Pretzel Bread Roundup

Marie B. of Feeling Foodish Pretzel Bread Photo

This soft pretzel recipe seemed to conjure childhood memories for those who made them. For me, it was the streets of NYC and at the summer fairs, and for others, it was soft pretzels at school. 

Using lye (sodium hydroxide) made the best of us apprehensive. After all, danger loomed and it seemed disconcerting to actually ingest the stuff, but I think we took a leap of faith since we’ve all eaten pretzels before that had been dipped in lye,without any known effects. Even the best boulangeries use lye to make their expert pretzels taste authentic, so why not us!

Marie B. (Feeling Foodish) recalled the soft pretzel from her childhood—warm pretzels from Val, the pretzel vendor at grade school, and the hot mustard that was never seemed too hot. She made her pretzels with great expertise, and respect for the lye—the essential ingredient for authentic tasting soft pretzels.

Nancy, Kristina and Elle also made the Pretzel Bread, but haven’t posted at the time this Roundup was written.

The next Bread Baker’s recipe will be New Zealand Almond and Fig Bread page 411. This bread was chosen as a possible Easter bread. I look forward to reading your posts. 

Pretzel Bread

Pretzel Bread The Finer Cookie

What fun I had making Pretzel Bread. I never considered it was possible to make Soft Pretzels at home, but now that I’ve made them, I see Pretzels in every book on my shelf. It’s funny, the more you experience, the more you notice in the world around you. 

Biting into my first homemade Pretzel Bread got me so excited. They tasted just like the pretzels I use to buy from the street trucks in NYC. It’s been so long since I had a pretzel like this, that I’d forgotten the real flavor of a soft pretzel. They were strikingly easy to make and I’m really proud of myself. 

Here’s my experience: 

PRETZEL BREAD INGREDIENTS

I just want to say a few words about the ingredients necessary for making Pretzel Bread. I went to a great deal of trouble hunting down the malt powder and lye (sodium hydroxide). For the malt powder, I scoured Canada and was unsuccessful in my search. I guess brands don't think enough Canadians make bread. My solution was just to throw money at the problem and be patient while the ubiquitous-in-the-US malt powder arrived at my door.

The lye was a different story. Never having considered using it as an ingredient, it took me a while to find a brand that I felt comfortable enough using. Even if I used the sodium hydroxide sold as drain cleaner (lye at its impure state), at a 4% solution, I doubt anything much would have happened to me; however, I have to want to eat the pretzels after I bake them. Rick being a chemist, found me a brand that was pure enough for my purposes. It wasn’t until after the pretzels were baked and tasted that he told me a story about a highly concentrated sodium hydroxide solution that blew a tanker off its bolts. He thought that was funny.

100% Lye Crystals or sodium hydroxide

MIX THE PRETZEL DOUGH

The dry ingredients for the pretzels

Initially the dough didn’t form a ball, so I was forced to add 1 tsp of water. After that it come together as described.

Pretzel Bread dough

I let it rest for the prescribed hour, and to my surprise, it didn’t rise hardly at all. Usually, the dough will puff some and form air pockets, but not for this dough. It was a very stiff, smooth and pliable.

Resting the dough for an hour

I cut the pieces willy-nilly without weighing them, and in retrospect, I should have been more precise because the baking times for the smaller pretzels were different.

Cutting the pretzel dough willy-nilly

The final 12 pieces of pretzel dough

Still, shaping the pretzels took some time. I wanted them to look like footballs and not pretzel nuggets. And I was impressed with how quickly the dough dried out even in the earliest stages of handling. It kept forming a dry crust after just a few minutes.

Pretzel bread in football shapes

I wondered why refrigerating them uncovered for one hour was important and I worried that leaving them in the fridge for three hours (that's what I did) would be the end of them.

MAKING THE LYE SOLUTION

I felt so concerned about the lye, that I took every precaution. Rick has a gas mask with vapour cartridges downstairs, and I considered wearing it, but then I thought better. I wouldn’t allow making pretzels to become a drama. The lye dissolved nicely and it didn’t splash around. I survived.

Lye crystals

SLASH AND GLAZE THE DOUGH

Slashing the Pretzel Breads

The moment of truth. I suited up with those thick and cumbersome red rubber gloves and got to it. I dipped the first pretzel in the solution and it became soft and very slippery.

Dipping the Pretzel Breads in the lye solution

Of course the breads got slippery. Lye is one of the primary ingredients in making soap. I dipped them briefly in the solution and set them on the tray. I’ve since read Thomas Keller's pretzel recipe in which he says to leave the pretzel in the solution for at least 40 seconds. I wonder how more lye glaze would change the final pretzel?

Adding course sea salt the the pretzels

Salted and glazed pretzel breads

BAKE THE PRETZEL BREADS

They baked easily and quickly, and they puffed substantially while in the oven. What a transformation. They looked like real pretzels and smelled like real pretzels, but did they taste like a real pretzel? YES!

Baked pretzels

I also noted that there were areas that I didn’t glaze well with the solution and those areas didn’t brown at all. They stayed white as a lily, as were the inside of the slashes. Fascinating. In conclusion, I had great fun with this recipe.

Salted Pretzel Breads The Finer Cookie

Sweet Potato Loaf Roundup

Photo by Nancy at Bread & Cake & More

As each month goes by, I marvel at the way each bread baker approaches the bread recipe and understands the technical relationship between gluten, and proofing and flavour development. Everyone who made this bread felt it was a worthy recipe and enjoyed the addition of sweet potato to this otherwise white sandwich loaf.

Nancy dove into the Sweet Potato Bread recipe and applied her expertise to create a loaf of bread that looks great. The dough performed beautifully; or as per Nancy’s opinion, it over performed. Based on the large air pockets in the crumb, it had her thinking that maybe her techniques needed adjustment, which sent her to the internet to research. An over-sized air pocket or two didn't stop her from enjoying it with a bowl of black-eyed pea stew with andouille and collards, and liked it equally as toast. Then she took the left over sweet potato and made the Sweet Potato Biscuits from the Bread Bible—Biscuits that look completely wonderful.

I chose this Sweet Potato Loaf because I was curious about the way potato makes bread moist and tender. Much like the Banana Feather Loaf that derives its moisture and gentle sweetness from the banana, this loaf does the same with the sweet potato, and I am always eager to experiment with ingredients that I’ve never used before.

I think Elle feels the same as I do. In fact, she says that “what [she] like[s] most about this bake-along is that [she] learn[s] something new every time. Whether it’s how to do a cold rise, a four-strand braid, adding exotic (for bread) ingredients, or just making a habit of weighing my ingredients.” After baking this loaf, she's added a ricer on her Amazon wish list because she thought if she had one, her bread would have been perfect. But for her (and me too) this project was a success because she got a great loaf—a loaf that included a new ingredient for bread, the sweet potato.

Marie W made this bread 10 years ago and got the same results today as she did back then. Then she considered that this recipe would make great hamburger buns, and she still agrees with herself today! Once the loaf had cooled, she sliced herself a piece and thought it “tasted like an old-fashioned, State Fair medal-winning white bread, except that it had a more complex flavor (and it wasn't white).” Now that’s a testament to this Sweet Potato Loaf.  

Catherine really liked the taste of the Sweet Potato Loaf but was unhappy with the texture, as it was crumbly, meaning it fell apart quite easily even though it cut well. She sussed out the reasons for this kind of texture and felt that she had either over-proofed it or she hadn’t kneaded it enough, so that the gluten hadn’t developed properly. Going forward, she’ll pay better attention and do the “windowpane test” to ensure the gluten is sufficiently developed. No matter, she felt it made tasty toast.

Kristina recognized that the Sweet Potato Loaf is practically the same recipe as Rose’s White Sandwich Bread, and felt very comfortable with the process. She is so efficient at making this loaf of bread that at the same time, she also made Butter Tarts—a time-honoured Canadian standard. Both turned out beautifully. She didn’t feel the sweet potato had any discernible flavour, but rather tinted the bread a  slight “surreal” orange. The loaf turned into a perfect foil for melted cheese and a bowl of soup.

Vicki thought the bread was amazing, and couldn’t wait to cut into it. She spread Lyle’s Golden Syrup on it.

Next month we will be baking the Pretzel Bread on page 171. Keep in mind that this recipe calls for malt powder (non-diastatic, I believe). It's available through King Arthur. Also, for an authentic pretzel crust, this recipe calls for lye, which should be available at hardware or plumbing supply stores. Also note that there are corrections for this recipe.

Sweet Potato Loaf

Sweet Potato Loaf

One afternoon I was munching on a baguette that I had just bought from a huge chain boulangerie here in Montreal—a boulangerie that presents itself as being authentically French. I noticed an oily residue on my fingers and in my mouth, and it was odd because French bread should not be like this. So I spoke to the Head Baker and I asked him if he added oil to the baguette. He said: “of course, Madame (with an emphasis on the “dame”). How else will the bread be moist?” I thought: This guy is a perfect example of how arrogance causes ignorance, and I never bought another loaf of bread from this bakery again. Even I know, as an amateur baker, that oil is not the only ingredient that produces moisture. 

This encounter made me only more curious about what makes bread moist and tender. This is why the Sweet Potato Loaf intrigued me. Not only does it contain potato (a moisture rich ingredient), but it calls for sweet potato. Much like the Banana Feather Loaf that derived its moisture and gentle sweetness from the banana, this loaf does the same with the sweet potato, and I am always eager to experiment with ingredients that I’ve never used before.

Overall, the Sweet Potato Loaf was delicious. Really truly. Yes, the bread was sweetened, but in a natural way, thus I didn’t feel as though I was indulging. It was as light as air (maybe it should have been named Sweet Potato Feather Loaf). I tasted a definite sour tone—a sourness that came from leaving the dough starter in the fridge overnight, but I enjoyed it, as it balanced out some of the sweetness of the potato.

In conclusion, I found the loaf a little too light in texture. It was so so tender, that I could hardly cut an straight slice without it compressing and collapsing under the motion of the knife. It’s a testament to the potato and dry milk, I think. Still, I prefer a toothier texture, but that’s not to say this Sweet Potato Loaf isn’t delightful. It is, and I’m very happy to have made it.

DOUGH STARTER AND FLOUR MIXTURE

This was a standard process for me by now. The only thing I changed was that I let the dough starter sit for an hour at room temperature and then refrigerated it overnight. I just ran out of time to see the loaf through to the end.

Making the dough starter

MIXING THE DOUGH

Feeling stubborn, I chose to make this bread by hand. Certainly, the initial mixture was very rough and the sweet potato and butter sat chunky in the dough. 

Adding the sweet potato and butter to the dough starter and flour

Mixing the butter and sweet potato to the flour and dough starter

Incorporating it by hand

The first 5 minutes of kneading was very sticky (not my favourite experience)

The dough after 5 minutes of kneading

but after letting the dough rest for 20 minutes, it transformed into a beautiful bread dough. The second 5 minutes of kneading made the dough sticky again, but a little flour smoothed it out.

After the second 5 minutes of kneading

LET THE DOUGH RISE

On the first rise, the dough took a good 2 hours to double. 

After the first rise

The biz fold after the first rise

On the second rise, it took another 2 hours to double. 

SHAPING THE LOAF

By this time, the dough was soft and supple. I made two biz folds easily and dropped it into the loaf pan. At this point, I was anticipating a delicious loaf of bread.

The dough shaped and ready for its final rise

It rose beautifully and ready to bake this beauty

BAKING THE LOAF

The bread baked very quickly. Well before the time was up, the internal temp was just over 200F. I didn’t have any trouble with the top over browning.

The Sweet Potato Loaf just out of the oven

Sweet Potato Loaf

Challah Roundup

Marie Wolf's beautiful Challah from Breadbasketcase

I was curious about why the Challah is so special and why is it THE bread for every Jewish holiday and Shabbat. As it turns out, summarizing the history of Challah is more of a challenge than summarizing all of your blog posts. Ha! I underestimated the complexity of 3500 years of Challah history across the Diaspora—all those cross-cultural references is certainly very circular and not linear at all. However, I plucked three interesting facts out of the ocean of information—facts that might help us understand the Challah we made and shed some light on some of the traditions that surround Challah (please note that this information is paraphrased from the following link: http://www.aish.com/j/f/A_Brief_History_of_Challah.html)

• The word “cake” is a translation of the Hebrew word “challah.” It was considered a mitzvah (or blessing) to separate the bread and offer a portion of challah to the priests (kohanim).

• Twelve humps of the loaf recall the miracle of the 12 loaves for the 12 tribes of Israel. 

• The intertwined strands, (or arms) symbolize love, truth, peace, creation, freedom, harmony, family connection, unity and justice–following the commandments to remember, observe and guard the sabbath or Shabbat.

So when we look at the beautiful braids that we created, we can now understand in part the natural urge (or at least mine) to tear the humps apart and share the bread-cake with others. I suppose form meets function in this case.

To the person, this Challah recipe was a rousing success. Everyone enjoyed the process and the result, and almost everyone transformed it into another dish.

Leave well enough alone is an expression that is often heard when something is near perfect and doesn’t need any improving. For Marie W., Rose’s original Challah recipe in the Bread Bible needed no improving. But in good spirit, she decided to see if Rose’s new recipe was really worth the time. She felt that this new bread really was improved with its soft, but not cottony texture. BTW, her step-by-step how-to-braid-a-challah was as funny as Abbot and Costello’s Who’s on First routine. Seriously.

Kristina confessed that no matter what else she has to do, she loves making bread, mostly for its not-so-intense schedule, forgiving nature and delicious outcome. Her Challah turned into an office share, weekend french toast, and grilled cheese sandwiches.  

For Elle, making this Challah was her lifeline, especially with her little 8-month old cutie pie following her every move and occupying her every minute. Her baking spirit is indomitable and her determination to bake bread each month with us is unshakeable. Elle’s experience, in her own words read: “What a joy this dough was to work with. And I am immensely proud of my four-strand braiding! I’ve never attempted this before, not even with hair, so I was pretty excited to give it a go.” I think Elle said it all when she concluded that this Challah is fantastic and delicious. She too turned it into french toast.  

Vicki too was interested in researching the history of Challah. Her bread was mammoth in that it continued to get bigger and bigger, much like Julia Child’s ocean sized fish (you have to see the picture in her post). So after having tea and Challah toast, she cut the challah into large cubes and added dried cherries, blueberries, raisins and one tsp of orange oil, baked it off and drizzled it with maple syrup. Challah becomes Strata.

Who knew that Nancy was a Challah aficionado? She told the Tale of Four Challahs: 1) Rose’s Traditional Challah from hard copy of The Bread Bible (not so crazy about this one), 2) her personal whole wheat version with dried cherries, 3) Smitten Kitchen's Fig, Olive Oil, and Sea Salt Challah (a once per year treat), and finally 4) Rose’s improved Challah recipe, adding rehydrated dried cherries. Nancy concluded that Rose’s latest version was indeed better than the original Bread Bible recipe. It was moister, and it had some tang on account of the biga. In the end, she’ll return to her whole-wheat version, but if she ever needs a white challah, Rose's recipe will be her choice.

Marie B had never made Challah before and hers was a great success. For convenience sake, she made a few changes to the recipe, but it clearly didn’t suffer at all. Next time she will ambitiously attempt a 6 strand braid, as if 4 strands wasn’t complicated enough. Marie made French Toast with her Challah and said that it was “verrrry good.”

Our next bread for January 6th will be the Sweet Potato Loaf (p. 276). It will be our first following the holiday season, and an interesting way to start the New Year. I chose it because I am always interested in exploring ingredients that make bread sweet, and moist. It could be really good for turkey or ham sandwiches! 

Challah

Fluffy, light and open interior of Rose Levy Beranbaum's Challah Bread

I’ve never had homemade Challah. I’ve only bought from bakeries, and they’ve always been sweet, and fluffy, but not very chewy. I always considered it a fattening bread due to the amount of sugar and oil necessary to give it its character, and extend its shelf life. And I usually add to those calories by making a Ham and Cheese Strata, so I didn’t really expect much different making my own. I was impatient waiting for it to rest and rise, but I understood. I only hope it understands me too and doesn’t “hang around” my belly (if you know what I mean). I take after my family the way I love bread. Well, much to my surprise, and in spite of the honey, this Challah wasn’t so sweet, and it had a marvellous texture—fluffy yet very chewy. The biga was definitely present. I’m perfectly turned around. 

As you all know, I totally underestimated the amount of time the biga took to “cook.” It’s such a small amount of yeasty dough that transforms into a fermented, sour mass. We haven’t made biga since the pannetone, I think (or maybe one other time). I was curious; what's the difference between biga and dough starter? As it turns out, biga is used when a light open texture is desired (remember the Pannetone?) and it makes the bread less perishable. While it’s usually used in Italian breads, it’s application is perfect here because Challah has a tendency to go stale quickly. Ah! I see said the blind man. 

I chose this recipe for December because we are right on top of Hanukkah, and I was thinking of Mendy. Sorry to see him leave us, but I certainly understand and wish him well. One other note: as per Rose's suggestion, I used the recipe from Rose's blog page, rather than the Bread Bible.

Here’s my experience:

Biga

As I mentioned above, biga is certainly well worth the time, as it adds a complexity that rarely exists in store/bakery bought Challah.

Mix the Dough

I like cutting pieces of biga and soaking it in water. Not too difficult. 

Cutting the biga and dropping it into the water.

Biga, water and butter.

The dough mixed up well and was just a little tacky, the way Rose described.

The challah dough freshly mixed and ready for its first rise.

Let the dough rise

My challah dough took two hours to double in size and when I removed it to make the business folds, it was soft and very tender. 

The dough in its container before the first rise

The dough looks open and relaxed after its first rise.

After the first biz fold.

After the second biz fold. Notice how much bigger it is.

Shape the Dough 

Overall, this dough, like all bread doughs, was compliant and cooperative. All I had to do was press it into place—no rolling required. Too easy really.

After its first shaping--just 9 inches

After its second shaping--13 inches

After its last shaping--19 inches

I’ve never done a 4 braided bread before. I didn’t understand what was meant by starting in the middle, as I could barely start at the beginning. 

Half way through braiding

Reaching underneath

Finishing the braid

Giving it some extra love

I think bread dough is beautiful

Glaze the Challah

I used a very diluted egg glaze with poppy seeds.

Just before the Challah went into the oven

Bake the Challah

I know from eating many Challah, that there isn’t much of a crust to speak of. Mine baked in the minimum amount of time and I had no trouble with it over browning. I removed it from the oven when the internal temp reached 203-205 degrees. 

Homemade Challah just out of the oven