Text 6362, 118 rader
Skriven 2011-01-29 01:33:36 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
   Kommentar till text 6311 av JIM WELLER (1:123/140)
Ärende: Bread
=============
Hi Jim,

>> I thought that the microwave killed the yeast beasties.

>> at 1% power

> I find the easiest way to proof bread reliably is to turn on the
> oven for exactly one minute, turn off the heat, wait a minute or two
> for the coils to cool off and the oven air to finish warming, then
> pop in the dough and shut the door, leaving the oven light on.

Good idea.. I used to do that for yogurt before I bought a 'fancy' yogurt
maker. Oven works great for yogurt like this.. I insulated the bottom and sides
of a large 'tall' soup kettle with big garbage bags filled with smaller ones
from the grocery store, put the yogurt jars in, put more insulation on the top,
and it worked great.  I should use the oven for the bread dough as well.. I can
see how it would work so well.

==Filled Bread Ring==
One large braided loaf or two medium sized ones

I made this for my mom one day and she took it to work with her.. next thing I
know, she's calling me from work saying 22 people in the Day Care where she was
the School Nurse wanted one for Easter morning.. I ended up baking my brains
out that weekend haha.. but at $12.00 a bread ring, I didn't complain.. and I
asked them what they thought a good price would be :) :)

After rising period, preheat the oven to 350F Prepare one or two large cookie
sheets by buttering them slightly.. or use some light canolli oil.  As the
bread rings cook, sugar will be seeping out a bit :) Don't overdo the butter or
oil though.

Bread ingredients:
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2-pkg active yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water About 4 cups all purpose
flour
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom [optional]

Filling base
2 Tbsp melted butter first then:
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp white sugar

Filling:
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup slivered almonds or walnut pieces, crushed slightly in your hand. About
1/2 cup small apple pieces (peeled, etc.) 1/4 cup almond paste (optional)

Egg glaze:
2 egg yolks
2 Tbsp milk or cream

White Icing drizzle:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp water

Put milk into a small saucepan and heat on medium  and scald, but don't let it
boil. Remove from heat. Stir in the butter and sugar until the butter has
melted and the sugar dissolved. Let cool to room temperature, and pour into a
mixing bowl. Mix in yeast/water mixture and egg.

Mix in salt and cardamom if you are using cardamon. Slowly add in 2 cups of the
flour. After the first two cups of flour gradually add more flour until a soft
dough starts to form a ball and pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead dough for 7 to 10 minutes until
smooth, or use a dough hook in a stand mixer and knead the dough for 5 to 7
minutes [for regular white flour. Home ground soft white wheat flour would take
maybe 10 minutes or more], adding more flour as needed to keep the dough from
being too sticky. The dough should remain soft, don't add too much extra flour.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl, covered with a clean towel or with plastic
wrap. Let rise for an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Press the dough down gently to deflate it a bit. Divide the dough into 2 equal
parts. Work with one part, while keeping the other half covered with plastic
wrap or a clean towel, to use it for the second loaf. Use your fingers to
spread it into a 8-inch by 16-inch rectangle on a very lightly floured, clean,
flat surface. You can start spreading the dough out and let it sit for 5
minutes if the dough doesn't want to cooperate :) The dough needs to relax
sometimes to let you shape it. Once you have in in a rectangular shape, brush
the dough with melted butter, leaving at least a half inch border on the edges
to allow the dough to stick together when rolled. Mix together the brown and
white sugar and the cinnamon and sprinkle the dough with half of the mixture.

Use the rest of the melted butter, sugars and filling for the second loaf.
Sprinkle half of the filling mixture all across the flattened dough. We love
raisins, small apple pieces and walnuts but you can use any filling like cream
cheese,  drained, sweetened ricotta cheese, etc.  Carefully roll the dough
rectangle up lenthwise then pinch the ends together  to form a ring.

Using scissors, snip through most of the way through the dough, cutting on a
slant. Work your way around the dough circle. After each cut, pull out the
dough segment either to the right or to the left, alternating as you go around
the circle. The dough circle will look like a wreath when you are done.  Repeat
all of the above for the second loaf. Cover the wreaths lightly with plastic
wrap and set in a warm area for a second rise. Let rise for about 30 minutes to
an hour until almost doubled.

Once the dough has begun to rise again, preheat the oven to 350F.  Whisk
together the egg yolks and cream or milk.  Brush the circle of dough with the
milk/egg glaze, using a pastry brush.. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool completely. Mix the white icing drizzle
ingredients. Drizzle the sugar glaze in a back and forth motion over bread
rings.

===

Take care,
Janis

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Dada-1
 * Origin: Prism bbs (1:261/38)