Thanksgiving Bread

Traditions abound here at Mimi's Kitchen throughout the year, but some of our favorites come during the fall holidays, and this beautiful braided bread is one of them. Years ago I went to a bread baking class just for fun at a local adult school and the teacher gave us her Thanksgiving bread recipe. It's a lovely golden color, which it gets from either winter squash or pumpkin. The pumpkin/squash keeps it moist, but doesn't impart too much flavor. What I like about the recipe is that it makes one very large loaf for a crowd, or you can make 2 smaller loaves, which would be perfect for sharing with friends or neighbors for their Thanksgiving table.

If you have leftovers this makes excellent french toast, turkey sandwiches or even bread pudding. It is a perfect way to infuse some fall flavor and color into your meal throughout the season.

Squash Bread

makes 2 loaves

2 tablespoons yeast

3/4 cup warm water

1 1/4 cup pumpkin or orange squash puree

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup milk

1/3 cup soft butter

1 egg

5 1/2 cups flour

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add a pinch of sugar and let stand until bubbly.

2. Combine pumpkin, milk, sugar, butter, egg and salt in a large bowl.  Add the yeast mixture and stir to incorporate.You can use your stand mixer for this.

3. Add add 4 3/4 cup flour and stir to make a smooth dough.

4.  Turn dough on a lightly floured surface and knead(about 10 minutes by hand or 5-7 minutes in mixer with a dough hook), adding remaining flour as necessary to create a dough that is smooth and silky. Dough should not be tacky. 

 5. Place dough in a greased bowl (I spray them with PAM) cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double in size about 1  1/2 hours.

6. Punch dough down and shape.

If making two loaves divide the dough in half. Each half is then divided into thirds. Shape each third into a 14 inch rope.  On a baking sheet lined with a silpat braid your 3 ropes into one loaf (I cross them in the center of the ropes and braid to the ends)
Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double in size.
Bake in a 375 degree oven until golden (about 20-30 minutes depending on the size of your loaf.
When bread comes out of the oven and is still warm, brush the crust with soft butter. 
Cool completely on a wire rack.
printable recipe

links: Foodie Fridays at Designs by Gollum

Stollen: Daring Bakers December Recipe

With a dusting of powdered sugar and looking like a snow capped landscape, stollen is a wonderful holiday treat.  Stollen is a rich yeast bread loaded with candied orange peel, cherries, raisins and a thin layer of marzipan is tucked inside. When I was a child, a family friend made stollen for us every Christmas season. My mother tucked it into the freezer, so that we could have it on Christmas morning. Then as an adult, before I had children, I made stollen every Christmas for friends and family, but I haven't made it in years, so this was a fun challenge to do with the kids. Rather than making a stollen wreath, we chose to make the traditional loaf shape.  

The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book.........and Martha Stewart’s demonstration. .
Since the recipe is long and detailed, this is the link to the printable Daring Bakers Stollen Recipe.

We decide to make our own candied orange peel for the bread and it really was the highlight of this recipe. We have a large tree in the backyard, and the winter season brings baskets full of the fresh fruit, so we were excited to try these out. The fresh candied peel was soft, sweet and delcious in the bread, a pleasant change from the store bought variety which can be hard and chewy.

Candied Citrus Peel
Ingredients:
Citrus Fruit
Sugar
Water

Remove the peel from 3 or 4 oranges (or lemons,limes or grapefruits) and cut in strips.

Blanch the peel 3 times. Place peel in a pot, cover with cold water and bring to a boil. When the water boils, drain and repeat twice more, for a total of three times.

Make a simple syrup: Put water and sugar in a medium pot stir to dissolve sugar and bring to boil. I used equal parts water and sugar, but I have seen recipes that use 3 parts sugar to 1 part water. You need enough syrup to cover the citrus peel. For 3 oranges I used 2 cups water and 2 cups sugar.

Add citrus peel to the simple syrup and simmer until translucent. This took me about an hour. The time will vary depending on how thick your citrus peel is. When translucent remove from the syrup, drain and place on a wire rack to dry. Once drained,you can roll the peel in additional sugar before drying, but I thought this was just to sugary and we ended up knocking the sugar coating off our peels.

Store in an air tight jar in the refrigerator or freeze.
printable recipe

TWD: Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread

This week Susan of Food.Baby picked Raisin Swirl Bread. What's not to like about homemade bread? We really enjoy fresh bread and this buttery loaf was no exception. I made this easy dough on Friday evening and let it rise once, before stashing it in the fridge over night. In the morning the dough was thoroughly chilled and had had the opportunity to rise a second time. I just rolled it out, covered it with the cinnamon and cocoa mixture, sprinkled a few raisins over the dough, and placed it in the loaf pan and let it rise before baking

By the time the kids rolled out of bed there was a loaf of warm cinnamon bread waiting for them. It was great on its own, but a little sweet butter spread over it really made it the perfect breakfast. I was planning on making French toast with any leftovers, but it was gone way to quickly for that. I do think it would make a great French toast or a bread pudding, so next time I'll make two loaves, one for eating and one for experimenting.

Raisin Swirl Bread
Adapted form Baking: from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan

One package active dry yeast (about 2 1/2 teaspoons)
1/4 cup sugar, plus a pinch
11/4 cup whole milk , warmed to about 90 degrees F.
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 teaspoon salt
one large egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
grated zest of one half orange
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
3 3/4 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

For the Swirl
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
One cup moist plump raisins
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

To make the bread
Put yeast in a small bowl toss in a pinch of sugar and stir in 1/4 cup of warm milk. Let rest for three minutes then stir the yeast. It may not have dissolved completely and may not have bubble but it should be soft.

Working with a stand mixer preferably fitted with a paddle attachment combine remaining milk,the butter and remaining 1/4 cup sugar and mix on low speed for a minute or two. At the salt, egg and vanilla, zest and nutmeg,and mix for one minute. Add the yeast mixture and beat on medium low speed for one minute more.Turn the mixer off and 2 3/4 cups of the flour. Mix on low speed just until you work the flour into the liquids, you will have a sticky mix. If you got a dough hook switched to it now. Add another one cup of flour increases mixes speed to medium and beat The dough for a couple of minutes. The dough should  come together and clean the sides of the bowl,  if not add up to 1/4 cup more flour 1 tablespoon at a time. Keep the mixer speed at media and knead the dough for about three minutes or until it is smooth and has a lovely buttery sheen. It will be very soft much too soft you need by hand.

Butter a large bowl, turn the dough into the bowl and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Put the bowl in a warm place and let the Dough rise until it is double in size, about 1 1/2 hours. Scrape Dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap and wrap it and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes. At this point, you can instead refrigerate the dough overnight if that is more convenient.

To make the swirl and shape the loaf:

butter a 9 x 5" loaf pan.
Whisk together cinnamon, sugar and coco .
Put the dough on a large work surface lightly dusted with flour, lightly dust the top of the Dough and roll the dough into a rectangle about 12 x 18". Gently spread 2 tablespoons of the butter over the surface of the doubt sprinkle the sugar mixture over the butter and scatter the raisins over the top.
Starting from the short side of the Dough roll the dough up jellyroll fashion, making sure to roll the dough snuggly. Fit into the buttered pan, seam side down, and tuck the end under the loaf. Cover the pan and loosely with wax paper and sent in a warm place; let the dough rise until it comes just a little above the edge of the pan, about 45 minutes.
When the dough has almost fully risen, Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375°. Line baking sheet with parchment or silicone mat. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and brush the top of the loaf with the butter. Put the pan on the baking sheet and bake the bread for about 20 minutes. Cover loosely with a foil tent and bake for another 25 minutes or so, until the bread is golden and sounds hollow when the bottom of the pan is tapped. Transfer pan to rack and cool for five minutes, then unmold invert the bread and cool to room temperature right side up on the rack.

Rustic Corn Bread

Presidio Winery

I spied this bread recipe at Pause Gourmande and I knew it would be perfect to take on our trip to Presidio Winery. It's grape vine pruning time and we invited ourselves along on the family trip to prune the vines. I grew up with wine maker Doug Braun's family, so it was easy to worm my way in to the pruning event.

The morning fog still hangs over the hills

 This is not a slash and dash pruning operation- Presidio uses a French method of “Guyot Simple" to train their vines. It involves removing old growth and careful pruning to select the proper (one or two) canes that will keep the vines healthy and produce the next crop of grapes. Once the cane(s) are selected they are twisted and tied to the fruiting wire. Time consuming work. Over the course of two days our crew of 6 only managed to prune about 400 of the 60,000 plants in the vineyard.

Cover crops are selected for the nutrients that they will add to the soil.

Presidio Winery and Vineyard is an organic and biodynamic winery located on the central coast California, just north of Santa Barbara. The tasting room is located in Solvang, a charming Scandinavian village, and the vineyard is across the highway near Lompoc. Doug and Angela Braun are the driving force behind Presidio Winery. Doug, the wine maker has been making wine in California for at least the past twenty five years, maybe longer. His wife Angela is not only the manager of the tasting room operation but she also handles the business end at the winery. Doug and Angela are warm and welcoming, so if you are in the area stop by the tasting room and sample some of the excellent wines they make.

Barrel Aging

 At the vineyard

After a long day pruning grape vines, a thick slice of this bread along with a glass of wine was the perfect way to relax. You can find the original recipe (in French) at Pause Gourmande. Aurelie has an absolutely beautiful blog. Drop by for a visit; you will be glad you did! Simply put, she has great recipes and stunning photography.

Cornmeal Bread
Adapted from Aurelie at Pause Gourmande

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoon dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 1/3 cup corn flour (corn meal)
4 cups of flour
2/3 cups warm milk
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Polenta – a course corn meal (or you can use regular corn meal)

Preparation:
Pour the yeast into a large bowl and gradually mix in warm water until yeast is dissolved. Add half the flour and about ½ cups corn flour. Mix until dough is soft.

Cover the bowl with a cling wrap and let stand in warm area about 30 minutes, remove the cling wrap.
Stir in milk, and olive oil, and then gradually mix remaining flours and salt until dough is smooth.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes so that it becomes smooth and elastic.
Place dough in an oiled bowl, turn over so oiled side is up, cover with cling wrap, and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk, 1 ½ to 2 hours.

Sprinkle a baking sheet with corn flour. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and compacting with his fist. Form a ball, flatten slightly and place on baking sheet. Sprinkle polenta, cover with an upside down bowl and let rise 1 hour in a warm spot.

 Place baking stone, if using, in oven, preheat the oven to 450 ° F
When dough has doubled in size,slit the top with a razor blade, and slide the loaf onto baking stone or place baking sheet in oven and bake 10 minutes spraying water inside the oven 2 to 3 times during cooking. Reduce temperature to 350 ° F and cook another 20 to 25 minutes and let cool on rack.
printable recipe

 I would like to thank Susan of Baking with Susan for the Creative Writer award and TAQ award for photography. Susan is a great baker and one of the friendliest blogger around. Stop by and enjoy her wit, recipes and photos.

Next I would like to Thank Juliana of Simple Recipes  for the Happy 101 Award.

Juliana has a beautiful blog where she shares not only fantastic recipes and photos but fun information about her ingredients.

Thank You Juliana and Susan.

Cocoa-Nana Bread

TWD: Cocoa-Nana Bread

It's Tuesday  and Steph of Obsessed with Baking chose Cocoa-Nana Bread, an easy to make  chocolate banana bread, with  loads of chocolate chips. I made both a loaf of bread and muffins, and they were both good, but not great. I love both chocolate and bananas, and I thought the combination would be a sure winner. I'm not sure where the problem lies, but the banana flavor was barely noticeable and neither the bread or the muffins were as moist as I would have like them to be.  Since cocoa has a drying effect,  next time I would do one of two things with the cocoa; replace some of the cocoa with melted chocolate or dissolve the cocoa in hot water, which releases the cocoa butter.  Or possibly, dare I say it, use less cocoa in order to get more banana flavor.

Cocoa-nana Bread
Dorie Greenspan

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup semisweet cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter at room temp
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, or 1/2 cup store-bought
chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and place it on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked on top of the other. (This extra insulation will keep the bottom of the bread from over baking.)

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed for about a minute, until softened. Add the sugars and beat for 2 minutes more. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. At this point, the batter may look a little curdled -- it's okay. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the mashed bananas. Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only until they disappear into the batter. Still on low speed, add the buttermilk, mixing until it is incorporated. Stir in the chopped chocolate. Scrape the batter into the pan.

Bake for 30 minutes. Cover the bread loosely with a foil tent to keep the top from getting too dark, and continue to bake for another 40 to 45 minutes (total baking time is between 70 to 75 minutes) or until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for at least 20 minutes before running a knife around the edges of the bread and unmolding. Invert and cool to room temp right side up.

To see what the other TWD bakers  did  visit our blog roll at Tuesdays with Dorie.

Italian Peasant Bread

We had some friends over for a bread and wine dinner. The kids, even though the don’t get any wine, really love this meal. I make the bread and every one brings something to enjoy with it. Cheese, carpese salad, sun dried tomato pesto, proscuitto, balsamic vinegar and olive oil dip, caponata and fruits. Of course, everyone brings a favorite wine to taste along with the food. Unfortunately I tossed all of the wine bottles the next morning, or I could give you a run down on our favorites. Next time.  If you have bread left over, it is fabulous  for breakfast, toasted with butter and honey.

The bread is a family favorite. It comes from the Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian by Jeff Smith. You do need a good stand mixer for this recipe to develop the gluten in the dough. Pizza stones or bread tiles are ideal for baking this bread, but it does works fine on a baking sheet. It takes about 5 hours from start to finish.

Italian Peasant Bread.

2 packages fast-rising dry yeast (2 Tablespoons)
2 ½ cups tepid water (110F)
Pinch sugar
6 ½ cups unbleached white bread flour or unbleached flour not all purpose flour
1 tsp salt dissolved in 1 tsp. water

1. Dissolve the yeast in the water, add sugar. Let stand 5 minutes, yeast should look creamy.

2. Make a batter of the water /yeast mixture together with 4 cups of flour. Beat for ten minutes with the paddle of electric mixer. It will pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and cling to the paddle.

3. Add salted water. Add remaining flour and knead for 5 minutes using a dough hook or 15 minutes by hand. The dough should be moist and elastic.

4. Place dough on plastic board and cover with a large bowl. Let rise for 1 to 2 hours or until double in bulk. Punch down and let rise for 1 ½ hours.

5. Place pizza stone, if using, in the upper third of the oven and pre heat the oven to 450F. Place a pan of hot water in the bottom of the oven, this will ensure a great crust.

6. Punch down and mold into 2 or 3 loves. I make 2 round loaves, but don’t worry about the shape, it doesn’t matter. Place the loaves on a large floured cotton sack towel, or a piece of cotton fabric. Sprinkle with flour and cover with an additional towel or fabric. Let rise until double, about 25- 30 minutes.

7. When bread has doubled place them upside down on the baking stone and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the bread is nicely browned register 200F on an instant read thermometer. Let cool before slicing.  Enjoy!

Hamburger buns

I bake bread. I always have. I don't use a bread machine. Sometimes I use my KitchenAide to beat a dough that need to develop a lot of gluten, but mostly I use my hands. Since we usually hang around the house on Sunday, it has become our family bread day . In the winter months, we have a soup and bread dinner, but in the summer it's buns. The buns are soft, buttery, slightly sweet and they make anything (pulled pork, chicken patties, or hamburgers) taste great.

You don't need any special skill or equipment to bake bread just a few hours of time. Always proof your yeast (step 1). Most doughs mix up in under twenty minutes, then you need time to allow it to rise, shape and bake. Easy to do when pulling weeds, doing laundry or reading a book. It you have dry yeast left over you can store it in the freezer to keep it fresh longer.

Hamburger buns

Makes 12
Step 1:

1 Tablespoon Yeast
¼ cup warm water
1 teaspoon sugar

Dissolve yeast in warm water stirring to make sure all of the yeast is dissolved. Add teaspoon sugar, mix and let sit until creamy about 5-10 minutes.

Step 2:

Add to the yeast mixture:
1/3 cup soft margarine
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup warm milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
3 ½- 4 cups unbleached flour.

Mix well.

Step 3:

Knead dough 5- 10 minutes, until smooth and soft, but not sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double in bulk, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When double, punch the dough down, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double again, about 45 minutes.

Step 4:

Punch down dough and divide in to twelve equal pieces. Shape each piece in to a smooth ball and flatten with you hand to form your buns about ½ inch thick and 3 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on greased or silpat cover cookie sheet, cover with a clean towel and let rise until double, about 30 minutes

Before rising

After rising

While buns are rising, pre heat oven to 375 F. When buns have risen, bake for 9-12 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and rub a pat of butter over the surface of the cooked rolls, this creates a soft crust.Cool, slice and enjoy.

printable recipe