Orange and Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Another simple and easy recipe this month for We Knead to Bake's challenge: Orange and Cinnamon Swirl Bread, recipe from 500 Breads by Carol Beckerman.

It is a typical American style sweet breakfast bread, but delicious also at teatime.
This month Aparna is having a giveaway of a copy of the book on her blog and everyone with an Indian shipping address is free to try for a chance to win it, so hurry up and leave a message to her.

I followed the recipe as described but you can make a little changes: you can leave out eggs if you don’t use them and reduce sugar in the dough and in the filling at your pleasure. You can choose any sort of preserve you like but be always aware about the amount, not too much or you will find it oozing out of your baked bread making it a bit messy and sticky (as it happened for one of mine).
Besides, liquid or flour can vary a little, you might also need a little more or less, but the dough must not be very soft. 

Ingredients:

1 tsp sugar

2/3 cup warm water

2 tsp active dry yeast

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp salt

3 tbsp sugar

2 eggs

the juice and finely grated zest of an orange

5/6 tbsp apricot preserves

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar

oil for greasing

Grease 2 8”x 4” loaf tins with a little oil. Dissolve 1 tsp sugar in the warm water and sprinkle the yeast on top. Leave it for 10 to 15 minutes till frothy.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt and the 3 tbsp sugar. Add the liquid yeast, the eggs, the juice and the zest of orange and work into a somewhat firm dough.

Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a large oiled bowl, and turn so it is coated all over. Cover and put it in a warm place for about 1 1 /2 hours, until doubled in size.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and punch down. Knead for a few minutes until the dough feels firm. Roll into to 6 x 13-inch rectangles. Keep the measurements as much as possible 'cause the dough should be too thin, it might tear up while baking and the filling ooze out (as it happens to one of mine). Spread each rectangle with apricot preserves and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Roll up each rectangle like a jelly roll as tightly as you can, seal the seam well (in case help with a little water) and place in the loaf tins, the seams facing down. Put in a warm place for about 30 minutes, until doubled in size.

Pre-heat the oven to 200C (400F) and bake the loaves for about 30 to 35 minutes until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaves make a hollow sound when tapped. Cool on a wire rack.

This recipe makes 2 medium sized loaves.

  

This recipe also goes to Susan's weekly YeastSpotting.

Kummelweck (Kimmelweck) Rolls - Panini al cumino

A simple and easy recipe this month for We Knead to Bake's challenge: Kimmelweck Rolls, soft buns with coarse sea salt or fleur de sel and caraway seeds on the top. Ideal for sandwiches and even burgers, though we just had them as normal bread.
They are German in origin as Kummel means caraway seeds while Weck means roll. In Buffalo in New York, these rolls are used to make a speciality sandwich called the Beef on Weck, with thinly sliced rare roast beef and horseradish and it is typically served with fries and a dill pickle.

Aparna suggests also a couple more recipes you can make with this dough, shown below.

You can fid a very helpful video here.

I made some buns with special sesame seeds I bought last winter at Salone del Gusto e Terra Madre in Turin. They are red becaus e flavored with Umeboshi, you can see the picture at the bottom of this post.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup warm milk

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp honey

1 egg white (optional)

1 1/2 tsp salt

3 to 3 1/4 cups bread flour

egg wash (optional)

coarse sea salt and caraway seeds

Mix together the warm water and the warm milk and stir in the yeast. Let it sit aside for about 5 minutes. Knead by hand or with the machine.

In the bowl of your machine, combine the yeast mixture, oil, honey, the egg white and stir.Now add the salt and about 2 1/2 cups of flour and knead, adding as much more flour as required till you have a smooth and elastic  dough that is tacky but not sticky. Shape the dough into a ball, and place it in an oiled bowl. Cover loosely with cling film and let rise for about an hour, until it is almost double in volume.

Deflate the dough well (not kneading), shape into a round and and allow it to rise, covered, for 30 minutes more.

Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and shape each into a smooth ball, then slightly flatten it. Place them on lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheets. Spray or lightly brush with oil, loosely cover and let the dough rise for 30 more minutes. Brush with eggwash (or something else that will make sure the topping sticks when baking), then cut slits ( like an +) on the top using a sharp blade or scissors.

Sprinkle the top of the rolls with sea salt and caraway seeds, and then mist with water. Bake the rolls at 220C (425F) for 5 minutes and then quickly mist with water again making sure you don’t keep the oven door open for too long.

Bake for another 20 minutes or so until they’re brown and done. Cool on a wire rack. This recipe makes 8 large burger bun sized rolls.

For the Vienna Loaf:

Follow the above recipe but with the following changes:

after the second rise, divide the dough in half and shape each half into an oval with tapered ends. After the final rise, apply the egg wash and then slash the top with a 1/2" deep lengthwise slit. Leave out the salt and caraway seeds.  Bake at 200C (400F) for about 35 minutes, including the 5 minutes after spritzing with water.


For the Salt and Pepper Sticks:

Again follow the above recipe for the rolls, but make the following changes :

leave out the second rise and do only the first rise. After that, divide the dough into 13 equal pieces. Roll each piece out into a 12" rope of even thickness, and place them  1-1/2" apart on the greased or lined bakng sheet. Let them rise now. Apply the egg wash, but do not make any cuts. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt crystals and coarsely ground or cracked black pepper. Do not spritz with water and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes.

This recipe also goes to Susan's weekly YeastSpotting.

Black Forest Buns

Traditional Black Forest cake is all about chocolate cake, cherry compote and kirsch (cherry brandy) and loads of cream. 

For this month's challenge of Aparna's group We Knead to Bake she chose a little variation, Black Forest Buns, a sort of sweet bread,  using chocolate cake and cherry compote in the filling. You could always flavour the compote with a little kirsch if you want to aim for the “real deal” in terms of flavour.

For Black Forest Buns the obvious choice of jam to use would be cherry but you can always substitute with strawberry jam or any red berry one.
The method of kneading, rolling out the dough, covering it with the filling, and then rolling it back is not too difficult, just like making cinnamon rolls.
Finely chopped nuts or mini chocolate chips can be spread onto the filling to give more flavour if you like.

 Ingredients for 12 buns:


For the Dough:

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
50 gm butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg (at room temperature, optional)
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
3 to 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

For the Filling:

3/4 cup cherry/ strawberry jam or compote
2 1/2 to 3 cups crumbled chocolate sponge cake

(for me 3 or 4 chocolate muffins)


For drizzling:

1/2 cup chopped semi-sweet chocolate

Pour the water and milk in a saucepan, and heat onthe egg.
You may knead the dough by hand or in the processor which is my usual preference. Pour the lukewarm mixture into the processor bowl (if using) and add the yeast and the egg. Pulse a couple of times to mix well. Then add about 1 cup of the flour and mix well. Add the salt and more flour, as much as is necessary, and knead the dough until it is smooth, elastic but not sticky.
Add in the salt and some more flour and mix. Once the mixture becomes difficult to mix, turn it out onto your work surface. Add more flour and continue to knead for about 10 minutes till the dough is not sticky and elastic.
Place the kneaded dough in an oiled bowl, turning the dough till lightly coated with oil. Cover loosely, and allow to double in volume, for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours.
Now place the dough on a flat surface and roll it out into an approximately 18” by 12” rectangle (or 9" by 12" if using half the recipe).
Spread the jam over the leaving a 1/2 inch all around. Sprinkle the chocolate cake crumbs on top of this. Roll the dough away from you, as snugly as possible, starting with the 18” edge like a jam/jelly roll (as for cinnamon buns). Try to pinch the dough closed as best as possible, or dampen the edge with a little water to seal well.
Cut the roll into 1 1/2" wide pieces with a very sharp knife/dough scraper. You should have 12 pieces for the full recipe and 6 for half of it.  Place each piece in a mould (or make collars using foil or parchment paper to fit well around each piece) and then on a baking tray. Otherwise place them in a cake tin leaving enough space for them to expand. If you place them too far apart, they will spread rather rise in height.  Cover loosely, and allow to rise, for about 1 hour or till almost double.
Bake at 180° for 25/30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely. Drizzle with melted chocolate and serve.

Just make sure you roll the dough, with the filling, as tightly as you can and well because these buns swell up quite a bit.

 This recipe also goes to Susan's weekly YeastSpotting.

Pane Siciliano - Sicilian Sesame Seeded Semolina Bread

An Italian bread for this month's challenge of Aparna's group We Knead to Bake: Pane Siciliano, Sicilian Bread, simple semolina bread crusted with sesame seeds.

I love this bread very much and I use a very fine and selected flour, named Senatore Cappelli, which is a special cultivar of very high quality.

Apana gives a little information about this bread:

On the 13th of December every year, feasts are held in Sicily and around the world celebrating the bravery of Santa Lucia. One way is by baking a special bread which is known as Pan Siciliano. What is different about this bread is that it is made with semolina (flour from durum wheat). In Sicily (and Italy), the semolina used for this bread is a specific grind of durum wheat called semola di grano duro rimacinato or just rimacinato, which translates as ground again. This refers to semolina which is ground once more to break the coarser grain into finer flour for bread.
You can use the finest grind semolina you can find.
Traditionally this bread is made using a pre-ferment which the Sicilians call cresciuta. This produces a more flavourful loaf of bread and isn’t all that much more work than a recipe without the pre-ferment. Pane Siciliano is generally shaped into one of two shapes: Occhi di Santa Lucia meaning the Eyes of St. Lucia or the Mafalda, a snake shape.

Aparna suggestion for shaping the bread:

the Mafalda produces a rather odd looking bread, but if you’d like to shape your bread like this, then wind the rope of dough back and forth on itself a few times, leaving about 7” for a “tail” to lie over the top (here a video about making Pane Siciliano).

To form the Occhi di Santa Lucia or a scroll shaped loaf of bread, roll the bread dough into a long rope and lay it out straight. Then coil it from each end in opposite directions (detailed pictures here).

Recipe adapted from Ciao Italia.

For the Cresciuta (Biga):

1/4 cup lukewarm water
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup all-purpose flour


For the Dough:

1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water (110° to 115°F)
2 tsp honey
all the prepared Cresciuta
2 to 2 1/2 cups fine durum semolina flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

a little water for brushing on the bread
1/8 cup sesame seeds

First make the Cresciuta. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a small bowl and stand it aside for about 10 minutes till it is frothy. Stir in the flour with a fork and loosely cover the bowl. This mixture should be a little wet/ stringy. Leave it in a slightly warm place for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

The next morning, mix the dough for the bread. In a large bowl (or the bowl of your processor), dissolve the yeast in the warm water mixed with the honey. Let it stand for 10 minutes till it is frothy.

Add the cresciuta and mix well. Mix together 2 cups of the semolina  and salt and add it to the bowl with the olive oil. Mix well and then add as much more semolina as is necessary until you have a smooth ball of dough.

Stir the cresciuta into the yeast and water mixture and blend well. Add 2 cups of the semolina flour and the salt and mix until a pancake like batter forms. Add additional flour a little at a time and knead well until you have a soft and smooth ball of dough that is just short of sticky.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turn it to coat well, then loosely cover and let the dough rise till about double in volume. This should take about 1 1/2 hours.
Deflate the dough, and then roll it out into a “rope” that is about 30” long. Place baking parchment on your baking tray, grease it lightly, and then gently lift up the rope of dough and place it on the baking tray. Curl the dough back and forth on itself leaving a 6 or 7 inch tail. Fold the tail over the shaped loaf. Do not tuck it under the loaf. If you’re making the “occhi”, then shape the rope accordingly.

Loosely cover and let the shaped dough rise for 2 hours till almost double in size. Lightly brish the top of the dough with water and then sprinkle the sesame seeds over this pressing them in lightly with your fingers.

Pre-heat your oven to 190C (375F) with a baking tray placed upside down in it. Place your baking tray with the dough on the hot tray and bake for about 30 minutes until the bread is brown and done, and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Cool on a rack completely before slicing.

This recipe makes one small to medium sized loaf and should serve 3 to 4 people.

 This recipe also goes to Susan's weekly YeastSpotting.

Julekake, Norwegian Cardamom Scented Christmas Bread

A traditional Christmas recipe for this month's challenge of Aparna's group We Knead to Bake.
And she kindly tells us the origin of this sweet bread:

Julekake (or Julekaka/ Julekaga) is a rich holiday bread flavoured with cardamom which is traditionally served at Christmas in many Scandinavian countries. It is particularly popular in Norway and Denmark. Incidentally, Julekake means Yule Bread in Norwegian.  This bread is more cake-like in texture and sometimes it is dusted with powdered sugar or glazed with a white sugar icing. If it is not glazed or left plain, then it is usually served warm at breakfast with butter or a goat milk cheese called geitost/ brunost.

In Norway, Julekake traditionally only a lime green citrus peel called sukat is added along with the cardamom. Nowadays many people also add red and green cherries to reflect the colours of Christmas. Other popular additions are raisins, candied orange peel, and coloured candied peel.  Some recipes for Julekake also feature almonds, but the main flavour in this bread comes from cardamom.

Candied fruit at your pleasure but Julekake must however feature raisins and cardamom. Vegan people can omit egg.

For this bread I used dates, jumbo raisins and cranberries and cardamom, of course.

It's a very nice and fragrant bread and mine made its long way from Italy to London, as we are celebrating the festive holidays here, our fourth son Matteo is studying and working in the city. 

This bread will be our special guest at Christmas' breakfast.

As it's a festive bread, I shaped the dough into a ball and put in a high round tin mold, so to be like a panettone shape once leavened.

Recipe partially adapted from the Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas

Ingredients:

2 tsp active dry yeast

1/4 cup lukewarm water

1/2 cup lukewarm milk

1 egg

50gm butter, soft at room temperature

1/4 cup sugar*

1/4 tsp salt

4 to 5 pods cardamom, powdered

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup mixed candied fruit or peel

1/4 cup golden or dark raisins

Glaze:

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tbsp milk

Pearl sugar or crushed sugar cubes and/ or chopped almonds

Icing:

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 to 2 tbsp cream or milk

¼ tsp almond extract

* if you plan to use the icing, reduce the sugar in the bread by half to 1/4 cup

 so that the bread doesn’t turn out too sweet.

Put the water, milk and 1 tsp sugar (from the 1/4 cup) in a small bowl and add the yeast to it. Mix well and keep aside for 5 to 10 minutes till it becomes “frothy”.

Put this yeast mixture, the egg, butter and sugar and salt in a larger bowl (or bowl of your processor/ machine). Mix well, and then add the flour and the powdered cardamom. Knead well until you have a dough that is soft, smooth and elastic. Add just as much more flour or water to achieve this consistency of dough.

Take the dough out and flatten it into a largish round (shape is not important). Sprinkle the fruit and raisins evenly and then roll it up, swiss roll style. This is a good way to knead in fruit into bread dough. Then just knead the dough lightly by hand and roll it up into a ball.

Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl, cover loosely and let it rise till double in volume, for about an hour or so. When done, lightly knead the dough to deflate t slightly and shape it into a ball. Place it on a lined or lightly greased baking sheet (You can also bake it in a cake or loaf tin if you wish). Let it rise for about 45 minutes.

If you’re using the egg wash, then brush it over the top of the dough. Otherwise brush it with milk and sprinkle it with crushed sugar cubes or chopped almonds.  Ignore this step if you’re going to use the icing.

Bake at 180C (350F) for about 30 minutes till the bread is golden brown and done. If you find the bread browning too quickly, cover it with foil after about 15 minutes in the oven to avoid further browning.

Cool it on a rack. Let it cool completely before you slice it or ice it. For the icing, mix together the ingredients for the icing till you have an icing of pouring consistency. Pour over the bread and let it set.

This recipe also goes to Susan's weekly YeastSpotting.

Sheermal/Shirmal, Saffron Flavoured Bread

la ricetta in italiano qui

For this month's challenge of We Knead To Bake group th choice went to Sheermal (or Shirmal).

I didn't know this bread, but Aparna always give enough info about anything she chooses to bake:

Sheermal or Shirmal is a saffron-flavored slightly sweet traditional leavened flatbread that is found in various countries on the Asian sub-continent including Iran, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India.
Sheermal is a Naan-like milk bread, apparently of Persian origins, and it is suggested that the name comes from the Persian word for milk which is sheer. In India, this milk bread is predominantly found in Muslim neighbourhoods (another reason to suppose it came to India with the Mughals) of Kashmir, Lucknow and Hyderabad.
The finished flatbread and when it is served/ how it is eaten, seems to differ slightly depending on where it is made. So you will find that some Sheermal decorated with a lovely pricked rustic pattern on its surface, Lucknowi Sheermal garnished with raisins, others like to use slivered almonds, poppy seeds or sesame seeds to top their Sheermal.
Sheermal is usually eaten as it is with tea for breakfast, or served slightly warm as part of a meal with a mutton curry called Nihari/ Nehari or spicy kebabs. It can also be served with Khurma/ Korma/ Qorma, vegetable curries, etc.

Sheermal can be made with either baking powder or yeast as the leavening agent, and this version uses yeast. The kewra (screw pine extract) gives a unique flavour, as well as rose water/essence. 

I couldn't find any of them and just used crushed cardamom instead.
Pay attention to add the ghee a little at a time so to amalgamate evenly and give a better texture.
The dough should come out soft, elastic and well kneaded as this will produce a superior Sheermal. The hallmark of good Sheermal is the glistening finish on the flatbread from brushing it with melted ghee or butter, so do not skimp on that, even though this flatbread is already rich as it is.
The egg gives extra richness, texture and flavour to the dough, but you can leave it out if you don’t use eggs.
Traditionally, this is a bread that is cooked in a tandoor, but the oven also produces quite good Sheermal.

Two videos to help: how Sheermal is made in smaller commercial bakeries, and a good demonstration on how to make/shape Sheermal.

My Sheermals were puffier and softer as I did not use a rolling pin and did not pressed them too much, but will try them again thinner as shown in the videos.

Serving 4 Sheermals:

1 tsp active dried yeast
2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup lukewarm water
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup ghee
1/2 cup milk 

(or more, as required for kneading)
1 tsp kewra water (screw pine essence) or rose water

(or crushed cardamom seeds)

a few strands saffron soaked in 2 tbsp warm milk or water

melted butter, for brushing

Mix the yeast into the warm water with sugar and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes till it is frothy. You may knead by hand or with a machine. Put the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the yeast mixture and the beaten egg and run the processor a couple of times to mix well. Then add the ghee in two lots to this and again pulse a couple of times till it looks like fine crumbs.
Now add as much milk, and finally the kewra (or rose water) and knead until you have a very soft and slightly sticky dough. Transfer this to an oiled bowl, cover with a moist cloth and let the dough rise till doubled in volume (about 1 to 2 hours). Remove the cloth and knead the dough again. Shape into a ball, lightly coat all over with a little ghee, cover with a damp kitchen towel and let it rest for about 15 to 20 minutes. 

Now divide the dough into 4 equal portions and using your fingers, press out each portion into a round of approximately 4” diameter (about 1/8” thick). You can also use your rolling pin, or hust do with your fingers. 

Place the rounds on a parchment lined or lightly greased baking tray and using a fork, dock (prick holes) the whole surface of the dough rounds. Brush them all over, generously, with the saffron-milk solution. Bake at 180C (350F) for about 10 to 15 minutes till they turn a lovely golden brown. Do not over-bake them.

Take them out of the oven, and immediately brush them lightly with melted butter or more ghee. Serve warm.

This recipe also goes to Susan's weekly YeastSpotting.

Komaj - Persian Turmeric and Cumin Bread

So glad to be back again baking with Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen's group We Knead to Bake.
For this month the challenge was about Komaj, a Persian turmeric and cumin bread filled with chopped dates and cardamom flavored. 

This sweet and savoury bread is usually served with tea, but I suppose it will nicely fit on a Sunday Brunch. The recipe is taken from Greg and Lucy Malouf’s book, Saraban – A Chef’s Journey Through Persia, and here’s what they have to say about Komaj:

This is our interpretation of a wonderful savoury–sweet bread we tasted in the oasis town of Mahan in the south-east of Iran. Cumin is grown in abundance in the region and is used to flavour many of the local dishes, often in combination with turmeric.

In Iran they usually cut Komaj into heart shaped buns because but for the first time I ant for an easier round shape, and this dough has three rises instead of the usual two.
I was very surprised of the lovely flavor and aroma of this bread, do give a try because the combination of turmeric, cumin and dates is really a good one and worth experiencing: in case you are still doubting, just halve the amount of spices.
The dates to be used are the dehydrated ones that are still a little soft, and can be sliced through easily with a knife.

Komaj

(Persian Date Bread With Turmeric & Cumin)

recipe adapted from Saraban – A Chef’s Journey Through Persia by Greg & Lucy Malouf

Ingredients for about 12 buns:

Dough:

1 tsp active dried yeast

1/8 cup warm water

3 3/4 cups bread flour (or all-purpose flour)

2 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and lightly crushed

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 to 3/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1 cup warm milk

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

Filling:

12 to 15 dried dates, pitted and cut into chunks (the slightly soft kind)

25 gm unsalted butter, soft at room temperature

4 to 5 pods cardamom, powdered

milk/cream/beaten egg for brushing 

icing sugar, for dusting (optional)

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and keep it aside for 10 minutes and it will have bubbled up a little.

Put the flour, 2 tsp of the crushed cumin, sugar, turmeric and salt in the bowl of your food processor and run a couple of times to mix. Then add the yeast mixture and the egg and run the processor again, till it is incorporated.

Now add the milk and olive oil, and knead until you have a smooth and pliable dough that’s not sticky. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a well-oiled bowl, turn to coat the dough and then cover loosely and let it rise till it has doubled (about an hour or so).

When the dough has risen, deflate it and then shape into a round. Put it back in the bowl for a second rise till it has doubled (an hour or so).

In the meanwhile prepare the filling by mixing together the chopped dates, soft butter and cardamom together in a bowl.

Divide the dough in to 4 equal portions, and divide each in half so you have 8 portions. 

Working with one portion at a time, roll each one out into a rectangle that is about between 1/4" and 1/8” thick. Choose a cookie cutter that is about 8cm at the widest. Press it down lightly in one half of the rectangle to guide you to put the filling.
Brush a little water over the entire surface to make sure the dough would stick well when folded over.
Then place about 1 tsp (more than this is not necessary) in the centre of the cookie outline and then fold the other half of the rectangle over the filling so that it’s now a covered square. Using the cookie cutter cut, with the filling in the centre, cut out the bun making sure the sides are neat and well sealed. If the sides are not well sealed, the bun will swell and open up during baking. It will taste good but look weird (that happened to me, even though I thought I did everything allright, and some buns looked like smiling frogs :-).

Repeat with the remaining portions of dough, then reroll the scraps and you should be able to make two more buns making a total of 10 buns (for me more, because my first buns were too much thin). Place them on a lightly greased baking tray leaving space between them because they will puff up on baking. Let them sit for about 15 minutes.

Then brush them with a little milk (or egg wash if you use it) and sprinkle the remaining ½ tsp of crushed cumin on top, pressing it down a little with your fingers. Bake the Komaj at 200C (400F) for about 8 to 10 minutes.

Let them cool on a rack a little and dust with icing sugar if you like. 

Serve them warm with tea or coffee. These are best eaten the day they’re made. Leftovers can be reheated and eaten the next day, kept in an airtight box.

This recipe goes to Der Gourmet  who's hosting BDD #69,
the montlhy bread event created by Zorra.

This recipe also goes to Susan's weekly YeastSpotting.

Petits Pains au Lait - Panini al latte francesi

English recipe here

Son tornata a panificare (per il blog), anche per continuare a seguire il gruppo We Knead to Bake di Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen.

La scelta di questo mese è ricaduta sui Petis Pains au Lait, un pane francese semplice e molto facile, ideale per la colazione o la merenda. L'impasto è leggermente burroso e dolce, ma non così ricco come la pasta brioche e quel pochino di granella di zucchero sulla superficie li renderà anche più elegante e golosi. 

I miei tagli con la forbice non sono stati così sufficientmente profondi da essere poi notati vistosamente, anche perchè i panini crescono ancora in cottura (avevo timore di fare un pasticcio e mi sono trattenuta :-), quindi meglio affondare un pochino di più l'attrezzo per avere poi un bell'ornamento finale.

Recipe adattata da Gourmet di Kat.

Per 10 panini:

150 g di latte tiepido

 (ma ne potrebbe essere necessario un goccio in più)
1 cucchiaino di lievito istantaneo
50 g di zucchero, anche di canna
275 g di farina 0
125 g di farina manitoba
1/4 di cucchiaino di sale
60 g di burro morbido a temperatura ambientel

latte extra per spennellarez

zucchero in granella per guarnire

È possibile impastare a mano o utilizzare un'impastatrice. 

Seguire le istruzioni del lievito seva riattivato, quindi impastare la farina col lievito (riattivato), lo zucchero e il latte, aggiungendo il sale per ultimo.

Aggiungere poi il burro a pezzetti, un pochino per volta, e continuare ad impastare fino ad ottenere un impasto morbido, liscio ed elastico e non appiccicoso. 

Se necessario, aggiungere ancora un goccio di latte (un cucchiaino alla volta) fino ad ottenere la consistenza desiderata.
Fare una palla e metterla in una ciotola unta leggermente di olio, rigirandola in modo sia tutta ricoperta di olio. Coprire e lasciare lievitare fino al raddoppio, anche un paio di ore.

 

Trasferire l'impasto sul piano di lavoro. Non dovrebbe essere necessaria farina, ma se se ne sente il bisogno, infarinare leggermente i palmi delle mani. Sgonfiare l'impasto delicatamente e dividerlo in 10 parti uguali. Lasciare riposare per 15 minuti.
Stendere ogni pezzo, uno alla volta, in un cerchio di circa 10/12 cm. di diametro. Arrotolare ogni disco di pasta, come da foto, per formare un cilindro.

Disporre i rotoli su una teglia foderata con carta forno con il lato di chiusura rivolto verso il basso. Coprire e lasciare lievitare per circa un'ora, fino a quasi il raddoppio.

Spennellare leggermente con il latte e con un paio di forbici affilate, fare dei tagli diagonali (non troppo profondi, ma neanche troppo in superficie come i miei) sulla parte superiore dei panini. Cospargere di zucchero in granella.
Cuocere a 200° per circa 15 minuti, finchè ben dorati. Lasciarli raffreddare su una griglia. 

Servirli tiepidi o a temperatura ambiente.

Sono perfetti mangiati lo stesso giorno, ma si possono conservare in un sacchetto e riscaldare qualche minuto il giorno successivo. Si possono congelare, scongelare a temperatura ambiente (o in frigo tutta la notte) e poi riscaldare.

Petits Pains au Lait - French Sweetbread

la ricetta in italiano qui

So glad to be back again baking with Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen's group We Knead to Bake.
For this month the challenge was about Petis Pains au Lait, a simple and very easy French bread, ideal for breakfast or teatime. The dough is slightly rich and sweet but not as rich as brioche dough and do go for a little pearl sugar on top, will be then more elegant and greedy.
My scissor cuts were not so deep and you can hardly notice (I was a little afraid to make a mess) as the little buns still grow while baking, so be more determinate to have a lovely pattern.

Recipe adapted from Gourmet by Kat.

Serving 10 Pains au Lait:

2/3 cup warm milk 

(you might need a little more)

1 tsp instant yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup bread flour *
1/4 tsp salt
60 g butter, soft at room temperaturee

extra milk for brushing

pearl sugar for topping (optional) **

* If you don’t have bread flour, put 2/3 tsp vital wheat gluten in your 3/4 cup measure and top up with all-purpose flour. Mix this well. If you don’t have vital wheat gluten, then just use 3/4 cup all-purpose flour.

**This topping is optional. The pearl sugar looks pretty and adds a little crunch. You can also use large crystals of sugar or a bit of regular granulated sugar.

You can knead by hand or use a machine. I used my hand food processor. 

Put the warm milk, yeast and sugar in the bowl. Pulse a couple of times to mix. Then add all the flour and the salt and run the processor until it looks crumbly. Add the butter and knead until you have a soft, smooth and elastic dough that’s not sticky. Add a little more milk (in teaspoonful at a time), if your dough is dry, until you have the required consistency of dough.
Shape the dough into a ball and place it in an oiled bowl, turning it over to coat with oil. Cover loosely and set aside to rise until double in volume. This should take about 1 1/2 hours.
Turn the dough out onto your working surface. You shouldn’t need any flour, but if you feel the need, just lightly dust your palms with it. Deflate the dough gently, and divide it into 10 equal pieces (about 70 g each). Let them rest for 15 minutes.

 

Roll out each piece of dough, one at a time, into a circle about 4” in diameter. Slowly roll up the circle from one end, Swiss roll/ jelly roll style into a cylinder. Pinch the seam closed neatly, and place them on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet with the seam side facing down. Cover loosely and let them rise for an hour or so till almost double in size.
Brush them lightly with milk and using a pair of sharp scissors, make diagonal cuts (not too deep) on the top of the rolls. Sprinkle pearl sugar/granulated sugar.
Bake them at 200° C (400° F) for about 15 minutes or so until they’re golden brown. Let them cool on a rack. Serve them warm or at room temperature with coffee or chilled flavoured milk, or at breakfast.

They’re best eaten the same day, though you could warm them up and serve the next day.

This recipe also goes to Susan's weekly YeastSpotting

Kahliat Nahal, ovvero il Danubio in versione araba

recipe in English here

Khaliat al Nahal (o anche Khaliat Nahal) in arabo significa alveare di api. Ed è proprio l'idea che vuole rendere questo pane: i piccoli panini sono cotti uno vicino all'altro in una teglia rotonda dove formano un nido d'ape. Tradizionalmente sono tipo panbrioche, riempiti con un ripieno dolce e glassati poi con uno sciroppo di miele aromatizzato, tipico della produzione dolciaria del Medio Oriente. Ma ovviamente ne esistono anche versioni salate.
In molte comunità musulmane, questo pane è fatto durante il periodo di digiuno del Ramadan. E' inoltre servito come piatto dolce durante l'Iftar,  il pasto serale che interrompe il loro digiuno quotidiano durante il mese islamico del Ramadan. Questo pane è perfetto per queste cene che solitamente sono eventi della comunità, e la forma del pane si presta ad essere strappato facilmente per servirsi da soli.

 

C'è qualcosa di simile anche da noi, il famoso Danubio, di origini napoletane. Ma alcuni sostengono sia di origini austriache, in questo mio vecchio post ho trascritto le varie leggende su questo pane tradizionale.

Questa ricetta è perfetta per 18 panini, ma è possibile dimezzarla la ricetta per farne 9 o 10, adattando la misura della teglia (rotonda di di diametro è l'ideale).
Oppure si può decidere di utilizzare tutta la ricetta ma facendo due pani diversi, uno salato e uno dolce.
Si possono anche cuocere singolarmente i bocconcini in stampini da muffins, non avranno il loro caratteristico disegno a nido d'ape, ma saranno belli come segnaposto o più pratici per un buffet o un aperitivo.

Ho effettuato sostituzioni alla ricetta originale per renderla vegan e più salutare, in linea con la tabella degli ingredienti di Salutiamoci, che questo mese raccoglie ricette con noci e nocciole a casa di Sabrina.
Ho optato solo per la versione dolce, perchè solitamente preparo quella salata, ma impastando la dose intera, per dimezzarla una volta lievitata e cuocerla in due diverse teglie (una a forma di cuore), e utilizzando due diversi ripieni: marmellata di fragole senza zucchero mescolata a farina di mandorle per la torta rotonda, crema al cioccolato e nocciola homemade  (la ricetta a breve, stay tuned :-) per la torta a cuore.
La mia glassa era molto semplice: ho semplicemente pennellato i dolci ancora caldi con uno sciroppo di malto (a vostra scelta tra riso, orzo o frumento, usato al naturale o leggermente diluito in acqua e/o succo di limone/arancia) e cosparso di scaglie di mandorle la rotonda, mentre sui bocconcini di quella a cuore ho versato un cucchiaino di cioccolato fondente fuso e cosparso delle nocciole tritate finemente.

Ingredienti:

Impasto:

240 g di latte latte di avena tiepido *

8 g di lievito di birra
1 cucchiaino di malto d'orzo

450/480 g di farina 0 

3 cucchiai di succo di mela bio

1 cucchiaio di succo di mela concentrato
3/4 di cucchiaino di sale (per il pane salato) o un pizzzico di sale rosa (per il pane dolce)
40 g di olio di girasole bio spremuto a freddo

2 cucchiai di latte di avena per spennellare i panini
2 cucchiai di semi di sesamo (solo per il pane salato)

* o di riso o di soia

Suggerimenti per ripieni salati: ricotta, tofu, aromatizzati a piacere.
È inoltre possibile utilizzare qualsiasi altro ripieno salato che si desidera,
avanzi di verdure cotte miste con ricotta, per esempio.

Suggerimenti per il ripieno dolce: ricotta (ripieno tradizionale), cioccolato,
frutta secca come datteri, uvetta, frutta secca tritata, cocco, ecc.

Glassa:

malto di riso, grano, orzo a piacere,

al naturale o appena diluito in acqua e/o succo di limone/arancia

con marmellata di fragole senza zucchero mescolata a farina di mandorle

 

 con crema al cioccolato e nocciola homemade

Sciogliere il lievito nel latte con il malto.
Mettere la farina nella ciotola dell'impastatrice, iniziare ad impastare a velocità bassa unendo poco alla volta il latte con il lievito, l'olio e il succo di mela.
Lavorare fino ad ottenere un impasto omogeneo e morbido.
Formare una palla e metterla in una ciotola ben oliata, rigirandola per ungerla bene e coprire. Far lievitare fino al raddoppio del volume, per circa un'ora o poco più.

Trasferire l'impasto sulla superficie di lavoro. Non si dovrebbe aver bisogno di farina ulteriore per lo spolvero perchè l'impasto è abbastanza gestibile.
Dividere l'impasto a meta, formare due rotoli lunghi circa 50 cm e tagliare ogni rotolo in 9 pezzi uguali (circa 45 g cadauno).
Prendere ogni pezzo, appiattirlo come una pizzetta e mettere mezzo cucchiaino di ripieno al centro. Tirare su lati e avvolgere la pasta intorno al ripieno, pizzicando dove si unisce la pasta per sigillarla bene. Lisciare  rotolando i bocconcini tra le mami delicatamente per formare una pallina rotonda.
Una volta pronte tutte le palline trasferirle con ordine nella teglia, ricoperta di carta forno, disponendole in cerchi concentrici.
Coprire con un telo da cucina (o una grande ciotola capovolta) e lasciare lievitare per circa 30/40 minuti. Spennellare la parte superiore con il latte d'avena e cospargere i semi di sesamo(o altri a piacere) se si fa il pane salato.
Cuocere  180° per circa 25 minuti, fino a quando saranno ben dorati.
Lasciare raffreddare nella teglia per circa 5 minuti e poi su una gratella.
Appena usciti dal forno spennellare i bocconcini con del malto per renderli lucidi ed eventualmente cospargere con frutta secca tritata o semi a piacere.

La glassa originale araba per la versione dolce prevede uno sciroppo di zucchero aromatizzato con zafferano e miele e qualche goccia di succo lime o limone: si può convertire con del malto leggermente diluito in acqua, scaldandolo con qualche pistillo di zafferano, unendo alla fine il succo di agrume preferito. A scelta si può versare tutto lo sciroppo sul dolce appena sfornato (sciroppo freddo/dolce caldo) lasciando che si imbeva bene, oppure dare solo una spennellata per un effetto più blando.

Kahliat Nahal - Honeycomb Buns - We Knead to Bake # 9

la ricetta in italiano qui
in basso le dosi originali in italiano

An easy bread to make for this month's challenge for We Knead to Bake, the baking group of Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen, created with the intent to bake a different bread every month in 2013.

Khaliat al Nahal (also known as Khaliat Nahal) translates as Bee’s Hive in Arabic. This is because the buns are baked close to each other in a round pan where they form a honeycomb like pattern. They’re traditionally made sweet, filled and then glazed with honey flavoured syrup, typical of Middle Eastern confectionery. But savoury versions are also made.

In many Muslim communities, this bread is made during the fasting period of Ramadan. It is served as sweet dish during Iftar, the evening meal that follows breaking the day long fast that is observed during Ramadan. This bread is perfect to serve then because Iftars are community events, and the shape of the bread lends itself to being torn/ pulled apart easily to serve oneself.

We have something similar in Italy, named Danubio (Danube, like the famous blue European river) which has originated in Naples. But some argue this bread has Austrian origins, you can have a look at my post and read the long story and decide what tale you like most.

This recipe makes 18 buns, but it's possible to halve the recipe to make about 9 or 10 buns. 

For half the recipe, use a 6” or 7” round cake tin to bake the Honeycomb Bread.  

Or you can decide to go for the entire recipe but making two different bread; one savoury and one sweet.

You can also bake them individually in muffin tins if you prefer, they would not have their characteristic honeycomb pattern, but will be nice as placeholders or more practical for a buffet or an aperitif.

In brackets you will find my substitution to make it vegan and healthier.

I went only for a sweet version as I usually bake the savoury one.

 

Made one entire dough but halved and baked in two different tins (one was heart-shaped), and used different fillings: unsugared strawberry jam and almond flour for the round cake, homemade hazelnut and chocolate cream (the recipe in a few days, stay tuned :-) for the heart cake.

My glaze was very basic: just brushed the cakes once out of the oven with malt syrup (at your choice rice, barley or wheat) and sprinkled with almond flakes the round one, spread the heart one with a little melted dark chocolate and drizzled with finely chopped hazelnuts.

Ingredients:

Dough:

1 cup lukewarm milk (oat milk)

1 1/2 tsp instant yeast

1 tsp sugar (barley malt)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tbsp sugar, for sweet bread

(3 tbsp unsugared apple juice and 1 tbsp concentrade apple juice)

3/4 to 1 tsp salt (for savoury bread) or 1/4 tsp salt (for sweet bread)

40gm butter, melted (organic sunflower oil)

2 tbsp milk  (oat milk) for brushing the dough

2 tbsp white sesame seeds for sprinkling on top (optional, only for savoury bread)

Filling:

1 cup of filling (approximately) of your choice, either sweet or savoury

Suggestions for Savoury Filling:

cream cheese or crumbled feta cheese or crumbled paneer/ cottage cheese, 

flavoured according to your choice. 

You can also use any other savoury filling that you want,

leftover cooked vegetables mixed with cream cheese work super.

Suggestions for Sweet Filling:

 cream cheese (traditional filling), 

or any other filling of your choice like chocolate,   

dried fruit like dates, raisins, chopped nuts, chopped fruit , sweetened coconut filling, etc.

Sugar Syrup/Glaze:

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

a pinch of saffron

1 tbsp honey

1 tsp lime/lemon juice


 

unsugared strawberry jam and almond flour



unsugared homemade hazelnut and dark chocolate cream

Make sure your melted butter has cooled down a bit before using it. Put 2 cups of the flour, salt, sugar (if making the sweet bread only) and melted butter in the bowl of your processor. Run a couple of times to mix well.

Combine the milk, sugar and yeast in a small bowl and keep for 5 minutes. Add this to the processor bowl and knead until you have a smooth and elastic dough which is not sticky. Add as much of the remaining 1/2 cup of flour as you need to get this consistency of bread dough. I used all of 2 1/2 cups of flour and had to add half a cup more (as oil and apple juice are liquid).

Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl, turning it to coat completely with the oil. Cover and let it rise till double in volume, for about an hour.

Turn the dough out onto your work surface. You won’t really need to flour it as the dough is quite manageable as it is. Cut it into 2 halves. With your palms, roll out each half a “rope” about 9” long. Cut each rope into 1” pieces so you have a total of 18 pieces.

Take each piece and flatten it out a little and place half a teaspoon of filling in the centre. Pull up the sides and wrap the dough around the filling, pinching it closed at the top. Smoothen it into a round ball. Place this in a well-greased round 9” cake tin. Repeat with the remaining 17 pieces and the filling. Arrange the filled balls of dough in concentric circles, filling the base of the cake tin.

Cover with a kitchen towel (or a large bowl upside down) and let it rise for about 30 to 40 minutes. Brush the tops with milk and sprinkle the sesame seeds over the savoury one. 

Bake the buns at 180C (350F) for about 25 minutes, until they’re done and a nice golden brown on top.

Let them cool in the tin for about 5 minutes and then on a wire rack.

If you’re making the sweet version, make the sugar syrup/glaze during the first rise of the dough. For this put the sugar, water and saffron in a small pan and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and let it simmer for a few minutes until it starts thickening a bit. Take it off the heat and add the honey and the lime/lemon juice. Mix well and let it cool. Keep aside till needed.

When the sweet buns come out of the oven, pour the syrup all over the top of the Honeycomb.  The bread should be hot and the syrup/glaze should be cool. If you want your Honeycomb Buns to be less sweet, just brush the syrup/glaze over the top.

Let it sit for a while for the syrup/glaze to set a bit. Serve them warm with tea/coffee.

Ingredienti impasto:

240 g di latte tiepido
8 g di lievito di birra
1 cucchiaino di zucchero
350/400 g di farina 0
3 cucchiai di zucchero, per il pane dolce
3/4 di cucchiaino di sale (per il pane salato) o un pizzzico di sale (per il pane dolce)
40 g di burro morbido
2 cucchiai di latte per spennellare i panini
2 cucchiai di semi di sesamo (solo per il pane salato)

Glassa:

3 parti di di zucchero e 2 di acqua
pistilli di zafferano
1 cucchiaio di miele
1 cucchiaino di limone/succo di limone

Zucchero, acqua e zafferano in un pentolino e portare ad ebollizione. Abbassare la fiamma e lasciare sobbollire per qualche minuto fino a quando non inizia a addensare. Togliere dal fuoco e aggiungere il miele e il succo di lime/limone. Mescolare bene e lasciare raffreddare.
Quando i panini dolci escono dal forno, versare lo sciroppo sopra tutta la parte superiore del. Il pane deve essere caldo e lo sciroppo freddo. Per un effetto meno dolce, basterà pennellare leggermente i panini con lo sciroppo aromatizzato.

This recipe also goes to Susan's weekly YeastSpotting

Crunchy Hard Pretzels for We Knead to Bake # 8

Another great challenge for We Knead to Bake, the baking group of Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen, created with the intent to bake a different bread every month in 2013. 

I made soft Pretzel time ago, and was very satisfied, so I was more convinced to give a new try for crunchy hard ones.

Afew word by Aparna about what pretels are, but you can find more funny tales about the origin on Wikipedia:

The authentic German Pretzel, the Laugenbrezel, has a dark brown, crispy, salty crust, and inside a soft dough. It has a plump body, and thin, crispy (not dry) crossed arms. The Hard or Crunchy Pretzels are an American invention!
The story goes that one morning sometime in the late 1800s, a baker at the Munich Royal Café, was preparing some sweet pretzels for his guests. Instead of brushing them with sugar he accidentally brushed them with the sodium hydroxide solution being used to clean and disinfect the bakery countertops! Instead of binning his dough he went ahead and bake them anyway. The resulting pretzels came out of the oven with a unique brown crust, soft centre, and delicious taste.
There many stories about the shape too. A popular one is that the shape resembles a praying monk (back then the praying position was arms crossed with the hands on the shoulders).

The taste of the Pretzel comes from its dunking in the soda bath. Originally a solution of lye was used for this bath but lye is highly corrosive and needs to be handles with care. A baking soda solution works just as well, and once you’re done, pouring it down your sink will give help unclog the drain if necessary!

I followed the recipe Aparna gave us but had to make it just a little different as did not have enough all-purpose flour for it: so I went for 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and 2 cups kamut flour.

 

Crunchy/ Hard Pretzels

 (Adapted from Alton Brown’s recipe)

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups warm water (about 40C or 110F)

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tsp active dry yeast

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (a little more if necessary)

2 tsp salt*

6 cups water

2 tbsp baking soda

egg wash (1 yolk + 2 tbsp water whisked together), optional

Pretzel salt or coarse salt crystals

*you might want to cut down on the salt a bit 

if you’re going to sprinkle salt on the pretzels while baking

Can be made by hand but it is easier with a kneader.
Put the warm ware, sugar and yeast in a bowl and mix. Keep aside for about 5 minutes or so until the yeast activates and becomes “frothy”.
Put this, the flour and the salt in the processor bowl and knead until you have a soft, smooth and elastic dough that is slightly sticky to touch, but pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If your dough feels too wet add a couple of tablespoons of flour to get the required consistency.

Shape the dough into a ball and pace it in an oiled bowl, turning it to coat it well. Cover and let it double in volume. This should take about an hour or so.

Deflate the dough, so that almost all the air is removed. Lightly flour your work surface and roll the dough out into a 12” by 12” square. Then using a pizza cutter divide the square into 36 smaller equal sized squares by cutting into six 2” wide strips both vertically and horizontally. The purpose of this exercise is to get 36 equal sized bits of dough!

Now lightly oil your palms and your work surface. If you add too much of oil you will not be able to roll out the dough into “ropes”. Flatten each square of dough and then roll it up as tightly as you can. Now place the “rolled” bit of dough on your work surface and using your hands, roll it out into a uniform “rope” of about 15” length. It will be thinner than a pencil.

You can leave them as “sticks” instead of shaping them into pretzels. If you want them shorter, you can halve them. Remember baking time will differ depending on the shape of your pretzels. The baking temperature is the same whether you shape them into sticks or pretzels.

If you would prefer to make pretzel bites then do not roll the dough out into a square. Just divide it into 4 portions and then roll each portion into a “rope that is about 1” in diameter. Cut each rope into 1 1/2" bits. Roll each ball into a long rope about 1” in diameter. Cut each rope into 1 1/2" bits.  Then proceed to boil them as given in the instructions below. Bake the pretzel bites at 210C (425F) for about 15 minutes.

Shape it into a pretzel and place it on a greased plate or sheet. Working as quickly as you can, repeat with as many pieces of dough that you can bake as one batch while keeping the other bits of dough covered with a damp towel to prevent them from drying out. It is better to work in batches to get better results. Place the shaped dough on the greased plate/ sheet leaving about 1/2" space between them.

First prepare your baking sheets. It is a good idea to line them with parchment paper which is lightly brushed with oil. This makes them easy to remove after baking and also protects your baking sheets from the soda solution.

Now prepare the soda bath. Bring 6 cups of water to boil in a deep pan/ pot. Add the baking soda carefully. It will bubble up and froth a bit and then settle down. Using a slotted spoon or a spatula, gently slide about 5 to 6 pretzels, one at a time, into the bath. Let them cook on one side for 10 seconds. Flip them over and cook them for another 10 seconds. Do not cook them for more than 30 seconds in total, or your dough will become slimy.

Remove the boiled pretzels with a slotted spoon and place them on the parchment lined baking sheets. If using the egg wash, brush it over the pretzels, and then sprinkle it with the salt.

Bake them at 180C (335F) for 40 to 50 minutes until they’re deep golden brown in colour and hard. Cool them on a rack and store them in airtight containers or they will become soft and chewy.

This recipe makes 36 hard pretzels.

This recipe also goes to Susan's weekly YeastSpotting