The Fumbling Foodie

White Chocolate Cinnamon Bread

I am loving my Zojirushi breadmaker. I also love King Arthur Flour. Their webiste is chocked-full of great information and products. Almost anything you could want for breadmaking is there.

If you have a bread machine be sure to visit their section of great bread machine recipes. I did and the White Chocolate and Cinnamon bread caught my eye.  

The recipe can be found here on the King Arthur Flour website.

I was afraid the chocolate would be overpowering but it's not.  It gives the bread a nice subtle sweetness that makes it perfect for munching.

 

 

 

My First Week with the Zojirushi

 The Zojirushi bread machine arrived Wednesday afternoon.  Within 15 minutes of unpacking it, I put it to work.

I've made a total of three loaves so far. The first was the white bread formula in the Zojirushi manual.  It came out fine but it was nothing remarkable.

Next, I hauled out Beth Hensperger's The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook. The resulting - the remains of which you can see in the right in the photo - loaf was wonderful.  The texture and flavor were just what I expect homemade bread to be.

TIme to experiment.  I wanted to make something other than plain old white bread.  But I wanted to make is NOW so I needed to find a formula using only what I had on hand.  The Zojirushi manual has a formula for 'Dutch Apple Cake'. What if I add a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder? I did.  The result - on the left in the accompanying lousy photo - was described by my Sweet Lady Wife as 'sinfully good'.

Gonna try making pumpernickel next...

The Baker in Me is Stirring

Two winters.  Thats how long it's been since I made bread.    

It's hot here in Arizona in the summer and so I've customarily limited my breadmaking to winter. I woke up the other morning to the scent of Fall in the air.  It's coming.  The breadmaker in my stirred.  This year I am NOT going to let the winter pass without making bread.

I bought a Zojirushi.

The decision to buy a bread machine was a tough one.  I love making bread by hand - working the dough in my hands.  Dough has a certain feel when it's right and I really enjoy that artisan aspect.

On the other hand, making bread is very time-consuming. The notion that I can just pour in the ingredients, flip a switch and have bread a few hours later is pretty seductive for this guy with a very hectic life.

Some things I'll still need to bake conventionally.  Baguettes - (The sound of the fresh baguette crackling as you take it out of the oven).  Stickybuns - I have a recipe that gives Cinnabon a run for its money.

At this point I'm anxiously awaiting the Zojirushi's arrival.

The Oven and I are Getting Along Just Fine

The smell of bread in the oven. That crackling sound it makes as the finished loaf starts to cool.

This is the first bread I've baked since moving into the new house. I've been away from bread-making too long.

Too Hot To Bake

Oh man, do I miss bread-making. With temperatures poking around 116F however, breadmaking is out of the question.

I'm Giving Up On This Recipe

I've lost track of the number of times I've made this pullman loaf and tried to get the crust more to my liking.

The recipe is from Charles Van Over's The Best Bread Ever. The crust is just too thick and tough for my liking. This time I did two things differently:

1. I pulled it from the oven at 190 degrees instead of 205.
2. As soon as the crust looked about right I tented it with foil.

The results were a little better but I have decided that I am to the point of diminishing returns with this recipe.

(The people reading this who know me really well are probably amazed. Normally, 'Perseverance' is my middle name, and I normally feel compelled to keep flogging something until I get the desired result. Oh well, so many breads, so little time, maybe.)

I've made pullman loaves from other recipies and the crust comes out fine, so it is something about this particular recipe or technique. I would dearly love to have a conversation with Van Over to find out what is going on.

Pain a l'Ancienne Part III

I think my third try at Pain a l'Ancienne turned out pretty well. I did three things different this time:

1. Slightly less hydration. I used slightly less water that it initially looked liked it needed. At the end of the mixing session however it was just right: the dough was clearing the sides of the bowl but sticking to the bottom.
2. Slightly shorter rise time. I went for 3 hours instead of 3.5 as I did with the previous two batches. The hole structure wasn't quite as nice, but unnoticable unless you compared side-by side photos. I think 3.5 hours may have been pushing it a litle two far.
3. Correct oven temperature. My oven control is off by about 25 degrees. If I want 475 I have to set it at 500. I forgot this on the previous attempt.

With the dough a little dryer my slashes turned out fine. I also noticed that the loaves rose better in the oven this time. Previously, with the dough so wet (like ciabatta) the stuff kinda just migrated down and I ended up with baguettes that were slightly flat. These are nicely shaped.

Too Much Hydration?

My slashes are still not turning out right.

This is REALLLY scrumptous bread. The flavor is roll-your-eyes good. The only problem is the slashes (well the crust is a little light but I forgot that my oven is off by 25 degrees). The dough is supposed to be a wet dough, I know, but I'm beginning to suspect that it's two wet. I make the slash and it just closes right back up.

I'm going to make it again in two weeks and I'll try it with a little less hydration and see what happens.

Going for Better Slashes

Another batch of Pain a l'Ancienne is in the fridge. I bought a 'Lame Bread Slashing Tool' from The Baker's catalog. Lets see if my slashes turn out better.

I LOVE this bread. it is so easy to make, so simple, and the flavor is scruptuous.

Sandwich Bread

I consider this to be my first successful attempt at a pullman loaf. It was a recipe off the Fleischmann's Yeast website.

I have been struggling to get a plain ol' pullman loaf to come out OK and now I've finally done it. Whith the knowledge I've gained, I think I can go back to my earlier recipe (which was very tasty but the crust was too tough) and probably get it right this time.