Blog Rewind - Pumpkin Yeast Bread 3 Ways

It's hard to believe I wrote this three years ago, but with Fall in the air, it seems like a good time to bring it back. Here's a repost from October 2011:



One batch of bread dough, three different-yet-similar final breads. Brace yourself for a post of epic proportions. I'm not even kidding. This thing is LOOOONG. Ready? OK, good. Let's get to it.

I'll keep the words to a minimum because 1) I took a ridiculous amount of pictures so they'll take up a ton space and 2) let's face it, you'd *rather* look at (mostly) pretty pictures {I apologize in advance for the large number of blurry pics} and get to the good stuff, anyway — the recipes!

Let's start with the base — the dough.



It's vigorous. I hope you've got a big bowl.
("I hope you've got a big trunk, 'cause I'm gonna put my BIKE in it." Name that movie.)


Pumpkin Yeast Bread
adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients
1/2 cup warm water
2 Tbsp SAF instant yeast or 2 packets of rapid rise yeast
2/3 cup warm (NOT HOT) whole milk (or 2%)
2 large eggs, beaten
1-1/2 cups canned pumpkin (This is *almost* the entire 15oz can. I was tempted to just use it all. If you do, you'll just need to adjust the amount of flour needed.)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup dark brown sugar (can use light if you want, I just wanted a more robust flavor)
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp cinnamon*
1/2 heaping tsp ginger*
1/2 tsp cardamom*
1/4 - 1/2 tsp ground cloves*
1/8 tsp nutmeg*
4 cups bread flour
2+ cups whole wheat flour

*I'm very willy-nilly with my spices. I just sort of toss them in until it seems like the right amount, so these measurements are approximate. I know, not exactly helpful. Use what YOU like and how much you like. Remember this makes 2 LARGE or three good-size loaves, so what might seem like too much probably isn't. I LOVE cinnamon so I tend to go crazy with it. Disclaimer over.

Directions
In bowl of stand mixer, add 4 cups of bread flour, yeast, salt, spices. Mix until blended. Add water, milk, eggs, pumpkin, oil, and sugar. Beat well about 2 minutes. Add whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup at a time until the dough comes together and switch to the dough hook. Knead until the dough clears the sides (you'll need to scrape them down once or twice) adding just a little bit of flour at a time. The dough will eventually clear the bottom as well. The dough should be slightly tacky but not sticky and should be fairly smooth. This will take about 10 minutes all told.

Put dough in a large, oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap (spray the wrap with oil so that the dough won't stick when it BLOWS UP. *ahem*) and put it in a warm spot to blow up double, about 1 hour.

Get ready for the FUN to begin.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *



I divided this beast into three pieces, each weighing in around 20.5 ounces.

With the first piece, I made the easiest of the three — pull-apart bread. (Keep the other two covered while you work so they don't dry out.)



Roll, slather, cut, layer, cut, stack, put in pan. Wait....



Told you it was vigorous. Here's the pan of pull-apart bread after about 45min to an hour. HUGE and ready for the oven.



Oh, gracious. Would you LOOK at the bottom of that bread. Dreamy.



And here's the crunchy, sweet, cinnamon-y top. Equally dreamy.

Pumpkin Pull-Apart Bread
Ingredients
1/3 pumpkin bread dough
1/4 cup brown sugar, loosely packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
6 Tbsp butter, melted, divided

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray loaf pan with cooking spray, coating entire inside.
Using 1/3 of the pumpkin dough, pat into rectangle and roll out to approximately 18" x 10" or thereabouts. Mix together sugars and cinnamon in small bowl. Spread about 4 Tbsp of the melted butter over dough and cover completely with sugar mixture, reserving a tablespoon or two for topping.

Cut in half lengthwise and stack the two strips. Cut stacked strips in 2" sections. Stack these and place in well greased loaf pan. Drizzle remaining butter over the loaf and sprinkle reserved sugar over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until top crest the pan about 1/2" to 1", about 45 minutes.

Bake approximately 30-40 minutes, until internal temp of bread is 190°F. Top will get dark. Cover after 20 minutes to prevent it from burning or getting too dark.

Remove from oven and let rest on wire rack just a minute or two. Run knife around edges of pan to make sure it's not sticking, then turn out onto foil or parchment paper. Let it sit there for a minute or so to let the gooey goodness distribute a bit.  Flip again so the top is upright. Let cool slightly (5-10 minutes) before diving in. The sugar will be HOT and basically like caramel (oh, yeah) so it's easy to burn your fingers if you start devouring immediately. It'll be worth the wait.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Next up: Monkey Bread. But not just any old monkey bread. Oh, no. This is...

Cream Cheese Stuffed Pumpkin Monkey Bread

Did you're eyes just flutter and roll to the back of your head like you were going to pass out? It's ok. Mine did when I had the idea for this, then it was all I could do not to laugh like a mad scientist. "EUREKA! Bwah HA HA HAAAAAA!" *drumming tips of fingers together* I was just sure it was going to be amazing. I was right.

You're going to mix up a block of cream cheese with powdered sugar and spices.



Then you roll out the dough in no particular size, just roll it to about 1/4" thickness but no more than that. Thinner is ok.



Then cut into 1-1/2" to 2" squares. Cover most of the dough, then get to work. I'm not going to lie. This is time consuming, but oh so worth it.



Shape...



Dunk...



And repeat with all of the dough. Put in a greased bundt pan, cover and let rise...




Bake...



Nearly pass out again when you turn this out onto a serving plate...



Then bliss out when you take your first bite...



It's best cooled to warm-not-hot. So, if you can resist, let it sit about 30 minutes.



Cream Cheese Stuffed Pumpkin Monkey Bread
Ingredients
Filling
8oz (1 pkg) cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 heaping tsp cinnamon

Coating
1/3 pumpkin bread dough
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
dash nutmeg
any other spices you like - ginger, cloves, cardamom - go crazy
1 stick butter, melted

Directions
Spray bundt pan with cooking spray, coating entire insides well.
Filling: In medium bowl mix all ingredients until smooth. I used my hand mixer, but you can mix by hand with a spoon, just make sure the cream cheese is room temp - it'll be easier that way.
Coating: Melt butter in small bowl. Mix sugars and spices in another small bowl. Grab a slotted spoon and a large regular spoon.
Roll dough to approx 1/4" thick but not more than that. Thinner is ok. Cut into squares, covering dough as you work. Place a dollop of cream cheese mixture in the center of the square then pull edges of dough around the filling, sealing as best you can. Roll into smooth-ish ball shape and put in butter. Scoop out with slotted spoon and tap on edge of bowl to drain excess. Drop into sugar bowl, turning to coat with regular spoon. Place in prepared bundt pan. Repeat with remaining dough layering the coated pieces as you go. You'll end up with extra cream cheese, butter and sugar mix. No worries. You'll use them in the next bread. OR if you're only making this bread, save them to slather on pancakes or toast!

Drizzle a little bit of butter over the pan of dough and sprinkle on a bit more sugar, too. Cover and let rise about 45 min.

Bake in 350°F oven 40-45 minutes or until internal temp is 190°F. Cover the pan with foil if it's getting too dark.

Remove from oven and run knife around all the edges. Grab a large plate or serving platter. Place on top of the bundt pan. With one hand on the bottom of the plate and the other holding the pan (with an oven mitt or towel) flip them together keeping bundt pan on top of the plate. Let the weight of the bread pull it it from the pan. You might need to tap it a bit. Slowly pull the pan off the bread and marvel and what you've just created. TA-DA!!!

Let cool about 30 minutes before eating. I know you're not going to, but that's OK. I didn't either. But it DID taste better once it cooled a bit. Bring this to Thanksgiving or your next get together. Be prepared for the deluge of compliments and the "OMG-this-is-amazing" you'll receive.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Are you still with me? I'm so glad. We're almost done and this one is super simple because we've got everything ready to go since we're using the leftovers from the other bread(s).



Roll, slather, sprinkle, rollup, seal, plop in pan, wait...

Bake...



Realize you didn't roll the dough tightly enough...



Then shrug your shoulders and eat it anyway 'cause it's AWESOME.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Swirl Pumpkin Bread
Basically, this is a straight up cinnamon swirl bread but you use the cream cheese mixture in place of butter. Easy peasy. So if you take away anything from this post, just try this with your favorite cinnamon swirl bread recipe. You'll thank me.

Ingredients
1/3 Pumpkin bread dough
Cinnamon Sugar mix
Cream Cheese mixture (cream cheese, powdered sugar, cinnamon)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Spray loaf pan with cooking spray.
Roll out dough to approximately 10" x 10". Smooth cream cheese mixture over dough then evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mix. Roll dough pulling tightly to avoid gaping voids. Smooth edge into roll then pinch the ends to seal and tuck under. Place in greased pan, cover and let rise about 45 min or until dough crests edge of pan. Bake until internal temp is 190°F about 35-40 minutes, or until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Remove and place on cooling rack. Immediately turn out of pan on to rack. let cool before slicing and serving. Bread will smash and mush if you try to cut it while hot. This is really good toasted and I'm guessing it would make out-of-this-world French toast. Give it a shot!

WHEW! You made it all the way through. What a trooper. If you try any (or all) of these recipes, please let me know. I'd love to hear about it in the comments or shoot me an email.


ADDENDUM: I've linked this post up to the Red Star yeast Holiday Recipe Swap. Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Red Star Yeast.

Pumpkin Yeast Bread — Three Ways

One batch of bread dough, three different-yet-similar final breads. Brace yourself for a post of epic proportions. I'm not even kidding. This thing is LOOOONG. Ready? OK, good. Let's get to it.

I'll keep the words to a minimum because 1) I took a ridiculous amount of pictures so they'll take up a ton space and 2) let's face it, you'd *rather* look at (mostly) pretty pictures {I apologize in advance for the large number of blurry pics} and get to the good stuff, anyway — the recipes!

Let's start with the base — the dough.



It's vigorous. I hope you've got a big bowl.
("I hope you've got a big trunk, 'cause I'm gonna put my BIKE in it." Name that movie.)


Pumpkin Yeast Bread
adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients
1/2 cup warm water
2 Tbsp SAF instant yeast or 2 packets of rapid rise yeast
2/3 cup warm (NOT HOT) whole milk (or 2%)
2 large eggs, beaten
1-1/2 cups canned pumpkin (This is *almost* the entire 15oz can. I was tempted to just use it all. If you do, you'll just need to adjust the amount of flour needed.)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup dark brown sugar (can use light if you want, I just wanted a more robust flavor)
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp cinnamon*
1/2 heaping tsp ginger*
1/2 tsp cardamom*
1/4 - 1/2 tsp ground cloves*
1/8 tsp nutmeg*
4 cups bread flour
2+ cups whole wheat flour

*I'm very willy-nilly with my spices. I just sort of toss them in until it seems like the right amount, so these measurements are approximate. I know, not exactly helpful. Use what YOU like and how much you like. Remember this makes 2 LARGE or three good-size loaves, so what might seem like too much probably isn't. I LOVE cinnamon so I tend to go crazy with it. Disclaimer over.

Directions
In bowl of stand mixer, add 4 cups of bread flour, yeast, salt, spices. Mix until blended. Add water, milk, eggs, pumpkin, oil, and sugar. Beat well about 2 minutes. Add whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup at a time until the dough comes together and switch to the dough hook. Knead until the dough clears the sides (you'll need to scrape them down once or twice) adding just a little bit of flour at a time. The dough will eventually clear the bottom as well. The dough should be slightly tacky but not sticky and should be fairly smooth. This will take about 10 minutes all told.

Put dough in a large, oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap (spray the wrap with oil so that the dough won't stick when it BLOWS UP. *ahem*) and put int a warm spot to blow up double, about 1 hour.

Get ready for the FUN to begin.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *



I divided this beast into three pieces, each weighing in around 20.5 ounces.

With the first piece, I made the easiest of the three — pull-apart bread. (Keep the other two covered while you work so they don't dry out.)



Roll, slather, cut, layer, cut, stack, put in pan. Wait....



Told you it was vigorous. Here's the pan of pull-apart bread after about 45min to an hour. HUGE and ready for the oven.



Oh, gracious. Would you LOOK at the bottom of that bread. Dreamy.



And here's the crunchy, sweet, cinnamon-y top. Equally dreamy.

Pumpkin Pull-Apart Bread
Ingredients
1/3 pumpkin bread dough
1/4 cup brown sugar, loosely packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
6 Tbsp butter, melted, divided

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray loaf pan with cooking spray, coating entire inside.
Using 1/3 of the pumpkin dough, pat into rectangle and roll out to approximately 18" x 10" or thereabouts. Mix together sugars and cinnamon in small bowl. Spread about 4 Tbsp of the melted butter over dough and cover completely with sugar mixture, reserving a tablespoon or two for topping.

Cut in half lengthwise and stack the two strips. Cut stacked strips in 2" sections. Stack these and place in well greased loaf pan. Drizzle remaining butter over the loaf and sprinkle reserved sugar over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until top crest the pan about 1/2" to 1", about 45 minutes.

Bake approximately 30-40 minutes, until internal temp of bread is 190°F. Top will get dark. Cover after 20 minutes to prevent it from burning or getting too dark.

Remove from oven and let rest on wire rack just a minute or two. Run knife around edges of pan to make sure it's not sticking, then turn out onto foil or parchment paper. Let it sit there for a minute or so to let the gooey goodness distribute a bit.  Flip again so the top is upright. Let cool slightly (5-10 minutes) before diving in. The sugar will be HOT and basically like caramel (oh, yeah) so it's easy to burn your fingers if you start devouring immediately. It'll be worth the wait.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Next up: Monkey Bread. But not just any old monkey bread. Oh, no. This is...

Cream Cheese Stuffed Pumpkin Monkey Bread

Did you're eyes just flutter and roll to the back of your head like you were going to pass out? It's ok. Mine did when I had the idea for this, then it was all I could do not to laugh like a mad scientist. "EUREKA! Bwah HA HA HAAAAAA!" *drumming tips of fingers together* I was just sure it was going to be amazing. I was right.

You're going to mix up a block of cream cheese with powdered sugar and spices.



Then you roll out the dough in no particular size, just roll it to about 1/4" thickness but no more than that. Thinner is ok.



Then cut into 1-1/2" to 2" squares. Cover most of the dough, then get to work. I'm not going to lie. This is time consuming, but oh so worth it.



Shape...



Dunk...



And repeat with all of the dough. Put in a greased bundt pan, cover and let rise...




Bake...



Nearly pass out again when you turn this out onto a serving plate...



Then bliss out when you take your first bite...



It's best cooled to warm-not-hot. So, if you can resist, let it sit about 30 minutes.



Cream Cheese Stuffed Pumpkin Monkey Bread
Ingredients
Filling
8oz (1 pkg) cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 heaping tsp cinnamon

Coating
1/3 pumpkin bread dough
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
dash nutmeg
any other spices you like - ginger, cloves, cardamom - go crazy
1 stick butter, melted

Directions
Spray bundt pan with cooking spray, coating entire insides well.
Filling: In medium bowl mix all ingredients until smooth. I used my hand mixer, but you can mix by hand with a spoon, just make sure the cream cheese is room temp - it'll be easier that way.
Coating: Melt butter in small bowl. Mix sugars and spices in another small bowl. Grab a slotted spoon and a large regular spoon.
Roll dough to approx 1/4" thick but not more than that. Thinner is ok. Cut into squares, covering dough as you work. Place a dollop of cream cheese mixture in the center of the square then pull edges of dough around the filling, sealing as best you can. Roll into smooth-ish ball shape and put in butter. Scoop out with slotted spoon and tap on edge of bowl to drain excess. Drop into sugar bowl, turning to coat with regular spoon. Place in prepared bundt pan. Repeat with remaining dough layering the coated pieces as you go. You'll end up with extra cream cheese, butter and sugar mix. No worries. You'll use them in the next bread. OR if you're only making this bread, save them to slather on pancakes or toast!

Drizzle a little bit of butter over the pan of dough and sprinkle on a bit more sugar, too. Cover and let rise about 45 min.

Bake in 350°F oven 40-45 minutes or until internal temp is 190°F. Cover the pan with foil if it's getting too dark.

Remove from oven and run knife around all the edges. Grab a large plate or serving platter. Place on top of the bundt pan. With one hand on the bottom of the plate and the other holding the pan (with an oven mitt or towel) flip them together keeping bundt pan on top of the plate. Let the weight of the bread pull it it from the pan. You might need to tap it a bit. Slowly pull the pan off the bread and marvel and what you've just created. TA-DA!!!

Let cool about 30 minutes before eating. I know you're not going to, but that's OK. I didn't either. But it DID taste better once it cooled a bit. Bring this to Thanksgiving or your next get together. Be prepared for the deluge of compliments and the "OMG-this-is-amazing" you'll receive.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Are you still with me? I'm so glad. We're almost done and this one is super simple because we've got everything ready to go since we're using the leftovers from the other bread(s).



Roll, slather, sprinkle, rollup, seal, plop in pan, wait...

Bake...



Realize you didn't roll the dough tightly enough...



Then shrug your shoulders and eat it anyway 'cause it's AWESOME.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Swirl Pumpkin Bread
Basically, this is a straight up cinnamon swirl bread but you use the cream cheese mixture in place of butter. Easy peasy. So if you take away anything from this post, just try this with your favorite cinnamon swirl bread recipe. You'll thank me.

Ingredients
1/3 Pumpkin bread dough
Cinnamon Sugar mix
Cream Cheese mixture (cream cheese, powdered sugar, cinnamon)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Spray loaf pan with cooking spray.
Roll out dough to approximately 10" x 10". Smooth cream cheese mixture over dough then evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mix. Roll dough pulling tightly to avoid gaping voids. Smooth edge into roll then pinch the ends to seal and tuck under. Place in greased pan, cover and let rise about 45 min or until dough crests edge of pan. Bake until internal temp is 190°F about 35-40 minutes, or until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Remove and place on cooling rack. Immediately turn out of pan on to rack. let cool before slicing and serving. Bread will smash and mush if you try to cut it while hot. This is really good toasted and I'm guessing it would make out-of-this-world French toast. Give it a shot!

WHEW! You made it all the way through. What a trooper. If you try any (or all) of these recipes, please let me know. I'd love to hear about it in the comments or shoot me an email.


ADDENDUM: I've linked this post up to the Red Star yeast Holiday Recipe Swap. Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Red Star Yeast.

Twisted Cheese Bread

A few years ago, Dwight bought me 3 or 4 bread books for my birthday. One was the Bread Baker's Apprentice. If you've been with me for a while, you'll know that I joined a baking group that made every bread in the book from start to finish.

One of the other books he bought was Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads. I'm pretty sure it would take nearly the rest of my live to bake through this one given that it has approximately 3 trillion recipes. OK, not really. There are at LEAST 200, though, so I don't have any plans to bake my way through the whole thing. But I hadn't made bread in what felt like eons, so I picked up this hefty book and searched for something that would strike my fancy. And involved cheese.



I found this one. It has beer (or you can use milk) plus 2 kinds of cheese. Some of you might gasp and/or cringe when I tell you that one of the cheeses used is... process American cheese. BUT! The other is Swiss. Will that help you get over your shock at the American cheese? No? What if I tell you that this bread rocks my socks and makes amazing sandwich bread? I knew I'd change your mind.



Twisted Cheese Bread
adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads
Yields 2 medium loaves

Ingredients
1 12oz bottle of can or beer, or 1-1/2 cups milk (I used a bottle of honey wheat beer.)
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp butter
8oz process American cheese (recipe says you can use process Swiss if you prefer)
5-6 cups bread flour (can use AP if you don't have bread flour on hand)
1 Tbsp SAF instant yeast (or 2 packets if you don't have a large jar of yeast like I do)
8oz natural Swiss cheese cut into 1/2" cubes (Just realized the recipe calls for 1/4" cubes. I misread and made my large. Either size should be fine. Smaller cubes will be a bit easier to incorporate and will mean smaller but more frequent pockets of cheese.)

Directions
In medium sauce pan, combine beer (or milk), water, sugar, salt, butter and process cheese. Cook over medium heat stirring frequently until mixture is hot and cheese is nearly melted. It won't completely melt and will be thick.  Remove from heat and let cool until temperature reads about 110-115°F on instant read thermometer. If it's too hot, it will kill the yeast.

In bowl or stand mixer, put 2 cups of flour and yeast. Add the warm (not hot!) cheese mixture and beat with paddle attachment for about 3 minutes on medium speed. Add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough becomes too thick for the paddle. Switch to the dough hook and continue adding SMALL amounts of flour until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. It should be tacky but not slack or sticky. Knead for about 5 minutes.

Turn out on to lightly floured surface and add Swiss cheese cubes. Knead in the cheese until incorporated and evenly distributed. They'll want to pop out. Just poke them back in.

Place dough into a large, oiled bowl turning the dough once to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let proof in warm place for about an hour. It should double in size.

Prepare 2 loaf pans by spraying entire insides with cooking spray.

Turn proofed dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Roll out to about 1/2" thickness, about 6" wide and 12"long. Cut the dough in three strips down the length but leave them together at one end. Braid the three strands, pinching the ends together and tucking them under. Place into prepared pan and repeat with the other half of dough.

Spray the tops with cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap. Place in warm, draft-free place and let rise until the tops crest the pans about 1/2", 45 minutes or so.

Preheat the oven to 350°F about 15 minutes prior to baking. Remove plastic wrap and place pans in oven on the middle rack. You might want to have a large baking sheet on a rack under the loaves. The cheese bubbled out on mine and smoked like crazy before I got a pan under them. Here's what I like to do to avoid a smoking oven and setting off the smoke alarm. Fill the sheet pan with water before putting it in the over. The water is less about steam and more about having a place for the cheese to drip and not burn. If you just put a plain sheet pan in the oven, it will keep the cheese from dripping to the oven floor, but the cheese will still burn. 

Bake about 45-50 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 190°F or the bread sounds hollow when tapping on the bottom crust. If you plan on baking much bread, it's best to invest in an instant read thermometer. You can find them for less than $10 at the grocery store or a discount store. They're handy to have for many uses other than bread baking. You might have to cover the loaves with foil after about 30 minutes so the tops don't get too brown.

Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Run a knife around the edges, especially where the cheese has oozed out so that it will release from the pan. Turn out and let cool before slicing.

This bread toasts up nicely and makes excellent sandwich bread.

Garlic Soup and Walnut Bread

Social media is a funny thing. It is simultaneously a complete time suck–a veritable black hole of often meaningless chatter–and an infinite source of information and friendship. I often get gobbled up in the black hole, puttering around cyberspace, wasting time with things that honestly don't interest me. How does it DO that? But even more often, I get lost in new and interesting blogs and websites. I'm pointed in the direction of witty writers, brilliant photographers and talented artists. This is the bright spot of social media–the transfer of information and connecting with those that share our interests.

And, yeah, it's still a complete time suck...  but not necessarily a time waste. This is why I love twitter. Yes it's often full of random bits of chatter, but it's a wonderful resource for new information. I can't tell you how many new people, blogs and informative articles I've found via twitter.

It was shortly after I joined twitter that I also joined the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge. It was through both mediums that I connected with a number of talented bakers and all around nice people. Rebecca (@hobnob) and Daniel (@misterrios) are just two of these folks. And it was through some of that meaningless, idle chatter that the three of us decided to make the same garlic soup recipe and post to our respective blogs on the same day. Being the bread bakers that we are, we also decided to make walnut bread as it was mentioned in the soup recipe.

So here we are, the day of reckoning. Let's talk a little about the soup, okay? Daniel found this recipe at 101 Cookbooks. I won't write it out here because, as you will see, I was not entirely successful and I want you to get the recipe straight from the person that CAN make it successfully (read the comments - lots of people made this just fine, so don't let my experience turn you away from trying it).

The soup starts with garlic (NO, really??) Lots of garlic.



But before it becomes these lovely naked cloves, we have to strip them out of their papery clothes. Here's how I do it, making quick, easy work of peeling garlic.



First pull off the requisite number of cloves. Place one clove under a bench scraper, the side of a broad knife or other wide, flat surface.



Strike the scraper with the palm of your hand (or press down hard),  but don't go nuts. The garlic doesn't need to be pummeled, just squished.



What this does is break the grip of the papery outside from the clove.





The clove is then easily peeled, no fussing, no swearing at the STUPID PAPER THAT WON'T COME OFF, GAH! You know, that kind of thing.

Back to the soup. Here are the basic ingredients going into the first stage of the soup.



Chopped garlic, bay leaf, thyme, and sage. The recipe calls for sage leaves but I couldn't find any fresh or dried, so I had to used rubbed sage.

I don't have any pictures of the rest of the prep, but let me walk you through it. I combined the above ingredients (along with salt) with 4 cups of water and let it simmer about 40 minutes. The recipe doesn't say to cover the soup as it simmers, but I was afraid of half the water evaporating away so I covered mine. Next comes the tricky part – making the cheese/egg/oil emulsion to add to the broth to thicken the soup and make it nice and creamy.

That's the idea, anyway. My lack of experience with this technique resulted in a mildly curdled soup that tasted pretty good, but looked pretty bad. The texture was just wrong.

You can see it in the photos:



Look at the spoon and the soup around it. You can see how it's separating. Such a disappointment. It looks like I need an extra set of hands to S L O W L Y add the broth to the egg/cheese mixture. It was difficult to keep a slow, steady stream while trying to whisk with the other hand. Practice makes perfect, right? So I guess I need to practice!

Now let's talk about the bread a bit. I had different issues with this part - it's always something isn't it?

I found this Apple-Walnut Bread recipe at King Arthur Flour. All I did was eliminate the apples. Their recipe is meant to be used as a fondue bread and I think it would be wonderful that way. I also think it would make for a fantastic panini if you shaped it into a boule or batard instead of small baguettes as I've done here.

You need to start the bread the day before since it utilizes a starter made of all-purpose flour, a bit of rye, some water and a tiny bit of yeast. It's about the consistency of pancake batter, you just mix it all with a spoon, cover it and let it sit out at least 12 hours or so. It'll get bubbly and have an almost beer-like smell. That tell-tale yeasty goodness.

You combine that with more flour, yeast and toasted, chopped walnuts, followed by a 60-90 minute fermentation. I used my baguette pan for shaping, but you can easily do these on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.



As bad luck would have it, our power went out shortly after I took this picture. I wasn't too concerned since our power has never been out for very long. Weeellllll, it didn't come on until about 2 and a half hours later, a full hour longer than the bread needed to proof. I slashed the overproofed loaves — and sadly watched as they deflated like a popped balloon — spritzed them with water and popped them in the oven, hoping they weren't ruined.



They won't win any awards base on appearance, but they taste wonderful. I love the walnuts scattered through the bread and the fact that, unlike other breads I've made with walnuts, this bread is not at all sweet. It's a crusty, hearty bread itching to soak up some garlic soup – properly prepared soup, that is. Maybe next time.




I can't wait to see how Rebecca and Daniel fared with their soups and breads. Please check out their blogs with me!

Rebecca at GrongarBlog
Daniel at Ährelich Gesagt