Mango Bread

I stumbled over this recipe when I was looking for something to bring to a breakfast. It is a quick bread from Dorie Greenspan and when I read the recipe it sounded like just the right thing to bring. It is a quick batter with pieces of juicy Mango, Golden Raisins, Cinnamon and Ginger. When it came out of the oven my kitchen smelled wonderful like fall and cinnamon. It tasted even better the next day and was just the right thing to bring to the breakfast.

Mango Bread

Source: Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours

Ingredients:

• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup flavorless oil, such as canola or safflower oil
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 2 cups diced mango (from 1 large peeled and pitted mango)
• 3/4 cup moist, plump golden raisins (omitted)
• Grated zest of 1/2 a lime

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place a rack in the center notch. Also, butter and flour a standard bread loaf pan and place the loaf pan on a cookie sheet. Since the bread will be baking for a long time, the cookie sheet will act as an insulator to prevent the bottom of the bread from burning.
2. Whisk the eggs and oil together in a mixing bowl. In another bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Rub the brown sugar between your hands to ensure there are no lumps and add to the dry mixture.
3. Pour the wet mixture into the dry, and using a sturdy spoon or spatula, mix the dough. Just to note, this dough will seem very thick, so you just have to keep mixing and it will get a little more manageable to work with.
4. Stir in the mango, raisins and zest until just incorporated and spoon the dough into your loaf pan. Spread the dough evenly.
5. Bake the bread for 1 1/2 hours. Check the bread ever so often to make sure the top isn’t getting too brown. If it is, just place some foil over the bread for the remaining part of the baking.
6. When finished baking, allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then take the bread out of the loaf pan and allow to cool on a cooling rack.

Couronne Bread Ring

In general, I bake all my bread myself but I barely blog about it. Mainly because I change my recipes all the time and never write down what I did.  However, I have to show you this one. It really deserves to be here. Just because it is so pretty and also easy. I made the very simplest bread dough and let it sit over night. The next day I followed the directions on this webpage and this is how it looked.

Couronne Bordelaise

Dough
460 g/16.22 oz bread flour or all-purpose flour
300 g/10.58 oz water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon yeast

Directions


Go to this webpage for directions with video

Indian Naan

I had been looking for a good, decent naan bread for a long time and none of the recipes that I tried really turned out how I wanted them- until I found this recipe. The naan is fluffy on the inside with a little crunch on the outside. If you can find Nigella seeds sprinkle them on the naan, it makes a big difference. This bread is a great side dish or appetizer served with chutney. I was so happy when I finally found the perfect recipe!

Naan

(The flavors of Asia)

serves8

Note: Start 6 hours in advance

1 lb 8 oz (675 g) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup plain yogurt

2 tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil, plus as needed for garnish

3/4 teaspoon yeast

1 to 1 1/4 cups warm water, or as needed

Optional: Nigella for sprinkling

1. Mix all of the ingredients except for the water together in a bow.

2. Gradually add the water and knead until a smooth, soft dough is achieved, about 10 minutes.

3. Set aside for about 6 hours in a warm place.

4. Make tennis ball-sized pieces of dough, and place the balls in a warm place until they  rise again, about 1 hour.

5. Preheat the oven to 475 F (240C)

6. Flatten each dough ball and spread it with a rolling pin or by hand by tossing and slapping with both hands. Gently stretch each piece of dough into a round 7 inches (18cm) in diameter, so that the center is 1/4 inch (6mm) thick and there is a border 1/2 inch (1cm) wide all around. Pull one edge out to elongate each round slightly, creating a teardrop shape.

7. Place the bread onto a parchment paper-lined sheet pan and brush with a little butter. Sprinkle with Nigella, if using

(I baked mine on a pizza stone that was place in the top third of the oven and preheated for about an hour)

8. Bake the naans in the oven  until golden brown and puffed, 4 to 5 minutes. Cool completely on racks.

9. Garnish with a little butter.

Whole Wheat English Muffins

I am always looking for recipes that use more whole wheat flour than white flour and was very glad when I found this muffin recipe.  I love English Muffins and was eager to try it out as soon as possible.
It didn't disappoint me at all. The muffins are a little bit more on the dense side due to the 100 % Whole Wheat flour and if you don't like that just replace some of the whole wheat flour with white flour. Otherwise they were perfect. Easy to make and they freeze very well. My son remarked that he thinks they would taste very well as a school snack with some Nutella ;-)

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• Whole Wheat Muffins
• (adapted from lifeinrecipes)
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• Ingredients
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• ¼ cup warm water
• 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• ⅔ cup milk
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 3 Tablespoons melted butter
• 1 ¾ cups white whole wheat flour

Begin by dissolving the yeast in 1/4 cup water.

 In a large bowl, combine next four ingredients. Add dissolved yeast and 2 cups flour. Stir to combine, cover and let sit for at least an hour. It will expand in volume and become very bubbly.

2.
Add the butter and begin working in the remaining flour.
(My dough was very soft so I added a little bit more flower until it came together and you are able to roll it out on a floured surface).

3.
Roll the dough out to about 1/2 an inch and cut with a three-inch diameter cutter. Place the rounds onto a foil-lined greased baking sheet and allow to rise another 15 minutes or so. They will almost double in volume in this time.

Preheat your oven to 350F

4.
 Cook them on a griddle or in a non-stick or cast-iron skillet on med-low 5 min each side. You will be amazed as you watch them cook and rise before your very eyes - it's like magic.

5.
Let them brown thoroughly on the first side before flipping them to the second side. They will continue to rise after you've flipped them over. I estimate that they become 3 to 4 times thicker as they cook. I love watching them grow!

6. You will need to put them back on the baking sheet and into a 350F oven for about 5 - 7 minutes longer to finish cooking.

Steel Cut Oat Bread

Is there anything better than the smell of a freshly baked loaf of bread in the house? I don't think so. This is one of my favorites. A crunchy gold brown crust and a light and fluffy inside makes this bread irresistible. 

If you have never heard of the no-knead bread and would like to start baking your own bread I highly recommend this webpage  Breadtopia.  It has very nice video instructions and lots of good and easy bread recipes. 

Steel Cut Oat Bread
(makes 1 loaf)

(adapted from NYT /breadtpopia/M.Preston)
It’s amazing what the addition of a mere half cup of steel cut oats can do to enhance and vary the quality of a basic loaf of no knead bread. During the long fermentation period, the grains soften and swell to give the bread a wholesome and satisfying flavor and texture.

Simple enough to whip together in a heartbeat and interesting enough to become a regular in your no knead rotation.

3/4 cup (3 oz.) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (3 oz.) steel cut oats 
2 1/4 cups (10 oz.) bread flour or All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 tsp. instant yeast or 1/4 cup sourdough starter

1. In a large bowl combine flour, oats, yeast and salt. (If you use sourdough starter, add it to the water and stir to dissolve. Add 1 1/2 cups water, and stir with a fork until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

Tip: I let the dough rise in a colander or basket lined with baking paper. When the dough has risen, I lift the whole thing and put the dough together with the paper in the pot.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic, la cloche, Roemertopf) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Baking Day

When my daughter left for college last week, she wanted to take two things with her: Homemade Pretzels and Pumpkin Bread. So I heated the oven and started baking.

Those Pretzel are wonderful fluffy and moist. The dough is fun to work with, like Play-dooh and they freeze very well.

German Pretzel

(adapted from Alton Brown)

makes 8 Pretzel

1 ½ cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 package active dry yeast

22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups

2 ounces unsalted butter, melted

Vegetable oil, for pan

10 cups water

⅔ cup baking soda

1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water (I don't use the egg wash)

Pretzel salt

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes.

Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving. 

German Pumpkin Bread

This bread is not a traditional pumpkin bread. It is more like a fluffy white bread with a sweet taste of pumpkin. It tastes great with a little butter or jam.

Pumpkin Bread

1 big loaf 

500 g All Purpose Flour

200 g Butternut Squash Pumkin, peeled, cut in pieces

65 ml Milk

65 g Butter, melted

65 ml water

6 g Yeast (I used SAF-Instant Yeast)

Pinch of Salt

1  Egg

100 g Sugar

Cook the pumpkin pieces in a little water until they are soft, drain and puree them in a blender or food processor and let them cool a little.

Mix flour, Yeast and Salt in a bowl.

Mix the liquids.

Add the liquids, the pumpkin puree and the egg to the flour and knead until you have a smooth dough.
You can do this in a Kitchen Aid. Add more flour if the dough is very sticky.

Preheat your oven to 350 F Bake or 320F Convection with a rack in the middle.

Put dough in a bowl, slightly oiled, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size (approx. 30 min.) Form to a desired shape a bread or rolls. Let rest again a couple of minutes.

Grease a big loaf pan, add the bread and bake for approx. 30 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean.

Rosemary Focaccia

I think this is one of the best breads I ever made. The crust is crunchy and the inside of the bread is tender and full of airy bubbles. This Focaccia is the reason why I like to bake my own bread so much. It might seem to be a lot of work, but the dough comes together in a couple of minutes. You just have to remember to start the Biga the night before you want to eat the bread. Don't skip this step. The next day all you have to do is stay at home for the next 3 hours and don't forget to fold and turn every 30 minutes.

Rosemary Focaccia

 From Cook's Illustrated.

makes two 9 inch loaves

If you don’t have a baking stone, bake the bread on an overturned, preheated rimmed baking sheet set on the upper-middle oven rack. The bread can be kept for up to 2 days well wrapped at room temperature or frozen for 2 months wrapped in foil and placed in a zipper-lock bag

Biga ½ cup (2 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour ⅓ cup (2 2/3 ounces) warm water (100-110 degrees F) ¼ teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast Dough 2 ½ cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for shaping 1 ¼ cups (10 ounces) warm water (100-110 degrees F) 1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast Kosher salt 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary INSTRUCTIONS 1. FOR THE BIGA: Combine flour, water, and yeast in large bowl and stir with wooden spoon until uniform mass forms and no dry flour remains, about 1 minute. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature (about 70 degrees) overnight (at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours.) Use immediately or store in refrigerator for up to 3 days (allow to stand at room temperature 30 minutes before proceeding with recipe.) 2. FOR THE DOUGH: Stir flour, water, and yeast into biga with wooden spoon until uniform mass forms and no dry flour remains, about 1 minute. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 15 minutes. 3. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons salt over dough; stir into dough until thoroughly incorporated, about 1 minute. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 30 minutes. Spray rubber spatula or bowl scraper with nonstick cooking spray; fold partially risen dough over itself by gently lifting and folding edge of dough toward middle. Turn bowl 90 degrees; fold again. Turn bowl and fold dough 6 more times (total of 8 turns). Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes. Repeat folding, turning, and rising 2 more times, for total of three 30-minute rises. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position, place baking stone on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees at least 30 minutes before baking. 4. Gently transfer dough to lightly floured counter. Lightly dust top of dough with flour and divide in half. Shape each piece of dough into 5-inch round by gently tucking under edges. Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with 2 tablespoons olive oil each. Sprinkle each pan with ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Place round of dough in pan, top side down; slide dough around pan to coat bottom and sides, then flip over. Repeat with second piece of dough. Cover pans with plastic wrap and let rest for 5 minutes. 5. Using fingertips, press dough out toward edges of pan. (If dough resists stretching, let it relax for 5 to 10 minutes before trying again.) Using dinner fork, poke surface of dough 25 to 30 times, popping any large bubbles. Sprinkle rosemary evenly over top of dough. Let dough rest until slightly bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes. 6. Place pans on baking stone and reduce oven temperature to 450 degrees. Bake until tops are golden brown, 25 to 28 minutes, switching placement of pans halfway through baking. Transfer pans to wire rack and let cool 5 minutes. Remove loaves from pan and return to wire rack. Brush tops with any oil remaining in pan. Let cool 30 minutes before serving.