Tag: bread

Savoury Whole Wheat Hungarian Kalács … Delicious cheesy comfort food

“The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight…”
M.F.K. Fisher

Savoury Whole Wheat Hungarian Kalács

Savoury Whole Wheat Hungarian Kalács … it was a few months ago that I discovered the magic of bread art! That was thanks to the Daring Bakers and I was led into this fascinating world. Until then, bread to me meant rustic, moorish, artisan breads. From then on, Hungarian Kalács became one of our firm favourites. Mine to bake, and ‘theirs’ to eat!

Going back to the bread art challenge {pictured above}, that was one of my most enriching experiences, and a most delicious one at that. Soon after making the vegetarian version of the Hungarian Kalács, I made a non vegetarian one too for the carnivores at home. In went chicken, walnuts, bell peppers and rocket! It’s taken me some time to share it, but here I am, better late than never!

That version was a plain all purpose flour and vegetarian one. These Savoury Whole Wheat Hungarian Kalács are part whole grain as the name suggests. I had to experiment with the dough given my shift to whole grains. The dough worked brilliantly and the bread was gone before we knew it.

Few things to keep in mind. My dough was a little soft though very pliable. Every flour type absorbs liquid differently, so bear that in mind. It’s always better to add the last 1/4 cup a little at a time. Gloopy dough makes me weep!! Another thing worth considering is the weather. Hot summers mean really quick dough rising and often an unmanageable dough. Try and chill the dough slightly before use, and work quick. Try keep the dusting flour to a minimum as it takes away from the end product.

  I made some twisted buns too like I did with the vegetarian version. Any bread art is mesmerising. You can see more visuals on the Vegetarian Savoury  Hungarian Kalács & Twisted Buns. And oh yes, there is a divineSweet Yeasted  Nutella, Marmalade & Almond Praline Skillet Bread on that page too.Savoury Whole Wheat Hungarian Kalács are a nice meals in themselves, and a versatile recipe at that. Fill it as you like. Just remember not to over-stuff it as then it will not hold.I really like the idea of stuffed breads, and this is a fine example.

Use this dough and go vegetarian with it. I’d see cottage cheese, walnuts, jalapenos, olives, spinach or rocket, maybe sun dried tomatoes in my vegetarian version. Cheese of course, lots of it!!

Just writing about it makes my mouth water. I think I just might be headed off into the kitchen to make some dough! I love how nicely it comes together, and how easy it is to serve. Makes for great finger food too and a nice centre piece for the party table! Always nice to have an eye catching item of food which gives folk something more to talk about and devour! This bread, art and all, is one of those things!!

Other stuffed or filled breads on PAB {sweet/ savoury, vegetarian}

Povitica – Croatian Sweet Walnut Chocolate Bread
Savoury Cheese & Garlic Olive Oil Pull-Apart Bread {vegetarian}
French Fougasse with Roasted Red Bell Pepper & Garlic, Walnut & Mozarella
Millet & Whole Wheat French Fougasse … rustic bread with caramelised onions, walnuts, dehydrated tomatoes and mozzarella
Apple Cranberry Almond Olive Oil Pull-Apart Loaf & Popovers
Nutella, Walnut & Orange Rolls
Ricotta and Spinach Roulade
Sweet Orange, Roasted Strawberry & Chocolate Buttermilk Rolls

This post is headed for Bloggers Tuesday at Home Bakers Guild.

 

[print_this]Recipe: Savoury Whole Wheat Hungarian Kalács

Summary:These Savoury Whole Wheat Hungarian Kalács make great party of finger foods and are bursting with flavour. Use fillings of your choice to play around. This savoury bread is sure to please! The Twisted Buns are another variation using the same dough and filling. Serves 4-6
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:# 1

  • Savoury dough
  • 150g whole wheat flour
  • 150g all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp instant yeast
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 25g Parmesan
  • 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 200g buttermilk, tepid
  • 30 ml extra virgin olive oil
  • Filling
  • 50g cheese spread
  • Small bunch rocket, chopped
  • 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 small yellow bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 small chicken breasts, cooked, chopped
  • 1 tsp red chili flakes
  • 50g walnuts, finely chopped
  • 75g mature cheddar, grated
  • 15ml low fat cream {or 1 beaten egg} for wash
  • 10g melon seeds {or sesame, pumpkin etc}

Method:

  1. Savoury wholewheat dough
  2. Place both the flours, Parmesan, yeast and salt in the bowl of food processor and pulse on high speed to mix.
  3. Add the buttermilk,cloves, olive oil and garlic and knead to a smooth dough.
  4. Place the dough in a well oiled bowl, seal with cling wrap and leave in a warm place for dough to double, about 1 hour.
  5. Assemble
  6. Once the dough has doubled, preheat the oven to 200C.
  7. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
  8. Divide the dough into two.On a lightly floured surface {or on parchment paper}, roll one half into an 10″ circle.{My tray wasn’t big enough, so I kept reserved some dough to make twisted buns with the same filling.
  9. Transfer the circle to the baking sheet and spread the cheese spread uniformly. Sprinkle over chopped rocket, bell peppers, walnuts and red chili flakes, followed by the finely chopped chicken, and finally grated cheddar.
  10. Roll the other half of the dough to another 10″ circle and place over the first half, pressing down gently.
  11. Place a glass in the centre and cut the remaining dough 4 times, then divide each into a further 4. You will get a total of 16 spokes {refer pictures}
  12. Gently lift each spoke and twist it 3 times. Brush over with cream gently and sprinkle melon seeds over the centre. {You can always brush with a beaten egg to get a beautiful glow.}
  13. Bake for 30-35 minutes until light golden brown and firm to touch.
  14. Cool on tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to rack. Serve warm or room temperature.
  15. For Twisted buns, please see this images. Divide the remaining dough into 2, and roll into balls, then flatten. On a lightly floured surface, roll one ball into a long elliptical oval about 4″ across and 8-10 inches long.
  16. Spread with cheese spread and remaining toppings as above {since I made smaller circles for the kalac, I had some filling left.}
  17. With a sharp knife {I used a pizza cutter},cut diagonal strips leaving a 1/2″ border from the edge. Roll into a long cylinder, then into a circle. Pick up and place in a parchment lined pie tin. Brush the top with low fat cream, sprinkle over melon seeds, and bake at 200C for 30 minutes.
  18. Allow to cool in the tins for about 30 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack gently with an offset spatula.

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Baking | 100% Whole Wheat Bread … airy and delicious!

“A crust of bread and a corner to sleep in. A minute to smile and an hour to weep in.
A pint of joy to a peck of trouble, And never a laugh but the moans come double.
And that is life.”
Paul Laurence Dunbar

100% Whole Wheat Bread. Couldn’t ask for anything more in a whole grain bread. This was my first 100% whole wheat bread experiment and I had my fingers crossed.

I had huge bowls of olive oil standing by for dunking just in case it was too dense to eat. Butter too. Impatiently tore one end off to look at the crumb. Was I relieved or what! Yay, airy bread!!
Nice moist crumb, airy bread and great aroma. We loved it. Loved it with butter too. Nothing like fresh warm bread and butter. It was great to mop up the cheesy paprika gravy of the mushroom chicken which was meant to be the star that day. Bread took centre stage instead!
As another first, I added some top of the milk cream {or malai} to the dough. I had some in the fridge. It was an idea I had picked up while speaking to Sangeeta on our trip to the vineyards at Baramati. I think that’s what clinched the crumb! And the extra water or hydration of course.
Since the dough is quite loose, I’d recommend kneading the dough in a processor. I did it in the Thermomix. It’s a stringy,  sticky dough that gets a little more manageable after the first rise. Even more manageable after a slight rest in the fridge. Shape the dough with wet hands and you should be fine.
The aroma that filled the house had everyone following their nose to the kitchen. An impatient queue waited to ‘break bread‘! Inching forward to getting more whole grains into my bread, this is one journey I am loving! I made another batch of bread dough today.
Maybe will try a small fougasse with a portion of the dough tomorrow. Infinite possibilities, so much promise!

This post is part of the monthly link up party Our Growing Edge.

This event aims to connect food bloggers and inspire us to try new things.
This month is hosted by Marija from Palachinka.

[print_this]Recipe: 100% Whole Wheat Bread

Summary: Couldn’t ask for anything more in a whole grain bread.This was my first 100% whole wheat bread experiment and I had my fingers crossed. Nice moist crumb, airy bread and great aroma. We loved it. Loved it with butter too. Nothing like fresh warm bread and butter. Yield: 2 small loaves to serve 8. 

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:

  • 400g whole wheat flour {aata}
  • 2 tsp active dry yeast
  • 265ml lukewarm water
  • 100g top of the milk cream {malai}
  • 1t minced garlic {4-5 cloves}
  • 1t red chili flakes
  • 2t dried herbs
  • 1 1/2 t salt
  • Topping
  • 1 tsp whole wheat flour to sprinkle on top

Method:

  1. In the bowl of a standing mixer and add all the ingredients in the order mentioned.
  2. Mix briefly, then knead for approx 3 minutes. This should result in a smooth yet sticky,stringy dough.
  3. Turn the dough into an oiled bowl, turned over with damp hands to coat with oil.
  4. Cover with cling wrap and leave in a warm place for about an hour to double.
  5. Preheat the oven to 250C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  6. Turn dough onto parchment paper and shape into loaf with damp hands. I tried to give it a few rolls as well. Sprinkle over with a little whole wheat flour and leave to rise for 20 minutes while the oven preheats.
  7. Pop into a hot oven, reduce the temperature to 200C and bake for 35-45 minutes until cracked on top and hollow to sound when tapped underneath.
  8. Remove to a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
  9. Note: My oven uses only the bottom element for baking. Please keep an eye if your oven uses both the top and bottom elements so that the top doesn’t burn. I made 2 loaves {2/3rd dough first time to get a long loaf, and 1/3rd the second time for a round small loaf. You can slash the top with a fine bladed knife before you pop it into the oven if you like.

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Baking | Whole Wheat Walnut Garlic Cheddar Fougasse … and a focaccia too #comfortfood #vegetarian #bread

“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts!”
James Beard

Whole Wheat Walnut Garlic Cheddar Fougasse … nothing can be as comforting as the smell of bread baking. Nothing! And this bread took me by surprise. Rustic, nutty, earthy, full of flavour, great texture and a good bite. I couldn’t ask for anything more in fresh bread, and fougasse is one of my all time favourites.

Googling for whole wheat focaccia took me to a NY Times feature by Martha Rose Shulman. Recipes for health as it was aptly marked, Shulman says of this bread “What’s called focaccia in Italy is fougasse in Provence. Fougasse, though, is often shaped like a leaf, which is easy to do and very pretty. The nutty, toasty whole grain bread is irresistible.”I couldn’t agree more. If you’ve visited my blog on and off, you might have noticed my love for the French Fougasse. I love the rustic appeal it offers and the fact that you can stuff it with pretty much whatever you like and the flavours call your name. Roasted bell peppers, gouda, fresh herbs, nuts etc. Leaf like in appearance, this flatbread is moorish!

The one on top is a  Millet & Whole Wheat Fougasse and below it the French Fougasse with Roasted Red Bell Pepper & Garlic, Walnut & Mozarella 

It was just the therapy I needed this Monday! The day began like a nightmare! Broken toilet flush 6am. Reversed the car to drop the kids to school and heard a massive THUD! 7am … The engine underplate had broken while wading through the ‘rivers of North India‘ the previous night. When it rains, it really pours; the city was flooded! Thankfully got the kids out of my way and to school, to come back home to find I had run out of cooking gas! {Yes we still have cylinders}. Decided to spring clean and walked straight into a sharp corner which narrowly missed my eye. Blood poured down the side of my face! Mr PAB was in Hong Kong … and I could have wept!

Bravely I did not! I decided to bake bread instead! What a good decision. Nothing like some yeasty dough to drown your sorrows into. It worked like magic. And the recipe came out amazingly good! I could visualize the bread loving younger teen take a deep happy breath as he entered home from school. “You’ve made bread!!”, he’d exclaim, stars in his eyes!

That is enough to mend a bad day! What I didn’t visualise was how much the dieting diva, carb cutting daughter would love it. I made half of the dough into fougasse and saved the rest for another day {it refrigerates well for a day or two}. With garlic flavouring the dough beautifully, and walnuts and cheddar making it divine, the bread was history as soon as the teens got home!

Recipes like this are seriously therapeutic. I forgot about the car, fixed the broken loo, got the gas going. Left the car for Mr PAB. He would come back and take over everything! I was born to bake, and I was loving it!! The smell of dough rising and bread baking is enough to make the soul happy! 

With the good verdict on the fougasse, I pulled the remaining dough out of the fridge the next day and patted a focaccia into shape. That came out yummy too. Got stuffed with everything I had on hand, ending up as sandwich for dinner.

[print_this]Recipe: Whole Wheat Walnut Garlic Cheddar Fougasse

Summary: Whole Wheat Walnut Garlic Cheddar Fougasse … nothing can be as comforting as the smell of bread baking. The bread took me by surprise. Rustic, nutty, earthy, full of flavour, great texture and a good bite. Couldn’t ask for anything more in fresh bread. Fougasse is one of my all time favourites. Yield: 1 large or 2 smaller fougasses or focaccia, about 12 generous servings. Minimally adapted from NY Times

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes {plus rising time}
Ingredients:

  • 2 tsp active dry yeast
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 340ml lukewarm water
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 350g  whole wheat flour
  • 100g all-purpose flour
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 15g salt
  • Filling
  • 100g walnuts, coarsely chopped
  • 100g cheddar, diced into small cubes
  • Topping
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil if making focaccia (optional)
  • fresh herbs
  • sea salt for sprinkling over top

Method: 

  1. In the bowl of a standing mixer, or in a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water. Add the olive oil, minced garlic, whole wheat flour, all-purpose and salt and mix together briefly using the paddle attachment. Change to the dough hook and beat for 8 to 10 minutes at medium speed, adding the remaining flour as necessary. The dough should eventually form a ball around the dough hook and slap against the sides of the bowl as the mixer turns but it will be sticky. Remove from the bowl, flour your hands and knead for a minute on a lightly floured surface, and shape into a ball.
  2. {Thermomix:  Place all dough ingredients in bowl of TM and process at Speed 6 for 10 seconds. Then knead at interval speed for 3 minutes}
  3. If kneading the dough by hand, dissolve the yeast in the water with the sugar as directed. Stir in the walnut oil, whole wheat flour, salt, and all-purpose flour by the half-cup, until the dough can be scraped out onto a floured work surface. Knead, adding flour as necessary, for 10 minutes, until the dough is elastic. Shape into a ball.
  4. Oil a large bowl with olive oil. Place the dough in it, rounded side down first, then rounded side up. Cover tightly with plastic and let rise in a warm spot for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or in the refrigerator for 4 to 8 hours, until doubled.
  5. Punch down the dough. Divide the dough into two equal pieces for smaller breads. You can also make 1 large fougasse or focaccia.
  6. Roll one half out to about an 12″ oval, spread half the walnuts and cheddar. Fold over the dough 2-3 times on itself to incorporate the stuffing.
  7. Shape each back into a flattish ball, then fold the bottom third up, & top third down to make an oblong.
  8. Roll into ovals with a flat base, cut slits diagonally, three on each side. Pull slightly to open the cuts, leaf like. {Repeat with other half, else make focaccia with it}
  9. Place on parchment lined baking sheets. Cover with cling wrap & leave to double for 35-40 minutes while you preheat the oven.
  10. Preheat the oven to 220C, brush the loaves with olive oil, sprinkle over sea salt and fresh herbs.
  11. Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes till golden brown. Brush with more olive oil as they come out of the oven. Cool on racks. Serve warm {that’s how we love it} or at room temperature.

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Baking | Easy Same Day Focaccia … with some wholewheat too #comfortfood

“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.”
James Beard

Focaccia … bread that comforts. Just simple bread is good enough sometimes. I am constantly torn between my two crusty favourites, the fougasse and the focaccia, both flatbreads that are hearty, chewy, flavourful and earthy. Breads that bring alive words by Robert Browning “If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.” Ottolenghis foccacia is one of my all time faves.

I needed to bake something soothing, something therapeutic. I lost a very dear maternal uncle over the weekend. He was the glue that held my mothers side of the family together. Intelligent, largehearted, a disciplinarian, always there, often intimidating, brutally honest, sometimes scathing, but a place we happily headed to year after year to spend two months of the summer vacations. It was routine, and we loved it as kids.

He passed away in Lucknow, the city of the Nawabs, over the weekend. That left a deep void, and restlessness. I knew I had to bake bread. I find comfort in food. It gives me an escape. Bread especially. Getting the dough going, seeing it rise, punching it down and then popping it into a hot oven. Always comforting and therapeutic.

Focaccia is a flat oven-baked Italian bread, which may be topped with herbs or other ingredients. Focaccia is popular in Italy and is usually seasoned with olive oil and salt, and sometimes herbs, and may be topped with onion, cheese and meat, or flavored with a number of vegetables.

I remember making a similar focaccia when the tsunami struck Japan. Roasted Garlic Focaccia for the ‘Fukushima 50‘. Those days were devastating even though we were miles away from Japan. The images that rolled over and over again made life look so vulnerable. I had a helpless feeling then and yes, I baked bread.

I added a little whole wheat to the dough this time. The recipe yields two loaves, or two round breads. I baked one for lunch and left the other to slow rise in the fridge. Baked it the next day. Worked fine. I like to flavour the dough. Garlic and herbs are normally part of my dough as I love the depth they lend.

Depending on time on hand, roasted garlic is my first choice. If not, then I throw in some garlic cloves and the Thermomix blends them in with the flour. You can add minced garlic instead. If you love garlic like we do I mean! Else just skip it!!

The rest is pretty much your palette to play with. Once dimpled and looking pretty, give it a glug of extra virgin olive oil. Then dress it up! You can either sprinkle on some fresh herbs and sea salt, or like me, load the bread a wee bit more. I like to add sliced red onions, olives, jalapenos, pickled peppers, cherry tomatoes, even nuts.

I have two Victoria sandwich tins which are perfect for my bread. It’s a nice accommodative dough and the end result is always rewarding. A focaccia sandwich is the perfect answer for any left over bread.  Stuff it with balsamic roasted veggies, a relish, cheese, slices of salami. I sometimes grill it too.

  [print_this]Recipe: Whole Wheat Foccacia

Summary: One of my favourite breads that doesn’t need much advance planning, and never fails to please. This focaccia is part plain flour and part whole wheat.

Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes plus rising time Ingredients:

  • 360g plain flour
  • 130g whole wheat flour {aata}
  • 30g vital gluten
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 3/4 teaspoon yeast
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 ½tsp teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 460 ml lukewarm water
  • 45 ml extra virgin olive oil
  • Topping
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Sea salt
  • 4-5 cloves garlic, sliced fine
  • cherry tomatoes, sliced onion, olives
  • Fresh oregano leaves

Method: 

  1. Preheat oven to 200C. In a large bowl mix with your hands flour, sugar and yeast.
  2. Pour in the water. Add salt, roasted ,if using, and knead in the bowl for 5 minutes. Eventually add more water.
  3. {Thermomix: Place flour, sugar and yeast in TM bowl. Run at speed 10 for 6-7 seconds. Add remaining ingredients, including the olive oil, other than the toppings and run on interval speed for 2 minutes {Don’t leave the machine unattended in interval mode}. Proceed …
  4. Allow to rise covered with plastic wrap for about 1 hour or until it doubles.
  5. Preheat the oven to 200C.
  6. Grease  a shallow oven dish with plenty of olive oil. Pour the dough into this without kneading any further. {I used 2 round 8″ Victoria sandwich tins}
  7. Generously pour extra virgin olive oil onto the focaccia and press with your fingers to create multiple wells. Add toppings.
  8. The focaccia does not need rising at this stage {but it does not harm it. It will just make it thicker}.
  9. Bake for about 20 – 30 minutes until risen and light golden brown.
  10. Pour over some more extra virgin olive oil if you like.
  11. Eat warm or at room temperature.

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Millet & Whole Wheat French Fougasse … rustic bread with caramelised onions, walnuts, dehydrated tomatoes and mozzarella

“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.”
Robert Browning

Millet & Whole Wheat French Fougasse … this bread is like music to my ears; a celebration of all things ‘breadily‘ good! Rustic, earthy, chewy … good to grain! Warmer days are here. Feels like we missed spring somewhere along the way and landed up in summer. The days can only get hotter as the mercury hits 32C. At times like these, yeast is my BFF, performs beautifully, making me want to experiment endlessly.

We had a beautiful wholewheat soda bread that Sangeeta made while we drove from Pune to Baramati for the vineyard visit. I think I ate most of it, greedy me. It was bursting with earthy flavours of whole wheat and sun dried tomatoes. The whole wheat was stone ground and you could tell because of the texture. It had been given a good dunking of extra virgin olive oil too.

Bread like this makes you wake up and notice how good whole grain can get. Plain flour just doesn’t cut it for me anymore. The more I see plain flour breads on menus across eateries and in stores, the worse I feel. Whole grain is good and it’s a good choice to opt for.

Someone once told me that the luxury of plain flour bread is the way to go. You can eat salad and maybe soup on the side, other greens and veggies to tank up on fibre, and yet not feel guilty about ‘white bread’. I beg to differ.

Whole grain isn’t a punishment. Get used to it gradually and it might be difficult to return to plain flour. It’s a choice you have, and a good one you might make especially if you have young kids with changing palettes.  Make a gradual change and you’ll be surprised at how they jump to fresh home made whole grain bread.

Sun-dried tomatoes are a wonderful addition to breads. My last experience of store bought ones from Fab India was pathetic. I didn’t have time to make some, so figured the Philips AirFryer could help a bit. I have now begun caramelising onions after Abha mentioned it to me one day! Great discovery! 1 tsp of oil for 1 sliced onion is all it takes, and a few minutes.

In went sliced tomatoes tossed in olive oil, dried herbs, garlic and some sea salt. Can say YUMMM? Just wonderful… it took about 15-20 minutes as I experimented on different settings but was thrilled to get just what I wanted. I always have a batch bottled in the fridge now.

The fougasse is as rustic as it gets. You will find a selection of French Fougasse, this flat French bread, on my blog as we love it at home. I began with a plain flour bread, graduated to part pain flour, part whole wheat, and this time did a version with some sprouted ragi flour / millet.

Rustic, moorish, and delicious! If you are a new to whole grain breads,  the earthy flavours will gradually grow on you. It’s a dough that takes well to additions. Roasted garlic, roasted bell peppers, salty olives, sun dried tomatoes, caramelised onions, feta, fresh herbs, nuts {I particularly like walnuts in here} but let your imagination lead you.

[print_this]Recipe: Millet & Whole Wheat French Fougasse  

Summary: Millet & Whole Wheat French Fougasse … bread as rustic as it gets. If you are a new to whole grain breads,  the earthy flavours will gradually grow on you. It’s a dough that takes well to additions. Roasted garlic, roasted bell peppers, salty olives, sun dried tomatoes, caramelised onions, feta, fresh herbs, nuts … let your imagination lead you!

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour {plus resting time}
Ingredients:

  • 250g all purpose flour
  • 100g wholewheat flour
  • 75g finger millet {sprouted ragi flour}
  • 300ml warm water {divided 200ml + 50ml+ 50ml}
  • 2 tsp instant yeast
  • 30g olive oil + 15g for garlic
  • 10g /1.5tsp salt
  • 1 head of garlic, roasted
  • 2 plum tomatoes, sliced &  dehydrated {or sundried tomatoes}, chopped
  • 2 red onions, thinly sliced, caramelised
  • 100g mozzarella, chopped
  • 100g walnuts, chopped
  • Extra olive oil for brushing
  • Sea salt for sprinkling

Method:

  1. Squeeze out the roasted head of garlic and mash with 15g /1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Reserve in a small bowl.
  2. Take 50ml of water {lukewarm} & dissolve the yeast into it. Stir the salt and 30ml of olive oil into 200ml of water.
  3. Mix the flours, make a well in the centre and pour the yeast/water mixture into it. Use the remaining 50ml  water if required.
  4. Knead to a dough, kneading further on a floured surface for 8-10 minutes, till smooth & elastic.
  5. Thermomix: Place both flours, salt and yeast in bowl of TM and whiz for 5 seconds on speed 10. Add the 250ml water and olive oil and mix on Speed 6 for 30 seconds. {Gradually add remaining 50ml water as required}. Knead in closed position for 5-6 minutes.
  6. Place in an oiled bowl, cover the bowl with cling wrap & leave in a warm place for about an hour until doubled.
  7. Punch down & divide into 2.
  8. Roll one half out to about an 12″ oval, spread half the roasted garlic olive oil mixture on the base, sprinkle over half the snipped tomatoes, caramelised onions, half the walnuts and half the cheese. {Reserve some tomatoes and onions for topping if you like}
  9. Season lightly salt and freshly ground pepper. Roll up gently like a swiss roll.
  10. Fold over the dough 2-3 times on itself to incorporate the stuffing.
  11. Shape each back into a flattish ball, then fold the bottom third up, & top third down to make an oblong. {I made one big round bread and one oblong, but the latter is tradional}
  12. Roll into ovals with a flat base, cut slits diagonally, three on each side. Pull slightly to open the cuts. {Repeat with the other half.}
  13. Place on parchment lined baking sheets. Cover with cling wrap & leave to double for 35-40 minutes while you preheat the oven.
  14. Preheat the oven to 220C, brush the loaves with olive oil, sprinkle over sea salt {and tomatoes and onions if you like} and bake for approximately 30-40 minutes till golden brown. Brush with more olive oil as they come out of the oven. Cool on racks. Serve warm {that’s how we love it} or at room temperature with extra virgin olive oil or butter!

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Baking | Traditional Panettone the Daring Bakers way!

“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.”
Robert Browning

Traditional Panettone … the December Daring Bakers challenge sounded like music to my ears, only that I wasn’t sure at all that I would get to doing the challenge. The year end has been quite a roller coaster ride, at times frustrating and saddening. The events around the world make the heart heavy, yet the very thought of food means comfort.

Back from an early Christmas cum birthday party a few days ago, I bit into a sweet rum fruit cake that was part of the goodie bag. That old comforting feeling flooded my senses. Sure enough, I was soaking fruit the next morning. A quick Christmas fruit cake was sure to lift the spirits a bit…

With the fruit soaking, the challenge played on the mind since I knew the panettone also used fruit, not soaked though. Pannetone is a sweet yeasted Italian bread served at Christmas. It is characteristically tall. Mine wasn’t. I misjudged the tins a little {read quite a lot}.

The December 2012 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by the talented Marcellina of Marcellina in Cucina. Marcellina challenged us to create our own custom Panettone, a traditional Italian holiday bread!

I really pushed myself to begin the challenge. One look at the recipe and you will understand. It looked long and daunting. I began early in the morning. Thankfully the Thermomix did all the kneading in minutes. It was the ‘rises’ that took all day, and my panettones finally got ready late in the evening.

So how was the Panettone born? A beautiful bread with a romantic tale. Traditionally it is eaten by the Milanese but now it is available all through Italy and in many parts of the world. There are many stories and legends of the Panettone. The one recounted by Carol Field, whose recipe we use today, is that of a rich young Milanese noble who fell in love with the daughter of a poor baker whose name was Tony (Antonio). The nobleman wanted to marry the baker’s daughter so he ensured the baker had at his disposal the very best ingredients – eggs, butter, flour, candied orange peel, citron and sultanas. The baker created a wonderful bread which became known as pan di Tonio (Tony’s bread). The baker found his fame and fortune and the nobleman honorably married the baker’s daughter.

Well thanks to Tony and Marcellina, {and the author of the recipe, Carol Field, of course}, we have this delicious traditional Christmas favourite delighting our palettes today. Rich, buttery, brioche like, studded with raisins, candied peel, nuts {and dark  chocolate chips in the mini ones}, the Panettone is comforting and addictive.

Of course I had no time to make a traditional panettone case, and sadly they are quite impossible to find in India. Mine were baked in parchment cases in 3 tiny cake tins. I made half a dozen in cupcake cases too.

So glad I made them. They were fabulous! I was unsure if the kids would eat them, given their love-hate relationship with fruit and nuts … but NOM NOM NOM were the words out of the daughters mouth. The first cupcakes vanished soon, followed by one small cake.

One bite of the Panettone took me back to the Dresden Stollen; a bread that had ‘stolen‘ my heart a few years ago. The Stollen is an amazing Christmas bread, one that can be made months in advance, and one that keeps really well. A traditional German holiday bread, the Dresden Stollen has yeast and quark as two of the key ingredients.

We also did a Stollen Bread Pudding with the Daring Bakers in December 2010; yet another amazing Christmas dessert. This year was getting very busy and my time management was rock bottom {so what’s new?}. The quintessential fruit cake was yet to be baked and it was already the 22rd!

Christmas at home is never complete without Fruit Cake. I made a twist to my regular fruit cake this year with a Christmas Garam Masala Fruit Cake. YUM! That was what I originally cut and soaked fruit for. Then figured I could manage the Panettone too.

Lofty ambitions as Mr PAB decided to hit ER running a temperature of 105C on the coldest day of this year. We shivered with cold while he raged with high fever that took us to hospital. Nothing a drip and a few shots couldn’t fix … and I raced home to my beloved Panettone. Talk about dedication to baking!

Don’t get daunted by the length of the recipe or the many ‘risings’ … or the amount of butter for that matter! This is good stuff, well worth the effort, and all the ‘risings’.

I didn’t get as far as the baked traditional glaze the recipe offered. The Panettone looked good without it too, until the boy saw a picture I was looking at and asked why mine had no glaze. Talk about added pressure. Low fat cream + raw powdered sugar + almond extract = good quick glaze. Good enough for some craisins and slivered pistachios to hang on to. Yummy as well!

I dressed the Panettone up in a collar of parchment paper with holes punched through, threading golden ribbon through. The little ones were baked in green Christmas cupcake liners that I placed in deep individual muffin tins like the ones you see in this Plum Fro Yo. The dough baked upwards quite nicely. I loved the way they came out.

Do stop by here and check out some the beautiful Panettone that the Daring Bakers have baked. Thank you Marcella for sharing the beautiful story and recipe with us. Thank you as always Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of  Cream Puffs in Venice for hosting this fab kitchen!!

[print_this]Recipe:  Traditional Panettone 

Summary: A delicious sweet Italian bread like cake studded with fruit, nuts and candied peel. The Panettone originates from Milan, and is traditionally made around Christmas. Panettone recipe slightly adapted from The Italian Baker by Carol Field. Makes 2 Panettone {I made half recipe} Candied Orange Peel from Use Real Butter

Prep Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours {plus resting and cooling time}
Ingredients:

  • Sponge
  • 1 satchel (2¼ teaspoons) (7 gm) active dry yeast
  • 1/3 cup (80 ml) warm water
  • ½ cup (70 gm) unbleached all purpose flour
  • First Dough
  • 1 satchel (2¼ teaspoons) (7 gm) active dry yeast
  • 3 tablespoons (45 ml) warm water
  • 2 large eggs, at room temp
  • 1¼ cup (175 gm) unbleached all-purpose (plain) flour
  • ¼ cup (55 gm) (2 oz) sugar
  • ½ cup (1 stick) (115 gm) unsalted butter, at room temp
  • Second dough
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 2/3 cup (150 gm) (5-2/3 oz) sugar
  • 3 tablespoons (45 ml) honey
  • 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla extract {I used 1 vanilla bean in half recipe}
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) lemon essence/extract
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) orange essence/extract
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) (225 gm) unsalted butter, at room temp
  • 3 cups (420 gm) (15 oz) unbleached all-purpose (plain) flour; plus up to (2/3 cup) 100 gm for kneading
  • Filling and final dough
  • 1½ cups (250 gm) (9 oz) golden raisins or golden sultanas
  • ½ cup (75 gm) (2-2/3 oz) candied citron {I didn’t have this so I made it up with candied orange peel}
  • ½ cup (75 gm) (2-2/3 oz) candied orange peel 
  • Grated zest of 1 orange
  • Grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons (30-45 ml) (15-25 gm) all-purpose (plain) flour
  • Note: I used about 3 cups of fruit & nut filling from my Christmas Garam Masala Fruit Cake
  • Candied Orange peel recipe 

Method:

  1. Sponge
  2. Mix the yeast and water in a small bowl and allow to stand until creamy. That’s about 10 minutes or so.
  3. Mix in the flour.
  4. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to double in size for about 20 to 30 minutes
  5. TM: I just placed everything in the Thermomix Speed 5, 10 seconds.
  6. First Dough By Mixer
  7. In the mixer bowl, mix together the yeast and water and allow to stand until creamy. Again, about 10 minutes or so.
  8. With the paddle attached mix in the sponge, eggs, flour, and sugar.
  9. Add in the butter and mix for 3 minutes until the dough is smooth and even.
  10. Cover with plastic wrap and allow double in size, about 1 – 1 ¼ hours
  11. Second Dough By Mixer
  12. With the paddle mix in thoroughly the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, honey, scraped vanilla bean, essences/extracts, and salt.
  13. Mix in the butter until smooth.
  14. Add the flour and slowly incorporate.
  15. At this stage the dough will seem a little too soft, like cookie dough.
  16. Replace the paddle with the dough hook and knead for about 2 minutes.
  17. Turn out the dough and knead it on a well-floured surface until it sort of holds its shape.
  18. Don’t knead in too much flour but you may need as much as 2/3 cup. Be careful the excess flour will affect the finished product. {I didn’t add any extra flour}
  19. First Rise
  20. Oil a large bowl lightly, plop in your dough and cover
  21. Oil a large bowl lightly, plop in your dough and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rise in a warm place for 2-4 hours until it has tripled in size. 
  22. Filling and Final Rise
  23. Soak the raisin/sultanas in water 30 minutes before the end of the first rise. {I used about 3 cups of fruit & nut filling from my Christmas Garam Masala Fruit Cake}
  24. Drain and pat dry with paper towels. 
  25. Now take your dough and cut it in half. Remember we are making two panettoni.
  26. Combine all your filling ingredients and mix well.
  27. Press out one portion of dough into an oval shape.
  28. Sprinkle over one quarter of the filling and roll up the dough into a log
  29. Press out again into an oval shape and sprinkle over another quarter of the filling.
  30. Roll into a log shape again.
  31. Repeat with the second portion of dough.
  32. Shape each into a ball and slip into your prepared pans, panettone papers or homemade panettone papers.
  33. Cut an X into the top of each panettone and allow to double in size. If it has been rising on the kitchen bench in a warm place it should be doubled in about 2 hours.
  34. Baking
  35. When you think your dough has only about 30 minutes left to rise preheat your oven to moderately hot 200°C
  36. Just before baking carefully {don’t deflate it!} cut the X into the dough again and place in a knob {a nut} of butter.
  37. Place your panettoni in the oven and bake for 10 minutes
  38. Reduce the heat to moderate 180°C and bake for another 10 minutes
  39. Reduce the heat again to moderate 160°C and bake for 30 minutes until the tops are well browned and a skewer inserted into the panettone comes out clean.
  40. Cool completely.

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Before I go, I am happy to announce the winner for the giveaway of the beautiful retro scale and worktop saver from Zansaar. Put your hands together for Kajal @ For the Love of Food. Congratulations Kajal … will mail you soon! BTW, your blog is beautiful!

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

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