Festive Bread Baking



I don't really know a great deal about bread or how to make it...but I'd love to be one of those people who can knock up a quick homemade loaf as quick as a flash. So I thought I'd take some tentative steps towards becoming a bread baker by attending a 'Festive Bread Baking' course.

 

Our host was Anna, a.k.a the Culinary Anthropologist. Anna hosts courses from her gorgeous kitchen in north London, these range from bread to preserves to new Nordic cuisine. We were greeted with a very warm welcome along with tea and coffee, juice and some toasted breads for breakfast. Then it was time to get started as we had four breads to get through in a day.

First up was the festive favourite Panettone. Anna had started us off the day before with the base, from there we worked in teams of 4 to produce our breads. There were lots of delicious ingredients in the panettone including plump rum soaked raisins. There were 7 people on the course altogether and one team had a Kenwood stand mixer and one team had a Kitchen Aid to knead the dough, there was much debate as to which was the best but we didn't reach any firm conclusions. At home I have a Kenwood K-Mix so I'd come down on the side of Kenwood.

Once our panettone's were proved we slashed a cross in the top of each one before baking. Interestingly you can buy something called Aroma Panettone which adds the distintive smell to your bake! Anna recommended the Bakery Bits website for some specialist baking buys. They also sell various sizes of panettone cases. 

Our next bread was Stollen which contained crystallised ginger, sour cherries and more rum soaked raisins. We more specifically made a Dresden Stollen. When the dough is ready it is pressed out into an oval which is then folded over on itself but not quite in half. Once baked the whole thing is brushed with melted butter and then dusted with icing.

We used Anna's homemade candied peel in both the panettone and the stollen. I'd never really considered making candied peel before and it is rather time consuming but it was also very tasty, so it might be worth giving it a go. Here is the recipe for candied peel on Anna's website. Waitrose also describe a method on their website.

Next up, brioche. This is the bread that I have made before having made a plaited loaf as well as chocolate brioche rolls. Once our brioche dough was ready we shaped it into small traditional rolls called 'brioche a tete' as they look like they've got little heads. We also made loaves, one with three balls sitting together in the tin, as you can see below, and another with raisins and spices rolled up inside.

The brioche can then be used for a number of other recipes such as the rum babas above or some french toast perhaps.

Our final loaf was the Challah which is a special Jewish plaited loaf eaten on the Sabbath and for holidays. I've never heard of a Challah before but it really was quick to make and it was very light. This loaf was slightly sweet as it has honey in the recipe and overall it is a good multi-purpose loaf. Anna showed us how to plait and my loaf is the one on the left above. The Challah were finished with an egg wash and a sprinkling of either poppy seeds or sesame seeds.

Once all our doughs were made and proving it was time to sit down to lunch which was a tasty spread of winter coleslaw, pheasant rillette, gravadlax, bread, chutneys and cheese, all washed down with a glass of wine. Lunch was delicious and we even got pudding which was rum babas and brioche bread and butter pudding.

This was a great course and our host Anna certainly knew here stuff. Before we started baking we had a little introduction to the science of bread making, Anna also runs other bread courses which go into this in more detail. Her knowledge and enthusiasm for food were evident throughout the day and we came away with detailed recipes and instructions about how to make our bread at home. In addition there were recipes for the rum babas, bread and butter pudding and candied peel. The ingredients we used throughout the day were also top class, of particular note was the flour which was from Shipton Mill where you can buy it online by the sack.

Anna trained at the Tante Marie Cookery School in San Francisco and then took specialised courses at the San Francisco Baking Institute. She is also currently studying for an MA in the anthroplogy of food and consults for BBC Radio 4's 'The Kitchen Cabinet' so she certainly knows her onions! I'd highly recommend her courses and I've already signed up for a preserves course in the spring.

To end the day whilst we were waiting for our last loaves to bake we were treated to a glass of Glogg which is a Swedish mulled wine with a kick of vodka...it was the perfect way to end a great day!



Chocolate Brioche Rolls and Paris Boulangerie Tour

Last month I visited Paris and my trip ended up being more of a gastronomic tour than anything else, you can read more about it here. As part of our trip we visited Le Petit Mitron bakery for a behind the scenes boulangerie tour. This trip inspired me to try making bread as it's something I'm rarely brave enough to make. Obviously following my trip I wanted to make something French, so I plumped for brioche and this particular version has chocolate in it too.

I didn't really read the recipe very well until I was about to start and it was only then I realised that the bread had to be made in a stand mixer with a bread hook. I've never made bread in my K-Mix before so was slightly worried how it would turn out but I thought I'd give it a go. I prefer to do things by hand but this was such as sticky dough that it's a good job I didn't!

Brioche is a highly enriched bread, there were six eggs, 250g butter, melted chocolate and milk all included in the recipe.

When first made the bread was left to rise in the airing cupboard for 2 hours, it was then knocked back and put in the fridge overnight. Then in the morning it was lightly kneaded before being shaped into the rolls before being put back in the airing cupboard for another hour. The last time it went in to rise it was put in a plastic bag that was slightly inflated!

Finally, the rolls were brushed with milk and baked for 10 minutes. These brioche moulds are 7cm in diametre...the recipe suggested 8cm so they were a little bit too large when they came out of the oven but by using the moulds you get a lovely traditional fluted edge.

These chocolate brioche rolls turned out better than expected and would be perfect warm straight out of the oven for breakfast. They could have perhaps done with a minute or two longer in the oven but overall I was pleased with the result.

I also thought I'd share with you some of the things we learnt on the boulangerie tour:

Interesting Fact # 1: French bakeries cannot call themselves a Boulangerie unless they make their bread from scratch on the premises. This law was brought in to halt the decline of the traditional bakery. Therefore the French chain 'Paul' cannot call itself a boulangerie as they bake their bread from frozen and the products are made offsite and delivered daily.

Our boulanger for the day was Didier. He makes hundreds of baguettes a day at all hours of the day as locals pop in before work, at lunchtime and also on their way home. He also makes a special baguette called La Parisse which must be made in a very specific way in order to be called by this name, it is made with natural leaven and has a traditional flavour. You can see La Parisse in the picture below with it's distinctive knob on the top. It even has to be slashed on the top in a particular way!

Didier uses a high quality butter in his breads, it's pure butter and is AOC which means it must be produced to very specific standards like the La Parisse baguette. This butter is purchased in 2kg blocks of which there were many in the bakery's industrial sized fridge.

Following the explanation and demonstration of the baguette production we even had a go at rolling our own croissants...they weren't bad but certainly not as good as Didier's!

Interesting Fact # 2: A croissant that isn't 100% butter cannot be straight but if it is 100% pure butter then it can be any shape it likes! So in general a straight croissant = 100% pure butter, a curved croissant = less than 100% pure butter.

Interesting Fact # 3: Croissants only have about 10g of butter in each one...which doesn't sound so bad when you put it like that...they could even be considered healthy! ;-)

Interesting Fact # 4: Croissants did not originate in France. They are widely believed to have originated in Vienna when it was undersiege from the Turks. When the Turks were defeated local bakers produced a pastry to celebrate which resembled the Turkish cresent...et voila the croissant was born!

If you look at the picture below you can also see that when a proper croissant is baked and then cut or broken in half you can see the layers from the pastry circling inside. This is as a result of the process by which the dough is made, it is a puff pastry which is repeatedly rolled and folded with generous amounts of butter to create the layers.

We also tried our hand at rolling Pain au Chocolat which was a little easier than the croissants as it is just a straight roll. Didier puts two chocolate sticks in each one to ensure it is suitably chocolately.

Interesting Fact # 5: The chocolate used is made especially for baking as it is has a very high glucose content which prevents it from completely melting and possibly burning during the baking process.

Another of Didier's specialities are Cranberry and Chocolate Chip Escargot or snails...very similar to a Pain au Raisin. You can also see in the picture below that he has a special machine to roll out his pastry perfectly... I WANT ONE!

We booked our tour with Viator and I was slightly dubious as to how authentic and intersting it would be, especially at £16 but I was very pleasantly surprised as it was genuinely interesting and Didier was so keen to share his craft with us. The tour was supposed to last one hour but we were there for around an hour and a half and we also came away with croissants and bread. I'd recommend it if you're heading to Paris anytime soon.

 

And so to this month's challenges. First up it's Calendar Cakes with the theme being bread, rolls and buns. Calendar Cakes is hosted by yours truly and alternately by Rachel over at Dolly Bakes.

This month's We Should Cocoa is being hosted by Nazima from Franglais Kitchen with it's regular home being at Chocolate Log Blog and Chocolate Teapot. These chocolate brioche fit the theme of bread and chocolate.

Finally, I'm also entering them into the breakfast club as these really would be perfect on a Sunday morning with the papers, orange juice and a coffee! This month it is hosted by Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog with it's regular spot being over at Fuss Free Flavours.

 

Ingredients

150g plain chocolate (the recipe suggested Waitrose Plain Chocolate with Coffee...I just used plain)
500g Very Strong White Flour
7g sachet McDougalls Fast Action Dried Yeast
6 large eggs, room temperature
250g unsalted butter
75g caster sugar
2 tbsp milk to glaze

Melt the chocolate along with the milk in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Once melted remove from the heat and leave to one side to cool.

Sift the flour, yeast and 1 tsp salt in a free standing mixer with a dough hook. In a jug beat the six eggs lightly and then with the mixer on it's lowest speed, pour the eggs in a little at a time. Once all the eggs have been added, scrape down the sides and then add the chocolate mixture and mix again until the ingredients are all combined. Scrape down again and then knead the dough for 5 minutes on the lowest speed.

Put the butter and sugar into a separate bowl and then cream them together until creamy. Then add this mixture to the dough a little at a time with the machine running at it's lowest speed. Scrape down and then knead the dough again for another 5 minutes. The dough will be very soft and sticky! The dough is now ready to rise, cover with a lid or clingfilm and then leave in a warm place for 2 hours - the dough should double in size.

Once the dough has risen, ensure you have floured your fingers and then punch down the risen dough, this should deflate it. It will resemble a chocolate mousse or cake mix at this point so don't be alarmed. Cover the dough back over and then put it in the fridge and chill until firm and doubled in size again. It should be left for at least 4 hours or overnight if you'd prefer.

To make the brioche you can either use a 12 hole muffin tin or a 2 x 6 hole brioche shaped tray. I used 8cm individual brioche moulds with fluted edges (makes 18). Whichever you choose they should be well buttered. Turn the dough out and knead carefully for 1 minute. Divide the dough in equal portions as required. If using the muffin tray split into 12 and 18 for brioche moulds.

To make the traditional brioch shape, pinch off a small ball of dough from each portion and roll it out smoothly, it should be about the size of a hazelnut. With the remaining dough from each portion make a smooth ball and place it carefully into each muffin hole. Flour your index finger and push it into the middle of each ball of dough in the tray and then place the smaller ball on top of this indent. Put this tray into a large plastic bag, inflate a little and then leave to rise until it has doubled in size. This will take 1 hour in a warm place or overnight in the fridge.

To bake, preheat the oven to 200c/180c fan/gas 6. Take the brioche out of the plastic bag and brush with milk to glaze. Bake for 18-20 minutes if using the muffin tray, 10 minutes if the 8cm brioche moulds. Leave to cool in the mould for a minute or so before turning out onto a wire rack. You can eat these warm or alternatively they'll keep for 24 hours in an airtight tin. You can also freeze them for upto 1 month.

* Adapted from www.waitrose.com - recipes

Brioche French Toast with Warm Blueberry Compote

This is my second entry for this month's AlphaBakes...and it's a double whammy. This month's letter is 'B', so I give you homemade brioche French Toast and warm blueberry compote.

This was my first foray into bread making and I have to say the resulting loaf was a monster! I used this Brioche recipe and ended up with not one but two enormous loaves! The recipe said that it makes one large plaited loaf...however it suggest to plait it you should have 3 sausages of dough, each at 50cm each!! My oven isn't big enough for a half metre loaf, so I therefore decided to make two slightly smaller ones and baked them for around 35 minutes...they were still however humdingers!

Making the French toast and compote was rather easier and the result was a gorgeous combination of brioche, warm blueberries and a little Hagen Daz vanilla ice cream for good measure. This would be a perfect Sunday brunch! :-)

AlphaBakes is hosted by The More Than Occasional Baker and Caroline Makes. I'm already looking forward to next month...but lets hope it's not 'Z'!

Ingredients

2 eggs

4 tbsp milk

1 tbsp caster sugar

Drop of vanilla extract

4 slices of brioche

Butter for frying

Vanilla ice cream to serve

Blueberry Compote

100g blueberries

1 tbsp caster sugar

Squeeze of lemon juice

The French toast and compote is easy to make. Start with the compote, just pop the blueberries, sugar and lemon in a saucepan and heat gently. The blueberries will start to pop and release their juices, at this point you just need to simmer for 2-3 minutes to get a gorgeous compote.

For the toast, whisk up the eggs, milk, caster sugar and vanilla and pour into a shallow dish. Soak each slice of brioche in the eggy mixture. Warm the frying pan and melt the butter before adding the brioche. Cook until golden brown on each side. Serve warm, with the warm compote and a scoop of vanilla ice cream and you have yourself a rather decadent brunch! :-)