good. I was able to take a piece home to make sure it passed the bread and jam test, and it did! Delicious!

Bread Baking Buddy-Asparagus Bread

Lien of Notitie Van Lien belongs to a group of 12 accomplished bakers, called BBB or Bread Baking Babes, that bake a new bread every month. You can bake the same bread as a BBBuddy, which is fun to do because all the things I made so far where delicious. The deadline for this month has passed but if you want to know how to join in the future check Lien's post.

For this month's challenge Lien selected this intriguing bread, which has all ingredients I love so I imagined it would be good. The dough was easy to make, but the addition of all the ingredients was harder than I thought as the wet asparagus kept sliding on the dough instead of sticking to it. It took a lot of coaxing to get the greens and the walnut pieces to mix evenly in the dough. Maybe next time I will do it in the mixer.

When the bread reached 190 internally I took it out of the oven but my little test roll was still chewy so I cooked the loaves for 10 extra minutes, upside down. I brought it to a friend's house to eat for dinner and before eating it we toasted the bread 10 extra minutes as it had gotten soggy. Everyone loved this bread, and one loaf disappeared in not time. I would assume that the same bread can be made with walnuts and black olives.

The recipe below is copied verbatim from Lien's blog.

Asparagus Bread
(with Parmesan Cheese and Walnuts)
125 g green asparagus
25-30 g rocket
50 g walnuts,
50 g freshly grated parmesan cheese
450 g strong bread flour (you can also use half whole wheat and half white or white whole wheat if you can get that)
12 g fresh yeast or 1 1/4 tsp dry instant yeast
250-270 g water (whole wheat version may use a little more water)
25 g olive oil
10 g (sea) salt

Boil 3/4 liter of water with a pinch of (sea) salt. Clean the asparagus, set two of them aside, cut the rest into 4 pieces. Boil these pieces for 2 minutes in the water, scoop them out (so you can use the water for the rocket as well) and rinse under cold water (to stop them cooking).

Put the rocket in the boiling water for a few seconds (until wilted), drain and rinse under cold water and drain again. Press the water our of the rocket, chop it coarsely and cut the asparagus into 1/4 inch (± 1 cm) long pieces, set aside.

Crush the walnuts coarsely and grate the parmesan.

Measure the flour and yeast in a large bowl, mix in most of the water and knead for a few minutes (on low speed), add the olive oil and knead for 10-12 minutes. Add the salt and knead on medium speed for 5 minutes until very elastic.

Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Work the asparagus pieces, rocket, walnuts and parmesan in with care so that they're evenly distributed. The dough should be very supple and elastic, hence the long kneading time. For me the best way to incorporate all the ingredients is to spread the dough out into a large slap, sprinkle all the ingredients on and roll it up. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes, press flat and fold... rest 5-10 minutes press flat and fold. Shape into rounds.
Place the dough in a greased container, cover and let rise for about 2 hrs.

Divide the dough into 2 equal parts.
Make round balls, cover with a tea towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
Flatten the balls and fold into taut breads with slightly tapering ends. Lay one asparagus in lengthwise in the middle of the bread and press in slightly. Sprinkle with wheat flour and cover to rise for 70 minutes or until doubled. Before baking you can sprinkle a little grated cheese on the bread if you like (optional).

Preheat the oven (preferably with stone) to 460ºF.

Place the loaves directly on the stone. Spray with water (or poor some hot water in a metal container on the bottom of the oven that you preheated to create steam)
Lower the temperature after 5 minutes to 400ºF. Open the door after another 10 minutes to let some air in. Repeat twice during baking. (I must admit I forgot about this step)
Bake for 40-45 minutes and cool on a wire rack.

This was another great bread, soft and very tasty, so thanks to Lien and all the other Babes for creating this great challenge month after month. If you want to check out what other BBBuddies did this month, check Lien's post here.

Bread Baking Buddy-Italian Knot Bread

The talented Ilva of Lucullian Delights chose the recipe this month and I loved it!

The recipe comes from the book Pane: Il Piacere di Preparare il Pane in Casa by Anna Gennari. Ilva chose to make pane di pasta tenera condita which she re-named Italian Knot Bread, which in Italian means flavored soft dough bread.


I adapted Ilva's notes and used Lien's ingredient list, since they were already written with instant yeast, which I used, and she halved the recipe.

Pane di Pasta Tenera Condita

Biga
200 g normal bread flour
5 g fresh yeast or 1/4 tsp dry instant yeast
170 ml water

- Dissolve the yeast in a little water and quickly work the dough together.
- Put it in a container, cover it with a half closed lid or kitchen towel and leave it for 15-24 hrs.

Dough
250 g biga
500 g flour (type 00)
200-260 ml water, lukewarm
15 g fresh yeast or 1 1/2 tsp dry instant yeast
25 g extra-virgin olive oil
30 g lard (or butter)
12 g honey
12 g salt
- Put the flour either in a big bowl or on a baking board, add the lard and mix it with your fingers until it has 'crumbled' and is completely mixed with the flour.
- Dissolve the yeast in little tepid water and add it to the flour. Mix as well as you can.
- Mix salt, olive oil and honey with the like-warm water and add it to the flour. Mix the dough until it holds together and then add the biga.
- Work the dough until it is smooth and doesn't stick either by hand or with a mixer.
- Put it into a bowl, cover it and leave to rise until it has doubled.
- After the dough has doubled, divide it into smaller parts, about 100 g/3,5 oz each.

To see how to shape each piece of dough please check Ilva's or Lien's websites.

1. Roll out each portion into 20" long stands and lay them out on a flat surface.
2. Make a semi-circle with the dough stand.
3. Twist the two end together.
4. Bring the two ends towards the upper part of the circle.
5. Lift/fold the top part over the twisted part.
6. Take the two end and join them together under the actual knot, this will make the knot part come out more and it hides the ends.

- Put the knots on baking sheets and let to rise until they have doubled in size.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven (200°C/390°F) for 30-35 minutes.

My notes:
I absolutely loved this bread! It reminds me of the little panini I used to eat in Italy, which are always present at each child's birthday party, stuffed with butter and prosciutto. I will make it again in smaller size and keep it in the freezer for quick snacks.

The biga fermented for 15 hours only.

I decided to be lazy, and used all purpose flour for the bread. I also used butter instead of lard (both for a yuck factor, and because I have no idea where to find it). The a/p flour gave it a tender crust, and I believe that the OO flour will make this bread even more tender.

The strands were difficult to roll more than 16 inches, but I was able to form the knots as well. The shaped bread didn't look smooth at first, but once properly proofed it looked beautiful.

Baking was straightforward, the bread colored nicely.

The taste was wonderful, the crust soft, and tasty from the honey, the butter and the oil.


The bread passed the butter and jam test so it is a keeper indeed.

Thanks to Ilva and the other BBBabes! To see some of their creations check out their sites: Bake My Day (Karen), I Like to Cook (Sara), Living on Bread and Water (Monique), My Kitchen in Half Cups (Tanna), Grain Doe (Gorel), Notitie van Lien (Lien), The Sour Dough (Mary aka Breadchick), Cookie Baker Lynn (Lynn), Living In The Kitchen With Puppies (Natashya)

The Bread Baker's Apprentice #2-Artos Bread

I am a day late for this but here is the second bread this group have tried. The recipe is part of a family of breads used in Greece to celebrate various festivities. Artos is the general name for Greek celebration breads, but there are many variations with different names, twists and turns. Nuts, dried fruit, and coins are also added depending on what event is celebrated. The book gives three variations of this bread, one being the bread Christopsomos, baked at Christmas time, which is a beautiful variation with a piece of dough added on top to resemble the cross. I wanted to try this but run out of time, so I only tried the simpler version of Artos bread, made with a starter, and with the addition of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and all spice.

The bread is partially leavened with a barm or a poolish. I decided to use my sourdough starter since it works so well and has the same consistency of the barm from this book. As I normally do with any recipe, I first made the recipe as was written to try substitutions later. The bread was straightforward, and it performed how described in the recipe. I used the stretch and fold method to develop more gluten since I never get to the window pane test in my kitchenaid mixer. How I wish I had the money to buy a stronger mixer to make bread.....

After the first proofing, I divided the dough in two since it was way too big in my opinion. I shaped the two parts into a boule and let is rise a second time. Baking was at 350F without misting the oven, or scoring the top. The final bread looked great and I glazed it with a mixture of water, sugar and honey like Reinhart suggests, and topped it with sesame seeds.

I have to be honest, here...the execution of the bread was easy and I visually liked the final product, but the taste didn't do for me. There was a contrast between the sweet top and the less sweet crumb. I think that the addition of nuts and dried fruit will improve the taste quite a bit, so I will try it again, adding lots of dry fruit next time. I also didn't care too much for all the spices, maybe I will skip the clove, which tasted predominant, and add more of the other spices, or even some anice seeds to go with dry cherries.

Bagels are next, can't wait!

Bread Baker's Apprentice #1-Anadama Bread

I recently got bitten by the bread baking bug, or BBB, and I can't stop. For it I actually have to thank for the zillionth time my mentor, pastry chef extraordinaire, DMG. Chef D. has worked for Nancy Silverton, of all people, and I have learned tons from him. Before working with DMG my attempts at bread were really pitiful, and I almost gave up, thinking that breads made at home will never come close to what professional bakers are able to create. Since working alongside chef D. I acquired not only knowledge, but three great bread baking books and have tried successfully many recipes at home.

My last crazy idea was to join the newly formed BBA group, started by Nicole, the creator of Pinch my salt (love the name BTW). We will bake our way through the book The Bread Baker's Apprentice, one recipe per week. It is a totally insane commitment, but I love Peter Reinhart, I love The Bread Baker's Apprentice, and without this challenge I wouldn't possibly bake all the recipes in it.

The first bread we baked was the Anadama bread. In Peter's words this bread takes its name from the words that a hungry husband muttered when he realized that his wife had not only left him but departed leaving behind only a pot of cornmeal mush and some molasses. He muttered the words "Anna, damn 'her", mixed the mush and the molasses with some flour and yeast and this great bread was born.

I didn't know what to expect, but loved this recipe. It behaved exactly how described, it was easy to make, the dough was super soft and pleasant to work with, and the bread was really tasty. The molasses gives the bread not only a beautiful color and flavor, but it makes for an incredible soft crumb. It is not a bread for butter and jam, but rather for butter and prosciutto, or mayo and tomatoes. Really tasty!

Now onto the next challenge.....

Baking-A Consuming Passion

Shuna, the talented creator of eggbeater, wrote a beautiful ode to baking. Please go read it, I will wait. She explained very poetically exactly how I feel about baking. It is a 24/7, sometimes consuming, mostly happy, aspect of my life. I have woken up in the middle of the night with ideas on certain dessert combinations, on what to add to a cake to make it more interesting, or just worried about the next interview, or in anticipation of the first day of a new job.

I am officially unemployed, but not without constant thoughts of what to bake next. I have a starter in the work on the counter, meyer lemons waiting for an inspiration, an ever growing collections of recipes I want to try, recipes I am testing for a cookbook author, a baking class in the planning, dozens posts I want to write, the bowl of the ice cream maker in the freezer for when inspiration strikes, ginger snaps in the fridge ready to be baked, and hundred more things I want to do.

And the cookbooks! Every now and then a new great cookbook comes out, I get my hands on it and it is instant love, I have to have it. Once I get it I tell myself that I won't fall for it again, next time I will be wiser, more mature, less irrational. I have at least 50 baking books, 10 only on chocolate, 5 on cookies, 4 on ice cream, 3 on bread, 3 on candy and confections, and often multiple cookbooks by the same author, I am a junky, no doubt. I often borrow a book from the library and then proceed to photocopy it almost entirely because of all the interesting recipes I can't live without. I have a binder full with my tested recipes, it weighs a ton, they are all nicely stored in plastic pockets so they won't get ruined. And the magazine clippings, I won't even go there....

Without farther ado, I want to share this recipe I have meant to try for ages and finally did. It comes from the book The Cheese Course, and because I somehow misplaced the second page with the instructions on how to make the dough, I have added my own instructions. The bread requires two days to make, so plan ahead. It is one of those recipes that should come with a warning, as you can't possibly eat just a slice.


Grape Focaccia
adapted from the Cheese Course

For the sponge
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 cup all-purpose flour

One day ahead add the yeast to the warm water, and let stand for 2 minutes, then whisk with a fork to dissolve. Mix in the flour to make a loose dough, refrigerate overnight.

For the focaccia dough
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup EVOO
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons cornmeal
2 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 pound seedless grapes (I used green grapes), halved
1/4 coarse sugar or granulated sugar

To make the focaccia dough: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the hook attachment, add the sponge, the water, the salt, wine, EVOO, and cornmeal. Mix on low speed for few second, and with the mixer running add the flour until a soft dough forms. Mix at speed 1 for 5 minutes. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. Add more flour to make the dough clear the sides of the bowl if necessary. It should still be sticky and soft. Transfer the dough onto a floured surface and pat into a rectangle. Let rest for 5 minutes. Stretch the dough from each end to twice its size. Fold it like a letter into a rectangle. Spray with oil, cover with plastic and let it rest for 30 minutes. Stretch the dough two more times with the 30 minute resting time. Line a 17x12 sheet pan with paper and brush with oil. Press the dough onto the pan, brush it with extra extra vergin olive oil and dimple all over with fingers. Rest the dough 5 minutes to relax the gluten then finish spreading it evenly. Add the halved grapes on the top, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours, depending on the room temperature. Before baking, sprinkle the top evenly with the crystal sugar. Bake at 375F until the internal temperature reaches 180-200F. Let rest at least 10 minutes before slicing. Warning: extremely addictive!

This recipe was submitted to Susan at Wild Yeast, to her yeast spotting weekly event. To learn more about this wonderful event click here.
Buon Appetito!