bread

homemade bagels

Posted by hannah on Oct 6, 2010 in bread | 7 comments

I could have drowned in awesome bagels in the US. As a matter of fact, the bagels at Scratch were better than any bagel I had before – anywhere. Once home I knew I had to figure out how to make bagels myself, as bagels are rare (well not so rare but they are not that common) to find in Germany, and if you find some they’re usually not very good. This is the first try at a yeast bagel recipe. I will try sourdough bagels soon, as this – and lye – are probably the secret to Scratch’s bagels.

Walnut bread

Posted by hannah on Aug 17, 2010 in bread | 7 comments

print this yum!

Oh, we Germans are so into all kinds of bread. One thing I start to miss when I am abroad is the variation of breads you can choose from in any bakery or supermarket. So I must post bread recipes. Repeat: must post bread recipes. We (I) love dark breads with rustic crust that taste strong and make you use your teeth. They go along with anything from plain butter, to cheese or marmalade. Oh and and here is a secret: have you ever tried a dark bread with nutella and banana slices? This is oh so yummy.  This particular one here  is more the cheese and butter kind of bread. It contains two types of flour and olive oil and walnuts. A rustic type of bread, great with a cheese platter.

Ingredients:

• 42 g yeast
• 300 ml water, lukewarm
• 1 tsp sugar
• 250 g spelt flour
• 250 g rye flour
• 1 tbsp fine grain sea salt
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 200 g walnuts, roughly chopped
• 10 g rye flour, for dusting the bread

Directions:
Crumble the yeast int a medium sized bowl. Add water and sugar and dissolve the yeast. Set aside. Using the bowl of your stand mixer combine the flours with the salt. Form a dent in the middle and pour in the yeast water mixture and the olive oil. Using the kneading attachment of your stand mixer, process at medium speed until the dough comes neatly together and forms a ball. The dough can be a bit sticky, this is fine. If it is too sticky, add additional flour – 1 tablespoon at a time – until you got the desired consistency. All in all the dough should not be too heavy. Cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rise for about 45 minutes. Make sure the place is warm – near the radiator in the bathroom – in the sun, or in the cooled down oven works well.

After the dough has increased in size, knead in the walnut pieces. This should be done by hand and you should not knead too long. Form a ball from the dough and set on a baking dish which you have covered with parchment paper. Cover again with a towel and set aside in a warm place for another 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C / 390°F. Before you bake the bread, use the backside of a knife and press a cross into the dough. Sprinkle with the remaining 10g of rye flour and then bake for about 45 minutes. The bread is finished once it has a crispy crust and when you knock on the bottom of the bread it sounds hollow. It’s time to remove it.

Source: adapted from marions kochbuch