World Bread Day - German Seed Bread

People, World Bread Day is almost over (at least on this side of the earth) and I'm loaded with work but didn't want to miss out completely on this event that's created by the lovely Zorra of Kochtopf and that's very dear to me!

So this is going to be a short one. During my recent trip to Germany, I had plenty of stuff on my to-do list. Next to "meet as many friends as possible", there was "eat as many German specialties as you can possibly stomach". What shall I say, I really worked hard on that one...

Of course, one of the most memorable things I ate (apart from an incredible number of sausages and cured meats) was a certain type of bread - full with seeds but not dense and heavy at all. Still chewing, my better half requested this particular loaf to be recreated in Sydney and who am I to deny that..;-)

I started off with this recipe from Petra of Chili and Ciabatta and made the changes following below. For non-German-speakers, just a rough summary of the procedure: let the soaker rest for 3-4 hours (covered), mix the dough, let rise until doubled, degas it while stretching and folding it 2x, shape into a loaf, let rise until nearly doubled, and bake at 220 degrees Celsius.
The dough is relatively moist and rather sticky but not too hard to work with (stretch & fold helps a lot to get a good dough structure). My version produces a soft but hearty crumb (due to the different kinds of grains and seeds) and a compact but rather soft crust. It goes well with honey, jam, and mild cheeses.

PS: The first time I made it with a mixture of sourdough and instant yeast as below, the second time around I used sourdough only but can't remember for the life of me if I therefore upped the amount of sourdough or not. Hence, I need to make it again to find out...

Seed Bread

The ingredients

Soaker:
45g flax seeds
45g rye flour
35g sesame seeds
35g rolled oats
11g salt
206g boiling water

Final dough:
180g water or whey
all of the soaker
250g wheat sourdough, 100% hydration
1tbsp honey
360g bread flour
30g wheat germ
1 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp malted barley flour
up to 4 tbsp whole wheat flour (depending on the stickiness of the dough)

The source
Adapted from Petra of Chili&Ciabatta

Here I am again... with Broad Beans!

Poah, that's been a long absence... Now I'm definitely happily married and will be writing more about our second go once I've got the photos - let me just just say it was w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l! (Meanwhile you can read about our first wedding here.)

After a long but oh-it-seemed-so-short stay, we had to kiss our families and friends good-bye and were off to Sydney. While living in this preparing-for-and-then-getting-married-bubble, one could forget that elsewhere life goes on, you're just too busy to notice. That's also true for the food blogging world - I've had a lot of catching up to do! Always amongst the first to check is Nora's Life's Smorgasbord. I had already eyed her lavender shortbread - full of envy, of course, as I always forget to look out for culinary lavender - no matter how often I've longingly read blog posts about the creative use of this herb.

This time I read loads of stuff about broad beans that sounded utterly appetizing. What's more, Nora said that the season for broad beans is almost over! That's why I decided to do something about it now instead of saving the recipe for later (which usually means much, much later) . Off I went to the shops to buy broad beans, mint, and pecorino, and made myself a simply wonderful dinner. Granted, the whole shelling business does take a while but on the other hand it lifted my spirits to do something elaborate just for myself. With my new/old husband away on a business trip, dinners aren't such an enjoyable thing - however, these broad beans totally made my evening!


PS: Nora provided three different recipes so no need for me to type it down again (I chose Maggie Beers' version with some lemon juice added and some garlic rubbed onto the sourdough bread after toasting - lovely!). I'd rather tell you about the sourdough bread that was just baking away when I read about how to use it for dinner..;-)

Light Rye Sourdough Bread

The ingredients

250g water
360g white sourdough, 100% hydration
300g bread flour
100g rye flour
100g wholewheat flour
1.5 tsp salt (or a little more than that)
1 tbsp whole caraway seeds

1
I used my breadmaker for mixing the dough and letting it rise. The first rising was about 3 hours (the bread maker provided some warmth during the first hour). At the end of the rising time, the dough had a bit more than doubled.

2
Take the dough out of the bread maker and turn onto a lightly floured work surface. I treated it to a round of stretch&fold (for a stronger texture) and then shaped it into a round loaf.

3
Place the loaf seam side-up into a floured proofing basket (or a bowl lined with a floured tea towel). Cover and let rise until well doubled in size. This took roughly 2.5 hours. To be sure, make a light dent into to the surface of the loaf. As soon as the dough doesn't spring back completely and still shows a little dent, the loaf is ready for baking.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven with a baking sheet or pizza stone to 220 degrees Celsius (I usually use the highest setting available as I will always lose some heat during steaming).

4
Carefully unmold the loaf onto a bread peel or an upturned baking sheet (covered with parchment paper or sprinkled with cornmeal). Slash in a criss-cross pattern.
Let the loaf glide onto the hot baking sheet/pizza stone and quickly shut the door. Open once more and splash a cup of water onto the bottom of the oven - be aware of the hot steam! Again, quickly shut the door to keep heat and moisture in.

5
Bake at 220 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. Then change to 200 degrees fan-bake for a further 15 minutes. The fan will get the remaining moisture out of the oven for a crisper crust. If you want a thicker crust, bake a little longer at 220 degrees before changing to fan-bake.

6
Let the loaf cool completely on a rack before slicing.

The source
Inspired by Dan Lepard's Barley and Rye Bread

Sorry!

Not so sure if I really deserve all your nice comments about being a good BBD-host... After reading Helen's comment, I realized that having two different email accounts merged together also means having two different spam folders that should be checked...
At least there's one good thing about it, the list of BBD#6-entries has grown to a whopping 43 posts. I will add the two new ones asap! Sorry about that!

And here they finally are:

Allie of the world is getting better offers an unusual flavour combination with her Pear Buckwheat Bread. The dried pear pieces are re-hydrated in white wine and toasted walnuts enhance the nutty quality of the buckwheat flavour.




Mary of Shazam in the Kitchen tried her hands on bagels, dipped in a rich seed mixture including caraway, sesame, poppy seeds, garlic, salt and pepper.







I'm really sorry for the long delay, guys!

BBD#6 - The Round-Up - Part Two

After carefully checking my mailbox, I've found some more entries for BBD#6 - 41 altogether! (Please let me know if I still missed something...) The second part of the BBD#6 has a lot to offer and starts off with something that could well be the inofficial logo of this month's theme:

Bron of Bron Marshall took the theme literally and shaped B R E A D using pretzel dough. Needless to say, her letters look as perfect as her pretzels!


Note: I've got one more entry to add!

If you're looking for a healthy alternative to croissants, head over to Baking History and try her Vienna Rolls! Little dots of cold butter are incorporated into the bread dough and make for a flaky, crusty result.



K of Bread/Pain created Syrian-style twisted cracker rings with a nutty sesame topping.




Wanna see a super-cute chubby turtle made out of bread dough and with chocolate chunk eyes? Head over to Marija of Palachinka!




L of Lemonpi opted for pretzels (a choice I can understand very well!). However, she tried a sweet version from Finnland called Viipurinrinkeli - with such a cute name, it's a must-try!







Bread plaits seem to be by far the most popular bread shape and that's exactly what Marta of Los fogones de mi casa created, using an all-purpose flour based dough.



Brilynn of Jumbo Empanadas has a Challah recipe up her sleeve that won't let you down - and with a filling of roasted hazelnuts and nutella, I'm sold!




At first glance, Cakelaw didn't think much of the appearance of her filled bread ring. However, its taste won her over. You simply can't go wrong with ham, eggs, cheese, tomato, and olives!



Same with Pam of Sidewalk Shoes: She wasn't happy with her Apple Challah that lost some of its filling during the bake. But who cares when you have such a nicely browned crust to bite in!


Following an old Italian tradition, Elizabeth of Blog from our Kitchen made Occhi di Santa Lucia - an S-shaped bread. Using her Wild Yeast Bread recipe the result went down a treat with lasagne.



More cute animals! Lien of Notitie van Lien not only made chubby little rabbit who could compete with the turtle over the title of the cutest bread animal ever! Lien also made an alligator who lost its dangerous appearance during baking and turned out to be more like a friendly platypus instead. That was still not enough for this keen shaper, and Lien also made an apricot-filled flower bread. Chapeau!

Kelly of Sass & Veracity also likes the way the Scandinavians make their bread: Check out her Finnish Pulla with cardamom!




Pasticcera/Pastry chef of Bella Baita View now living in Italy, decided to use a traditional Pain de Campagne recipe to shape it into two different kinds of epi de ble. One straight, one round, it's hard to say which one I like better.



Crusty, round, with twisted rays - what could this be? Lynnylu of Cafe Lynnylu created the most awesome Pain du Soleil.






Corum Blog can show off with another flower bread - this time using spelt flower which is a favourite of mine. Using different toppings, everyone can have a petal to his or her liking.




Tanna of My Kitchen in Half Cups recreated a classic, the famous Parker House Roll. She did give it a new twist, though, using a potato-based dough and lots of seeds.



Karen of Bake my Day gets a perfect crust-to-crumb ratio with her crusty epi de ble. It's time to use the scissors more often...




Susan of Wild Yeast certainly knows a thing or two about bread! If you want to know how to shape a perfect Couronne Bordelaise, head over to her blog. And the best part, you can do it without having to buy expensive equipment!



Pam of The Backyard Pizzeria also likes Italian breads: Her pane siciliano is s-shaped and of a lovely golden colour - thanks to semolina flour.





Holly of PheMOMenon stays true to the name of her blog and comes up with a truly phenomenal Kolach. If you like the flavours of orange, pecan, and chocolate, this sweet bread is for you!



For a cinnamon addict like me, these beautifully slashed cinnamon rolls are the perfect afternoon treat! Arden of In the Kitchen with Arden, could you please send me some...?



And last, but not least, there's the Swedish Tea Ring of Tartelette! In fact, she forgot to email me but as I'm checking her blog quite frequently, I was very pleased to see this yummy creation and it shall not go unnoticed!






PS: These are my BBD#6 creations! But you must excuse me for now, I need to get baking...

BBD#6 - The Round-Up - Part One

Lots of people have been baking and shaping in the last few weeks and I must say it was a real pleasure seeing so many wonderful creations for Bread Baking Day #6 trickle into my mailbox. I received 35 entries from allover the world - thanks to Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte who created this popular food blogging event.

Now I'm absolutely spoiled for choice: Which one of these elaborate sweet and savoury breads should I try to recreate first..? I'm sure you'll see some of these recipes pop up on this blog in the course of the next few months and I hope that you will do just the same. The idea of sharing bread with friends and family is well-known allover the world and sharing bread recipes comes pretty close! There are many variations of braided bread, lots of unusual folding has been done, and even several inhabitants of the animal kingdom made it into this round-up!

The entries will appear in the order of arrival in my mailbox. To avoid an overly long post - and to draw more attention to each creation - I'll be splitting the round-up into two posts. The next one will come up very soon!

Meanwhile I'm looking forward to finding out what the theme of BBD#7 is going to be. Head over to the next host, Petra of Chili & Ciabatta, she'll reveal the secret on February 6!

Nora of Life's Smorgasbord opted for the ever so popular braided loaf: Her version uses potato for a tender texture. A little sugar turns this shiny loaf into a real tea time treat!




Gretchen of Canela & Comino from is a lucky one: With Challah on her must-try list for 2008, her choice for BBD#6 was obvious. That's how to go about new year's resolutions!





The German-speaking blogger-group Huettenhilfe prepared flatbread with herbs. Slashed in a criss cross pattern, this bread has lots of crusty bits to offer.



Petra from Chili & Ciabatta shares her vast knowledge about bread baking with a whole photo series: Learn how to make her beautifully folded Pan de Hojaldre or Pane Sfogliato!

Katie from Apple & Spice offers another tasty afternoon treat: Her Coffee, Almond, and Choc Chip Braided Bread goes down well with a cup of coffee or tea!



Sarah from What Smells So Good? enters the realm of fairy tales with her edible version of "The Prince and the Pauper": Her breadsticks contain peasant ingredients like rolled oats as well as expensive spices like saffron.


Ever wanted to know how to braid using four instead of three strands? With her poppy seed plait, Ulrike of Kuechenlatein shows you how!



There can never be enough recipes for plaited breads with poppy seeds: Patricia from Technicolor Kitchen presents the Brazilian version of this popular loaf which uses condensed milk - very yummy!


Boaz from Folding Pain took up the challenge and entered two different recipes: His sourdough couronne was wonderful already but his whole wheat stars with dried fruits and oats are absolutely stunning!

Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen shows off with her Bratislava Rolls. Dunking these sweet-filled crescents into a cup of tea is highly recommended!






I don't know how to handle a six-strand braid but Chris from Mele Cotte surly does. His sophisticated Challah is decorated with black and white sesame seeds.



Jenny from I'm hungry enters savoury bread to be pulled apart: With this Garlic and Herb Monkey Bread she won't be hungry any longer!



Aparna from My Diverse Kitchen offers a perfectly shaped Onion Fougasse. Well done!




DoriAnn from Baby Steps made - together with her little helper - not one but three Challahs: with three, five, and six strands!







Judy from Judy's gross eats wanted to come up with something unusual and she did, indeed: Her Colomba die Pasqua turned out beautiful!



BBD-founder Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte decided to shape a bread flower using the especially strong Manitoba flour and pumpkin seeds for decoration. As far as centrepieces go, I definitely prefer edible ones!





Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska: Blogger Laurie beats the cold by making the food of her second home, a Greek island, and tapping on the rich culinary traditions of the region. Check out her Algerian flat bread.


Part Two of the round-up will follow soon!