Marble Bread

After making Babka using the old bread maker, my wife wanted to try a chocolate swirl bread in the new bread maker. We wanted the bread maker to do most of the swirling for us, which meant preparing the dough by hand, otherwise the loaf would be completely mixed and not swirled..

The regular dough was easy enough to make. My daughter is something of an expert (through repeated practice) at making dough just the right size.

Sizing tools--rolling pin, dough cutter, ruler

In addition to the traditional baking tools, we crafted a special roller...

A new tool that we crafted

Rolling out the chocolate dough was easy enough.

Happy to get the next layer ready

A good fit

The new bread machine has two mixing blades so she made two separate dough swirls.

Checking that the second dough was as long as the first

Getting ready to roll

Rolling two levels together

Top level almost done

To give the loaf a little variety, one set of dual dough was rolled regular side out, the other chocolate side out.

One is not like another! 

Comparing two sets of dough

The loaf came out beautifully.

Marblicious!

The true test of any bread is in the eating. We had a demanding critic on hand to make an assessment. He was very pleased.

Trying some yummy bread

Even willing to share!

Checking on customer satisfaction

Making Babka

We've had a new addition to the household--a fancier bread maker! The old machine has started making strange noises and is likely asking to be retired in its own robotic fashion. My wife heard that other bread machines, i.e. ones with a "jam setting," can make exotic things like risotto, since the machine will stir and cook even at the same time. After careful searching, she found one she liked.

Naturally, the first loaf with the new machine was a regular loaf just to make sure everything works well. (That's why we always hang on to the box for any appliance in case it needs returning.)

"Bake! Enjoy!"--it's practically the Sirius Cybernetics slogan!

First loaf done cooking

A thing of beauty is a joy forever, or at least until it's all eaten.

Goodbye, old friend!

Before it left us, the old bread machine did one last job. It mixed up some dough so we could make babka, a type of chocolate bread. By "we" I mean my daughter under the supervision of Mommy. The machine made some nice dough that was divided into equal shares.

One last batch for old time's sake

Splitting the dough like a proper bank robber

The dough was carefully rolled out and measured to be sure that when rolling time came, the loaf would be the right size and shape.

Twelve inches

Checking for extra

Chocolate is a favorite ingredient in our house. We always test the chocolate chips or the powder for flavor in case it has gone bad. Often, multiple family members demand to test the chocolate ingredient before it is added to the mix.

Mixing ingredients

Final destination

No need to measure with a ruler here

Ready to be rolled

With a little rolling and twisting, the two loaves were ready for the oven.

Not so appetizing yet

Covered to let the dough rise

The bread was a little overbaked (we didn't hear the timer go off since we were in the basement) but the loaves still turned out okay.

One loaf

The other loaf

We look forward to new projects in our new bread maker.

St. Lucy Saffron Buns

In celebration of St. Lucy's feast day, we made St. Lucy Saffron Buns last Saturday (December 13, the actual day). We used this recipe but modified it for the ingredients we had in the house and for the bread machine.

Ingredients for dough

• 3/4 cup milk
• pinch saffron threads
• 1/4 cup of vanilla yogurt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup white, granulated sugar
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 4 Tbsp) unsalted butter, cubed
• 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

Ingredients for glaze

•  Raisins
• 1 egg, beaten
• Demerara or other large crystal sugar for sprinkling

Warm the milk, then add the saffron directly to the milk.

Saffron milk

Let it steep for 10-15 minutes. Add all the dough ingredients to the bread machine. When the dough cycle finishes, put the dough in the fridge until the morning.

The dough

In the morning, divide the dough into 14 pieces and roll each piece into a 10 inch rope.  Shape and allow to rise for 30 min to an hour.

14 pieces

Swirly is a good shape

Happy in her work!

Almost finished

When risen, brush with egg, insert raisins, and sprinkle with sugar.

Finishing touch and another swirling idea

Bake at 400 F for 10 minutes.

Cooling on the rack

Closeup of the other style of swirling

L didn't like this recipe - not sweet enough and the saffron flavor was too pronounced for her.

Not a happy customer

The rest of the family liked it more but we will probably not make it outside of St. Lucy's day.

A satisfied customer

What To Do With Breadcrusts

L doesn't like crusts on her sandwiches. Such a preference is a bit annoying but I won't go as far as buying crustless bread (which I have seen in the supermarket, to my bewildered horror). After all, J doesn't mind and neither do we parents. So I'll slice off the edges of bread for her. Sometimes I eat them as a snack later but usually I save them up. If we have a big batch (which sometimes requires freezing), we'll take it and feed fish. Here is one such outing:

L gets ready

L throws to the fish!

Enthusiastic (or perhaps aggressive) fish

We were throwing bread in long enough that we attracted the attention of other interested parties, namely a bunch of ducks. We don't discriminate based on species, so we started feeding them as well.

L serves a new customer

Sadly, our actions led to a bit of Darwinian competition between the underwater dwellers and the surface-water dwellers. No blood was spilled but feathers were ruffled.

Ducks and fish go for the same bits of bread!

No clear winner emerged, which makes me want to perform more experiments. Is that wrong?

One Ingredient Challenge: Pain de Campagne

Part of an ongoing series of cooking from scratch. That is, we cook something from basic items that don't have multiple ingredients (e.g. store-bought spaghetti sauce includes all sorts of spices and maybe other stuff too; we'd start with tomatoes and individual spices and add them together to make our own sauce). See other challenges here.

This recipe is based on "Pain de Campagne from a Vermont Kitchen" from The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook. Despite owning many, many bread cookbooks, this one is our runaway favorite and is the one we use every week. This recipe is probably our favorite from the book and is especially great for company or bringing to parties. The bread has a great, complex flavor and a nice chewy texture. It's great warm with olive oil dip.

There's lots more detail in the recipe in the book, but boiled down, here's how we do it.

At least 12 hours before baking (the day or night before), make a biga in the bread machine. Add to the bread machine:

• 6 ounces water
• 3 tablespoons rye flour
• 1 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1/4 teaspoon bread machine yeast (this ingredient violates the "one ingredient" requirement but the end result is so awesome that we'll let it slide)

Mix for 5 or 6 minutes on the dough cycle and then turn off the machine and let the biga develop for 12-24 hours.

The day of baking, add these ingredients to the biga:

• 12 ounces water
• 1/4 cup rye flour
• 3 1/4 cups bread flour
• Scant tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Set the machine to the dough cycle. When the cycle completes, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide in two. (The book recommends a single large round loaf, but we prefer 2 smaller long loaves.) Put parchment paper down and stretch the two dough balls into long loaves.

Two long uncooked loaves

Allow the loaves to rise for at least an hour.

Risen dough

Bake in a 450 degree oven (preferably with a baking stone) for around 20 minutes until the loaves are golden brown.

Two baked loaves

Beautiful insides!

Enjoy!

Can you enjoy it more than L?