Bread Baking Babes : Carrot Bread

Heather, the Bread Baking Babe of the month, found this great tasting orange bread for us to bake, she chose it because it was a bit challenging due to: hard to find ingredients and more steps than usual in preparation.

Our host adapted it from :Artisan Breads: Practical Recipes and Detailed Instructions for Baking the World's Finest Loaves . You can enjoy her post here.
The crust on the bread it's pure joy, the colour it's fantastic and the toasted seeds are addicting !!  Really loved it toasted and my mum even more....she finished it when she came for lunch !!

RECIPE

by Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez

Prep Time: 28 hours (mostly unattended)

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Keywords: bake bread vegan dairy-free soy-free carrots flour

Ingredients (3 loaves)

for the Poolish:

• 3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 cup lukewarm water + more as needed
• 2-1/2 cups (13 ounces / 364 grams) stone ground rye flour

for the Dough:

• 1/3 cup toasted sesame seeds
• 3/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds
• 2-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 cup carrot juice, lukewarm
• 1-1/4 cups grated carrot
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 6-6-1/2 cups (29.4-31.8 ounces / 823.2-890.4 grams) bread flour
• 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon golden syrup (or honey or maple syrup)
• 1/4 cup sunflower oil
• 4 teaspoons sea salt

for the Crackle Glaze:

• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons lukewarm water
• 3/4 cup + 1-1/4 tablespoons (4.7 ounce / 131.6 gram) rice flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1-3/4 teaspoons sunflower oil
• 3/4 teaspoons sea salt

Instructions

Day 1: Make the Poolish

Dissolve the yeast in the water, and let sit a few minutes to bloom. Whisk in the flour until smooth - if it is very thick, continue whisking in more water until it is the consistency of a thick batter. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours; at this point it should be a bit bubbly.

Day 2: Baking Day

In a large bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer fitted with dough hook attachment), dissolve the yeast in the carrot juice, let sit a few minutes until it looks creamy (bloomed). Add the grated carrot, parsley, the lesser amount of bread flour, golden syrup, and the poolish to the bowl. Knead on low speed for 3 minutes. If the dough doesn't seem too sticky, then don't add any more of the flour; it will firm up as it is kneaded (plus you have more to add to it).

Add the oil to the bowl and knead for another 8 minutes. Add the salt, increase the speed, and knead until elastic, about 7 more minutes. At this point, the dough will not be sticky any longer. Use the extra flour, a tiny bit at a time, to remedy the dough if it is. Add the toasted seeds, and gently mix in.

Place the dough into a large, lightly oiled bowl or container and cover. Let sit for 60-90 minutes, *knocking the dough back halfway through. To knock the dough back, remove it from the bowl and set it on a work surface. Use your hands to knock the air out of it. Fold the edges towards the center to form a cushion. Replace in the container, seam side down.

make the Crackling Glaze:

While the dough is rising, dissolve the yeast in the water in a medium bowl. Whisk in the remaining ingredients. It should be spreadable, but not runny. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes before using.

shaping and baking:

Turn the dough out onto a lighty floured work surface and divide into 3 equal parts (approximately 78 ounces of dough to equal three 26 ounce portions).

Form the portions into three round balls, and cover them with a clean tea towel. Let rest for 10 minutes.

Shape each circle of dough into an oblong loaf, by gently pressing ball down into a circle and then tucking/rolling into shape. Set loaves, seam side down, onto a lightly floured bread peel or thin cutting board. Glaze the loaves generously with the crackling glaze (you'll have a lot of leftover glaze), and leave to rise at room temperature for 60-75 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size and the the surface is crackled.

Place a baking stone into the oven, and preheat to 475° F during last 20 minutes or so of rise time.

Slide the loaves onto the stone (let them rise directly on a baking sheet or two if you don't have a stone - slide that into preheated oven) and spray generously with water. Close oven door. Lower the temperature to 400° F after 5 minutes. After another 10 minutes, open the oven door to let in a little air. Repeat two more times (every 10 minutes). Total baking time will be 45 minutes.

Remove bread from oven and cool on a wire rack.

The Cake Slice : Nectarine Oat Upside - Down Cake

And here we are with the last submission for Vintage Cakes the book that has accompanied  the Cake Slice Group in the last year.

Each of us could choose any cake from the book, and I chose this recipe very well ahead knowing how bad I usually am. It is a simple yet delicious one, I baked it in September when the market was still filled with summer fruits but, as Julie Richardson points out in the introduction to the recipe, it can be made using pears apples or apricots as well.

Please visit all the other member of the Group and if you wish join us for the new book from which we'll be baking from November on ........ shh it's still a secret !

I'm adding the links to the blogs of all my Cake Slice friends, don't add your links !

The Cake Slice: Butterscotch Cream Roll -Up

This wonderful and fantastic cake is was the month's cake for The Cake Slice ... now I'm really ashamed of my delay but the worst part is that I baked it in time as I had done for the previous cake and not posted it.  
I'm so very lucky that in this group they are so nice to put up with me: Thank you !!

Making this cake looks harder than it is, just follow the directions and you are done.
The recipe is the one before the last we bake from Julie Richardson's Vintage Cakes.

Butterscotch Cream Roll-Up

Ingredients

Butterscotch Sauce ~

• ⅓ cup (3 ounces) unsalted butter
• 1 cup (7½ ounces) firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon whisky (optional)
• 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt

Cake ~

• 1 cup (4 ounces) sifted cake flour
• 1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ cup canola oil
• 4 egg yolks, at room temperature
• ¼ cup water
• 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 6 egg whites, at room temperature
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

Filling ~

• 1½ cups heavy cream, cold
• ½ cup (2 ounces) natural sliced almonds, toasted

Preparation

Butterscotch Sauce ~

1. Melt the butter over medium heat in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. 
2. Add the brown sugar all at once and stir with a wooden spoon to combine; cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture begins to simmer and changes from a wet sand consistency to a liquid that gives off a lovely molasses smell and looks like taffy, approximately 3 minutes from the time it comes to a simmer.
3. Drizzle ¼ cup of the cream into the mixture and vigorously blend the cream into the sugar and whisk in the remaining cream.
4. Turn the heat up to medium-high and allow the sauce to boil, whisking occasionally, until it has darkened, about 8 minutes.
5. Remove the pot from the heat and allow the sauce to cool for a few minutes before adding the whisky, vanilla, and salt.
6. Refrigerate until cold.

Cake ~

1. Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 325℉.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and ¾ cup of the sugar in a large bowl, then whisk the ingredients by hand.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, yolks, water, and vanilla.
4. Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and briskly stir with a rubber spatula until just smooth.
5. In the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the clean whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium speed until frothy.
6. Add the cream of tartar and gradually increase the speed to high, whipping until the whites just form a soft peak.
7. With the mixer on medium speed, gradually add the remaining ¼ cup of sugar in a slow stream.
8. Return the mixer to high and continue whipping until the whites just begin to hold firm, shiny peaks.
9. With a rubber spatula, fold a third of the whites into the batter, using as few strokes as possible. Add the remaining whites, folding until incorporated.
10. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top (this is best done with an offset spatula).
11. Place the pan in the oven and bake the cake until it springs back when lightly touched and is barely golden in color, 16 to 20 minutes.
12. Cool the cake on a wire rack until it reaches room temperature.

Filling ~

1. Place the bowl of a stand mixer and its whisk attachment in the freezer for 5 minutes.
2. Fit the cold bowl and whisk to the mixer and whip the 1½ cups of cold heavy cream and 1 cup of the cold butterscotch sauce together on medium-low speed until the ingredients are blended.
3. Gradually turn the mixer up to high speed and whip just until the cream holds soft peaks but is not yet stiff.

Assembly ~

1. Keep the cake in its pan and orient the pan so the longer side is closest to you.
2. Cut the cake with a serrated knife into four equal pieces measuring 4 by 12 inches.
3. Cut through the underlying parchment paper with a pair of scissors in the same places that you cut the cake so you have four quarters of cake (with parchment paper) that can each move independently.
4. Leaving the cake in the pan, spread a bit more than half of the butterscotch cream evenly over the cake and sprinkle with the toasted almonds.
5. Refrigerate the remainder of the cream while you roll up the cake.
6. With the pan still oriented with the longer side closest to you, lift up the nearest edge—both cake and paper—of one of your 4 strips. Using the parchment paper as the cake’s support, begin to tuck the cake into a roll and continue tucking (and peeling away the parchment paper) while gently rolling the cake away from you into a roll.
7. Place the rolled cake upright on a serving plate, so that the spiral of cake and filling is visible at the top. (Don’t worry, it gets easier from here.)
8. Lift up the next cake strip, using the parchment paper to support it, and wrap the strip around the roll on the serving plate, beginning where the outside edge of the first cake left off, in order to create a bigger roll.
9. Continue with the next two strips, beginning the wrap where the last left off, to make one enormous rolled up cake.
10. Finish by frosting the sides with the remainder of the cream (you might need to give the cream a few turns with a hand whisk to stiffen it up), leaving the top free to show off the spiral of cake and cream. Refrigerate the cake for at least 1 hour and up to 1 day, lightly wrapped in plastic.
11. Just before serving, warm the remaining butterscotch sauce and drizzle it over the individual servings. Well wrapped and refrigerated, this cake keeps for up to 3 days.

Cake from Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson.

World Bread Day : Walnut and Date Sourdough Loaf

 I'm glad Zorra and the World Bread Day 2013 are finally awakening me from my blogging sleep. I hope you will forgive the ugly pictures and the short post but I  woke up just now !!!

Lately I'm baking mostly sourdough bread with some goodies into it. 

In this case I added apples, oats as asked in the recipe but also raisins, dates and hazelnuts...the more the better !

My preferred bread lately is bourke street bakery and this bread comes from it.
In the sourdough section there are four basic recipes followed by a group of derivative ones, I tried many of them and they are all very delicious !

RECIPE

 Millers Loaf (follow the green suggestions to make the Walnut and Date bread)

from Bourke Street Bakery

(makes 1,5 kg so if you only want to bake the apple and oat loaf above , halve the recipe)

390g sourdough starter
440g organic plain flour
145g organic wholemeal flour
145g organic rye flour
360ml water
20g sea salt

140 gr toasted walnuts

200 gr chopped dates
In the bowl of an electric mixer with the dough hook attached, add the plain flour, wholemeal flour, rye flour and the water. Mix on low speed for about 7 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle the salt over the dough and mix on low speed for about 6 minutes, or until a smooth elastic dough forms, and you reach the windowpane test.

Mix the walnuts and the dates in the dough for a few minutes

Lightly grease a container with oil spray and put the dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for 1 hour to prove.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press out into a rectangle, about 2.5cm thick. Fold one-third back onto itself, then repeat with the remaining third. Turn the dough 90 degrees and fold it over again into thirds. Place the dough back into the oiled container and prove again for another hour. 
Divide the dough into three even-sized portions, weighing about 500g each. Working with one protion of dough at a time, shape the loaves into rounds.

Line a large baking sheet with baking paper and place the dough rounds, evenly-spaced, on it. Place in the refrigerator loosely covered with a plastic bag for 8-12 hours. The cold and long fermentation in the fridge is for flavour development and volume.

Remove the loaves from the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature - this can take anywhere between 1 and 4 hours - until each loaf has grown in size by two-thirds.

Preheat the oven to its highest temperature. Spray the oven with water and bake the loaves for 20 minutes, then turn the loaves and bake for a further 10 minutes, watching carefully to make sure that the loaves do not burn. Baking shouldn't take any longer than 40 minutes. If the oven temperature is too fierce, turn the heat down a bit.  

GRAZIE ZORRA !!!