This is a nice, lightly enriched white bread. It's made with an overnight sponge and produces a lovely light loaf. With the twist that it has a line of chocolate running through the centre of the loaves.

The original recipe has it written up as making two petite loaves. I didn't have any loaf pans quite that small (19x9cm), so I decided to add 250g of sourdough starter (to bulk it up a bit and use up some starter). I ended up making one medium (20x10cm) loaf and then turned the rest of the dough into rolls, each one stuffed with a small piece of chocolate.

I think next time I'd use a bit more chocolate in the loaf. It seems to have spread out as the dough rose and resulted in pockets of chocolate rather than a continuous line through the centre as I'd intended.

White Bread with Chocolate

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

Sponge

• 3/4 c. water
• 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (or 1/2 Tbsp. instant yeast)
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 c. hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour
• 250g sourdough starter @ 100% hydration (optional)

Dough

• 1/2 c. warm water
• 1/4 c. dry milk powder
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• ~400g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour
• 150g dark chocolate

Directions

1. Combine water, yeast, ginger, flour, and sourdough starter (if using).
2. Mix well, cover, and set aside at room temperature overnight.
3. In the morning, add the warm water, milk powder, sugar, salt, and butter and stir to combine.
4. Add the remaining flour, a little at a time, until a soft dough forms.
5. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and knead for 15-20 minutes, incorporating any remaining flour as necessary.
6. Round the dough and place in a covered bowl to rise for 60-90 minutes.
7. Knock the dough back, divide into two equal portions, round each portion, cover, and rest for 5-10 minutes.
8. Grease two 19x9cm (7.5x3.5") or 20x10cm (8x4") loaf pans, two 20cm (9") square pans, or one of each.
9. If making loaves: press each dough ball flat, letter fold, place a line of chocolate along the short side, and then roll up around the chocolate. Pinch the seam and ends to seal and place, seam-side-down, into the prepared pans.
   If making rolls: Divide each dough ball into nine equal portions. Press each portion flat and place a small piece of chocolate in the centre of each one. Fold the edges of the rounds up over the chocolate and pinch to seal. Flip the ball over and roll it to form it into a tight ball. Place, seam-side-down in the prepared pan.
10. Cover and set aside to rise for ~40 minutes.
11. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
12. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 20-30 minutes.
13. Turn off oven and allow bread to stand in the hot oven for ~5 minutes.
14. Turn out onto wire rack to cool.
15. If desired, brush top crusts with a little butter to give it a slightly glossy finish.

High-Fibre Bran Loaf

I made a fresh batch of granola yesterday, so I decided to incorporate some of it into this bread. But since the granola was relatively sweet, I only used half the amount and then added pumpkin seeds to fill in the rest of the amount. I would have also liked to have put in some flax seeds, but I couldn't find them, so they didn't make it into this rendition, but I've recommended them so I remember to try to include them next time.

High-Fibre Bread

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 280g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour
• 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 c. warm water
• 250g sourdough discard (optional)
• 1/4 c. butter
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1/2 c. granola (or 1/4 c. granola + 1/4 c. pumpkin seeds)
• 2 Tbsp. flax seeds (optional)
• 1/2 c. wheat germ
• 1 Tbsp. wheat bran
• grated zest of 1 orange
• 400-500g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour

Directions

1. Combine the whole wheat flour, yeast, salt, warm water, and sourdough discard (if using) and mix well.
2. Add the butter, honey, granola, flax seeds (if using), wheat germ, wheat bran, and orange zest and mix thoroughly.
3. Gradually work in the white flour until a soft dough forms.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead, working in more flour as needed, for 20-30 minutes.
5. Shape into a ball and place in a covered bowl to rise (60-90 minutes).
6. Knock the dough back, divide into two equal portions, and round each one.
7. Cover and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, grease two 20x10cm (8x4") loaf pans.
9. Shape the dough balls into loaves and place, seam-side-down, into the prepared loaf pans.
10. Cover and allow to rise for 30-45 minutes.
11. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
12. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15-20 minutes.
13. Reduce temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake until done (5-15 minutes longer).
14. Allow to cool in pans for 5-10 minutes, then turn onto wire racks to cool.

Cinnamon Rolls (Breakfast Bible)

This is far from the first cinnamon roll recipe that I've made. But... I hadn't made this recipe yet. And I had the (digital) cookbook with me in NZ. And I needed something for breakfast. I mean, this isn't the healthiest option and should probably be more of a dessert, especially if you include the icing. So, definitely not something to indulge in often, but a nice treat once-in-a-while.

Cinnamon Rolls

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 c. milk
• 100g sugar
• 75g butter, melted
• 3 large eggs
• 2 1/4 tsp. instant yeast
• 620g all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt

Filling

• 100g brown sugar
• 90g butter, softened
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Topping

• cream cheese icing

Directions

1. Combine the milk, sugar, butter, eggs, and yeast.
2. Add ~550g of the flour and mix well.
3. Gradually add salt and more flour until a very soft dough forms.
4. Knead the dough, gradually adding in more flour as necessary, until smooth and supple (~10 minutes).
5. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a covered bowl to rise (1 1/2-2 hours).
6. Meanwhile, beat the brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon until combined.
7. Knock back the dough and roll it out into a large (35x40cm) rectangle.
8. Spread the filling evenly over the surface of the dough, leaving a 2-3cm border along the longer sides.
9. Starting with a long side, roll up the dough, jelly-roll-style.
10. Pinch the edges to seal the seam.
11. Cut the rolled dough crosswise into 8 or 9 equal slices.
12. Grease a 23x33cm (9x13") pan.
13. Arrange the rolls in the prepared pan, cover, and let rise (60-90 minutes at room temperature; up to 12 hours in the fridge).
14. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
15. Uncover and bake at 180°C (350°F) until golden brown (~30 minutes).
16. Let cool in pan for ~15 minutes.
17. Meanwhile, make the icing.
18. Spread the icing over the rolls.
19. Allow to rest for another 15 minutes before serving.

It's coming up to Thanksgiving here and apparently everyone has been hit by the baking madness. That is to say: The grocery store was completely sold out of 2.5kg bags of white flour when I went to restock the other day. Not a huge problem, but it did mean that I needed to find a whole grain bread recipe to make this week. And, of course, preferably one that I hadn't made before. And this was the first one that I hit upon that I had all the ingredients for.

This recipe makes a lovely, dark, flavourful bread. It came out a bit sweet for my tastes, but still very good nonetheless. I might try reducing the molasses to 1/2 c. next time, just to see how that goes.

As expected, the dough was fairly sticky and challenging to work with due to the high percentage of rye flour, but it did come together eventually. Although it never got quite as supple and elastic as a predominantly wheat dough.

Pumpernickel Bread

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 c. water
• 1/2 c. cornmeal
• 1/2-3/4 c. molasses
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 Tbsp. caraway seeds, bruised/lightly crushed
• 15g dark chocolate
• 250g sourdough discard @ 100% hydration (optional)
• 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1 c. mashed potatoes
• 300g rye flour
• 200-300g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour, divided
• 1 egg white
• 1 Tbsp. cold water

Directions

1. Combine water and cornmeal and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened (10-20 minutes).
3. Remove from heat and stir in molasses, butter, salt, caraway seeds, and chocolate.
4. Mix in the sourdough starter, yeast and mashed potatoes.
5. Add the rye flour and ~150g of the whole wheat flour and mix well.
6. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead (the dough will be very heavy, wet, and sticky) for ~20 minutes. Gradually work in the remaining flour while kneading.
7. Round the dough and place it in a covered bowl to rise.
8. Once dough is well-risen (60-90 minutes), knock it back and divide into two equal portions.
9. Round each portionn, cover, and allow to rest for ~10 minutes.
10. Meanwhile, flour two bannetons (preferably with rice flour).
11. Shape each portion into a loaf and place, seam-side-up into the floured bannetons.
12. Cover and allow to rise at room temperature for 45-60 minutes.
13. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
14. Grease a baking sheet and dust with cornmeal.
15. Turn the loaves out onto the the prepared baking sheet.
16. Beat the egg white with the cold water and brush it onto the loaves.
17. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 40-50 minutes.
18. Turn off oven and allow to stand in hot oven for 5-10 minutes.
19. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

I haven't been great at keeping up with the bread baking lately. My poor starter is feeling a bit neglected and we've been largely bread-less over the summer.
I ended up rolling with this recipe today because it was the first one I found that a) I had all the ingredients for and b) didn't require an overnight sponge. And, honestly, it's delicious! I love it. I actually ate two slices immediately. Which I almost never do. And, while I did end up using the mix of white and whole wheat flour that the recipe called for this time, I think it would probably work really well as a 100% whole wheat loaf too!

Molasses Wheat Bread

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 2 c. hot water¹
• 1/4 c. molasses
• 1/2 c. dry milk powder
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 450g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour, divided
• 350-450g hard (strong/high grade/bread) or all-purpose flour, divided
• 250g sourdough discard @ 100% hydration (optional)
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 4 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast (or ~1 Tbsp. instant yeast)

Directions

1. Combine the hot water, molasses, milk powder, salt, and ~150g of each of the flours.
2. Mix well and beat for a minute or two.
3. Add the sourdough discard (if using) and the butter and beat for another minute.
4. Add the remaining 300g of whole wheat flour and mix well.
5. Beat for 2-3 minutes.
6. Add the yeast and ~150g of the remaining white flour and mix by hand or with a dough hook.
7. Work in as much of the remaining flour as needed to form a good dough. Flour may be worked in either by hook or by hand.
8. Knead until dough is supple and elastic (~5 more minutes by hook or 15-20 minutes by hand, depending on the efficiency of your stroke).
9. Round the dough and place it in a covered bowl to rise (~1 hour depending on room temperature).
10. Knock the dough back and divide into two equal portions.
11. Round each one, cover, and rest for 5-10 minutes.
12. Meanwhile, grease two 20x10cm (8x4") loaf pans.
13. Working with one portion of dough at a time, press flat and fold into thirds (letter fold). Then, instead of rolling up jelly-roll-style as usual, roll and stretch the dough into a log about 1.5x the length of the loaf pan. Now twist the log once or twice around and place it in one of the prepared loaf pans.
14. Cover and set aside to rise for ~45 minutes at room temperature.
15. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
16. Bake the loaves at 190°C (375°F) until done (30-45 minutes depending on how well-risen they were going in).
17. If desired, remove from tin for last 5 minutes of baking to give the crust some extra crisp.
18. Turn off the oven and allow the bread to stand in the hot oven for ~5 minutes.
19. Turn out of pan and transfer to wire rack to cool.

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¹ I made my water very hot indeed and then just made sure to add everything else to it before adding the yeast. I was also adding cold sourdough discard out of the fridge which helped to bring the temperature down a bit. ^Back

This is yet another recipe from my time in New Zealand. (Not that I got the recipe in NZ, but I made it for the first time while I was over there and then never got around to writing it up.) This is a nice, enriched white bread. The recipe makes enough dough for two loaves. Meanwhile, there is enough filling for one. So, in a single batch, you get a plain white sandwich bread as well as a lovely dessert loaf, replete with nuts and cinnamon!

Photo goes here.

Lee's Rich Loaf

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. butter
• 1 1/4 c. water
• 1/3 c. dry milk powder
• ~700g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour
• 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
• 2 large eggs

Filling

• 1/4 c. chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1/4 c. raisins, soaked and drained
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. grated orange zest
• 1 Tbsp. butter, melted

Directions

1. Combine salt, sugar, butter, water, and milk powder over low heat and cook until butter is melted and water is very warm, but do not allow to boil.
2. Place ~250g of the flour into a bowl, pour in the warm liquid, and mix well.
3. Double check the temperature to make sure it's not too hot. Batter should be no more than 50°C.
4. Add the yeast and mix well.
5. Stir in the eggs, then beat for 2-3 minutes.
6. Add the most of the remaining flour a little bit at a time until a rough, shaggy dough forms.
7. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead, using any remaining flour to dust as necessary to keep it form being excessively sticky. Be very careful not to add too much flour! The dough should remain soft and pliable.
8. Continue kneading for 10-20 minutes.
9. Round the dough and place it in a covered bowl to rise for ~1 hour at room temperature.
10. Once the dough is well-risen, knock it back and knead a few strokes.
11. Divide into two equal portions and round each one.
12. Cover and rest for ~10 minutes.
13. Meanwhile, combine the nuts, raisins, cinnamon, sugar and orange zest in a bowl and mix well.
14. Grease two 20x10cm (8x4") loaf pans.
15. Take one of the dough balls and press/roll it into a flat rectangle ~35cm (14") long and ~1cm (1/2") thick.
16. Brush the melted butter onto the dough, leaving a 1-2cm margin where the seam will be.
17. Sprinkle the filling mixture over the butter.
18. Carefully roll the dough into a log and pinch to seal.
19. Place the loaf, seam-side-down, into one of the prepared loaf pans.
20. Shape the other dough ball into a loaf by your preferred shaping method and place it in the remaining empty loaf pan.
21. Cover and set aside to rise for ~45 minutes.
22. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
23. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15 minutes.
24. Reduce temperature to 180°C (350°F) and keep baking for an additional 10-20 minutes.
25. Turn out onto baking rack to cool.

Pusstabrot (Hungarian White Bread)

This is a lovely white bread with a nice bit of extra flavour from the fennel seeds. I really liked it.

Pusstabrot

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
• 600-700g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour, divided
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 1/2 c. hot (50-55°C) water
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 4 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp. water

Directions

1. Gently roast the fennel seeds in a small frying pan.
2. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely, then grind with a mortar and pestle.
3. Combine ~400g of the flour with the salt, sugar, and ground fennel.
4. Stir to combine, then make a well in the centre.
5. Pour the hot water and oil into the well and sprinkle in the yeast.
6. Use a wooden spoon to stir the liquids from the centre, gradually pulling in just enough of the flour to form a thin batter.
7. Cover and set aside until the batter rises to cover the rest of the flour (~1 hour).
8. Once the batter has risen, uncover and begin stirring from the centre outward, gradually working in the rest of the flour.
9. Work in a bit more flour (100-200g) to stop the dough from being too sticky.
10. Turn out the dough and knead until smooth and elastic (10-20 minutes), working in the rest of the flour as needed to form a soft and supple dough.
11. Round the dough and return it to a covered bowl to rise (~1 hour).
12. Knead the dough for a few strokes, then shape as desired. This recipe will make either one large or two small loaves.
13. Place the shaped loaves on a greased baking sheet, cover, and set asdie to rise for 30-40 minutes.
14. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and place a pan of boiling water on the bottom rack.
15. Beat the egg white with the water and a pinch of salt.
16. Brush the loaves with the egg white mixture and slash as desired.
17. Sprinkle with extra fennel seeds
18. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until done. This may take anywhere from 20-50 minutes depending on whether you are baking one loaf or two and how well-risen they are.
19. Turn off oven, remove steam pan, and let loaves rest in hot oven for 5-10 minutes.
20. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

I've been meaning to make this one for a while now. It can be done as either a "bubble loaf" with little round balls of dough coated in poppyseeds or "money bread" with flat ribbons of dough coated in brown sugar and currants. I opted for the savoury poppyseed variety.

The recipe specifies using 2 cups of butter for coating the dough pieces. This is clearly insane. I melted 1 stick (ie. 1/2 a cup) and still had about half of it left over by the time I was done. Two cups would've been ludicrous!

Otherwise, I pretty much followed the recipe. Although I did toss in ~250g of sourdough discard. Not because the recipe needed it, but because the starter desperately needed to be fed. And, to be honest, the starter does act as a decent conditioner that makes the dough a bit nicer and the finished bread a bit more resistant to going stale, so... why not?

And, while I kept the rest of the ingredients the same, I did slightly change the way that I handled some of them. Most notably, I omitted the butter until I was about halfway through kneading the dough and then worked it in. My understanding is that, although it doesn't necessarily make a huge difference, this can often help with gluten formation.

Poppyseed Bubble Loaf

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 800-900g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour, divided
• 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
• 250g sourdough discard (optional)
• 2 c. water
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2/3 c. dry milk powder
• 6-8 Tbsp. butter, divided
• 1/3 c. poppyseeds

Directions

1. Combine the yeast with 400g of the flour.
2. Add the sourdough discard (if using) and the water and stir to combine.
3. Add the salt, sugar, and milk powder and mix vigorously for ~150 strokes.
4. Add 400g of the remaining flour ~50g at a time.
5. Turn the dough out and knead for 5-10 minutes, using the remaining flour to dust as needed to achieve a soft, supple dough that does not stick too much.
6. Smear 2 Tbsp. of the butter on the work surface and work the dough on top of it for another 5-10 minutes, grandually working the butter into the dough.
7. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Small bubbles forming just below the surface is an excellent sign!
8. Round the dough and place it in a covered bowl to rise at room temperature.
9. Once dough is fully risen (~1 hour), knock it back.¹
10. Melt the remaining butter and use some of it to grease a large (10-cup) Bundt pan.
11. Place the poppyseeds in a shallow dish.
12. Pinch off a small portion of dough, shape it into a ball, dip it in the melted butter, and then dip it in the poppyseeds. Place the ball seed-side-up in the prepared pan.
13. Repeat with remaining dough.
14. Cover and let rise for 30-45 minutes.
15. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
16. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until done.²

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Variations

Monkey Bread

Ingredients

• 800-900g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour, divided
• 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
• 250g sourdough discard (optional)
• 2 c. water
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2/3 c. dry milk powder
• 6-8 Tbsp. butter, divided
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. currants, soaked and drained

Directions

1. Make the dough as directed above.
2. Once ready for shaping, press or roll the dough into a large, flat rectangle and cut into ribbons ~2cm wide and 8cm long.
3. Mix the brown sugar and the currants into the melted butter.
4. Dip the dough ribbons into the butter mixture and toss into the pan. (Clayton says to do this "haphazardly", but I think that trying to make a nice pattern with them would be pretty.)

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¹ At this point, you're meant to begin shaping the loaf. I had errands to run, however, so I asked TF to knock the dough back at the 1-mark and then put it back in its bowl to complete a second rise there. After an additional hour, I knocked it back a second time and then shaped the loaf. So the final proof was actually it's third rise, rather than the second as called for in the original recipe. Doing it this way certainly doesn't seem to have hurt the results any! So, feel free to adjust the rises to suit your schedule. Putting it in the fridge to retard it somewhat could also be an option. Bread is really quite flexible! Figure out a method that works for you. ^Back
2 This can be a little tricky to judge with this loaf. Clayton actually says to bake it at 190°C (375°F) for 1 hour. I thought that sounded excessive. Especially for how well-risen the loaf was. I also worried that the slightly higher oven temperature would cause it to burn on the outside before it had baked through in the centre. So I lowered the temperature to 180°C (350°F) and baked it for just 30 minutes. The top pieces were certainly wonderfully browned and beautifully baked. Hopefully it ended up fully cooked in the centre as well. I will admit, I did not end up testing it as I was a little distracted by the time it was going in the oven. ^Back

I don't tend to make very many rye breads. I find the low-gluten flour difficult to work with and I still haven't mastered the technique. This one came out quite nicely though! It takes a while to get it going. The sour needs to ferment over three days. But it's worth the wait!

Old Milwaukee Rye

Slightly adapted from Berndard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

Sponge

• 250g rye flour
• 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1 Tbsp. caraway seeds
• 2 c. warm water (~40°C)

Dough

• 1 c. hot water (~50°C)
• 1/4 c. molasses
• 2 Tbsp. caraway seeds, divided
• 2 large eggs, divided
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 250g rye flour
• ~500g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1 Tbsp. milk

Directions

1. Combine the flour, yeast, caraway, and water for the sponge and beat for a minute or two.
2. Cover the bowl tightly and set aside at room temperature to ferment for 6-72 hours, stirring once every 24 hours.
3. Once ready to bake, add the hot water, molasses, 1 Tbsp. of the remaining caraway seeds, 1 of the eggs, and salt to the sponge.
4. Stir in the remaining rye flour and ~250g of the white flour.
5. Beat for 3-4 minutes, then mix in the butter.
6. Work in the remaining white flour a little at a time.
7. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 10-20 minutes until smooth.
8. Round the dough and place it in a covered bowl to rise (~1 hour).
9. Knock the dough back, allow to rest for 5-10 minutes.
10. Divide the dough into two equal portions and round each one.
11. Cover and rest for another 10 minutes.
12. Grease a baking sheet and dust it with cornmeal.
13. Shape each loaf as desired. If you have bannetons, then a standard letter fold + coil fold works well. If not, then I like to do a letter fold and then round them again. Or do a letter fold and then fold in half lengthwise and pinch the seam together.
14. If using bannetons, place the loaves seam-side-up in the bannetons. If no bannetons are available, place the shaped loaves directly on the prepared baing sheet (seam-side-down).
15. Cover and allow to rise at room temperature for ~45 minutes or as long as overnight in the fridge.
16. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
17. If the loaves have been rising in bannetons, turn them out onto the prepared baking sheet now.
18. Beat the remaining egg with the milk.
19. Brush the tops of the loaves with the egg mixture and sprinkle with the remaining caraway seeds.
20. Slash as desired. (3-4 diagonal slashes for long loaves or a # pattern for round.)
21. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 35-45 minutes.
22. Turn off oven and allow to stand in hot oven for 5-10 minutes.
23. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

This bread uses a generous quantity of sesame oil in the dough, has walnuts folded in, and is topped with toasted sesame seeds. Unfortunately, I was a bit out of it when making it, so I forgot to add the walnuts before doing the preshaping like I was supposed to. Given that the dough was already divided, I decided to just add half the quantity of walnuts to half of the dough and leave the other one with just the sesame seeds. And, I have to admit, the one without the walnuts rose better and came out with a nicer shape. I think, if I were doing it again, I'd like to try a pure sesame loaf: sesame oil, sesame seeds folded into the dough, and sesame seeds on top.

Sesame-Nut Bread

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1/4 c. honey
• 250g sourdough discard (optional)
• 450g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour, divided
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. dry milk powder
• 4 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 2 large eggs
• 150g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour
• 1 c. chopped walnuts (or 1/2 c. toasted sesame seeds)
• 1 small egg
• 1 Tbsp. milk
• 2 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Combine water, sesame oil, canola oil, and honey and heat to ~50°C (120°F).
2. Add the sourdough discard (if using) and 300g of the whole wheat flour and stir vigorously for ~100 strokes.
3. Add the remaining whole wheat flour, salt, milk powder and stir for another 100 strokes.
4. Cover and set aside for 30-60 minutes.
5. Add the yeast and mix in the 2 large eggs.
6. Work in the white flour, a little at a time.
7. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and knead for at least 20 minutes, working in small amounts of extra flour as needed to stop dough from being excessively sticky.
8. Round the dough and place in a covered bowl to rise (60-90 minutes).
9. Knock the dough back and work in the walnuts (or sesame seeds).
10. Divide the dough into two equal portions and round each one.
11. Cover and rest for ~10 minutes.
12. Grease two 20x10cm (8x4") loaf pans.
13. Shape each dough portion into a loaf and place into pans.
14. Cover and allow to rise for 45-60 minutes.
15. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
16. Beat the small egg with the milk and brush the tops of the loaves with the mixture.
17. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
18. Bake at 190°C (375°F) until done (~30 minutes).
19. Run a knife or a spatula around edges of pans and carefully turn loaves out.
20. Return to hot (but turned off) oven for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool.

As has become typical recently, this write-up is late. I made this bread several weeks ago, but it's taken me a while to get to the write-up for it.

It was a fine loaf. Very wheat-y. As you might expect from something containing so much extra wheat germ. But it rose well and the flavour was nice. It wasn't special, but it was perfectly serviceable and we've eaten the lot now.

Wheat Germ Bread

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 c. water
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/3 c. butter
• 1/3 c. molasses
• 4 1/2 tsp. dry active yeast
• 1 c. wheat germ
• 3/4 c. milk, warmed to ~50°C (120°F)
• 600g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour
• 200-300g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour

Directions

1. Combine the water, sugar, salt, butter, and molasses and warm to ~40°C (105°F).
2. Add the yeast and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the wheat germ with the warm milk and set aside until liquid is absorbed and mixture has cooled slightly.
4. Add the molasses mixture to the wheat germ mixture.
5. Add ~300g of the whole wheat flour and 125g of the white flour and stir vigorously for 150-200 strokes.
6. Add the remaining whole wheat flour and mix very well.
7. Use some of the remaining white flour to dust your work surface and turn the dough out onto it.
8. Knead, working in as much of the remaining flour as needed to form a soft, supple dough. (If in doubt, it's better for the dough to be a bit too loose than a bit too tight.)
9. Continue kneading for another 10 minutes or so.
10. Round the dough and place it in a covered bowl to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes.
11. Knock back, knead a few strokes, divide into two equal portions, and round each one.
12. Cover and let rest for 5-10 minutes.
13. Meanwhile, grease two 22x12cm (8.5x4.5") loaf pans.
14. Shape the loaves by your preferred method (I like to do a letter fold followed by a coil fold) and place them, seam-side-down, into the prepared tins.
15. Cover and let rise at room temperature for 45-75 minutes.
16. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
17. Bake loaves at 190°C (375°F) for 30-40 minutes.
18. Remove from oven and let cool in tins for 5-10 minutes.
19. Brush crusts with a little butter if desired. (It will give them a light gloss.)
20. Turn out onto wire racks to finish cooling.

This bread gives a very "one of everything I can see in the pantry sort of vibe" while still being a relatively plain white bread. It doesn't contain any whole grains, seeds, or fruit. And yet it has pretty much everything else you could put into a bread in it. In addition to the white flour, salt, and yeast that you would expect in a white sandwich bread like this; it also gets instant potato flakes, dry milk powder, eggs, sugar, oil, and wheat germ added to the mix! Which makes for a fairly interesting loaf even though it doesn't really any visible inclusions.

Hearty White Bread

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 450g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour, divided
• 1/2 c. wheat germ
• 1/2 c. instant potato flakes
• 1/4 c. dry milk powder
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 4 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast (or 1 Tbsp. instant yeast)
• 125g sourdough discard (optional)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 c. warm water
• 2 Tbsp. oil

Directions

1. Combine ~250g of the flour with the wheat germ, potato flakes, milk powder, sugar, walt, and yeast and mix well.
2. Add the sourdough discard, eggs, and water and stir vigorously for ~150 strokes.
3. Mix in the oil.
4. Add the remaining flour a little at a time until the dough comes together.
5. Turn out and knead for 10-15 minutes.
6. Round and place in a covered bowl to rise for ~1 hour.
7. Knock back, round, cover, and rest for ~10 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, grease a large (23x13cm/9x5") loaf pan.
9. Shape the loaf by your preferred method and place, seam-side-down, into the prepared pan.
10. Cover and proof for 30-45 minutes.
11. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
12. Uncover and bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15 minutes.
13. Reduce oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake until done (~20 minutes).
14. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Feather Bread (Bernard Clayton)

"Feather bread" -- not to be confused with the featherpuff bread from Laurel's Kitchen -- is a fairly plain (but quite serviceable) basic, white bread from Bernard Clayton's bread book. Although he recommends baking the loaves as baguettes, I didn't feel like trying to shape the long, skinny loaves, so I made a couple of slightly plump batards instead.

The dough itself is lightly enriched with a small amount of sugar and a much larger quantity of butter. And the crust develops a lovely shiny sheen from the egg white glaze applied just before baking.

I found the flavour of the final bread somewhat bland. But it did work very well for sandwiches. And the crumb was very nice with excellent texture. And the loaves did look quite pretty. So, definitely worth making. But possibly not a bread to enjoy on its own. It works better as a substrate or sandwich component than as a stand-alone starch.

Feather Bread

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 500-550g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour, divided
• 1 Tbsp. instant yeast
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 1/2 c. water @ 50°C
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter
• 1 egg white
• 1 Tbsp. water

Directions

1. Combine ~375g of the flour with the yeast, sugar, and salt and mix well.
2. Pour in the water and stir to combine.
3. Mix vigorously for 150-200 strokes (or a couple of minutes with the flat beater in a stand mixer).
4. Mix in the butter.
5. Mix in the remaining flour, a bit at a time, until the dough comes together.
6. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, supple, and elastic (10-20 minutes).
7. Round the dough and place in a covered bowl to rise. The first rise should take ~1 hour at room temperature.
8. Once fully risen, knock the dough back and divide into two equal portions.
9. Round each portion, cover, and rest for ~10 minutes.
10. Meanwhile, grease a baking sheet and dust it with cornmeal.
11. Shape each portion into a batard and place on the prepared baking sheet.
12. Cover and allow to rise at room temperature. The second rise should take ~45 minutes at room temperature.
13. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).
14. Beat the egg white with the water and brush the mixture over the surface of both loaves, being careful not to let the glaze drip onto the pan.
15. Slash the loaves as desired.
16. Bake at 220°C (425°F) until shiny and nicely browned (15-20 minutes).
17. Test loaves for doneness. If they're not quite done yet, reduce oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) and continue baking until done (likely 5-10 minutes longer).
18. Turn off oven and allow loaves to stand in hot oven for 5-10 minutes.
19. Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack to cool.

I'm used to caraway being paired with rye flour in breads. Usually a mix of rye and wheat, but there's still generally at least some rye in the mix. Not this one though! This is an entirely white flour caraway bread. With orange zest. And brown sugar. Definitely a somewhat unusual mix. And it's also tiny. I'm used to using ~450g of flour for a standard 20x10cm (8x4") pan loaf. This recipe only calls for 250g of flour! It makes the ittiest, bittiest loaf. I baked it in an oven-proof bento container! It was adorable. Shortlived, but adorable.

Swedish Caraway Bread

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 3/4 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• grated zest of 1 orange
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 tsp. caraway seeds
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (or 1 3/4 tsp. instant yeast)
• 250g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour, divided

Directions

1. Combine the water, sugar, orange zest, butter, and caraway seeds and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Reduce heat to medium and continue boiling for 3 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool to ~45°C (115°F).
4. Add salt, yeast, and ~1/2 of the flour to the water mixture and beat for 2-3 minutes.
5. Cover and set aside to rise at room temperature for ~1 hour.
6. Mix in ~1/2 of the remaining flour.
7. Spread the rest of the flour onto the work surface and dump the dough out on top of it. Knead until dough is smooth and supple (8-10 minutes) adding a little more water if necessary.
8. Round the dough, cover, and rest for 5-10 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, grease a very small loaf pan (18x8cm/7x3").
10. Shape the dough into a loaf by your preferred method. (I like to do a letter fold and then roll it up like a jelly roll.)
11. Place the loaf, seam-side-down, into the prepared pan, cover, and set aside to rise for another hour or so.
12. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30-40 minutes.
13. Turn out onto wire rack to cool.

I was going to make miche as my next sourdough recipe. But then I saw that this new sourdough naan recipe had been posted. And it looked nice and easy to put together. And I figured that it would complement the dal I had planned for dinner well. So I figured why not?!

I've made sourdough naan before. And it was pretty good. But I'm always game for trying new recipes. And this one was a bit different, since it's meant to use sourdough discard (mostly for a bit of flavour) and then adds a generous quantity of commercial yeast to do the actual leavening. (Hence my categorization of it as a "faux sourdough".)

I liked how this naan came out in the end. Although I did have to adjust the recipe fairly significantly. I don't know if it was written for a much higher hydration starter or if there was just a typo in the quantities or what... (A pox on sourdough recipes that don't specify the hydration of the starter!) But, whatever the underlying issue, the dough was way too dry when made according to the recipe. I ended up working in an extra 120g of starter and still needed to add a few extra teaspoons of water to get it to come together into something workable. And, honestly, I think the overall hydration was still a bit on the low side. Next time I might try working even more water into it. I was just trying not to go too crazy with it this time.

Faux Sourdough Naan

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

• 420g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour
• 120g plain yogurt
• 240g sourdough discard @ 100% hydration
• 120-150g water
• 2 1/4 tsp. instant yeast
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 3 Tbsp. ghee
• extra ghee, sea salt, and/or spices (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the flour, yogurt, discard, 120g of the water, yeast, salt, and sugar and mix until the dough comes together.
2. Turn out and knead for 1-2 minutes.
3. Work in the ghee 1 Tbsp. at a time.
4. If the dough seems too stiff, wet your hands and continue kneading. Repeat until enough moisture has been added.
5. Place in covered bowl to rise for 1-2 hours.
6. Knock back and divide into 100g portions.
7. Round each portion, cover, and proof at room temperature for ~30 minutes.
8. Heat a tawa or cast iron pan over medium heat.
9. Working with one portion of dough at a time, flatten into a round.
10. Wet one side thoroughly and place the naan, wet-side-down, onto the tawa. Sprinkle with desired toppings, cover, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
11. Flip and cook, uncovered, for another 1-2 minutes.
12. Brush with ghee and wrap in a clean tea towel while the remaining naan are cooked in the same fashion. (Shape each one while the previous one cooks.)
13. Serve immediately.

A 100% whole wheat bread filled with walnuts and enriched with milk and honey. What's not to love?

I also decided to add a bit of sourdough discard to mine. Mostly to use it up. It's completely optional. Although you may find you need slightly less flour if omitting the starter since it increases the hydration by a small amount.

And I will admit that I got a bit impatient while kneading this bread and didn't get as much gluten development as I probalby should have. So the loaves tore themselves apart during proofing rather than puffing up into nice, smooth-topped loaves like I had hoped. They were still tasty! Just not as pretty or high-rising as I would have liked.

Walnut Wheat Bread

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• ~800g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour, divided¹
• 3 1/4 tsp. instant yeast
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. skim milk powder
• 2 1/4 c. hot water (~50°C)
• 1/4 c. honey
• ~125g sourdough discard (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 c. walnuts, chopped

Directions

1. Combine ~400g of the flour with the yeast, salt, and milk powder and mix well.
2. Add the water, honey, and sourdough discard (if using) and beat vigorously by hand or with a flat beater on a stand mixer for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add ~100g of the remaining flour and mix very well.
4. Add the butter and continue working in the remaining flour ~30g at a time until a soft, sticky dough forms.
5. Cover the dough and allow it to rest for 5-10 minutes.
6. Replace the flat beater with a dough hook or turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and work in as much of the remaining flour as needed to form a supple, workable dough.
7. Knead for at least half an hour by hand or 8-10 minutes by hook.
8. Round the dough and place it in a covered bowl to rise at room temperature. First rise should take ~1 hour (give or take, depending on the temperature of your room.)
9. Once the dough is fully risen, knock it back and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.
10. Press it flat and add the walnuts to the middle.
11. Fold the edges over so that the walnuts are enclosed in the centre.
12. Knead for a few minutes until the walnuts are fully incorporated and distributed throughout.
13. Divide the dough into two equal portions, round each one, cover, and rest for ~10 minutes.
14. Meanwhile, grease two 22x11cm (8.5x4.5") loaf pans.
15. Working with one portion at a time, press the dough flat, letter fold, roll up like a jelly roll, and place, seam-side-down into one of the prepared loaf pans. Repeat with remaining dough.
16. Cover and proof at room temperature. (This rise should take ~45 minutes, give or take.)
17. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
18. Uncover loaves and bake at 190°C (375°F) until done (30-40 minutes).
19. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

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¹ Clayton has you mix half of the flour with the wet ingredients first to make a batter. Beat that to get a bit of gluten development. And then gradually add in the rest of the flour. I did that this time and that's how I've written up the instructions here. But I would be tempted to try it with the Laurel's Kitchen method of combining all of the dry ingredients first, making a well in the centre, pour in the wet ingredients, and then gradually incorporating the wet into the dry, working from the centre outward. That seems to work very well for most of their breads and it would be interesting to see if it made any difference with this one. Both approaches should have a similar effect. But... I'd still be curious to compare and contrast. ^Back

I know I just made a chocolate sourdough, but this is a different chocolate sourdough. This one contains no sugar and no chocolate, but more than twice the amount of cocoa (proportionally). And the liquid is beer, rather than water. (I used a dark ale for mine.)

While the previous chocolate sourdough claimed to be a savoury bread, I actually found it relatively sweet. This one, however, is nothing like that. It is exceptionally dark and somewhat bitter. The recipe recommends pairing it with salty offerings like pickles, cheeses, and/or cured meats. And TF found it to be an excellent substrate for Vegemite. Meanwhile, the Kidlet thinks it will make an ideal bread for grilled cheese and has requested one tomorrow.

This bread also has some of the most impressively crisp, delightful crust that I've ever achieved. And it got great oven spring. (Despite me forgetting about it for an entire afternoon and generally being pretty lax with my care and timings when making it.) Very nice overall!

Chocolate Beer Bread

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

• 350g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour
• 40g Dutched (alkalized) cocoa
• 300g beer
• 80g ripe (fed) sourdough starter @ 100% hydration
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Refresh your starter and make sure it's nice and active.
2. Combine the flour, cocoa, beer, starter, and salt and mix very well.
3. Let dough rest, covered, for 3-8 hours, stretching and folding every hour or so.
4. Once dough feels light and well-risen, shape it into a loaf and place it (seam-side-up) in a floured banneton.
5. Cover and let rest for 2-3 hours at room temperature (or 6-24 hours in the fridge).
6. When ready to bake: preheat oven to 250°C (475°F) and boil some water.
7. Grease a baking sheet and dust it with cornmeal.
8. Turn the loaf out onto the preapred baking sheet.
9. Gently rub or brush a little water onto the crust and then slash as desired.
10. Pour some boiling water into a roasting pan and place it on the bottom rack of the oven.
11. Place the bread on the rack above the water pan and bake at 250°C (475°F) for 15 minutes.
12. Reduce heat to 200°C (400°F), remove water pan, and bake for another 15-20 minutes.
13. Turn off oven and allow bread to rest in hot oven for 10 minutes.
14. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Honeycakes (Game of Thrones)

The story behind this recipe is somewhat convoluted. It is based on a recipe posted on the C&C Cakery blog, who got it from Inn at the Crossroads, who, in turn, based their recipe on an early modern recipe they found for honeycakes, which they modified to be closer to a dish described in the Game of Thrones books.

The quote they were riffing on mentioned cakes that had been "soaked in honey". So they made these Elizabethan-era honeycakes and then cut little holes in the tops and poured a generous quantity of honey into the centre of each one.

I'm not sure how close this comes to the treats the author had been imagining. Based on the description, I was imagining more of a small quick bread/chemically leavened cake that then gets soaked in a (possibly mildly spiced) honey syrup. But, I guess they wanted to use an old timey recipe as the basis for their cakes. I think there was a sense that this would fit the vibe of the setting a bit better. And, as written, the recipe does make delightful little rolls! (Although I think they'd be even better with a little butter added to the dough.) And, to be fair, it looks like the folks at Inn at the Crossroads did post a recipe for "modern honeycakes" that does use a chemically leavened batter baked in muffin tins to produce something more similar to what I'd originally been envisioning. (Although I have yet to try that recipe.)

I think it could be interesting to experiment with different takes on this idea. For example, I might be inclined to try making the little yeasted buns again, but try steaming them rather than baking them. Or try adding some butter and extra anise to the dough. Or try poaching them in honey syrup either before or after baking. There are all sorts of possibilities!

Honeycakes

Slightly adapted from C&C Cakery

Ingredients

• 480mL brown ale
• 6 Tbsp. honey, divided
• 4 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast (or 1 Tbsp. instant yeast)
• 800g all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 6 Tbsp. almond flour
• 1 Tbsp. anise seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter¹, softened (optional)
• extra honey

Directions

1. Combine the ale with 2 Tbsp. of the honey and gently warm to ~40°C (100°F).
2. Remove from heat and sprinkle in the yeast and let stand for 5 minutes. (If using instant yeast you may add the yeast directly to the dry ingredients instead. No need to bloom it in the ale first.)
3. Meanwhile, combine the flour, sugar, almond flour, anise, and salt and mix well. (If using instant yeast, add it along with the other dry ingredients.)
4. Pour the yeast mixture into a mixing bowl along with the almond extract and the remaining honey.
5. Mix in the dry ingredients a little at a time to form a soft dough.
6. Work in the butter (if using).
7. Cover and rest at room temperature for 30-60 minutes.
8. Knock dough back and divide into 20-24 equal portions.
9. Round each portion and place on a greased baking sheet or in a greased 23x33cm (9x13") baking tin.
10. Cover and allow to rise for another hour or so.²
11. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
12. Uncover rolls and bake at 190°C (375°F) for 15-20 minutes.
13. Cut a small hole in the top of each roll and carefully spoon in a generous quantity of honey. (The original recipe suggested ~1 Tbsp. per roll, but I went for a somewhat more modest 1 tsp..)

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¹ The original recipe did not call for any butter and I didn't use any this time, but I would like to try adding a bit of butter next time. The rolls were certainly plenty good as-is, but I think a bit of butter might make them even better. ^Back
2 I let my rolls rise for about an hour after shaping, but, in retrospect, I wish I'd given them another 15-20 minutes. They're perfectly good as-is, but they do seem a bit underproofed. The exact timing, of course, will depend on the temperature of your room. My house is a bit on the cool side right now, so the yeast were a bit sluggish. ^Back

Buttermilk Bread (Bernard Clayton)

I love the Laurel's Kitchen buttermilk bread recipe. Not quite as much as I love featherpuff bread, but it's pretty close!

Clayton includes a different take on buttermilk bread in his book. He makes it as a white bread, brushed with an egg glaze and sprinkled with seeds. I liked it well enough, but I think I prefer the Laurel's Kitchen approach. That said, it's nice to have both in your back pocket: a bread for every palate and occasion!

Buttermilk Bread

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 500-600g hard white flour (or all-purpose flour), divided
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (or 1/2 Tbsp. instant yeast)
• 1 c. water
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 1/3 c. unsalted butter
• 1 egg
• sesame and/or poppy seeds

Directions

1. Combine ~250g of the flour with the sugar, salt, baking soda, and yeast.
2. Warm the water, buttermilk, and butter over low heat until softened and gently warmed through.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and beat for 2 minutes.
4. Add another 100-150g of flour and beat for an additional 2 minutes.
5. Switch to dough hook or kneading by hand from here on out and continue adding flour until a soft dough is formed.
6. Knead until smooth and elastic (5-8 minutes by machine or ~20 minutes by hand).
7. Round the dough and place it in a covered bowl to rise at room temperature for ~90 minutes. (May need somewhat more or less time depending on temperature of room.)
8. Once fully risen, knock back and divide into two equal pieces.
9. Round each piece of dough, cover, and rest for 5-10 minutes.
10. Meanwhile, grease two 21x11cm (8.5x4.5") loaf pans.
11. Shape each ball into a loaf by your preferred method and place seam-side-down in the prepared pans.
12. Cover and allow to rise at room temperature for ~45 minutes.
13. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
14. Beat the egg and brush the tops of the loaves with it. Be careful not to let any egg drip down the sides of the pan or your loaves will not come out of the pan cleanly!
15. Sprinkle tops with sesame and/or poppy seeds as desired.
16. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 30-40 minutes.
17. Allow to cool in pans for 5-10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to finish cooling.
18. Cool completely before slicing.

This bread was delicious. Unhealthy, but delicious. In addition to using white flour and being enriched with milk and butter, the dough also includes a cup of sugar cubes! The cubes get lightly crushed before getting worked into the dough and form little pockets of melted sugar upon baking. A lovely -- if somewhat decadent -- result.

I actually ended up using some fancy saffron-infused sugar cubes for my rendition of this bread. They imparted a wonderful aroma and colour to the loaves and the saffron flavour came through quite nicely. Given that the sugar cubes were already flavoured, I decided to omit the cinnamon in this version. That said, I do think the cinnamon would have been delicious with either plain or cardamom-infused sugar cubes (which I may, in fact, try next time). In the meantime, this was a great success and I have no complaints about how it turned out.

Frisian Sugar Loaf

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 1 c. sugar cubes
• 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon (optional)
• ~750g all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 c. skim milk powder
• 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (or 1 3/4 tsp. instant yeast)
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 c. hot water (50-55°C)
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Directions

1. With an ice pick or tack hammer crack -- but do not crush! -- the sugar cubes.
2. Toss the sugar pieces with the cinnamon (if using) and set aside.
3. Combine ~250g of the flour with the milk powder, yeast, and salt.
4. Add the hot water and shortening and beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.
5. Add the remaining flour ~50g at a time until the dough comes together in a rough mass.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 15-20 minutes, adding a handful of sugar pieces every few minutes until all of the sugar has been incorporated.
7. Round the dough and place it in a covered bowl to rise for 1-2 hours¹.
8. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into two equal portions.
9. The cut edge will be sticky. Carefully pinch the edges together to close the seam and cover the sticky sugar.
10. Now round each portion of dough, cover, and set aside to rest for 5-10 minutes.
11. Meanwhile, grease two loaf pans (preferably 21x11cm), line them with parchment paper, and grease the paper.
12. Once the dough has rested, shape each portion into a loaf by your preferred method and place the loaves into the prepared pans.
13. Cover and set aside to rise for 30-60 minutes.
14. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
15. Uncover loaves and slash as desired.
16. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15 minutes.
17. Reduce temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes.
18. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
19. Turn pans on their sides on the cooling rack and gently pull on the parchment paper to ease the loaves out of their pans.
20. Place loaves on cooling rack and allow to cool completely before slicing.

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¹ Rising time will depend on the temperature of your room. Allow to rise until dough maintains the indent from a wet finger pressed ~2cm into the surface. If it fills in, it needs more time to rise. If it sighs and or sinks back, it is over-risen and should be knocked back immediately. Ideally you will catch it before it reaches the point of being over-risen. But as long as it's only slightly over-risen, the bread should still be salvageable. Just keep a close eye on it for any remaining rises. ^Back