Glass Bread ~ Pan Crystal ~ BBB

Glass Bread ~ Pan Crystal ~ BBB

Flour Water Yeast ~ Basic Simple Same

Every bread recipe is the same simple basic: flour, water, yeast. And every time it comes out of the oven it’s 

Dramatic Complex Different ~ Flour Water Yeast

Years ago, the Babes baked the infamous “Crock” aka Coccodrillo, Crocodile Bread AND Babe’s Nightmare. You will find the recipe in Carol Field’s The Italian Baker.  At the time, it was the highest water ratio the Babes had ever dealt with. Now, along comes Kelly in AMessyKitchen bringing us Glass Bread with 106% water! There was at least one Babe with hellish memories of the “Crock” and the outcry was deafening. That Babe shall remain nameless at least here. It was not I. I found the “Crock” good bread and had no issues. Yeast can be fickle.

I strongly urge you to catch this sourdough version video because it shows the coiling turns so beautifully.  I guess I would say this is a bread to be handled delicately once you turn the dough out to cut and then move to parchment paper.  I was overwhelmed with how this dough transformed between coiling turns. Kelly advocates strong gluten bread flour to stand up to the huge amount of water and I would second that advice. Even I did not add flax or any whole wheat HOWEVER when I did the sourdough version I confess my starter is a whole grain rye and that is what I used.

Comparing my yeast and sourdough bakes, I think you will find the yeast has better color, better rise and many more holes. Both had wonderful oven spring but still the yeast was the winner there as well. The crust was crisper on the yeast. I did leave the yeast bread in the oven longer.  I consider both versions excellent breads and would bake them again. I cut 6 rolls when doing the sourdough and find that the optimal size for sandwiches. I made travel sandwiches both times and it is excellent either way.

Using yeast…

King Arthur recipe:
    500g water
    500g King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
    2.5g (3/4 teaspoon) instant yeast
    10g salt
    15g olive oil, for the pan 

    To make the dough: Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. (To measure by volume, see “tips,” below.)

    In a medium bowl, mix the water, flour, yeast, and salt until thoroughly combined and homogenous. Note: The dough starts off very slack and wet. That’s OK; it will transform itself through time and folds.

    Oil a two-quart rectangular baking dish (10” x 7”) with the olive oil. If you don’t have a 2-quart dish, an 8” or 9” square pan will work. Don’t worry about any pan you use being oven-safe; you won’t be baking the bread in it.

    Pour the dough into the pan. Check the dough’s temperature by inserting a digital thermometer into the center. If it’s less than 72°F, move the pan to a warmer spot, e.g., your oven with the light turned on.

    Cover the pan and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.

    Start with a bowl fold: Use your wet hands to grab a section of dough from one side, lift it up, then press it down into the middle. Repeat this eight to 12 times.

My amateur video

    Cover the dish and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.

    Then do a coil fold: With wet hands, reach under the dough and stretch the middle upward until the dough releases from the dish. Roll it forward off your hands, allowing it to fold over (or “coil”) on itself. This is called a coil fold. Rotate the dish 90 degrees (a quarter turn) and repeat. Continue performing this folding action until the dough feels like it won’t stretch and elongate easily, usually four to five times initially. Note: You’ll be doing this three more times, each time building strength and developing the dough. See “tips,” below, for more details,

    Cover the pan and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.

    Repeat the coil fold. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.

    At this point, the dough should be easier to handle and feel tighter. Repeat the coil fold using only two or three folds this time. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.

    Repeat the coil fold one last time, using only one or two folds if the dough is relatively strong. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rest for about 80 minutes.

    To divide the dough: As gently as possible, turn the dough out onto a heavily floured surface, maintaining the rectangle or square shape – be careful not to deflate the delicate dough. Sprinkle a generous amount of flour on top of the dough, leaving no exposed sticky spots. Then, working as gently as possible, use a bench knife or other sharp knife to divide it into four pieces. Gently place two pieces on a piece of parchment, leaving space between them. Repeat with the remaining two pieces of dough, placing them on another piece of parchment.

    Allow the loaves to rest at room temperature for 2 hours, uncovered. While the loaves are resting, preheat the oven to 475°F with a baking stone or steel on a lower rack. (If you don’t have a stone or steel, see “tips,” below.) Allow the oven to preheat for 1 hour to ensure it’s thoroughly heated. The loaves are ready for the oven when there are a few large bubbles on the surface of each loaf and they feel light and airy.

    To bake the bread: Carefully slide the two loaves (still resting on the parchment) into the oven onto the preheated stone or steel. If space is tight and the full sheet of parchment won’t fit on the stone or steel, cut the parchment between the two loaves and arrange them as best you can. Allow the other two loaves to continue to rest.

    Bake the loaves for 15 minutes, then transfer them, from the stone or steel, directly onto a rack in the upper third of the oven for an additional 13 to 15 minutes. (Leave the stone in place.) Moving them to the rack allows the baking stone or steel to become hot again in preparation for the next two loaves. After a total of 27 to 30 minutes of baking, remove the loaves from the oven and allow them to cool on a rack.

    Repeat the process with the two remaining loaves. Cool the bread fully before slicing.

    Storage information: Wrap the bread loosely and store it at room temperature for up to several days; freeze for longer storage.

SOURDOUGH VERSION

Formula for four:
470g strong flour
470g water (400+70)*
10g olive oil
11g salt
100g whole grain rye starter (100% hydration)

Method:
Mix flour and water.
Autolyse above for 45min.

Add 100g starter to autolysed flour and water and work it together well;
Give that a 60 minute rest.
Combine 70g reserve COLD water & 11g salt,
add half and fold/mix together.
Allow 10min rest
Add remaining water/salt & mix well;
add EVO & mix,
Allow 15 min rest
1.  Folds: Oil square cake pan,
add dough and do a few large (coil) folds.
45 min rest
2.  Folds: Large (coil) folds in thirds, then rotate 90 and fold in thirds,
rest 45 min
3.  Folds: Repeat folds,
rest 45 min Folds:
4.  Repeat folds,
rest 45 min Folds:
5.  Repeat folds, 

In retrospect I believe I should have given the dough another 2 folds; every fold and rest really give this dough strength.

Overnight in fridge for cold bulk
Room temp rest 60 minute .
Heavily flour table and pour the dough out, ~ if you watch the video you’ll see I think the move that works the best: just turn the pan upside down, hold it 2-3 inches above and let it fall out.
divide into 4 pieces – I did 6 for my 2nd bake and place on parchment.
60 min rest
Bake on steel at 500ºF for 8min with steam,
drop to 410 and bake for 20 minutes – I would give it 5 or more minutes more next time.

*Note that the 70g is mixed with the salt and kept aside to incorporate after initial autolyse..

Sample timeline:  
_______p.m. Mix the dough ____________
_______p.m. Bowl fold ____________
_______p.m. Coil fold #1 ____________
_______p.m. Coil fold #2 ____________
_______p.m. Coil fold #3 ____________
_______p.m. Coil fold #4 ____________ 

_______p.m. Coil fold #5 ____________
_______p.m. Coil fold #6 ____________
_______p.m. Coil fold #7 ____________
_______p.m. Coil fold #8 ____________
______p.m. Coil fold #9 ____________
______p.m. Coil fold #10 ____________

_______p.m. Divide ____________
_______p.m. Bake ____________

Want to bake with us?  We’d love to have you bake the Glass Bread with us.

This bread makes sparklingly crisp sandwich rolls. Really, you just need to try it!

BBB ~ Sfincione Bagharese

Aparna, our kitchen of the month, you may have thought it was hard to find a bread we haven’t baked but honestly even though this little group has been baking for these many years and it does seem like we’ve baked just a huge number of breads, every month I marvel that wow it’s just water yeast flour, the same ingredients as last month BUT it’s just never the same and it NEVER gets boring. Thank you so very much for this introduction to this our 14th anniversary bread.

Check out Aparna’s post on this bread at My Diverse Kitchen.com.https://www.mydiversekitchen.com/sfincione-bagharese

From Aparna’s site you can travel to all the other Babes who baked this bread.

SFINCIONE BAGHARESE

(Partly adapted from here)

POOLISH:

150 g white whole wheat

150 ml water

1 tsp dry active yeast

DOUGH :

All the Poolish from above

150 gm AP flour

250 gm semolina flour

300 ml water (more or less)

30 ml olive oil

15 gm salt

ONION LAYER :

5 medium sized onions (one a red onion)

30 ml olive oil

Salt to taste

CHEESE LAYER :

300 gm mozzarella sliced (thinner slices will work best)

400 gm Ricotta

BREADCRUMB LAYER :

Some chopped scallions 

4 to 6 slices of BEEKEEPER’S PAIN DE MIE

100 gm grated Parmesan cheese

50 grams walnuts

Salt to taste

Red chilli flakes or crushed pepper to taste

1 tsp dried oregano

Also two very well oiled round 23cm trays

HOW TO MAKE IT :

Make the Poolish by mixing together in a medium sized bowl the flour, dry yeast, and water until a sticky dough is obtained. Add more water if necessary to achieve this. Cover loosely with a plastic film and leave to rise for about 2 hours. The polish should be somewhat bubbly and have doubled in size.

I mixed the dough by hand. Mix together the flours, water (more or less as required), oil and the poolish. The dough will be sticky. Add the salt and knead till it is soft, very pliable and smooth. Shape it into a round and place it in a bowl greased with olive oil. Cover the bowl loosely and leave it to rise till double in volume. Mine took about 2 and a half hours.

Cook the onions. While the dough is rising, get the toppings ready. Heat the oil in a pan and add the sliced onions. Sprinkle a little salt and cook the onions on low to medium heat until they turn translucent and soft. Do not brown or caramelized them. Take the pan off heat and let them cool to room temperature.

Prepare the breadcrumb mixture. Run the bread slices (with or without crusts) in a food processor to make the crumbs. Put the breadcrumbs in a bowl. Mix together with the oil, salt, red chilli flakes (or crushed pepper) chopped scallions/ spring onions, oregano and grated cheese. The texture should be of loose but moist crumbs.

Once the dough has risen, gently knead to deflate it. Divide it into two equal portions. Press out each portion into a roughly 9-inch circle (or oval) using your fingers. ****Since Aparna and I both seem to think the topping is the show of this bread, next time I will bake mine in a 10 inch or larger pan and make more topping to cover the larger surface area.  If the dough feels sticky, oil your fingers lightly. Place in the oiled trays. I used a pie dish. Let the dough rise again, for about an hour till almost double in thickness and quite puffy.

Top with anchovy (maybe one day I’ll try anchovy but not this time), then the cooked onions. Next comes the Ricotta and a hard cheese (I used Parmesan ). Make sure to cover the surface of the dough evenly. Finish layering by spreading the breadcrumb mixture on the top.

Bake the Sfincione at 250C (480F) on the bottom shelf of the oven for about 10 to 12 minutes. The underneath of the bread should become golden and crisp. Then move the pan to the middle shelf of the oven and bake for another 10 minutes or so, until it is crisp and golden brown on the top as well. Remove from the oven and let it cool.  

Next time I will use parchment on the bottom so there will be no issue of sticking AND if the bottom seems too moist, I can take it out of the pan and return it to the oven rack for 2 to 5 minutes for crisper texture.

Cut and serve. Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.  Hahaha. I did give one loaf away but the other loaf we very quickly took care of. 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ALL BABES, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.

We know you’ll want to make Sfincione Bagherese too! 

To receive a Bread Baking Buddy Badge to display on your site: make the topped flatbread in the next couple of weeks and post about them (we love to see how your bread turns out AND hear what you think about it – what you didn’t like and/or what you liked) before the 28 February 2022. If you do not have a blog, no problem; you can also post your picture(s) to Flickr (or any other photo sharing site) and record your thoughts about the bread there. Please remember to contact the Kitchen of the Month to say that your post is up.

For complete details about this month’s recipe, the BBB and how to become a BBBuddy, please read:

• BBB Kitchen of the month:
  Aparna, My Diverse Kitchen, BBB February 2022

BBB ~ Pepperoni Rolls

When I first saw the post for January’s Babe bread, I thought here’s a simple easy fun bake perfect for after the holiday crazy actions. A small stuffed roll perfect for just about anytime, anyplace and any occasion.  Our host kitchen, FeedingMyEnthusiasms, has a good story on finding this bread you should find fun.

A quick read through the recipe and … Pepperoni…ha, I’m in!

My next reading brought me up short. I left the following on the blog: Ye gad, I’m just looking at that 3/4 cup of sugar! Really with pepperoni?! Sounds terribly sweet. How much sugar does this need? What amount of sugar will change the texture here? Adding this much sugar to something that seems savory is REALLY foreign to me. I get the feeling this is a very Americanized food, we just add sugar to everything.

Simple and easy … Then there was a long discussion of what if you don’t want meat!! That how I happen to have the sautéed mushroom with pepperoni spices idea. VERY good.

Holy Batman! I made them. Did I follow the recipe? Better than I thought I had on initial inspection but I divided the ingredients in half and only added 20 grams of sugar … and when the dough just wouldn’t come together – fully 3/4 of a cup of flour was not going to incorporate – I threw  in the rye sourdough throw out from the night before. I threw that in and it was perfect. This took a full 90 minutes to double.  We were having our “pod” friends (pod being like minded fully vaccinated friends) for pepperoni pizza dinner. SOOOO for filling I used pepperoni seasoned baby Bella mushrooms sliced, there were 4 half slices of cooked bacon added to the mushrooms … then there were two dough balls left when I ran out of mushrooms and bacon, perhaps there was a slice or two of cheese as well.  The last two dough balls: one I filled with pepperoni and one I filled with ……..see below.
These were seriously good 😊!!!  They were a terrific appetizer for hungry boys before pizza! 

BBB ~ Ekmak ~ Syian Street Food

What looks like a beautiful boat with a gem and tastes like a bite of heaven. EKMAK.

This bread was brought to the Babes kitchen table by Karen’s Kitchen Stories! It is lovely in every way. I know I will be baking it again because there are obviously so many jam/preserve flavor gems to play around with on this one. Karen has great photos of how to shape these – it is super easy. Perfect for Christmas, New Years Eve, New Years morning breakfast BUT equally special any day with morning coffee, afternoon tea, dessert after dinner … maybe this could be dinner, I mean there’s cheese.

CHEESE FILLING:

Ricotta is easy to make and I did … it just wasn’t enough for this recipe but WOW was the whey ever delightful in another bread! Most of the ricotta I used here was full fat commercial along with my homemade.

20 ounces (567 grams) full fat ricotta cheese, preferably double cream. 

63 grams (1/2 cup) all purpose flour

2 large eggs

28 grams (4 teaspoons) honey

3/4 teaspoons (2.25 grams) kosher salt

FRUIT TOPPING:

115 grams (3/4 cup) fresh blackberries, cut in half, lengthwise

112 grams (1/3 cup) blackberry preserves

DOUGH:

4 tablespoons brown sugar, divided

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry or instant yeast

12 ounces warm water (95 to 100 degrees F), divided

105 grams all purpose flour

470 grams white whole wheat

1/4 cup (57 grams) butter, room temperature (super soft)

1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

9 grams (1 tablespoon) kosher salt

EGG WASH:

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon water

GARNISH:

Confectioner’s sugar

Honey for serving

CHEESE FILLING:

First, mix the cheese filling ingredients thoroughly. Refrigerate at least three hours, while you are making the dough. Or mix the night before.

FRUIT FILLING:

Mix the ingredients and set aside.

EKMAK Dough:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the yeast and one tablespoon of the sugar. Add 6 ounces of the warm water and let sit until foamy. 

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 500 grams of the flour, the remaining 3 tablespoons of the sugar, and the butter and mix with the dough hook on low until the butter is evenly distributed, about a minute. Pour in the yeast mixture and the apple cider vinegar and mix on low while gradually adding the remaining 6 ounces of warm water. 

3. Knead on medium-low until the dough comes together. Switch to medium and knead until the dough clears the sides of the bowl and is tacky but not sticky. Add remaining flour, by tablespoons, until the dough is the right consistency – smooth & silky. 

4. Add the salt and knead for an additional minute on medium speed. 

5. Turn the dough out onto your counter and form it into a ball. 

6. Place it into an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes to an hour. 

7. Heat your oven to 420° F with a rack in the upper third of the oven. 

8. Line three baking sheets with parchment and lightly sprinkle each with flour. 

9. Deflate the risen dough and let rest for 10 minutes. 

10. Divide the dough into 9 pieces (I divided into 10 pieces because 12 inches just sounded huge to me. 10 pieces were still plenty large) and cover the pieces with oiled plastic wrap. (I covered mine with extra cookie sheets.) Let rest for 15 minutes. We went for a walk and this got extended to 40 minutes.

11. Roll each piece into a round and place each onto a lightly floured work surface. Cover with oiled plastic wrap (cookie sheets) and let rest for 10 minutes. 

12. Stretch each ball into a 6 inch round, re-cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. 

13. Stretch each round into a 10 inch by 4 inch oval (mine slightly smaller) and spoon 1/3 cup of the cheese filling onto the dough. 

14. Fold the dough as pictured to create “boats” and stretch the dough to about 10 inches long. Place the “boats” on the parchment lined baking sheets, 4 per sheet. Really pinch the boat ends tightly. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. 

15. Spoon a tablespoon of the blackberry (I did 4 raspberry and 6 cherry) mixture in the middle of the cheese mixture. Brush the dough with the egg wash. 

16. Bake the ekmak for 17 minutes – mine took 2 extra minutes because I used 470 grams white whole wheat flour – one sheet at a time, turning the baking sheet half way through. 

17. Let cool on the pan for 10 minutes on a rack.

18. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm with honey. 

Refrigerate leftovers and REHEAT in a 325 degree oven for about 5 to 10 minutes. 

Tip: Work with dough in stages so that you can prepare three ekmak at a time and continue to shape, fill, let rise, and bake, in stages. I worked in 5 minute intervals so that each 3rd of dough was about 5 minutes behind.

Sorry to be so fast with this but my batteries are low on the iPad and the phone (& the hotspot for internet). We are without electricity this morning.

Bake this please. I know you won’t regret it! Let us know: Karen has the details on her site.

Ricotta added …

Start of the boat …

Cherry or Raspberry …

What ‘gem’ will you sail in your boat?

These are not overly sweet … it only now occurs to me, these could so easily be savory! Above I said these could be dinner what with the cheese. I’m thinking instead of jam there could be … sail with your imagination! Go for it!

BBB ~ Hällakakor Flatbread from Sweden

Do we ever know bread? Probably not, just like can you ever have enough bread books? Probably not.

Unbeknownst to me, I’ve had a kuskavel in my rolling pin drawer for any number of years. Didn’t know it’s name. Didn’t know what it’s specialty was. Don’t remember where I came upon it. I just thought it was fun looking and might work on crackers which I tried once. Don’t really remember how that turned out.

This is the Kuskavel. See what I mean about fun looking.

Kelly from MessyKitchen is our host Kitchen of the Month and the bread she brought us is delightful! Flatbread from Sweden. Sounds simple and yes it is. It is one of those simple breads that is so much more than it’s simplicity. Check out Kelly’s site for all the background on this bread!

Before baking powder there was deer horn salt aka baker’s ammonia. And about that deer horn salt aka baker’s ammonia, yes you can get it from Amazon, and yes it really is ammonia, and yes it really smells like ammonia and yes it really SMELLS. BUT somehow it bakes away. I baked this first with baking powder and then took some really deep breaths (not over the baker’s ammonia) after Kelly assured me I would not smell it after baking and gutted it up and baked the recipe using the deer horn salt aka Baker’s ammonia. I could not discern any appreciable difference in texture or bake between the two.

Hällakakor – Swedish flatbread

Makes: 8 pieces

350 g wholemeal wheat flour 

62 g wholemeal rye flour

(Second bake: 250 grams whole wheat flour + 162 grams rye)

1 g (¼ tsp) deer horn salt (baker’s ammonia), dissolved in water (you can use baking powder instead)

6 g yeast

8 g sea salt

25 g honey

20 g butter

235g milk (dairy or non dairy works fine)

1 teaspoon caraway, crushed in a mortar/pestle)

I kneaded a very stiff dough for 15 minutes. I probably added 10-20 grams water while kneading. Let rise for 6 hours at room temperature and knock back and briefly knead twice in the first two hours.  (The dough can also be chilled overnight.)

Cut off 85 – 95 gram portions and shape into round balls.  Flour lightly and let rise briefly, about 20 minutes.  Roll out round dough circles to about 25cm or 9in with a notched or regular rolling pin.  Dock well if using a flat rolling pin.  If using a grooved pin, follow with the notched pin.

Preheat the oven to the highest possible temperature (500° worked best for my oven & stone. 525° seemed too hot) and ideally place the flatbread directly on a baking stone or steel and bake them into golden, soft flatbread. Bake for 3-4 minutes each. Mine took 4 minutes.

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I did play with the flours in this recipe. My first bake was as Kelly wrote it. My second bake I took 100 grams from the whole wheat and make it rye. I used caraway seeds in both those bakes. We enjoyed both and I really couldn’t discern any difference between them. My third bake yesterday I tried 162 grams whole grain barley. The dough never really rose anything like the first two batches. While the dough came together, it remained crumbly throughout the entire process and was even very difficult to get onto the baking stone without cracking and breaking pieces off. In an effort to prevent breaking apart I didn’t roll it so thin and it did a little better.

Haven’t tried any of the barley flatbread yet but we’ll be taking it on a short road trip today and I’ll report back later.

I hope you’ll bake this one with us. Now that days are probably somewhat busy these flat breads are easy and throughly entertaining and engaging! As Kelly says: Hällakakor can be frozen and then reheated straight out of the freezer on a flat toaster, toaster oven, or hot pan. They should refresh well and taste like they were freshly baked out of the oven. They are lovely with butter and jam or syrup, or with mascarpone and jam. They are just as good with an herbed cheese spread or to sop up stew or curry. We would love for you to try out this flat bread with us this month and share how you used it! New recipes are posted every month on the 16th. Check out our Facebook group to see the participants’ baking results during that time.

Ready! Set! BAKE!!

BBB ~ Rustic Pumpkin-Shaped Bread

Do you love the crisp fall air, leaf raking, fresh apples, pumpkin and spices? I’m ready for the air to be cooler and cinnamon is always welcome in my kitchen! Pumpkin has never been my very favorite but in this bread it is perfect. This is the bread of fall. Totally my new favorite with fresh home made apple butter. How can you beat that? OK, well maybe put peanut butter AND apple butter on a slice of this. Yes, maybe that would be even better.

Cathy, I can’t say thank you for my very favorite way to bake with pumpkin and gorgeous spices! Cathy, Bread Experiencehttps://www.breadexperience.com/rustic-sourdough-pumpkin-shaped-bread/, is hosting the kitchen table. Be sure to check out the other Babes baking the pumpkins!

Try not to focus on the blow out spots.

Rustic Pumpkin-Shaped Bread

Makes: 2 Loaves

Pâte fermentée:

400 grams all-purpose flour

100 grams whole wheat flour (I used semolina)

325 – 375 grams water

7-8 grams / 1 teaspoon fine sea salt

25 grams sourdough starter (100% hydration) *

Final Dough:

Pâte fermentée, all of the above

280 grams all-purpose or bread flour

32 grams whole grain rye or other whole grain flour

¾ tsp. / 6 grams fine sea salt

1-2 Tbsp. / 7-14 grams pumpkin pie spice or other spice of choice

200 grams pumpkin puree

2-3 Tbsp. / 40-60 grams maple syrup or honey (I used 40 grams of maple syrup)

Extra flour or water as needed

*Using yeast instead of sourdough.

To make a yeast version, add 1/8 teaspoon of dried yeast to the Pâte fermentée and an additional teaspoon in the final dough and omit the sourdough starter.

First Day: Make the Pâte fermentée

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours and salt.  To keep from dirtying another container, make a well in the center and add the starter.  Pour the water in gradually and mix using a large wooden spoon or Danish dough whisk until everything comes together to form a smooth ball.

Adjust the water or flour as necessary to make a dough that isn’t too sticky or stiff.  Knead the dough until it is soft and pliable and tacky but not sticky, about 4 to 6 minutes. 

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel, and ferment at room temperature for 1 hour or longer. The dough should swell to about 1 ½ times its original size.

Remove the dough from the bowl and degas it by kneading it gently. Return the dough to the bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator overnight or up to 3 days. Or freeze in an airtight freezer bag for up to 3 months.

Next Morning/Afternoon: Make the Final Dough/Bake Bread

The next day, remove the Pâte fermentée from the refrigerator. Cut it into 10 – 12 small pieces using a bench knife or serrated knife. Place the pieces in the bowl of a stand mixer and allow them to warm up for about 1 hour.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.

Add the pumpkin puree, maple syrup or honey, if using, to the Pâte fermentée and mix on low speed to break up the pieces. Gradually add in the dry ingredients and continue mixing on low speed until everything comes together to form a coarse ball. Add extra water if necessary to form a soft and pliable dough.  ***In retrospect, next time I would add 30-60 grams of water.

Mix on medium speed using the dough hook and adjust with flour if necessary to make a soft, pliable dough that is tacky but not sticky.

Transfer the dough to a clean large bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel.

Let the dough ferment at room temperature for 2 hours. Stretch and fold the dough after the 1st hour, then let it rest the final hour.

Remove the dough to a work surface dusted with flour. Divide the dough into two pieces and shape roughly into rounds. Let them rest on the counter for 15 minutes.

Shape the pieces into tighter boules, and place in lined banneton proofing baskets, between the folds of a heavily floured baker’s couche, or on cornmeal-dusted parchment paper. Let them proof 2 hours or until 1 ½ times their original size.

Proceed to baking or cold ferment the loaves overnight

After the loaves have proofed in the baskets at warm room temperature, proceed to baking, or cover the baskets tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight to cold ferment.

About 45 minutes before you plan to bake the loaves, place a Dutch Oven or other baking pot on the middle lower rack of the oven and the lid on the upper rack and preheat the baker to 450 degrees F. 

While the oven is preheating, cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of your baker. **** My parchment round was to fit the Dutch Oven with wings.

What has wings and flies in & out of a scorching hot 🥵 Dutch Oven?

Cut four 30-inch pieces of food-safe twine.  ****I poured olive oil in the bottom of a ramekin, coiled the twine to fit and soaked the twine in the oil.  Place the oiled strings crisscrossed on the parchment.  It should look like a pie divided into 8 wedges. 

If you cold-fermented the loaves overnight, remove one loaf from the refrigerator at this point.

Invert one of the boules from the proofing basket onto the parchment paper.  Center it on top of the string. Tie the strings on top being careful not to pull too tightly to give the loaf room to expand.

Score the loaf uses small slashes, if desired.

****Pull the middle rack with the Dutch Oven on it out of the oven. Using the parchment wings, lift the tied pumpkin loaf (on the parchment paper) and carefully place it in the pot. Pull the lid off the top rack and place on the Dutch Oven. Push the rack into the oven.

Bake for 15 – 20 minutes with the lid on and another 15-20 minutes with the lid off. The loaf should be a rich golden brown all around and register 200 – 205 degrees F in the center of the loaf. It should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.

****I used the parchment wings to lift the loaf out of the Dutch Oven. Transfer the loaf to a wire rack and let it cool for 1 hour before removing the strings.

To remove the strings, cut them with scissors and carefully pull them a little bit at a time. If you pull too fast, the string could leave residue. A small knife works well for scraping the string off as you go. ****I had no difficulty removing the twine.

After the string has been removed, let the loaf rest on the cooling rack until completely cool.

Repeat the process with the other loaf allowing the oven and baking pot to preheat to 450 degrees F. before baking.

I gave away my pumpkin shaped loaf (yes even with that horrid explosion spot). We kept the loaf for apple butter and peanut butter! Come on, I know you want to bake this.

Bread Experience is the host kitchen this month. If you want to bake along with us and receive your Buddy Badge, please send Cathy a photo and link by October 29th to be included in the roundup.

Send an email to breadexperience at gmail dotcom and include BBB October Submission in the subject. It’s time to get baking!

BBB ~ Wool Roll Bread

Flour Water Yeast = Basic

Flour Water Yeast = Basic + Technique + Shape =

Spectacular Magic Unique Breads

Our host kitchen of the month is Judy at Judy’s Gross Eats. She can tell you about this bread taking the internet by storm. I’m going to tell you about how this is simply amazing. Our son and his three kids raved about the milk bread they baked all during the pandemic. They loved how you could squeeze it and it came back. They just really loved it. Whole grains…ha, those were awful tasting things that ruined any bread. This was all white. This was real bread. I loved watching their productions, the photos and the movies and what they put on their slices. But white bread just isn’t my thing. I didn’t try it.

Then here comes Judy with this milk bread. AND here’s a friend with a birthday. Wow! Great opportunity to bake a spectacular white bread that I can give away. So I baked white bread…I was taking it to the party…there was wind and rain…party got canceled…didn’t give away bread…Gorn loved it.

Truly, this makes for spectacular baking but in my mind, on my taste buds, white bread even with the fillings I used (and they were really really good) I just find white flour bread bland. I feel sure there will soon be a time I bake this again and make it with some character flours.

The magic of three basic ingredients always blows my mind. With this bread, it is a technique and shaping that bring it into the realm of the GLORIOUS. Technique is cooking the flour into a paste, the tangzhong, and adding that to the dough. Shaping adds the final magic. I’m astounded by breads that look spectacular and difficult…then turn out to me relatively simple to execute, and this definitely fits in that category.

My fillings. Well, this recipe called for dividing the dough into five pieces. That gives you the opportunity to use five different fillings all in the same loaf. I used Biscoff Crunchy Cookie Butter, peanut butter, brown sugar & cinnamon, chocolate and left the last plain. Not surprisingly I liked the Biscoff and the peanut butter the best. Fillings can be sweet or savory and my mind swims with the possibilities.

I lost track of width I should have made the five rolls and ended up with misfit. Judy’s misfit I think was stunning, mine not so much but it still worked. I did like the idea of different fillings. Fermenting in my mind, you could make these five rolls smaller and make more pieces and create many surprise flavors. That might make more work but it sounds interesting.

Japanese Milk Bread from King Arthur Baking Company

Tangzhong

• 3 tablespoons (43g) water

• 3 tablespoons (43g) whole milk (used half & half)

• 2 tablespoons (14g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour

Dough

• 2 1/2 cups (298g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour

• 2 tablespoons (14g) Baker’s Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk

• 1/4 cup (50g) sugar (used 35 grams)

• 1 teaspoon (6g) salt

• 1 tablespoon instant yeast

• 1/2 cup (113g) whole milk (used half & half)

• 1 large egg

• 4 tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter, melted

1.      To make the tangzhong: Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan, and whisk until no lumps remain.

2. Place the saucepan over low heat and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until thick and the whisk leaves lines on the bottom of the pan, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Three minutes.

3. Transfer the tangzhong to a small mixing bowl or measuring cup and let it cool to lukewarm.

4. To make the dough: Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Combine the tangzhong with the remaining dough ingredients, then mix and knead — by mixer or bread machine — until a smooth, elastic dough forms; this could take almost 15 minutes in a stand mixer. I started doing this by hand as I like that best BUT I quickly felt I would get a much better result with the kitchen aid AND I got the smoothest dough ball ever.

Baby smooth bottom! Twelve minutes in the KitchenAid.

5.      Shape the dough into a ball, and let it rest in a lightly greased bowl, covered, for 60 to 90 minutes, until puffy but not necessarily doubled in bulk.

6. Dough shaping: Divide the dough into 5 pieces. Roll each piece into a thin, oblong shape, then, using a sharp object (I used my 6 inch bench scraper), start about 2/3s from the designated top and make 1/8” to ¼” cuts.

This is almost five minutes long I’m sorry, I have to learn some editing 😌 Yes, we have pesky fruit flies in the film. Please excuse the straw like grey hair that gets in the way.

Hot Rocks Bread ~Persian Pebble Bread~BBB

Persian Pebble Bread~Hot Rocks Bread~

Wild Naan Sangak
adapted from our recipe for Wild Naan, and the recipe for Persian Pebble Bread in “Taste of Persia” by Naomi Duguid

makes one long bread

Have I ever said Baking Bread is an Adventure…? Well, if I have failed to tell you such, let me just be sure to iterate it loud and clear now. Baking Bread is an Adventure! Baking Bread is an Adventure! Baking Bread is an Adventure!

Plenty of rocks here. Which ones do I use…

Elizabeth, our Kitchen of the Month, was very up front as to the rock being involved in the recipe she was considering. She says she more or less forced us into this recipe. I thought we all pretty much thought this sounded like a great idea. So here we go, off to find rocks…what kind of rocks. Oh, you know, pebbles, river rocks. Elizabeth found her’s at a garden store. The stores around here seemed either not to know what I was asking for or they were sold out. So I looked for an alternate source.

The business we’ve worked with for driveway gravel and excavation seemed like a good place to try. Try explaining to an excavator/concrete mixer fellow how you’d like to purchase enough small rocks, pebbles, fairly smooth to cover the bottom of a half sheet pain. It did make it easier to explain that I took my sheet pan with me. Jim Beckman gave me directions to the gravel pile and I drove out, parked in front of it, climbed up the gravel, sat down and hand picked each rock. Big gravel, dirt and cement trucks rolled by as I filled my sheet pan. I got several looks but no one stopped to ask what I was doing.

Hot Rocks Bread (renamed from Elizabeth’s Wild Naan Sangak and the recipe for Persian Pebble Bread in “Taste of Persia” by Naomi Duguid)

makes one long bread

My Rye Sourdough Starter

Leavener

• 50 grams rye sourdough culture 100% hydration

• 50 grams room temperature water

• 50 grams ‘no-additives’ 100% whole wheat flour

  Leavener, continued (optional for hot weather baking)

• all of the above

• 15 grams room temperature water

• 15 grams ‘no-additives’ 100% whole wheat flour

  Actual Dough

• 320 grams unbleached organic all-purpose flour (I mixed white whole wheat, spelt and AP flour all organic.)

• 5 grams wheat germ

• 15 ground flax seed

• 180 grams room temperature water

• 25 grams plain Greek yoghurt

• 15 grams (1 Tbsp) olive oil

• All of the leavener, when it floats – showing that it’s as strong as it can be

• 8 grams salt + 5 grams water

  Shaping

• flat bottomed cookie sheet

• water

  Topping, optional

• sesame seeds

1. Leavener Late in the evening on the day before you will be making naan sangak, put a spoonful of culture from the fridge into a small bowl. Stir in 50 grams water and 50 grams whole wheat flour. Cover with a plate and put into the cold oven (if the night temperatures are cool, turn the oven light on) to leave overnight.

2. Leavener, continued In the morning of the day you will be making naan sangak, particularly if the weather is warm, take a small spoonful of the leavener and see if it floats in a bowl of cool water. If the starter is quite bubbly but that little amount sinks, stir 15 grams water and 15 grams whole wheat flour into the bowl from the previous night. Cover with a plate and leave until about noon. If the kitchen is cool, omit this step and proceed to the next one. I do apologize Elizabeth, I guess I just have great faith/trust in my rye starter and skipped this.

3. Actual Dough On the day you will be making naan sangak, check to see if the leavener floats in a small bowl of cool water. If the leavener is domed but it doesn’t float, wait for 30 minutes or so and try again. If the leavener is bubbly but flat or concave on the surface, stir in about 5 grams each of whole wheat flour and water. Cover with a plate and leave it on the counter out of draughts. Check again again for floating about 20-30 minutes later. It will probably float. Proceed with making the actual dough.

4. Using a bowl that is large enough for the dough to triple, sift flour in. Whisk in wheat germ. Add 180 grams water, yoghurt, olive oil, and all of the leavener. Using a dough whisk or wooden spoon, stir just enough to mix it together. Cover with a plate and leave on counter for about 20 minutes. Here I felt the dough was sticky and stiff.

5. Kneading and adding the salt: Whisk salt and 5 grams water into a small bowl and pour on top of the dough. Wash your hands and leave one hand wet. With the back of your hand against the side of the bowl, reach down into the bowl to the bottom of the dough and pull it up to the fold it over the top. Turn the bowl with your other hand and repeat 4 or 5 times. Cover the bowl with a plate and set aside on the counter for about 20 minutes. The addition of the water and salt and the dough began to loosen a little and was slightly less sticky.

6. Repeat the previous step 2 or 3 times more. You’ll notice that the dough is smooth and silky to the touch. It may also be quite slack. Don’t be overly concerned. Slack is good. Each time I folded the dough, I dipped my hands in water which resulted in a beautifully smooth silky dough.

This is my abacus: each time I fold the dough, I flip up one measuring spoon and set my phone timer for the next otherwise I’d be a lost case.

7. Proofing: Cover with a plate and leave on the counter. (Check the dough from time to time as the afternoon progresses into evening. Wet your hands and gently fold it whenever it has doubled. I did this once.

8. Preheating the Stones: Around dinnertime on the day you will be baking the bread, put the cookie tray of stones into

Loved the sesame seeds. The rosemary was lost.

◦ the barbecue on a pizza stone over direct heat, close the lid, and turn it to high.

◦ the oven on the middle shelf of the oven set at 450F. This is the way I baked the HOT ROCKS BREAD.

◦ Shaping: While the stones are preheating, use the palms of you hands to slather water over the bottom of another cookie tray. Turn the risen dough onto the tray (the dough will still be pretty slack). Wet your hands again and gently guide and flatten the dough into a rectangle, making sure that one end of the rectangle is very close to the narrow side of the tray. Gently lift the bread up and down again to make sure it is not stuck to the pan. Evenly scatter sesame seeds (if using) on top.

◦ Baking: When the stones are hot hot hot, carry the tray of dough and tip it at the back edge of the tray of hot stones. DO NOT TOUCH THE STONES WITH YOUR HANDS! The dough should begin to slide off the back of the wet tray. If it does not, gently nudge any part that is sticking with a thumb or finger. Gently pull the dough tray back towards the front of the barbecue to stretch the dough onto the hot stones. Once the dough is on the stones, it WILL stick for the first part of baking. Don’t even imagine you can rearrange the dough. “Slowly tip the plate so that the dough begins sliding off of the wet plate onto the pebbles. Gently pull the plate back in a smooth slow motion as the rest of the dough slides and lands on the pebbles. Help it along the way but make sure you don’t touch the hot pebbles! Once the dough is on the pebbles do not attempt to rearrange it, as it will already be stuck to the stones.” – Omid Roustaei, The Caspian Chef | Naan Sangak – Persian flatbread
Close the lid of the barbecue if using. (Use direct and indirect heat on the barbecue.)

Sticky Rocks! Loosen with knock from a knife handle.

◦ I considered oiling the rocks to perhaps minimize sticking. My first bake I used water on the bottom of a sheet pan. There was no slide to this method: I lifted an edge and by tilting the pan sharply the dough laid onto the rocks. Virtually every rock that touched the bread stuck to the bread. The rocks were easily knocked off with the end of a knife. For my second bake, I dusted the sheet pan with semolina like when I do pizza. The dough easily slide off and only one rock stuck to the bread. However there were a couple of places where the semolina was thicker and showed a build up. I brushed the excess off before serving.

◦ It takes 5-10 minutes to bake the bread. My bread took about 20 minutes to bake. Turn the tray around from time to time to account for uneven heat in the barbecue and oven. USE OVEN MITTS!! To check to see if the bread is done, use blunt-nosed tongs to gently lift the bread from the stones. Some of the stones may stick to the bread. Don’t worry about that. Enough of the stones will fall off onto the tray to let you check for doneness.

Lovely.

◦ cooling slightly: When the bread is done, bring it inside on its tray of hot stones. Some of the stones will remain attached to the bread. Once the bread cools for about 5 minutes, the stones can be dislodged relatively easily with oven mitts or a spoon. BE CAREFUL!! THE STONES ARE STILL VERY HOT! If the stones are extremely reluctant to release themselves, it seems to indicate that the bread has not quite finished baking; simply bake it a little longer and try again.

Use a pizza wheel to cut the de-stoned bread and serve it immediately with Persian stews, Indian-style curries, chili con carne, soup…. It’s good with grilled vegetables too. I feel it was more interesting and fun to just break a piece off. Served to several friends, this was lovely with cheese or avocado or artichoke or salami or well you get the idea.

And we know that you can’t wait to heat up those river stones on a tray so you can make Naan Sangak too! To receive a Baking Buddy Badge to display on your site, post about your Persian Pebble Bread adventure in the next couple of weeks (we love to see how your bread turns out AND hear what you think about it – what you didn’t like and/or what you liked) before the 29 August 2021. 

Here’s how to let us know:

• email me
  » Remember to include your name and a link to your post
  » Please type “BBB August 2021 bread” in the subject heading

HOT ROCKS MAKE LIFE BEAUTIFUL!!

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Bake it up!

Cruffins ~ BBB ~ July 2021

What you may ask is a Cruffin? Since the Babes are Baking Cruffins this month, that would be a fair question. In simplest terms a cruffin might be a cross between a croissant and a muffin but it is neither a croissant nor a muffin. Mostly what you need to know about a Cruffin is: they are insanely beautiful and taste marvelous! That’s really what a Cruffin is BUT if you want to know more details check out Aparna’s post at My Diverse Kitchen.

I think these should be named oatmeal mushrooms.

There is an art to writing a recipe BUT there is an art to reading a recipe as well and clearly I am woefully lacking in reading skills. Perhaps my math is just as lacking. The recipe Aparna gave us clearly stated “this recipe makes 8 cruffins” … I ended up with 17. Can’t read, can’t count.

My cruffins are dark – I used half white whole wheat with half regular AP flour and brown sugar – and I’m ok with that. I will admit the BBB’s who bake with white flour got a gorgeous gourmet picture perfect golden cruffins. I’ll settle for the subtle caramel flavor I get with the brown sugar.

Cruffins

Recipe by Aparna from My Diverse Kitchen

This recipe makes 8 Cruffins (see it said it right there)

For the Dough :

25 grams brown sugar (this was just sweet enough for us)

1 1/4 tsp dry yeast

100 grams white whole wheat flour

101 grams white AP flour

50 gm unsalted butter, chilled

1/4 tsp salt

183 oat milk (did not use any water but used all oat milk)

For Lamination :

120 gm unsalted butter, at room temperature

To Decorate/ Serve :

Speculaas spice/Cinnamon sugar

DIRECTIONS :

I add the dry yeast directly to the flour with other ingredients.

 In a medium bowl mix together the flour, yeast, sugar, salt and chilled butter cut into small pieces. Add milk and knead into a soft and elastic dough that comes away from the side of the bowl. The dough should not be sticky. Add a little more milk or flour, as required to achieve this consistency of dough. I found I needed at least half cup more of regular AP flour to obtain a soft supple dough that was not sticky.

Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to an oiled bowl, turning the dough to coat it well. Cover and let the dough rise till double in volume. This should take between an hour to two depending on ambient temperature. Mine took about an hour and 45 minutes.

In the meanwhile prepare your baking pan and keep aside. Butter and very lightly flour the cavities of your muffin or popover tray.

Dust your working surface lightly with flour and turn the dough out. Lightly knead to deflate the dough. Divide into four equal pieces. Roll out each piece to a 60x20cm (24X7 inches) sized piece. The dough sheet will be very thin. If you have a pasta machine you can use that as it is easier to roll out thin sheets with it. I cut the dough into two pieces (60cm x 40cm each) and cut into 4 pieces after buttering each.

Spread about 30 to 38 gm butter (I started with 150 grams of butter and had 50 left) of soft butter over each rolled out piece of dough. I sprinkled half with cinnamon sugar and the other half with speculaas spice. Cut each piece into half, lengthwise, creating two thin strips.

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Roll one thin strip into a tight roll. Place this at the edge of the second strip and continue rolling till you have one thick roll. This will give your cruffins more layers.

Cut roll in half lengthwise. Roll each half, like a circle (cinnamon roll style)with the cut layers side showing the outside. Make sure to tuck both ends under so it doesn’t open up on baking. Place the roll in the prepared muffin or popover pan.

Repeat with all the dough pieces. Cover the pan with a kitchen towel and allow to rise for about 45 minutes. The rolls should look puffy and have risen to almost the edge of the cavities.

Bake the cruffins at 190C (375F) for about 30 minutes or till golden brown and done. My smaller size baked in about 24 minutes. Turn them out onto a rack and let them cool. I skipped toppings and thought they were just perfectly delicate and sweet enough. Serve warm with coffee or tea.

My Cruffin were small (17 instead of 8) and more brown than golden but still insanely beautiful and marvelous tasting with coffee in the morning, hot tea in the late afternoon, coffee in the morning, hot tea in the late afternoon … oh gosh, it’s time to bake again as I know you will want to do. I want these again with my morning coffee … and my late afternoon tea!

Coffee or tea?

And I do thank you just very much for cruffins Aparna!

Povitica/Potica ~ BBB ~May 2021

Our Kitchen of the month was Kelly (Hobby Baker) at A Messy Kitchen and she brought us a doozy of a bread but wow oh wow it will give you cause to celebrate. Maybe you got your vaccination, maybe you got a new car, maybe you got sunshine when rain was expected, maybe the cat came home, maybe you can’t think of a reason to celebrate: if you bake Potica you’ll have reason enough to celebrate.

The start.

I baked again with my friend Mary. She baked a rye loaf for her family and then took photos of the Potica.  What that really translated to is the story of how we’ve all let looking at a picture and reading through a recipe intimidate us into not trying.  I still remember Bread Chick in the Daring Bakers putting up Julia Child’s baguette recipe some 30+ pages long and thinking REALLY, then stepping back and just taking it one step at a time gets you started on the journey. Before you know it you’ve come to: Bake it in the oven and BINGO you have bread!
Now Mary wants to come back to bake with me again to tackle Potica and I want to try the poppyseed filling with walnuts and chocolate…and I want to try a Spanakopita filling.  I am absolutely sure spanakopita will be spectacular. Sort of hoping one of the Babes went that way.

Do not be intimidated by photos that make things look difficult.  Do not let long directions in a recipe intimidate, just take one at a time.  You truly can do this!
Bake with us.

Povitica or Potica 

Add in butter.

DOUGH
100 grams whole wheat pastry flour
185 grams pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon 0.05 oz (1.4 g) dry yeast (~½ tsp)
135 grams whole milk
0.5 oz (15 g) water, used more milk instead
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg 
40  grams sugar, divided
22 grams butter melted, divided
WALNUT FILLING
9.9 ounces (280 g) walnuts
3.35 ounces (95 g) sugar
½ tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
0.1 oz (3 g) cinnamon powder
pinch of salt
2 ounces (58 g) unsalted butter
2.1 ounces (60 g) whole milk
1 large egg yolk
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
TOPPING, Looks pretty but adds too much sugar for my taste

Makes seeing when a dough doubles so much easier.

POPPYSEED FILLING This is the filling I used but NEXT bake will use walnuts and/or chocolate added to it.
250 g poppy seeds (8 oz or 1-1/2 cups)
50 g sugar (1/3 cup)
50 g honey (2-1/2 tablespoons)
50 ml milk (4 T) to start (may need up to 3/4 cup)
1 tablespoon butter
1 egg (can be omitted)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon cloves
2 tablespoons rum (or other spirits)
1 tablespoon vanilla
grated rind of 1 lemon

1. In a bowl or stand mixer, combine the flour together with the dry yeast.  Then add the milk, water, egg and salt.
Mix the ingredients in the bowl until a fairly smooth and homogeneous dough is obtained.
Add the sugar in two additions, kneading each time until it is fully integrated.
Knead the dough until it is smooth and silky with at least a medium gluten development.  Work in the butter in about three additions until smooth again.
Knead for about 12-15 minutes to develop the gluten well and obtain an elastic, soft, and very well developed dough.   It may be slightly sticky but should pass the windowpane test.  If it does not, the final stretching will not be possible without tearing.

2. When the dough is properly developed, form into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until it doubles its volume. This can take up to three hours.

3. Make the filling while the dough is rising. Grind poppyseeds in small batches in coffee grinder for about a minute. The resulting mixture should look and feel like damp sand.
Melt honey and butter in milk, add sugar, and stir till dissolved. Add poppy seeds and stir. Simmer for a few minutes, adding more milk if needed. Take off stove. Beat egg with rum, then stir it in gradually so the filling doesn’t curdle. Add other flavorings. Add more liquid if needed and continue to simmer till thick. (Don’t overdo this–it thickens as it cools.)
Makes about 2 cups.

In a food processor add nuts together with sugar, cinnamon, salt and cocoa powder.  Blend until the nuts are finely chopped and transfer to a bowl.
In a saucepan or microwave, heat the milk along with the butter until it just boils. Remove from the heat.
Pour the milk into the nut mixture.  Add the vanilla and the egg yolk and mix until completely homogenized.
Set aside at room temperature, covered, until ready to fill the povitica.

4. Stretching the dough:

Lay out a sheet or cloth on a wide, flat surface.  I used a drop leaf table and a linen table cloth but a card table would probably be the perfect size.
Sprinkle the work surface very lightly with AP flour.  
Turn out the dough and de-gas it gently.
Roll the dough out into a very thin rectangle with a rolling pin, then continue to carefully stretch with hand to about 25½x18-in. (65 x 45 cm) rectangle.  
**The dough should be about three times as long as your pan.  Very gently and slowly work the dough with your hands, stretching from the center to the edges.  It should remain soft and elastic and stretch without tearing as long as the gluten was developed and the process is taken slowly.

Stretching the dough.

5. Roll up the dough.
Starting with the long edge that has filling to the edge, roll the dough on itself making sure that there is no gap between each layer. Start at one end and just turn up the edge all the way across.  Then continue to roll from edge to edge carefully and with the help of both hands. 
I rolled from both long edges into the center then laid it into a bundt pan; it only went around one and a half times.

Rolling Rolling Rolling

Come together now…

6. Once the entire sheet is rolled up, carefully pinch and seal the long edge.
Shape the roll into an S and place it into the pan.  It will take two hands, scoop in from the ends and carefully lift into the pan.  
Other shaping methods including rolling up in a circle like a snail and baking in an earthenware baker, or cutting the roll into sections and lining them up in the loaf pan.  Using sections and a smaller loaf tin will yield a taller loaf.

And throw it in the pan!

7. Cover with plastic and let the dough rise until the dough has puffed up somewhat. This will be most evident looking at the ends of the dough to see any increase in size. Again, this can take 1-3 hours.

Bake Povitica.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Brush the top of the loaf with half of the butter and place in the center of the oven.
Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 300ºF and leave for 45 minutes more. The total baking time is 60 minutes.

Remove from the oven and brush with the remaining butter. More butter is always better.
Let it rest in the pan for 20 minutes.  Then turn out the loaf and allow to cool completely on a rack.  Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

Top line is putting dough into pan seam side down. Bottom line is where the dough was doubled.

8. This loaf should ideally be cut from the bottom to keep the outside edges/top from crumbling.  Excellent with coffee or tea! 

Really, you think you could keep this in the house 5 days …. I don’t think so.

This loaf will keep for 4-5 days in a sealed bag or a week in the refrigerator.  
That is totally laughable because with two people in my house half of this was gone in a day and a half. My friend took the other half home and it was gone that night.  It is either store it or look for bigger pants.
It may also be frozen in portions.

 We would love for you to try this impressive looking and very tasty bread and bake along with us this month!  (It’s not as difficult as it looks!)  No blog is necessary to participate, a picture will do. Just send a picture or your post of your finished povitica to Kelly by the 30th of this month at eleyana (AT) aol (DOT) com.  New recipes are posted every month on the 16th. Check out our Facebook group to see the participants’ baking results during that time.