Our Daily Bread: Crusty Beer Bread

After a detour in pastry-land, I turned back to Nancy Baggett’s Kneadlessly Simple for an old favorite:  beer bread.  We had some beer left over from a get-together at our place, so I thought I could sacrifice a bottle to make bread with.

The recipe calls for a whole bottle of beer, plus some water.  But I found that the beer was enough liquid, so I left the water out.  I got one of the crackliest and most beautiful crusts I’ve ever made, while the crumb was dense and smelled like beer (in a good way!).  This bread made great toast and we even used it as a delicious substitute for burger buns.

See more breads here, at YeastSpotting!

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Our Daily Bread: Cinnamon Buns

After weeks and weeks of baking only breads, I decided to branch out into pastries.  I was partly inspired by an old can of Love ‘N Bake Schmear Cinnamon Filling that I found in the cupboard. We had bought it in Brooklyn when we visited our old ‘nabe and stocked up on the stuff we missed from our favorite Brooklyn grocery: Sahadi’s.  I peeled off the label, followed the recipe, and voila!

After they cooled, I whipped up some simple white glaze and dribbled it on…

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Our Daily Bread: Encephalitis (aka Buttermilk) Bread

I stuck with “Beard On Bread” this week and made his “Buttermilk White Bread”.  I’m calling it “Encephalitis Bread” (no offense to the swollen-headed intended) because it rose so much that the top was gigantic! 

The crust had bite but was softer than that of other breads I’ve made, and the crumb was pillow soft and very airy.  It made great toast for breakfast and bread to eat with dinner.

So how did this odd shaped bread come to be?

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Our Daily Bread: Everyday White Bread

I decided to change gears a bit and make a bread from a different recipe book, this time “Beard On Bread” by James Beard.  This was another book that I got for Christmas.  Since this was my first time using the book, I decided to try his basic beginner’s recipe.  The result was a delicious white bread with a tender, moist and chewy crumb that made great toast and sandwiches.

See more delicious breads here, at YeastSpotting!

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Our Daily Bread: Rosemary Focaccia

Yes, I can’t seem to stop trying recipes from Nancy Baggett’s Kneadlessly Simple.  This week it was her rosemary focaccia.  This was simple to make and we had extra rosemary in the fridge so it was an easy choice.  I modified her recipe a bit – she had it baking in a pan, and I baked it on a pizza stone.  I ended up with a very crusty result, which I guess is more like a fougasse, but it was delicious nonetheless.

Rosemary Focaccia, yum!

A crispy closeup!

See more delicious breads here, at YeastSpotting!

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Our Daily Bread: Honey Whole Wheat Bread

I’m continuing my adventure through Nancy Baggett’s Kneadlessly Simple.  Last week I made her 100% Whole Wheat Bread.  I had been doing boule-style bread for a while and wanted to make a simple loaf that would be good for toast at breakfast.  Her recipe included an interesting twist:  part of the flour was mixed with boiling water into a mash that sat aside while the rest of the dough rose overnight.  Then I combined them before the second rise.  The result was a smooth and creamy crumb that was a bit sweet and not at all bitter. 

Delicious and lots of fiber - everybody wins!

See more delicious breads here, at YeastSpotting!

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Easy Dessert: Lemon-Lime Tea Cakes

Kara loves Everyday Food from Martha Stewart.  Last week she made us a treat from her latest issue:  Lemon-Lime Tea Cakes.  They were delicious!

Thanks Martha!

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Our Daily Bread: Caraway Beer Bread

Last week I decided to try another bread from the recipe book I got for Christmas, Kneadlessly Simple.  This Caraway Beer Bread turned out to be hearty, rich, and a bit sweet.  Yum!

See more delicious breads here, at YeastSpotting!

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Adventures in Baking: Pomegranate and Cherry Mandelbrot

Last year, Kara took a class on Turkish cooking at the BCAE.  One of the new ingredients she learned about was pomegranate molasses.  She bought a bottle to make some of the recipes she learned at home, but didn’t end up using all of it.  I got sick of looking at it in the fridge, so this weekend I decided to use some of it.  After some googling, I found the recipe for these delicious cookies, Pomegranate and Sour Cherry Mandelbrot.  (Mandelbrot are a type of Jewish cookie that I have never heard of; they look like Biscotti to me.)

They were pretty easy to make and they taste great.  The pomegranate molasses add a sweet tangy flavor that is hard to put your finger on … but you like it. 

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Our Daily Bread: New French Bread Pan

 

This Christmas, my brother and sister-in-law gave me a new french bread pan. My mother in-law also gave me a baking-related gift, a copy of “Kneadlessly Simple”, a great book full of delicious bread recipes.

I wanted to try the pan right away.  The book has a french bread recipe in it that even explained how to get the shape right, so I was in business.  The bread came out great – it browned perfectly, had a crispy crust and a moist, chewy center.  I definitely recommend both products if you’re interested in making your own bread.

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