BBA Challenge: Cornbread with Bacon
I realized as I started this challenge that I had forgotten to mention the cinnamon and sticky buns, which I actually made for the first time two years ago with The Daring Bakers. Since I had made them for a previous challenge I decided I did not need to repost them, though I highly recommend the recipe as they were delicious.
Now for the cornbread. This is one challenge where I suspected Mr. Reinhart and I might butt heads. I grew up eating my Southern mother’s and grandmothers’ cornbread, which is definitely not sweet. For me, eating sweet cornbread is akin to eating dessert, at least some of the versions I’ve tasted. Reinhart’s recipe has granulated sugar, brown sugar, and honey, a triple punch of sweet, but I made it exactly as directed so I could get the full essence of what he intended. Read more
The Daring Cooks Make Vegan Dosas
For the Daring Cooks September challenge, we made vegan dosas adapted from the reFresh cookbook by Ruth Tal. Fresh is a popular chain of vegetarian/vegan restaurants in Toronto, Canada with three published cookbooks teaching how to cook Fresh food at home. Our host Debyi of Healthy Vegan Kitchen chose this fun challenge for us, and I for one am grateful because this is the first time I’ve ever made Indian food and witnessed our two older boys actually eat it. Builder Guy (6) has recently developed a taste for spicy foods—good thing because we like our spices—and Top Gun (5) is finally coming around and trying new things. Monkey Boy is still a picky three-year-old, but he did eat one of the plain dosas. We thought the dosas were delicious and would eat that coconut curry sauce on just about anything. Read more
BBA Challenge: Cinnamon Walnut Raisin Bread
I hummed happily as I made this bread, enjoying how easy the process was. Then I accidentally left the dough for too long during the final rise and my first effort ended in abject failure when not just one, but both loaves fell in the oven. I was crushed, but at least my children ate those bricks as if nothing were wrong. I had a feeling this bread could become a family favorite and the second attempt proved me right on that point: the boys begged for slices with our homemade apple butter. Because I think of this as a homey bread I decided to skip making the swirl design, I just wanted a bread I could mix, rise, shape, and put into the pan without much fuss. I modified the recipe a bit, using 1-1/2 cups of whole wheat flour in place of some of the bread flour, and we liked the flavor and hearty texture. Read more
BBA Challenge: Ciabatta
I’m slowly catching up with the rest of the BBA Challenge crew, though summer keeps trying to derail my plans. Baking in the summer is always a challenge for me, whether it’s the heat making the kitchen unbearably hot or the distractions of three boys, each with his own agenda. The boys were my distraction during the ciabatta, when means I forgot to snap a photo of the poolish, and the final rise was about double what it should have been. My loaves didn’t stretch quite so well before going into the oven and were much higher than expected even though I dimpled the loaves. One even had a big gaping hole right under the crust.
Other than my challenge with over-rising, the ciabatta is not difficult to make and doesn’t require any special skills for shaping. If you can pick up a piece of dough and stretch it, you can make this bread. Read more
BBA Challenge: Challah
When done properly, Challahs are one of my favorite breads. The shape is beautiful, especially the celebration breads with multiple layers or multiple braids or when adorned with raisins or seeds.
I enjoyed making this loaf, though I had a few distractions along the way that caused the dough to over rise twice. Then I seemed to overwork the dough because the rolls were never quite smooth and my challah looks stretched, like it’s splitting open in the middle. One of those things I have to work on.
Thanks as always to Nicole of Pinch My Salt for organizing the BBA Challenge! For more bread inspiration, check out the BBA Challenge photos in the BBA Challenge Flickr photo group.
BBA Challenge: Casatiello
The next brioche in the BBA Challenge was an Italian variation, a casatiello, which is usually made with some type of cured meat and cheese. Reinhart suggests a good melting cheese such as Swiss, Gouda, Cheddar or any of their variations. For meats he suggests salami, pepperoni, bacon, pancetta, chorizo, or sausage. I chose some applewood smoked ham and provolone, two flavors I like together.
The bread starts with a quick sponge, followed by mixing and two risings. Casatiello is traditionally baked in paper bags or panettone molds, though I used a tall round 8-inch cake pan, which worked well. The bread was popular with my family, so much so that Monkey Boy took a huge hunk out of it while it sat cooling on the wire rack. We liked the slightly salty flavor of the ham and the Provolone melted just right. Even after a day the flavor was still present. Read more
