Braided & Ready for the Bread Fashion Show

This Braided Poppy Seed Loaf is dressed and ready to go to the Bread Baking Day #56: Bread Fashion Show hosted by Jenni from The Gingered Whisk. 

Poppy, as this beautiful braid is affectionately called, has a golden brown crust bathed in egg wash and dotted with poppy seeds. Underneath her crust, you’ll find a delicious crumb with black sesame seeds scattered throughout.

 

Although Poppy has a beautiful coat on already, she’s a little shy so she tried on this bamboo bread bag for size.  She liked being all snuggly inside the bag, but decided she wanted to shine and not be hidden inside a bag. She’ll wear that one another day.

 

Since it’s so close to Valentine’s Day, and all those beautiful breads will be vying for attention, Poppy decided to arrive at the fashion show in a big red bow. She decided being shy wouldn’t win her any fans.

 

I had fun with this bread. My version is made with Graham flour and white bread flour, but you can substitute regular whole wheat flour for the Graham flour or use all white flour.  I didn’t have enough poppy seeds to use in the dough and on the crust so I used black sesame seeds in the dough. Feel free to use all poppy seeds or a mixture of poppy seeds and sesame seeds or a different mixture of seeds if you prefer.

 

Braided Poppy Seed Loaf

Makes: 1 Loaf

Adapted from: Making Fresh Bread: From your oven to your table by Love Food

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 1/2 cup Graham flour
• 2 cups white bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk
• 1 1/2 tablespoons superfine sugar (I used organic pure sugar)
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 3/4 cup lukewarm water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for brushing
• 2 tablespoons black sesame seeds

Topping:

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon Almond milk
• 1 tablespoon superfine sugar
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds

 

Directions:

1. Mixing the Dough

Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl and stir in the milk, sugar, and yeast.  Add the lukewarm water and oil.  Mix well with a Danish dough whisk or wooden spoon until the dough starts to come together.  Add the poppy (or sesame seeds) and knead them into the dough into they are fully incorporated. 

 

2. Kneading the Dough

Once the dough leaves the sides of the bowl, turn it out onto a lightly floured counter. Knead well until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

 

3. Proofing the Dough

Form the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl.  Cover with a damp dish towel or plastic wrap and let is rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in volume.

 

4. Braiding the Loaf

Grease a baking sheet with oil.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly flour surface.  Punch it down and knead it for a couple of minutes. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces and shape them lightly into balls.  Let the balls rest for 5 minutes.

 

Shape each ball into a rope about 10-12 inches long.

 

Place the ropes side by side and press them together at one end.

 

Braid the dough, then pinch the other end, and tuck it underneath.

 

 

Place the loaf on the greased baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

 

5: Prepare the Loaf for Baking

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Beat the egg yolk with the milk and sugar to make the egg glaze.  Brush the egg glaze over the top of the loaf and sprinkle with the poppy seeds.

 

6. Baking the Loaf

Bake the loaf for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom.  Partway through the baking cycle, rotate the bread for even baking.  This bread will burn on the outside due to the sugar in the egg wash so keep a careful eye on it.  If the bread starts to brown too much before it’s finished baking, tent the loaf with aluminum foil and continue baking.

 

7.  Cooling and Serving the Loaf

Transfer the loaf to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.

 

 

8. Slice and Enjoy!

This isn’t an enriched dough so it doesn’t taste rich and eggy like challah.  It has a little bit of sweetness but it mostly just tastes like a light grain bread.  It’s good for toast (and fashion shows).

 

Happy Baking! 

Cathy

 

Thanks to Jenni from The Gingered Whisk for hosting BBD #56: Bread Fashion Show. I had a ball with this one.

Braided Cranberry and Orange Loaf with Nuts

They say it’s better to give than receive. I’ve found this to be true, especially when it involves bread-baking. I love to bake bread and sharing it with others just makes it more special. Giving the gift of bread during the Holidays is a wonderful way to do something you enjoy and bless the recipient as well. A double blessing.

I wanted to make a delicious and beautiful braided bread for a special family for Christmas. I was looking for a bread that was easy to transport and would fit in a bread bag. I found the perfect solution. This Cranberry and Orange Loaf with nuts is braided, but it’s baked in a loaf pan which allows it to fit in a bread bag and makes it easy to transport.

To make things really easy, this bread can be made completely in the bread machine. You won’t have the braided look, but if you’re short on time, just let the machine do the work while you’re busy doing other things. Or, if you want to mix things up a bit like I did, mix the dough and let it rise in the bread machine, shape it into braid, then place it in the loaf pan to bake. This way, you get a beautifully-shaped loaf, that is easy to transport, and makes great toast bread. Voilà!

 

Braided Cranberry & Orange Loaf with Nuts

Makes: One 9” x 5” Loaf or one small bread machine loaf

Adapted from: Bread Machine: How to prepare and bake the perfect loaf by Jennie Shapter

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 egg
• 3 cups unbleached bread flour
• 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 2 teaspoons grated orange zest
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries, plumped in orange juice
• 1/3 cup pecans, chopped

 

Glaze

• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 2 tablespoons sugar (I used sugar in-the-raw)

 

Directions:

Use the bread machine to mix the ingredients on the Dough Setting or bake the loaf completely in the bread machine.  Or, if you prefer, mix the ingredients using a stand mixer and bake in a conventional oven.

Step 1: Place the ingredients in the bread pan of your bread machine in the order specified by the manufacturer.

My bread machine specifies that the liquid ingredients should be added first, then the dry ingredients. So I added the water, orange juice and egg in the bread pan.  Then I sprinkled the flour over the wet ingredients and added the nonfat dry milk.  Then I placed the sugar, salt, and butter in separate corners of the bread pan.  Finally, I made a shallow well in the center of the flour, and added the instant yeast.

 

Step 2: Knead in the orange zest, dried cranberries and pecans.

When the machine beeps (or after the first kneading), add the zest, cranberries and pecans and let the machine mix them into the dough. 

At this point, 

1. If you are baking the loaf completely in the bread machine, let the machine continue through the baking cycle.
2. If you are using the machine to mix and proof the loaf, let the bread machine finish through the dough cycle, then remove the loaf to shape and bake. 
3. Or, if you are tired of the bread machine having all the fun, follow the process below:

I felt the dough after the first kneading and decided I wanted to get my hands on it so I took over at this point. 

Instead of letting the machine knead the final ingredients, I removed the dough from the bread pan and gently kneaded the rest of the dough ingredients into the dough.

 

Step 3: Bulk Fermentation: Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl and let it rise until doubled, about 30 - 45 minutes.

 

Step 4: Shaping the Braid

Remove the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into three equal balls.

 

Roll each piece out into ropes. The ropes shouldn’t be too long if you want to bake the loaf in a loaf pan.  If you want to bake the braid freeform, you can make the ropes as long as you want. Just keep in mind, they need to fit on a baking sheet.

 

Overlap the ropes in the middle.

 

Start braiding at one end, then flip the braid around (or walk around if possible) to the other end and finish the braid. Gently tuck the ends underneath.

For more braiding options, refer to this post on Making Braided Challah.

 

Step 5: Proofing the Loaf

Place the braid in a 9” x 5” loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap sprayed with spray oil and let it rise 30 to 45 minutes or until it reaches the top of the pan. If you want to bake the braid freeform, place it on a greased baking sheet to proof instead of in the loaf pan.

 

Step 6: Baking the Loaf

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the loaf in the preheated oven until it is golden brown, about 20 – 30 minutes.  If it starts browning too much on top before it is baked all the way through, you can tent it with aluminum foil.  Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick or wooden skewer in the middle of the loaf. Just do it in an inconspicuous place especially if you plan to give the loaf away.

 

Step 7: Cooling the Loaf

Remove the loaf to a wire rack to cool.  Let it cool in the pan for a few minutes, then remove it from the pan and let it cool completely on the wire rack.

 

Step 8: Glaze the loaf or brush with butter

To make the glaze, mix the orange juice and sugar in a small pan and heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Then boil until it becomes syrupy. Brush the syrup over the loaf and let it cool.

I got distracted and let my glaze burn so I opted to brush the loaf with melted butter instead of the glaze. I think this worked out better for giving as a gift anyway.

 

Step 9: Wrap and give the bread as a gift

If you want to give the bread as a gift, let it cool completely, then place it in a plastic bread bag or wrap it in plastic wrap and decorated it festively.

 

I gave this bread to a special family. They’ve been enjoying it as toast with breakfast.  I’m so glad!

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Making Braided Bread: Challah

I’ve been really mellow about the breads I’ve made so far with the Mellow Bakers but when I saw this Challah on the list for October, I knew I had to make it. I just love making braided breads. I also like learning the history of breads made throughout the world, and in particular, the symbolism behind the making of Challah.

"There are two words for bread in Hebrew: lechem and challah. Lechem is the everyday bread...Challah is the special, usually white egg bread reserved for the Sabbath. Challah is also the word that refers to the portion of dough set apart for the high priests in the Temple of Jerusalem. One of the three commandments incumbent upon women, "taking challah," evolved sometime following the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 C.E. Following the rising of the dough, women would separate a piece and burn it to remind them of the offerings to the Temple. For nearly two millennia it has symbolically replaced the sacrificial offerings. All challah that is baked today is kosher only if "challah has been taken."...It was the Eastern European immigrants who put challah on the gastronomical map in the country. In biblical times...Sabbath bread was probably more like our present-day pita. Through the ages and as Jews moved to different lands the loaves varied. But only in America could Jews eat challah...every day of the week...Elsewhere a round challan at Rosh Hashanah became a symbol of life. Usually the Rosh Hashanah bread is formed in a circle, to signify the desire for a long life.”

Source: Food Timeline http://foodtimeline.org/foodbreads.html#challah

 

 

I made a 4-strand challah, a 3-strand challah and two 2-stranded rolls.  I made the dough Friday morning before work, but didn’t get a chance to bake it until Sunday afternoon.  So it rested in the refrigerator for two days longer than the recipe recommended. 

When I was ready to bake the loaves, I divided the dough into four pieces and made a large ball, a medium ball and two small balls.  Since the dough had been resting in the refrigerator, it was pretty stiff.  So I let the balls rest on the counter for a while to soften up.

I started with the Two-Strand Rolls. 

I took one of the dough balls and divided it into two equal pieces.

Then I rolled both balls out into strands of equal length. 

Then I braided them using the two-strand method.

I probably should have rolled them a little bit longer because they were a little bit too thick for braids.

Then I took the two strands and curled them up into a roll.

 

I did the same with the other small piece of dough and placed them both on a cookie sheet to proof.

Then I baked them. Here is what the finished Two-Strand Roll looks like.

 

Then I moved on to the Four-Strand Braid. 

I cut 4 equal pieces from the large dough ball and roll each piece into a strand.  I made them longer this time.

Then I made the braid using the 4-strand technique. 

 

I started out using method 1, but about this point, I switched to method 2 which is the way I usually do it.

 

So, it ended up being a combination of method 1 and 2.

 

The Four-Strand Bread baked up pretty nicely even if the braids weren’t completely even.

 

Moving right along…

 

Last, but not least, the Three–Strand Braid.

I divided the medium dough ball into 3 equal pieces and rolled each piece into a long strand.

 

 

 

It had been awhile since I had made a braided bread.  I was starting to get the hang of the braiding again by now. 

 

Finish the braid by tucking the ends under.  This photo is a bit blurry because it’s hard to hold the camera and tuck the ends at the same time.

 

Here is the finished Three-Strand Braid.

This bread has been YeastSpotted. Please visit Wild Yeast to view all of the lovely breads in the roundup.

I enjoyed making all of these braids.  I thought about making a double braid for a celebration Challah, but I want to use these loaves for something different so I opted to make the regular braids instead.

I didn’t get a crumb shot because I gave one of the roll-shaped loaves away and I’m keeping the 3-strand and 4-strand braids for some special French Toast.

I did try the other roll. It was a little bit dry probably because of being in the refrigerator too long.  I’ve also heard that the addition of egg whites can make the Challah dry. However, I think it will do well for French Toast. 

Stay tuned for my next post…

 

Be sure to check out what the other bakers have been up to in the Mellow Bakers group.  There are some awesome braided breads out there.

The Mellow Bakers group was started by Paul at Yumarama. We’re baking breads from Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman.

 

Thanks for joining us in the Bread Experience bread-baking blog. 

Happy Baking!
Cathy