Nourished

Bread

101 Cookbooks

Oven-Baked Doughnuts and Knot Rolls

Amongst other things, one of my very dear friends gave me a doughnut pan for my birthday (because that’s what dear friends do, when you’re an obsessive baker)! The books have been read, the pictures poured over, but the unused pan has remained in my kitchen drawer – silent – mysterious – resolute.  “Try me”, it cries, when I open the drawer, “let’s make doughnuts”…
This week its silent entreaties have worked their magic on my 7 year old, who is rapidly turning into a useful little baker.  Yesterday we made cup-cakes to her ratios (fantastic), and today she really wanted to make doughnuts.  Needless to say I couldn’t find the recipes lovingly documented by Kristen, for I fear they have been snaffled into the jaws of the Trolley-of-Doom (aka my ‘books to be shelved’ trolley).  The Wilton recipe supplied with the pan seemed somewhat unappealing (though I have listed it below) – I wanted plump, yeasty golden things, puffed with air, and smelling sensational… 
I hunted for more traditional doughnut recipes, finally stumbling across this yeasted recipe from @101Cookbooks, though not intended for the tin.  I have to say, I was most impressed – whilst tray doughnuts don’t have the pillowiness of traditional doughnuts, they do taste amazing.  I only made one tray, and used the rest of the dough to make knot rolls – you can see from the photo how much they puffed up in the oven.
Ingredients:

79ml hand hot milk
7g of instant yeast

225ml of warm milk
2 Tbsp butter
158g sugar
2 eggs
1125g plain flour (I used pasta flour, as it has a lower protein content)
A pinch or two of nutmeg, freshly grated
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Method:

  • Place the first quantity of warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast and set aside for five minutes or so. Be sure your milk isn’t too hot or it will kill the yeast. Stir the butter and sugar into the remaining warm milk and add it to the yeast mixture. With a fork, stir in the eggs, flour, nutmeg, and salt – just until the flour is incorporated. With the dough hook attachment of your mixer beat the dough for a few minutes at medium speed. This is where you are going to need to make adjustments – if your dough is overly sticky, add flour a few tablespoons at a time. Too dry? Add more milk a bit at a time. You want the dough to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and eventually become supple and smooth. Turn it out onto a floured counter-top, knead a few times (the dough should be barely sticky), and shape into a ball.
  • Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover, put in a warm place.  Let it rise for an hour or until the dough has roughly doubled in size.
  • The original instructions were for cut doughnuts: Punch down the dough and roll it out 1/2-inch thick on your floured countertop. Most people (like myself) don’t have a doughnut cutter, instead I use a 2-3 inch cookie cutter to stamp out circles. Transfer the circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet and stamp out the smaller inner circles using a smaller cutter. If you cut the inner holes out any earlier, they become distorted when you attempt to move them. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise for another 45 minutes.
  • As I was shaping them for the pan, I rolled them into balls and then punctured the centre… Swizzle the doughnut around on your finger to increase the size of the hole.  Do not make them too big as they will increase dramatically in size on the second prove – as above, cover with a clean cloth and let rise for another 45 minutes.  Now.  I glazed mine with beaten egg – but I hadn’t thought it through – egg may give you a golden colour, but it also creates a crust.  I think you’d be better off glazing with milk, which will give you a softer crust
  • Bake at 190° C until the bottoms are just golden, 8 to 10 minutes – start checking around 8. 
  • Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let cool for just a minute or two. 
A cross-section of the dough after the first prove 
I had no idea on sizing as this was the first time, so I did a variety to see – the little one’s in the bottom right hand corner came out best – the larger one on the bottom row rose so high it lost its hole!  Don’t worry about how “scraggy” they look, the second prove takes care of that…

I glazed the doughnut with beaten egg, I’d glaze it with milk next time
I dipped mine in cream cheese icing, and then sprinkles.
You can dip them in melted chocolate, or melted butter and cinnamon icing

This is the same dough, left to prove as a knot roll
Ingredients:
2 cups cake flour, sifted
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
¾ cup buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. butter, melted

Method:

  • Preheat oven to 425*F. Spray doughnut pan with nonstick cooking spray. 
  • In a large mixing bowl, sift together cake flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Add buttermilk, eggs and butter. Beat until just combined. Fill each doughnut cup approx. 2/3 full. 
  • Bake 7-9 minutes or until the top of the doughnuts spring back when touched. 
  • Let cool in pan for 4-5 minutes before removing. Finish doughnut with chocolate glaze, cinnamon sugar or confectioners’ sugar. Doughnuts are best served fresh. 
  • Makes 12 doughnuts 

Variations:

Cinnamon Sugar 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
2 tbsp. butter, melted

In small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon together and dip the baked doughnut in melted butter. Roll in cinnamon sugar mixture to coat.

Chocolate Glaze
¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. corn syrup
1 tsp. hot water

Microwave chips, butter and corn syrup on 50% power for 1 minute, stirring frequently until completely melted. Stir in hot water until the glaze is thick smooth. Add more water, a tsp. at a time to thin if glaze is too thick. Immediately glaze doughnuts.

Confectioners Sugar Doughnuts Place 2/3 cup confectioners sugar in plastic bag. Add a doughnut, seal the bag and shake to coat. Repeat with remaining doughnuts.

Bread

Black Olive, and Caraway and Onion Rolls

I have several, no, many bread books, which get used to varying degrees. However when I need a basic do-ahead recipe which will be transformed into a variety of uses, I head straight for Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day.

I’ve made any number of variations of this recipe – sun blushed tomato bread, cinnamon and raisin, but my favourites are onion and caraway, and olive bread. The joy of this recipe is that the dough can sit in your fridge until you’re ready…
I like to speed the process up further by cheating – we all know I like a good cheat! The olive bread is made using half a jar of these olives kneaded into the dough.
The onion and caraway contains onions softened in olive oil, and about a tablespoon of caraway seeds.  You will need to add a little additional flour to the dough to compensate for the olive oil.  The onion adds a warmth to the front of the palate, and the caraway breathes cool fragrance onto the back – my personal favourite…
You can add anything you like – and as you can use the dough in batches, you can take out as much as you need, and varying according to what you fancy.  I keep meaning to try blue cheese and walnuts for example.  Have a play – let me know your favourite combinations…

French Bread Recipe

Ingredients:
5-1/3 cups (24 oz / 680 g) unbleached bread flour
2 teaspoons (0.5 oz / 14 g) salt, or 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
2-1/4 teaspoons (0.25 oz / 7 g) instant yeast
2 cups (16 oz / 454 g) lukewarm water (about 95°F or 35°C)

Ahead of time:

  • Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. If using a mixer, use the paddle attachment and mix on the lowest speed for 1 minute. If mixing by hand, use a large spoon and stir for 1 minute, until well blended and smooth. If the spoon gets too doughy, dip it in a bowl of warm water. The dough should form a coarse shaggy ball. Let it rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
  • Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium-low speed for 2 minutes or knead by hand for about 2 minutes, adjusting with flour or water as needed. The dough should be smooth, supple, and tacky but not sticky.
  • Whichever mixing method you use, knead the dough by hand on a lightly floured work surface for about 1 minute more, then transfer it to a clean, lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, then immediately refrigerate overnight or for up to 4 days. If the dough feels too wet and sticky, do not add more flour; instead, stretch and fold it one or more times at 10-minute intervals, as shown on page 18, before putting it in the refrigerator. (If you plan to bake the dough in batches over different days, you can portion the dough and place it into two or more oiled bowls at this stage.)

On Baking Day:

  • Remove the dough from the refrigerator about 2 hours before you plan to bake. Gently transfer it to a lightly floured work surface, taking care to degas it as little as possible. For baguettes and batards, divide the cold dough into 10-ounce (283 g) pieces; for 1 pound boules, divide the dough into 19-ounce (53 g) pieces; and for freestanding loaves, use whatever size you prefer.
  • Form the dough into batards and/or baguettes (see pages 21 and 22) or boules (see page 20). Mist the top of the dough with spray oil, loosely cover with plastic wrap, and proof at room temperature for about 1-1/2 hours, until increased to 1-1/2 times its original size.
  • About 45 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 550°F (288°C) or as high as it will go, and prepare the oven for hearth baking (see page 30).
  • Remove the plastic wrap from the dough 15 minutes prior to baking; if using proofing molds, transfer the dough onto a floured peel.
  • Just prior to baking, score the dough 1/2 inch deep with a serrated knife or razor. Transfer the dough to the oven, pour 1 cup of hot water into the steam pan, then lower the oven temperature to 450°F (232°C).
  • Bake for 12 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for another 15 to 25 minutes, until the crust is a rich golden brown, the loaves sound hollow when thumped, and the internal temperature is about 200°F (93°C) in the center. For a crisper crust, turn off the oven and leave the bread in for another 5 minutes before removing.
  • Cool the bread on a wire rack for at least 45 minutes before slicing or serving.

Variation:

  • By simply varying the method so that the shaped loaves undergo cold fermentation, rather than the freshly mixed bulk dough, you can create a spectacular loaf with a distinctive blistered crust. After the dough is mixed and placed in a clean, oiled bowl, let it rise at room temperature for about 90 minutes, until doubled in size. Divide and shape as described above, mist with spray oil, then cover the shaped dough loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight, away from anything that might fall on it or restrict it from growing.
  • The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator 1 hour before baking. It should have grown to at least 1-1/2 times its original size. Prepare the oven for hearth baking, as described on page 30. While the oven is heating, remove the plastic wrap and let the dough sit uncovered for 10 minutes. Score the dough while it’s still cold, then bake as described above.
Black olive rolls
Onion and caraway rolls
Glazed knot rolls

There are lots more excellent recipes in Peter’s book – you can buy it here >

Azelia's Kitchen

Dan Lepard’s Wholemeal Soda Bread

I’m a massive sourdough girl – I feed my sourdough starter every day and have been known to take it with me if it’s looking a little unwell – it really is like having a (fifth) child!

Now some people appreciate the complexity of my sourdough, on twitter there are a core few who I’ll talk particulars with (the Breadmakers) – but almost universally the bread people ask me about is sodabread.  Yes.  Irish sodabread.

Bizarrely, despite having Irish and Scottish family, I’ve never made my own… This Christmas the question came up three times… I’d made sundried tomato rolls, black olive rolls, and cumin bread – wasn’t that enough?  No, everyone wanted sodabread…  When @JohntheCabby asked me too, I knew something would have to be done.

First of all there was the question over which recipe to use.  A quick trawl of the BBC web site revealed Richard Corrigan’s recipe, which I was about to make, but Azelia felt quite strongly that the balance of ingredients was incorrect.  So, to the books then…  I dragged out all my main cookery books… Now I know Lorraine Pascal has a recipe, and I’m pretty sure Rachel Allen and Nigel Slater will have one too, but I chose to stick in the main part to the bread books.

The List                           The ‘No Recipe’ Pile            The Contenders

My choices were made much easier by the fact that only two main breadmakers seemed to have sodabread recipes (which I think reflects my own experience – the sourdough makers don’t tend to make sodabread!).  Emerging from the pile were Dan Lepard and Paul Hollywood.  We conferred on twitter and I decided to go with Dan’s more full-bodied recipe, in Baking with Passion (Baker & Spice)

Ingredients:
300ml buttermilk or thin plain low fat bio yoghurt
1 Tbsp black treacle
220g self-raising white flour
220g plain wholemeal flour
1 Tbsp wheat germ
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp Maldon salt, finely ground
plain flour for dusting

Method:

Put the dried ingredients together into a bowl and mix together to ensure they are evenly distributed and that there are no lumps.

Warm together the treacle and the buttermilk mixture, and pop into a well in the dry ingredients.  Bring together with your hands (or with a scraper).

In the first instance my mixture was a little too sticky, and as this isn’t a kneading dough, I popped in another small handful of wholemeal flour.

This time I brought together the dough lightly, and shaped it into a round.

Like a sourdough baker, I tried to slash the loaf with my lame – but of course there’s nothing to release, it’s an unproved loaf…

So, trying again with a bread knife, and cutting down to about 1/3 of the loaf… Now I’ve not put any steam in the oven, and this is cooked on a baking tray, not a stone.

These are my results and Dan’s pic from the book.  It seems I need a deeper cut into the loaf before baking, but the crumb is dense and chewy – the treacle does add an incredible almost umami’ness to the loaf – it works really well with the buttermilk and bicarb flavour.

The Breadmakers

Richard Bertinet : Richard is a French break maker living and working in Bath.  He runs a very successful cookery school, and has several books.  Richard’s site   … on twitter

Azelia : Azelia writes a blog called Azelia’s Kitchen.  Whilst she writes about lots of different food themes, this year particularly has seen the rise of Azelia the bread maker.  Lots of experimentation with different flours etc, and visits to other bread makers.  Azelia’s Blog   … on twitter

Luc Martin : Luc lives in the Netherlands, but is not Dutch :0)  He writes about restaurants, food, recipes.  Luc’s Blog  … on twitter

 Do buy a copy of Dan’s book :0)