Daring Bakers: Challah

May’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge was pretty twisted – Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood challenged us to make challah! Using recipes from all over, and tips from “A Taste of Challah,” by Tamar Ansh, she encouraged us to bake beautifully braided breads.

I actually made this bread almost on time, but never got around to posting it. I think yeast hates me because my breads never seem to rise correctly. I blame this on my cold kitchen, so I am going to try again now that it is warmer.

Inside of my Challah loaf

The braid disappeared during the second rise

Daring Bakers: Dutch Crunch Bread

Sara and Erica of Baking JDs were our March 2012 Daring Baker hostesses! Sara & Erica challenged us to make Dutch Crunch bread, a delicious sandwich bread with a unique, crunchy topping. Sara and Erica also challenged us to create a one of a kind sandwich with our bread.

Living in the Bay Area, I've grown to love Dutch Crunch bread and I order it my sandwiches on it regularly. A good Dutch Crunch roll is the best bread for a sandwich. It was interesting to learn that many people haven't heard of Dutch Crunch except for around San Francisco and some places in Europe where it is often referred to as "giraffe bread" or "tiger bread."

Seeing this month's challenge was exciting, but also scary because yeast and I don't get along. My sourdough bread challenge was a failure, which didn't even make it to my blog. So while I was excited to make Dutch Crunch I was worried it wouldn't turn out. Fortunately, my rolls came out decently and were good enough to make pastrami sandwiches. I would have liked the topping to be more cracked, but this is a huge improvement over my last bread endeavor.

Dutch Crunch Rolls

Pastrami Sandwich

Daring Bakers': Quick Bread

The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

I made banana bread for my quick bread. I used a recipe from Cooking For Seven, but omitted the nuts.

White Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Daring Baker's Challenge: Povitica

The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat!

I'm disappointed that my Povitica did not come out as beautiful as I would of liked =( The loaf pan I used for the traditional walnut filling was  too big and therefore the design wasn't right plus you can't see the contrast between the dough and the filling. At least it tastes good.

I made a half batch, which yielded 2 loafs. One I filled with the traditional walnut filling and the second I filled with a frangipane-esque type filling. It was based on regular frangipane paste plus I added some cocoa (in hopes to get the contrast) and some milk to thin it out. The second loaf I baked in a smaller pan and thankfully it came out a lot better!

I've enjoyed the Daring Baker's challenges I've done so far. It has been fun learning about new recipes, especially ones like Povitica, which I would never have known existed. Maybe I'll try making Povitica again because some of the other Daring Baker's had such great results.

Povitica with Chocolate "Frangipane" Filling

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Poppy Seed Bread in the Sunshine

Inspired by the giant Costco poppy seed muffins I made a loaf of lemon poppy seed bread! This bread version was a lot more lemon-y than the muffins, but still very tasty. The batter came together quickly and then baked for about an hour. After it was done baking I poured a lemon-sugar syrup over the bread and after it was cooled I wrapped it in plastic wrap. Then it sat overnight so the syrup could soak in.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
adapted from Joy of Baking

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
3 tbsp poppy seeds
12 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray and set aside.
2. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla extract, and milk.
3. In the bowl of your electric mixer mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon zest and poppy seeds until combined.
4. Add the softened butter and half of the egg mixture and mix on low speed until moist. Increase the speed to medium and beat for one minute.
5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the remaining egg mixture and mix for 30 seconds.
6. Pour the batter into the pan.
7. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. If the top of the bread is getting too brown during baking, cover with aluminum foil.
8. When bread is done, remove and cool on a wire rack. Poke holes in the top of the hot loaf and brush or spoon half of the lemon syrup over the top. Cool the bread for 5 minutes and then turn it out upside down. Brush/spoon the rest of the syrup over the bottom and sides of the bread. Set bread upright and let cool completely. Wrap in plastic wrap and let the bread sit overnight before slicing.

Lemon Syrup

Ingredients:

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup granulated white sugar

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, bring the sugar and lemon juice to a boil and stir until all the sugar dissolves.