Tuesday, July 16, 2019

A Taste of July with the BBB - So many choices!


This month, the BBB are opening up the choice of breads to bake based on all the breads we have baked in past July's.  There is a decade of choices to bake!  I was very tempted by a Poilane-Style Miche from our angel babe Sher's site, but did not have enough days to build up a barm in time for the expected cooldown in our weather.  So I went with the only recipe I have not actually baked yet from all these July's.  Even though I started blogging in 2010, there was a buddy baker that was doing catch up recipes at one point and I did the 2009 recipe with her.  So that left 2014 for me, Panmarino Italian Rosemary Bread!  And I fortunately happened to have just enough rosemary left, that was still good, to go in it.  I did take the liberty of roasting a head of garlic and folding that in as well.  Oh my goodness, what an amazing aroma.  I would recommend slightly under-roasting the garlic or it will just melt into the dough, which can be okay if none around the edges gets overdone and bitter.  Mine did mostly melt in, but it's just so nice to get those delicious chunks of roasted garlic in a slice.  


If it's a hot July where you are, not to worry, there is at least one stove top option and I would wager the Tahini Swirls (Sukkar bi Tahin) could be done on the grill with a baking stone.  And so here are all of our July bakes since 2008!  We're sure you'll want to try one of the BBB July breads too! To receive a Baking Buddy Badge to display on your site: make the bread in the next couple of weeks and post about it before the 29th of July, 2019.  You can submit your bake to any of the Babes that post this month.  Don't have a blog?  That's no problem – just contact the July BBBabe of your choice with a photo and brief description of the bread you baked and you’ll be included in the round-up.  And remember, new recipes are posted every month on the 16th.  Check out our Facebook group to see the participants' baking results during that time.


July 2018: Elle, Singing Hinnies
My results If it's too hot to bake, this is a griddle or stovetop option, no oven!

July 2017: Kelly, Velvety Bean Bread
An interesting bread I found that incorporates a bean paste into the dough.

July 2016: Judy, Bialys
My results I much preferred these delicious buns to bagels!

July 2015: Judy, Power Bread
My results A very hearty and tasty bread, perfect for the whole grain bread lover.

July 2014: Cathy, Panmarino
Keep reading, this is my choice for July!

July 2013: Astrid, Rheinbrot
My results A lovely scented sourdough with Riesling in the sponge.

July 2012: Sarah, Easy little bread
My results A quick little oatmeal bread that I am also tempted to bake again for better results than the first time!

July 2011: Sarah, Hamburger buns
My results I have my favorite recipe, but these were universally liked as well.

July 2010: Lynn, Yeasted Sprouted Wheat Bread
My results This was quite the challenge for all babes and buddies and took me two tries and a whole new food processor!!

July 2009: Natashya, Sukkar bi Tahin
My results Though I didn't start blogging until 2010, I did bake these in 2013 as a catch up recipe.

July 2008: All, in memory of Sher
Sher's site I have actually looked through Sher's site a number of times over the years. It's always hard to lose a friend unexpectedly, even if you've never met in person. And lovely to know she touched so many lives.

Here is the recipe for the Panmarino, I used my sourdough starter instead of the biga and used half fresh ground sprouted spelt for my flour.  Plus the yummy roasted garlic.


Panmarino Italian Rosemary Bread
Scaled formula (makes 2 smaller rounds or 1 medium boule)

Biga
71g (~½ cup) bread flour
60g (scant ¼ cup) water
pinch instant yeast

Final Dough:
442g (~3½ cups) bread flour (220g bread flour, 230g sprouted spelt, fresh ground)
240g (1 cup) water
22g (2 Tbsp) milk (I left this out)
pinch instant yeast
44g (¼ cup) olive oil
4g (2 Tbsp) fresh rosemary, chopped
1 head garlic, roasted (optional)
all the Biga
9.5g (~ 2½ tsp.) salt
Original formula (makes 4 Loaves)

Biga:
Bread flour 143 grams/5 ounces
Water 122 grams/4¼ ounces
Pinch of instant yeast

Final Dough:
Bread flour 884 grams/1 pound 15 ounces
Water 477 grams/1 pound 1 ounce
Milk 44 grams/1½ ounces
Biga 265 grams/9 1/3 ounces
Salt 23 grams/3/4 ounce
Pinch of instant yeast
Olive oil 88 grams/3 ounces
Chopped fresh rosemary 9 grams/1/3 ounce
Prepare the Biga:

Combine the flour, water and yeast in a mixing bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon or dough whisk until well blended. Scrape down the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rest at room temperature for 14 to 16 hours. 
If using sourdough starter instead of a biga, you can make the final dough right away and let it ferment, covered, overnight.  Then move on to shaping.

Making the Final Dough:

Combine the flour, water, milk, and biga in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Mix with dough hook on low speed until blended.

Add salt and yeast and mix on low speed for 5 minutes.  Increase speed to medium and mix for about 7 more minutes or until the dough is smooth.  When the gluten is fully developed, mix in the olive oil and rosemary on low speed.  (Fold in the garlic by hand if using.)

Cover the dough and let the dough ferment for 45 minutes, until puffy.

Remove the dough to a lightly-floured work surface and divide it into two pieces (I just made one medium oblong loaf) (or four if you used the full recipe). Shape the dough pieces into tight rounds or oblongs.  Cover and let them rest for 15 minutes.

Dust two bannetons or cloth lined bowls with flour. (One 10" oblong for me.)

Place each loaf, seam side up, in the lined bannetons or bowls. Cover and proof for 1 hour.

Place a baking stone (or tiles) into the oven along with a steam pan (underneath) or iron skillet (on the top rack) and preheat the oven to 450ºF. Carefully turn the loaves over onto a parchment paper lined baking peel or baking sheet.  Score the top of each round loaf in a star pattern using a lame or sharp knife, or one long slash for oblong or as desired.  Carefully slide the loaf or loaves and parchment onto the preheated baking stone or place baking sheet into oven.  (If you have an old granite roaster, spray the inside of the bottom with some water and use it to cover the loaf or loaves, once in the oven.  Remove roaster after 20 minutes.  Since I only made one loaf, this worked perfectly for me.) To make the steam, add 1 cup of ice to the iron skillet or steam pan.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until the crust is light brown and crisp and the loaves make a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.

Remove the loaves from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.




The rest of the Bread Baking Babes

Approximate nutrition per slice for one oblong loaf:





Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Pączki - Polish Jelly-filled Donuts #BreadBakers


Once again, I have dusted off the deep fryer, (literally dusted - the last time I used it was April 2017), for this month's recipe.  Our #breadbakers theme for this month is: fried yeasted breads.  I had two ideas in mind for this month, and decided on a Polish jelly filled donut in tribute to my grandmother-in-law.  I don't fry often, in fact I've only deep fried three things ever.  I do love the little fryer that I picked up, the only drawback is that for something like beignets, kare pan, or these Pączki, you really have to do them one at a time.  Makes for a long time at the fryer.  So I made a smaller batch!  (Still ended up with 16!)  Fresh donuts are fabulous, but you don't need that many, especially when they are so rich as these.  Hubby's grandma was Polish and I have her cookbooks, among which was Treasured Polish Recipes for Americans.  There are four different Pączki recipes in the book but no fillings!  It just says a thick filling and that jelly is not thick enough.


For truly traditional, the dough is actually folded over the filling before frying, but I went with filling after frying.  I did choose (after some research) a traditional filling of prune lekvar (plum/prune butter) and mixed it, un-traditionally but deliciously, with a small amount of raspberry filling.  When I was storing leftovers, I mixed them together in about equal proportions and it was fabulous!  Hubby heartily approved and said it could be used for dips, toast, pancakes, fillings, etc.

I was very impressed with how the Pączki turned out.  They are a fluffy pastry, billowy and soft.  Almost like a cross between a choux pastry and a beignet.  My cookbook calls for a little bit of rum and I think traditionally it would be a Polish vodka.  But I do recommend it!  As I understand, the alcohol evaporation in the heat helps prevent the donuts from soaking up the frying oil and I can attest to this fact.  After 16 donuts, the level of oil has barely changed, and in such a small fryer, volume differences are very obvious.  I doubt there was more than a couple tablespoons difference by the end, including drips off the tongs.  Plus whatever the napkin wicked out on the cooling rack.  All I can say is that these donuts had absolutely no greasiness to them at all.  Very impressive.


I combined a couple of the cookbook recipes and one Polish translation recipe.  I think the funniest thing I read in the book was this little comment, "An excellent Polish cook uses as many egg yolks as she makes pączki."  That recipe indeed called for TWENTY egg yolks.  There is lots of wonderful information in the Polish cookbook about the generous use of butter and abundant use of eggs owing to rural ownership of a cow and chickens.  I didn't go quite so far but this is a very rich dough, like a brioche but a bit more slack.  I also chose the method of one of the book recipes because it was very similar to the tangzhong method in bread making, which is an intriguing technique that contributes to a very soft crumb.  I've only used the method once before and thought this was a perfect application for it.

So thank you to Sneha's Recipe for choosing the theme this month and leading me down a little road of family history!

Pączki
makes about 16 donuts

300g of all purpose flour, divided  (I ended up adding around 100g more flour)
125g of milk
40g of butter, melted and cooled
4 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
60g sugar
10.5g of instant yeast
1/8 tsp salt
¼ tsp ground mace
1 tsp fresh lemon zest
14g rum (about a generous tbsp)

Scald milk by bringing just to a simmer and then turning off heat.  Do not boil.  Slowly whisk in 50g of the flour into the hot milk to make a thick, smooth roux.  Cool to around 110ºF, then mix in the yeast and let rise for half an hour.  

Very happy yeast mixture

Beat eggs and yolks until very frothy, and lightened in color.  Add in yeast mixture, sugar, and rum and mix.

Add remaining flour and butter and beat until it forms a sticky dough.  Cover and let rise for 45-60 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Turn out onto a floured board or cloth and knead a few times.  Roll out dough to about ½" thick and cut out circles with a round biscuit cutter (mine was just under 3").  (Optionally, roll out the dough slightly thinner, place a teaspoon of filling on one circle, then cover with another and press to seal the edges.)  Cover and let rise again.

Beautiful yellow dough from the eggs

Fry a few at a time in deep fat fryer, 340-345ºF for about 1½-2 minutes per side, turning only once.

Pączki should have a deep color on each side

Drain on a paper towel lined rack and serve rolled in powdered sugar, granulated sugar, or glaze.  If you have a long pastry tip, you can pipe jam into the paczki after frying, or slice plain paczki and filled with whipped cream and berries, even sugared rose petals.

Prune lekvar filling
1½ cups pitted prunes, lightly packed, quartered
2/3 cup water
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup brown sugar

Simmer prunes, water, zest, and lemon juice, covered, over low heat for 25 to 30 minutes until very soft and most of the water is evaporated.  Uncover the last few minutes if necessary.  Remove from heat and mash or blend.  Stir in brown sugar.

YUM

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Check out our other fried fabulousity this month:


Approximate nutrition for one large pączki, unfilled, plain:





BreadBakers