Beet Challah - a Colorful Creation with the BBB

We have a colorful challenge to put forth this month!  This lovely loaf is made with beet puree to yield one heck of a bright loaf.  During the multiple renditions the Babes have been trying for this challah/brioche bread, we have seen the color range from barely there post baking, to vivid pink.  In using beets for dying eggs, I have seen this same range from ruddy red to vivid fuchsia depending on the age and origin of the beets.  I once made the Pinterest Valentine's beet pancakes and those were vivid and bright pink. 

Before flipping...

After flipping.

My eldest flat out refused to even try them because of the color!  But my youngest declared them delicious.  And no, you could not taste the beets.  They were just a tiny bit more moist than regular pancakes.

I decided for my rendition, that I wanted to avoid having the entire loaf be pink.  We were given the option of using golden beets if we chose, but I left mine out too long and they got soft.  So I went with carrots instead for the other half of the dough.  (Inspired by the Italian recipe for Carrot and Beetroot bread: Panbauletto Carota & Barbabietola.)  We have after all made a delicious carrot bread before with the BBB.  I didn't get quite the orange color as that one this time, but I was using steamed puree instead of fresh raw juice.  I still really like how it turned out.

I think most of the Babes did go with a sourdough loaf or a faux sourdough with a levain starter, but the option was given for a yeast version and since my sourdough is asleep right now, I took it.  I did do an overnight ferment and I suppose the bit of sour cream I used might have contributed a tad to fermentation.  Maybe.  But I'm still very happy with how it turned out.  It smelled SO good at the end of the bake cycle.  I was also thinking of a Finnish Pulla (Cardamom Braid) when I came up with my final version, so I added just a bit of cardamom, as well as some lemon zest to brighten it up.  Beets can be earthy after all.  There was just a bit more sugar in my combined doughs, but not so much as in a Pulla loaf.  Like I said, it smelled divine, but we haven't broken in to it yet!  I'll have to update with a picture and verdict when we do soon.  And there it is.  Beautiful!

If you feel like being adventuresome and trying out this unique bread with us, you can bake it up any time between now and Dec. 30th.  Then send a picture or a link to your post to the host kitchen at Bread Experience.  She will then send you a nifty Buddy badge graphic to add to your post or keep on your desktop, and include you in the Buddy Roundup at the beginning of January.  We'd love for you to join us.  You can also see what's going on for each month's recipe on the Facebook Group.  Be sure and check out the host kitchen's post since it shows multiple versions, techniques,  and colors of how the bread can turn out!  What follows is the original version of the bread.  My changes will be posted after that.

Beet Challah
(Sourdough version)
makes 3 loaves

Overnight Levain:

25-30 g sourdough starter (or ½ tsp instant yeast)
100 g bread flour (or all-purpose)
40 g water

Place sourdough starter in a small bowl and mix with the water to break it up.  Add in the flour and mix until thoroughly incorporated.  Cover and let rest at room temp for 8-10 hours.  At this time of year if your house is cold, it could take longer.  To test if the levain is ready to use in the dough, perform a float test by taking a little bit of the starter and dropping it in a bowl of water.  If it floats, it's ready. If not, let it rest a while longer and try the test again.

Final Dough:

700g bread flour or all-purpose flour, divided (450g, 200g, 50g)
3 tbsp sugar (38g)
1 tsp fine sea salt (8g)
2 tbsp oil (27g)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
100g water (100ml)
3 raw beets cut into small chunks (~280g)
1 tsp vanilla, optional (5ml)
Poppy seeds, optional

Egg Wash:
Leftover eggs whites mixed with a little water

Puree the beets in a blender, adding the water gradually, until the mixture is completely smooth.  This will take a little while unless you have a high-powered blender.  Weigh the beet puree mixture, if it weighs more or less than 280 grams, you'll either need to add more or less flour.

Mix 450g of the flour, the sugar and the salt together in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix the pureed beet mixture, beaten eggs and yolks, oil and vanilla, if using.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well.  Add the sourdough (levain starter) on top and mix thoroughly.

Gradually mix in up to 200g of flour using a stand mixer or your hands.  Let the dough rest for 30 minutes. 

Remove the mixture to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough. Add the additional 50 g of flour if necessary to form a supple and workable dough.

Shape the dough into a ball and place it back in the bowl. Cover and let it proof for 2-3 hours.  Perform a fold at 60 and 120 minutes.  You can let the dough rest for the final hour or place it in the refrigerator overnight.

Note from host kitchen: The next day, I took the dough out of the refrigerator and shaped the braids using the cold dough.  It worked really well.  I didn't want to add any additional flour so I spread a light layer of olive oil on the work space instead of flour.  This method worked really well for me.  Just don't put too much oil or you won't be able to roll out the braids.

After the bulk ferment, at room temperature or in the refrigerator, divide the dough into 3 equal pieces and shape them into a ball.  Let rest a few minutes, then divide each ball again into 3 equal pieces.

Form each piece into a long rope, flattening and removing the air.  A couple folds first will help the structure of the ropes.  Then braid three ropes together, pinching the ends to seal and then tucking under.

(Mine was a four strand braid.)

Place the braided loaves on a parchment-lined baking sheet and brush with egg wash. Cover gently with oiled plastic wrap so it doesn't stick to the braids and let them proof about 1½ hours, until they have grown to about 1½ times their original size.  Rising time will depend on the temperature in your kitchen.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF and place the oven rack on the middle shelf.

Brush the loaf again with egg wash and sprinkle the top with poppy seeds.

Bake the loaf for 20 minutes, rotate the pan for even baking, then bake an additional 20 to 35 minutes depending on the size of the loaf. It should register at least 190ºF in the center.

Transfer the loaf to a wire rack and let it cool for 1 hour before slicing.

My version is as follows and the carrot and beet doughs are identical other than the different purees.  I pressure steamed the veggies for only a couple minutes, so they were still pretty firm and took a while to puree.  I ended up with some bits that I picked out of the dough.  (Roasting the beets seems to yield a softer red color in the finished loaf.)

225g all purpose flour
25g light rye flour
55 g light spelt flour
190g beet/carrot puree
5g active dry yeast
20g milk
1 whole egg
20g sour cream
6g fine sea salt
1/8 tsp cardamom
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tbsp sugar

Egg wash:  1 whole egg + 1 tbsp milk, whisked

Basically, I combined the milk, egg, sour cream, sugar, puree and yeast first.  Then mixed in the cardamom and zest.  Then added the flours and mixed until the dough was cohesive and not too sticky.  Then I let it rest in the fridge overnight.  (Separating the colors, of course!)  Let it warm up a bit the next day, punched it down, gave it a fold and divided each dough in half.  Gave those pieces a couple folds until the gluten felt strong, then rolled into ropes and braided in a four strand braid.  Brushed the egg wash just before baking and sprinkled with poppy seeds.  I did add a bit of steam right at the start.  Rotated the loaf after 15 minutes and turned down the oven to 325ºF.  Also covered the loaf with foil after 25 or 30 minutes so it wouldn't get too brown.  It's a moist crumb and I let it get above 200º inside to make sure it was done.

Oh yes, do remember that beets STAIN fingers, counters, everything they touch.  And beet dough color will bleed through waxed paper.  ;)

BBB Porridge Bread Roundup

The end of the year is a busy time for folks, but we did get a couple of intrepid bakers to try out our Rye porridge bread.  It's worth a try, even if it isn't for a buddy baking challenge!

Our first buddy baker was Shirley from Flour.ish.en Test Kitchen who completely knocked it out of the park with an amazing version filled with pistachios and raisins.  Just a beautiful loaf:

And one other baker, Soep, showed us her rising loaf on the Facebook group:

 Hers was a whole wheat version of the porridge bread and looked great.

That's it for November, stay tuned on the 16th for the next recipe and challenge.  You can also find the posts of many of the Babes for each month on the Facebook group!

Pain Bouillie - a Rye Porridge Bread with the BBB

It is my honor this month to be the host kitchen for the Bread Baking Babes for the first time.  I had a few recipes in mind, but in consideration of the usual hectic schedules this time of year, I decided to go with something hearty and a bit more practical.  This month we have made Pain Bouillie or Rye Porridge Bread from The Village Baker.  It does have an overnight soak for the porridge, but the dough comes together easily and goes into a cold oven, so in all it is fairly simple.  Our recipe comes from a great book that I purchased after doing another recipe with the BBB as a buddy:  Korni Bread.

I love a rye bread that is not quite so dark and dense, though this one has a delightful texture, both chewy and moist.  This is more like the rye breakfast toast you might generally find in a typical American restaurant, which I am quite fond of though this is so much better, being home baked.  Freshly cooled, the crust is crisp and very chewy!  It makes great bread for soups and stews, and fabulous toast.  I'm sure it would make lovely savory sandwiches as well, I know some of the other babes made delicious sounding versions with Boursin and smoked trout or salmon, and perhaps a Reuben or two.

Here is the book's description of the bread:

"Whenever you see a French recipe that begins with the instructions "Faire une bouillie..." you know you have come across a very old recipe because it starts off with a mush made by pouring boiling water over flour.  The mush, which will ferment slightly overnight, is used the next day mixed into a bread.  The most fascinating recipe I have heard of for pain bouillie is one from the Alpine region of France around the town of Villar-d'Aréne.  The bouillie is made with dark rye flour and set aside to rest for seven hours.  The porridge is then mixed into a dough, without any yeast, and allowed to rest for another seven hours.  When the dough is finally made into loaves, they are placed in an oven that has already been used for bread and so the temperature is only about 200ºF.  The loaves bake for seven hours and the process produces a moist, dense, completely sourdough bread that lasts well over six months - or so the story goes.  The bread is traditionally made in November and it keeps best when stored in wine cellars and hay lofts."

The Village Baker version does include yeast and a little white flour to make it more accessible for today's bakers than that traditional version!  Though I loved that it was started in a cold oven, some of the babes it didn't work as well for and you do tend to get a thicker crust doing it that way.  I might try it with beginning steam and a preheated oven to see if a thin, crispy crust is attainable that way.  I love the caraway in rye bread and I loved how the caraway and raisin paste smelled.  I will be making this one regularly.  Now just a few notes, I used flaked rye (looks like thick oatmeal) instead of cracked rye, and I also used light rye flour (Bob's Red Mill I think) that I had on hand.  Some of the other babes ended up with loaves more dense than mine, though still tasty I understand!  So the coarseness of grind, brand of flour, and the way the cracked or flaked grain absorbs liquid might make a difference in the end product.  Here are my rye flakes, which incidentally weigh 50g less than the equal volume of cracked rye:

I think many of us also ended up adding more flour than the recipe calls for.  I added quite a bit more due to spelt's hydration preferences, but still ended up with a nicely sticky dough, typical of rye.  I have adjusted the recommended flour from 2 cups to 2-3 cups to accommodate that experience.  My version of the book only has the volumes in cup measurements, but some of our other Babe Bakers linked on the right, have awesomely figured out the weights and metric equivalents.  This is a wonderful bread and we would love for you to bake along with us!  Just bake your version of this bread by November 30th and send me a note with your results and a picture or link to your post at eleyana(AT)aol(DOT)com with Buddy Bread in the subject line and I will include you in our buddy round up at the beginning of next month and send you a badge to keep and/or add to your post.  You don't have to have a blog to participate, a picture is fine!

Porridge Bread (Pain Bouillie)

makes two mini 14-oz loaves in one pan

The Bouillie (Porridge)

2 tsp honey (10 ml, 14g)

1¾ cups boiling water (414ml)

1 cup organic rye flour (102g) (I used the light rye I had on hand, dark rye will likely produce a more dense loaf)

1 cup organic cracked rye grain (~150g cracked, ~100g flaked) (I had a very firm, thick, rolled rye or barley, couldn't remember which, so I used that in equal measure)

The dough:

1 tsp active dry yeast (4g)

3 tbsp warm water, divided (45ml)

All of the bouillie from the previous step

2 tsp fine sea salt (8 g - different salts have different weights)

2 tsp caraway seeds (4g)

1 tbsp raisins (10g)

2-3 cups organic, unbleached white (or all purpose) flour  (250-375g) (I used a 50/50 combo of all purpose and light spelt and ended up using almost 3½ cups because I didn't reduce the liquid for the spelt.)

To make the porridge starter (bouillie):  Mix the honey into the boiling water until dissolved.  Pour it over the rye flour and grain in a bowl.  Let it soak for a few minutes, then give it a stir to make sure all the flour is moistened.  Cover the bowl and set aside overnight in a warm area.

For the dough:  Dissolve the yeast in 2 tbsp of the warm water.  Put all of the porridge (bouillie) into a medium bowl or stand mixer and mix in the salt.  Crush the caraway seeds with a mortar and pestle until fragrant and broken.  Add the raisins and grind into a paste.  Stir the last 1 tbsp water into the caraway/raisin paste.  Add 2 tsp of the resulting caraway flavoring into the porridge.  (I added ALL of it).  Slowly add 1½ cups flour, mixing in on low speed or with a plastic dough scraper.  Mix in the yeast.  Continue adding the remaining flour slowly until the dough is a medium firm consistency.  Knead for 5-8 minutes, adding a little more white flour if necessary.  The dough will be sticky but should be firm.

Put the dough in the bowl, cover with a moist towel, and let rise in an unlit oven (or warm place) for 1½ - 2 hours.

When the dough has doubled, cut into two pieces.  Shape into flat loaves that are 5" square and 2" high by flattening and then folding the edges toward the middle and sealing the edges with the heel of the hand.  Grease a 9x5½" bread pan and oil one side of each loaf.  Place them together in the pan with the oiled sides touching.

Cover again with a moist towel and let rise for 30-45 minutes in a cold oven until the dough has crested the edge of the pan by ½-inch.

Slash the top of each loaf with a little 2" cut, and brush tops with oil.

**Set the oven to 450ºF and immediately place the loaves in to bake.  Bake in the heating oven for 25 minutes.  Reduce heat to 400ºF and bake for 45 minutes longer.  They will be quite dark.  (My oven runs hot and I pulled mine at 40 minutes.)

**(So a lot of the babes ended up with burnt or dark tops and thick crusts with a cold start.  It is very dependent on the oven I think.  If you want to try it in a hot oven, it would be 375ºF for 30-45 minutes.  With steam, it would be 425ºF for about 10 minutes, then turn down to 375-400ºF for another 15-25 minutes.  With rye, you want to make sure it is fully cooked in the center, so let it go longer, it should be fairly dark anyway.  And let it cool fully before slicing!  I will try it again at 375º and with steam for the first 5-10 minutes.)

**Update: Here is my result starting in a not fully preheated oven (200ºF) and using steam via bowl of water and spritzing loaf with sprayer, turning up to 425º immediately and baking 15 minutes.  Then turning it down as written and baking another 20 minutes until done.  I also gave the loaf some time directly on the rack after I took it out of the pan.  Results: thinner crust and better oven spring!

 
Cool on a wire rack and slice thinly when bread is completely cooled.

Bagel Time with the BBB

This was my first time making bagels.  Well, it was actually my first and second time, because I had to work out some wrinkles in my method.  Our host kitchen at Karen's Kitchen Stories decided that this month would be the time for bagels.  More specifically Asiago cheese bagels, which are evidently a coveted item in an assorted bagel box from Panera Bread.  Wait a minute though, those bagels in the picture aren't cheese bagels...  Yeah, well it took me another try to get my bagels to turn out properly and look like bagels should look, so I chose a different flavor the second time and that picture comes first.  Besides, I am the only person in the family who ever eats bagels and definitely the only cheese bagel person.  Boy did I hear it about the smell of the Asiago!  I thought it smelled wonderful, like an artisan grilled cheese smell.  Nope, it was stinky cheese to the rest of the fam.  ☺  Gotta say though, the cheese ones were quite delicious toasted and buttered, even if they were a little flat.

You'll find out how to avoid flat bagels here when I explain what happened.  I learned my lesson and the next batch were nice and round.  I made them a bit smaller as well.  Bagels are very filling, no need to make them giant gut busters.  Most bagels tend to be around 113g before baking and I ended up going just a little smaller at 96g but got an extra couples bagels out of it.

The cool thing about this recipe is that you start with a simple bagel dough and then can adjust the ingredients or toppings for the flavor desired.  For my second run, I chose a cranberry ginger bagel and simply kneaded 6oz of dried cranberries and 1oz of crystallized ginger chips into the dough.  This is a great recipe to try because the dough is very easy to work with since it is a comparatively dry dough.  And you can make your favorite flavor!  We'd love for you to bake along with us this month.  Simply choose your flavor, boil and bake some bagels, and send a picture and/or your post to our host kitchen by the 29th.  Your post/picture will be included in a buddy round-up and you will receive a "buddy badge" graphic to include in your post and brag about.  You can make a half batch easily and end up with 5 beautiful bagels that will also freeze well.  And here is the recipe, adapted from Peter Reinhart's artisan breads everyday.  I used a combination of about one third light spelt and two thirds all purpose, which gave me a nice, chewy bagel because of the strong gluten in the spelt.

Asiago Bagels
Makes 8 bagels

Dough:
1 tbsp barley malt syrup (or honey), or 1 tsp (7g) diastatic malt powder
1 tsp (3g) instant yeast
1½ tsp salt (10.5g)
1 cup + 2 tbsp (255g) lukewarm water
3½ cups (454g) unbleached bread flour 
3oz (87g) grated Asiago cheese (optional for cheese flavor)

Poaching liquid:
2-3 Qts water (181-272g)
1½ tbsp barley malt syrup or honey (optional)
1 tbsp baking soda (14g)
1 tsp salt (7g)

Topping:
¾ cup grated Asiago cheese (1.5oz) (or whatever topping you prefer)

     For the dough, dissolve the malt syrup or honey, yeast and salt in the lukewarm water in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add the flour and mix on low speed 1 with the dough hook for three minutes to blend well.  The dough should be stiff and coarse in a ball, with all the flour incorporated.  If there is still some dry flour, stir in a little more water.  Let the dough relax for 5 minutes.
     Add the cheese and mix again for three minutes on low, or gently by hand until the dough has smoothed out and the gluten is developed.  It will be stiff and supple, satiny and barely tacky.  If it feels too soft or very tacky, work in a bit more flour.  Don't worry if some bits of cheese poke or fall out.  Cover and let the dough rest and rise for an hour at room temp.
     To shape the bagels, line a sheet pan (or two) with parchment and spray it with cooking spray or lightly coat with oil.  Divide the dough into 8 pieces or more as desired.  (Bagels are generally 4oz or 113g before baking.)  Form each portion into a ball by pinching together the edges and then rolling on a clean surface under your cupped hand.  (Don't use flour.)  Choose one of two methods to shape your bagels.
     For the first method, you poke a hole through the center of a ball to make a donut shape, then expand the hole to 2 inches by stretching the hole with your thumbs as you rotate the bagel.  
     The next method is preferred by professional bakers.  Use both hands to roll the ball into a rope, 8-10 inches long on a clean surface.  Taper the ends slightly.  Moisten the last inch or so of the ends and wrap the rope around your hand so that it joins across the palm.  Roll those ends together lightly on the work surface with your palm to seal.  Squeeze to even out the diameter if necessary, leaving a hole of about 2 inches in the middle.

(I tried both methods and found that the second worked best for me to get a nice shape.  And I also found, the second time round, that I didn't even really need to moisten the ends to get a good seal.)

     Place the shaped bagels on the oiled parchment and brush or spray with more oil.  Cover the whole pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or as long as 2 days.
       Take the bagels out of the fridge about 60-90 minutes before you plan to bake them.  Immediately check whether the bagels are ready to be baked by using the "float test":  Put one of the bagels in a small bowl of cold water.  If it sinks, shake it off, put it back on the sheet, and try again in 15-20 minutes.  When one bagel passes the float test, they're all ready to be boiled.  If they are ready before the boiling liquid is ready, return them to the fridge so they don't overproof.

Okay, STOP right here and I will explain about flat bagels.  I did as instructed the first time and though my kitchen was not super warm, my bagels were way too proofed by the time I did the float test at about 60 minutes.  That means when I picked them up to poach, they deflated, when they boiled, they wrinkled, and when they baked, they stayed relatively flat.  I also hadn't expected them to be ready yet, so my poaching liquid was not ready and boiling.  Even sticking them back in the fridge didn't help.  For my next batch, I did a float test on one bagel straight out of the fridge and it PASSED.  Now supposedly, when one bagel floats, they are all supposed to float.  Nope.  It depends on where you had to stick the baking sheet in the fridge.  Mine was up at the very top and the bagels at the back were much colder.  So the front ones floated and the back ones sunk.  I don't think an extra 15 minutes for cold bagel dough will hurt the ones that are ready while the sinkers proof a bit more.  You do want them to pass the float test though, because otherwise they will take too long to rise to the surface of the poaching liquid and will end up being dense.  I could tell which ones needed more time because they were still solid and heavy with no rise whatsoever.  The front ones that floated did have a tiny bit of puff to them.  They will expand quite a bit in the water.  If they wrinkle or deflate, they proofed too much before poaching.  Hope that helps!

For the poaching liquid, fill a wide pot with 2-3 Qts water at least 4 inches deep.  Cover and bring to a boil, then keep at a simmer.  Add the malt syrup or honey, baking soda and salt and stir to dissolve.  Preheat the oven to 500º F.
     Gently lower each bagel into the simmering liquid.  Add as many as will easily fit in the pot.  They should float to the surface within 15 seconds.  Use a slotted spoon to turn the bagels after one minute.  Poach for another 30 seconds to a minute and then transfer back to the pan with the slotted spoon.  Place the bagels domed side up.  (Remember that the parchment needs to be oiled or the paper will stick to the bagels during baking.)  Immediately sprinkle the bagels with the cheese topping.  Repeat with the remaining bagels.
     Put the baking sheets in the oven and lower the heat to 450ºF.  (My oven runs hot and my bagels did much better at 425ºF.)  Bake for 8 minutes, then rotate the pan and check the bottoms for brownness.  If they are getting too dark, slip another baking sheet underneath for insulation.  (I used air bake sheets so this was not an issue for me.)  Bake for another 8-12 minutes until golden brown.
     Remove to a wire rack and cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing or serving.

For other flavors, either sprinkle the desired toppings on the bagel as soon as it comes out of the poaching liquid, or to make them stick better, use an egg white wash (1 egg white + 1 tbsp water whisked together) on the bagels before adding toppings.  Anything like dried onions or garlic will need to be re-hydrated for at least and hour before topping, or it will burn in the oven.

For cinnamon raisin bagels, add 8oz of raisins during the last mixing, same as the cheese, and optionally, add a half tsp of cinnamon to the flour during the initial mixing.  Don't top with cinnamon sugar before baking, instead brush the hot bagels with butter after removing from the oven, and dip them into a cinnamon sugar mixture.  Or if you don't want to deal with brushing and dipping, then just slice and toast, butter the inside and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar when you eat it.  It's less messy for storing them that way too.

Whatever flavor you decide to make, you'll enjoy nice fresh bagels from home!

The BBB make Coconut Rolls for the weekend or a holiday

Something simple from our host kitchen this month: Coconut Rolls.  Sweet, simple little buns with slightly exotic flavor.  She asked only that we keep them coconut rolls, since Babes do tend to tweak recipes, myself included.  And I did tweak a little.  I was fairly faithful to the original recipe, save that I added pecans to the filling as well and thickened with cream and an egg instead of corn starch.  Bad corn.  Go away, pesky allergy.  Since that basically made my filling almost identical to that of a German Chocolate Cake, I thought it would be appropriate to try making some of the dough chocolate.  So I looked around for yeasted chocolate bread recipes to check the ratios for cocoa powder, and got baking.  The results were wonderful and my kitchen smelled awesome!  Youngest daughter particularly loved the chocolate buns, while eldest liked the original plain dough best.  They were both delightful.  The dough isn't a sweet dough, so these turn out like a nice, tender, yeast Danish, rich but not too sweet.  Yes, I did take the liberty of adding just a touch of glaze to them.  Not too much, mind you.  Just enough to be pretty.  They are rather plain Jane otherwise.

 I'm pretty sure these will freeze and reheat well, I may be making more in the future for special breakfast options.  Yum.  We'd love for you to bake along with us as a buddy and this is a nice and easy recipe to earn a badge with.  You have until the 29th to make the rolls and pop over to the host kitchen at Notitievanlien to submit a post and/or your picture.  You get a nifty buddy "badge" to add to your post or brag about as well.  If you want to try the chocolate version like I did, the ratio I used was 2 scant tbsp for a half batch, so a scant ¼ cup for the whole batch.  I was using Double Dutch dark cocoa from King Arthur.  And I added back about one tbsp water to the chocolate batch.

Coconut rolls

(makes 12) 

For the dough:

2 Tbsp sugar

160 ml lukewarm water (I reduced by 25% for the spelt flour)

2 tsp dry instant yeast (I used active dry)

300 g bread flour (I used light spelt)

50 ml vegetable oil (melted butter)

¾ tsp salt

For the filling:

80g + 2 Tbsp dried, unsweetened, grated coconut

(if using sweetened coconut, reduce the light brown sugar)

120ml boiling water

150g light brown sugar

4 Tbsp corn starch

2 Tbsp butter

My filling changes:

1 egg

6oz. cream

¾ tsp vanilla
pinch salt

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup butter

1 1/3 cups flaked, unsweetened coconut (I had both kinds but needed to use up the larger flakes)

¾ cup chopped pecans

Stir together water, sugar, yeast, and melted butter in a bowl or stand mixer and let sit for a few minutes.  Add the flour and salt.  Knead the dough until smooth and elastic.  It may be sticky at first, but kneading will take care of that.  Cover the dough and leave to rise for about 1½ hours or until doubled in volume.

Meanwhile, make the filling.  When using dried coconut (80g), it needs to soak in a bowl with boiling water for 10-15 minutes.  Mix the cornstarch and sugar in a separate bowl before adding it to the coconut.  Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the coconut-sugar mixture and keep it on low heat until it thickens, a few minutes.  Stir frequently to avoid burning.  Take off the heat and leave to cool.  Store in the fridge. 

Directions for my filling:  Whisk together egg, cream and vanilla in a saucepan.  Add sugar, salt and butter.  Cook over medium heat until thickened and light golden, stirring constantly.  It will take 5-10 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Add coconut and pecans, allow to cool.  Store in fridge for longer term storage.

About 30 minutes before assembling the roll, take the filling out of the fridge.  Stir in the remaining 2 Tbsp of coconut.   The filling may be stiff if it is still chilled, but it will soften with stirring.  Set aside filling.

Divide the dough in two parts. Roll the first piece out into a rectangle of 30x16 cm. (12x6 in)  Cut it lengthwise in two equal parts, so you have two long thin strips. Place a quarter of the filling evenly over the middle of the strip.  The filling should be fairly dry, don’t place wet filling on the dough.  (I left spaces between the filling so I could more easily seal the buns once I cut them apart.  That's a lot of filling but I was able to fold over the long edge and seal.)

Flip over one long side of the dough over the filling, then flip over the other side. The two sides should slightly overlap.  Close the seam by pinching the dough together.  (I kind of just folded it all over in half and sealed at the edges.  You do need to be careful about getting a good seal and not using too much filling.  If you look at my chocolate buns with a good seal and my regular buns when I either didn't seal well enough or used too much filling... yeah.  They leak.  But it makes nice little florentine crisps to eat!  The original filling is stiffer and will not be quite so prone to leaking.)

Turn the roll seam side down. Cut the roll into three equal parts. Push the filling back a little, so you can close the cut sides, so the filling is not visible and can’t leak out. (Leave a space, it's easier.)

I did try making a larger one with one of the divided rectangles and folding over like a letter, you can see it in the top pictures.  Also rolled one up cinnamon roll style, sliced, and baked them off in a mini muffin tin.

Repeat filling and shaping with the next strip, then with the remaining piece of dough.  Place the rolls, 4 cm apart, on parchment lined baking sheets.  Cover them with plastic wrap and leave to rise for 35-45 minutes. They are ready when a slight indentation remains when gently pressing with a finger.

Preheat the oven to 190ºC, 375ºF, while the rolls are rising.

Bake the rolls for about 15-18 minutes until they are golden brown.  (If you bake on two sheets, switch their places after 8 minutes for more even baking.) 

Let the rolls cool on a wire rack. Eat them warm or at room temperature. 

(Adapted from: “De kunst van het bakken” – J. Alfort & N. Duguid)

Airy Lace Rolls

I've seen this recipe floating around on Pinterest, posted by quite a few different websites.  I'm fairly certain that the original was posted in or near Russia by a baker named Dobraya Feya.  I tracked down the site and had it roughly translated, so I want to give her link the full credit it deserves!  I made a light spelt version of her beautiful rolls and my eldest has been begging me to make more of them.  They make a rich, brioche like dough.  Not very sweet, but very satisfying.  

 Photo credit to original poster

Above is the picture from the original post and Pinterest, and they are beautifully formed.  Spelt rises a bit more exuberantly so mine weren't quite so defined.

They froze nicely, but the richness of the dough means they won't last more than a day or so at room temperature.  I made a few minis in a standard muffin liner, but not actually in the tin, so they could spread a bit.

I will have to make another batch soon to keep in the freezer, because these will be nice for grabbing while heading out the door to school or whatever.  R just ate them plain, without even butter on them and was very happy.  I liked them with a little spread of butter.

Here is the original recipe with my adaptations marked in blue.  They really are lovely little rolls, the dough is easy to work with and only the shaping takes a bit of extra time.

Airy Lace Rolls

 

350 g flour (I used light spelt flour)

80 g soft butter (I used salted butter and added ¼ tsp salt since the original called for salt but did not list it)
2 egg yolks (I used 1 whole egg)

140 grams of warm milk (110g if using spelt flour)

3 tbsp sugar + 1 tsp, divided

1 packet of vanilla sugar (9g) (I used a pinch of vanilla powder and an extra 1 tbsp sugar)

10 grams of yeast (This is equivalent to 3½ tsp dry yeast which I reduced to 3 tsp)

Whole milk to glaze the rolls before baking

Powdered sugar for garnish

In a bowl, combine the milk, 1 tsp sugar, and yeast.  Cover and let stand for 5 minutes to activate the yeast.  In a stand mixer, combine the yeast mixture, flour, salt and egg.  Combine with a spoon until the dough is raggedy and hard to stir.  Add the softened butter in pieces and knead with dough hook.  Knead for 10 minutes.  (Only 5-7 minutes for spelt.)  Cover and let rest in a warm area for 1-2 hours until the dough has doubled in size.

To form the rolls:

Punch down the dough and divide in half.  Working with one piece at a time, roll out the dough to between 3/16" and ¼" thickness.  Cut out circles of about 5cm diameter (that's about 2 inches).  I found a little yogurt jar that had approximately the correct diameter, or maybe closer to 2½", and used that.

 

Line up three circles of dough, overlapping the edges slightly and pressing together.

 

Roll them up in a spiral and cut in half at the center.  This will give two little rosettes to use for the rolls.

Repeat with the rest of the dough.  To make single rolls, use three rosettes in standard muffin liners, spreading out the liners to provide a gentle shape and hold them together.

To make a more impressive and larger roll, use a lined brioche tin or, as I did, a lined or greased 4 to 5-inch springform or tart pan.

Let the rolls rise again, covered, until they are puffy and then lightly brush with whole milk.  Bake for 15-20 minutes in 350ºF oven until light golden.  Cool on a wire rack and dust with powdered sugar.  Or leave plain and use as impressive dinner rolls.

Either way, they are very tasty!