CURRY LEAVES GARLIC BREAD - DARING BAKERS 2014

 Who knew breads could look as great as they taste?  Yes this month’s challenge is to take bread making a step further. Not only making make bread from scratch but to form it into beautiful forms.  I missed doing DB challenge for past few months due to my hectic schedule. I badly wanted to do this month's challenge. Due to time constraints, I was not able to do other designs which I had in my plan for doing in this challenge. I am happy that I am able to participate :):) The recipe for the challenge is sweet bread but with slight variation I made it into savory bread which came really well with beautiful aroma when baking.  I made curry leaves garlic bread, it tasted very flavorful and you can look at the pictures and virtually enjoy the taste.  Here is the recipe I did for this fun and delicious challenge. This is basic dough for any savory bread, you can substitute the flavors of your choice.

Beauty surrounded the Daring Bakers this month as our host, Sawsan, of chef in disguise, challenged us to make beautiful, filled breads.  Without any delay here goes the Recipe.... Do enjoy this flavorful and yummy bread !!!

CURRY LEAVES GARLIC BREAD

Ingredients:

For the dough

All purpose flour - 3 1/4 cups approximately
Warm water - 1/4 cup
Warm milk - 3/4 cup
Egg - 1 large
Butter, softened - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Salt - 2 tsp
Dry yeast - 2 tsp

Between the layers:
Butter - 2 tbsp
Curry leaves - 2 tbsp finely chopped
Garlic - 2 tbsp grated
Salt - 1 tsp (increase or decrease the salt depending on your spice powder)
Spicy Curry leaves powder - approximately 1 to 2 tbsp for sprinkling in between the layers ( This is absolutely optional, u can only use Curry leaves or any dried herbs etc. along with garlic and omit this Curry leaf powder, I wanted to do this flavor since I had it my Pantry)

For Garlic curry leaves spread:

Melt the butter in a small pan, add chopped curry leaves followed by grated garlic and switch of the flame.  Add tsp of salt and keep this butter mixture aside for brushing in between the layers.

Directions:

1. In a bowl whisk the egg with milk, water, sugar, butter and yeast. Set aside
2. In another bowl sift the flour with the salt.
3. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and knead until you get a smooth dough.
Note: This recipe requires between 3-1/4 and 3-1/2 cups of flour depending on the weather, humidity and the flour brand. Start with 3-1/4 cups and if you feel that the dough is too soft, add the extra 1/4 cup
4. Place the dough in a bowl you have brushed with some oil and cover it with a wet cloth and leave it in a warm place to double
(If you are tight on time you can heat your oven to 390°F/200°C then turn it off and place your dough in a glass bowl and place it in the warm oven with the wet cloth covering the bowl)
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
6. Divide the dough into 4 parts
7. Roll each part into a circle at least 20 cm (8 inch) in diameter
8. Brush the first layer with Garlic and curry leaves spread then sprinkle with Spicy curry leaves powder.
9. Place the second layer on the first layer repeat the brushing and sprinkling and then do the same with the third layer.

 10. Top with the fourth layer.
11. Using a knife make cuts that divide the dough circles into 8 triangles.
12. Make cuts that go 2/3 of the way in the middle of each triangle. The cuts should not reach the base of the triangle nor the tip as you can see in the picture.
13. Take the tip of each triangle and insert it into the cut you made and pull it from the underside.
14. Arrange the triangles on your baking sheet.
15. Pinch the two angles at the base of the triangle together.
Note: If you would like to add the little bread coil that you see in the center of the baked bread in the first picture, simply roll a piece of dough into a rope then form it into a little coil and place it in the center where the heads of the triangles meet
16. Brush the dough with milk.
17. Allow to rest for 15 minutes during which you would heat your oven to very hot 500°F/240°C/gas mark 9 (rack in the middle). (Go for the hottest your oven will do).
18. Bake for 5 minutes on very hot 460°F/240°C/gas mark 9, then lower the temperature to moderately hot 390°F/200°C/gas mark 6 and bake for 15-20 more minutes
19. Take it out of the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rick.

Note:

I made a wrong decision of baking my bread, based on the temperature specified in the recipe.  My oven turned out to be too hot for that temperature.  For my oven the right temperature is to bake at 350 F for about 30 to 40 minutes or until nice golden brown color. Ovens do differ greatly, so the time may differ. What you have to do is to bake it until, the under side is golden brown and the bread is baked all the way to the center. If on the other hand if the top is getting too dark, consider lowering the oven temperature and covering the top of the bread with foil to stop it from over browning  :( :(  But atleast I realized and reduced the temperature to low in the middle of my baking and ended up with delicious mouthwatering bread. Bake this bread the way you bake other breads. 

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PHULKAS - MASTER THE ART OF MAKING PERFECT PHULKA - INDIAN BREAD COOKED ON OPEN FLAME !!!!

Many of my friends requested for the Phulka recipe, so I came up with the stepwise method for making Phulkas.  I have tried my best to give more tips and tricks for making a perfect phulka.  Do try and write to me if you have any questions.

The traditional flat bread that is originated from the Indian subcontinent is commonly known as roti.  "Roti" is the universal term for all Indian breads.  Making a perfect roti is an art.  By practice you can make soft and fluffiest ones with ease.  There are lots of Indian breads like Naan, kulcha, Romali roti, Paratha, Phulka, Puri/poori, Chapatti and Tandoori Roti etc.  All breads are made either with whole wheat flour or all purpose flour or the combination of both.  It is usually accompanied with cooked vegetable curries or curries with meat.  Rotis with accompaniments is such a comforting meal.   

Is Phulka and Chapatti same???
No they are different, see below to get to know the difference.

Phulka is a thin roti, which is grease free.  The dough is made with whole wheat flour/atta, water and salt.  Then the portion of dough is rolled and made into thin discs.  The discs are cooked (toasted) on a tawa and on the open flame.  The phulka puffs up like a ball, and it is removed from heat and served as it is or you can brush slightly with Clarified Brown Butter.  Literally the swollen or puffed roti is called as Phulka.

Chapatti can be thin or thick and it is traditionally made by patting the dough balls between the palms of the hands and flattening it.  This requires little skill and practice, you can use the rolling pin for flattening the dough which makes it easier.  It is completely cooked in the flat pan which is called as Tawa by smearing oil on both the sides.  

Here is the recipe and step wise picture for making perfect for FRIED INDIAN BREAD (POORI/PURI)

PHULKA

The secret of making good phulkas boils down to 2 things, mixing the dough and rolling.  Use good atta/flour to make your dough.  The dough that is rolled thickly and kept in the open flame will puff up for sure like a balloon,  but that does not mean that is good one, it will end up with thick roti which we don't want.  As I said earlier phulka is a thin roti which stays soft even after couple of days.  The swollen roti after taking out from the open fire/flame should remain thin and soft which means that you have done perfect phulkas. 

What all you need for making Phulka?

Here in US since I don't have open flame burner in most of the places, I use the mesh directly to the coil or hot plate to keep the phulka to blow up.  You need a flat non stick pan/tawa, a tong, mesh (if you have coil or hot plate).  Open flame does not need a mesh.  off course you need the dough :)

Ingredients:

This yields approximately 30 to 32 phulkas

Whole wheat atta - 4 cups (I use Ashirvaad or Swarna brand Atta which is available in Indian groceries)
Water - 1 3/4 to 2 (The water depends upon the quality of flour)
Salt - 2 tsp 
Clarified Brown Butter(Ghee) - to smear on the top (This is absolutely optional)

Extra flour for dusting.

Method:

For making the dough:

1. Take the flour in a big bowl; add salt and half the amount of water in the flour first.
2. Try to wet all the flour.  Then start gathering the flour together and keep adding more water as needed.
3. After the dough gets together, using your knuckles that is lower palm give a slight pressure to the gathered dough.
4. Add little water while kneading if you find it hard to handle the dough. 
5. Knead until you get soft and pliable dough.  This approximately takes 5 to 8 minutes.
6. If you feel the dough is very sticky you can add more dry flour, mostly this will not happen because we try to sprinkle water little by little.
7. The softer the dough, the better results.  Keep kneading and punching the whole dough with hands few times this makes the dough very soft and pliable.
8. Now close them in the tight container and keep it aside for at least an hour.  It makes the dough very soft and workable. 

Rolling the dough:

1. Make about 30 to 32 equal size balls out of the dough and always keep them closed, as it tends to dry if it is exposed to air which we don't want.
2. The size of the ball should be a little less than the size of Meyer lemon.
3. Now take a ball give it a slight pressure between the palm to flatten it and dust them in the dry flour.
4. Using the rolling pin make 6 to 6 1/4 " inch disc.
Uniform thickness of the rolled out balls is the key to it being puffed up later, so try to roll out away from the center of the ball.  Make sure that the edges are of the same thickness as the center or little less than the center thickness after they are rolled out completely. But make sure the center of the disc is not thin which ends up with flat phulkas.
5. Proceed the same for all the balls or also you can do it in batches.  But make sure to keep the rolled discs closed until you finish with all the balls; otherwise it dries out easily if it is kept open.

Making Phulkas:

If your mesh is square shape then you need 2 burners, one for the mesh and another for the pan.  But if you have the circle mesh then you can keep the mesh on the coil, above the mesh you can stack the pan.  The point is you have to get heat for both the mesh and pan even when they are kept above each other.  When you start rolling the dough, you can start heating the mesh and non stick pan in the coil/hot plate or open flame.  Use medium to high for pan and high flame for the mesh.

1. Now put the rolled dough in the pan/tawa you will start seeing few bubbles, now flip them and after you see few more bubbles.
2. Put them in the hot mesh or directly to the open flame using a tong.
3. Wait for few seconds you will see the magic that it starts to puff up like balloon.  Once it puffs or swollen up do not wait for long time.
4. Remove from the flame and keep it in the plate lined with kitchen towel, smear with little clarified brown butter on the top.  Keep it closed.
5. Follow the same procedure with other balls and stack phulkas in the same plate until you are done with everything.  This way it keeps the phulkas moist and soft.  

Note:

Since we are using the dry pan, after 4 to 5 rotis, the pan may get very dry and the dough starts to stick, in this case add a drop of oil and using tissue just clean the pan.

What, if you don't have open flame burner and the mesh???
1. Once you put the rolled dough in the pan when you start seeing small bubbles, flip them and wait few more bubbles on other side too.
2. Now increase the heat to high and close with the lid as shown in the picture.  Now you can see the phulkas are puffed up.  Don't keep this for long time after you increase the flame as it burns the phulka :(

 

Do write to me if you have any queries about the procedure, I would be happy to help you :)

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POORI - " FRIED INDIAN BREAD " !!!

This post was sitting in my draft for so looooooooooong time, so thought of posting it today :)  I shot these pictures in hurry when two poor people where waiting to dig in the morning breakfast :(  Yes poori with your favorite accompaniment is absolutely comforting weekend breakfast.. so don't wait...

Poori or Puri is prepared with wheat flour, either atta (whole wheat flour), maida (refined wheat flour/all purpose flour). A dough made of flour and salt is rolled out in a small circle and deep fried in vegetable oil. While deep frying, it puffs up like a round ball because moisture in the dough changes into steam which expands in all directions. While frying when it attains golden-brown (for soft poori) or reddish brown color (for little crispy poori), it is removed from the oil, drained and served hot with accompaniments. There are so many accompaniments for poori; it can be served with both sweet and savory ones.  The most popular savory accompaniments are potato based curries, Channa masala/chole Masala, Dhal, Korma etc.   These golden beauties are almost everyone's favorite and very famous throughout India.  

 MAKING POORI/PURI

Yields - 5 to 6 pooris

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 1 cup

Water - 1/2 cup approximately (depends on the quality of flour you may need to adjust the water)

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Oil - 1 tsp

Frying:

Oil

Deep vessel

Ladle

Method :

1. Take flour and salt in a bowl.  Add water little by little until all the flour comes together.

2. Knead the dough well until it comes together into pliable dough.

3. Add the oil and knead again to smooth ball.

4. The dough should be not being too tight or too soft.

5. Divide the dough into equal lime size balls.

6. When you are making the discs out of that dough balls.  Get ready with the oil for deep frying.

7. Heat the oil in the deep vessel. 

8. Now roll the ball into discs using the rolling pin.  The disc should be about 5 inch diameter and the thickness should not be too thin.  If it is too thin then poori will not puff up.

9. You can also make big poori, if you want t o make big ones then size of the dough balls should be little bigger and also choose the deep fryer vessel little bigger so that the poori will fit in them while deep frying.

10. Now check the temperature of the oil by just putting a small piece of dough, when it comes immediately to the surface without any delay, it means the temperature is right.

11. Drop the rolled dough in the hot oil, just ladle the oil above the dough surface; this helps the poori to puff up.

12. Once it is puffed up and gets golden brown color. Just flip one time and let it get golden brown or reddish brown color on other side too.

13. Now remove them and drain it in the kitchen towel.  Serve hot with your favorite accompaniment.

 Things to keep in mind to get good Poori:

1. The dough consistency is very important.  The dough should not be too tight or too soft.

2. You can make poori as soon as the dough is kneaded.  It does not need any resting time.

3. While rolling the dough balls make sure it is not too thick or too thin. 

4. Temperature of oil is another factor to get good pooris.  The oil should be hot but not smoking hot.  Check the temperature of oil as I have mentioned above.

Enjoy making poori and eating with your favorite accompaniment....

Here are few accompaniments that you can enjoy with the Poori...

CHANNA MASALA/PUNJABI CHOLE/CHICKPEA CURRY

COCONUT MASALA

SOYA CHUNKS VEGETABLE CURRY

VEGETABLE KORMA

MIXED VEGETABLE CURRY

PANEER BUTTER MASALA

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SCONES a.k.a BISCUITS - DARING BAKERS 2012

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

Audax is truly an inspiring baker came up with whole bunch of variations and Tips.  The scones came out very fluffy with beautiful crust outside, he explained every single steps with lots of explanation and effort which resulted in beautiful scones. I should thank him for this wonderful recipe and sure it is a keeper !!!  

Here are my plain scones which we enjoyed with nutella and mini scones with Indian touch. It includes caramelized onion, finely chopped green chilies, Scallions, lots of coriander leaves with hint of whole cumin. I have also used whole wheat flour and half all purpose flour to the basic recipe.  Hope you all enjoy my treat as much as I enjoyed baking in the gloooooomy and lazy day!!!

The scone is a small Scottish quick bread. They are usually made of wheat, barley or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent. The scone is a basic component of the cream tea or Devonshire tea.

The original scone was round and flat, usually the size of a medium size plate. It was made with unleavened oats and baked on a griddle (or girdle, in Scots), then cut into triangle-like quadrants for serving. British scones are often lightly sweetened, but may also be savory. They frequently include raisins, currants, cheese or dates. Round-shaped British scones can resemble North American biscuits in appearance, but scones rely on cold butter for their delicate, flaky texture, while biscuits are more often made with animal fat or vegetable shortening and are crumbly rather than flaky.

Here are my mini scones with Indian touch. It includes caramelized onion, finely chopped green chilies, Scallions, lots of coriander leaves with hint of whole cumin. I have also used whole wheat flour and half all purpose flour to the basic recipe.  Hope you all enjoy my treat as much as I enjoyed baking in the gloooooomy and lazy day!!!

 

  

BASIC SCONE RECIPE

Ingredients:

Plain (all-purpose) flour - 1 cup
Fresh baking powder - 2 teaspoons
Salt - ¼ teaspoon
Frozen grated butter - 2 tablespoons
Cold milk - ½ cup approximately
Optional 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones

 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.
2. Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. (If your room temperature is very hot refrigerate the sifted ingredients until cold.)
3. Rub the frozen grated butter (or combination of fats) into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones.
4. Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be!
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)

6. Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle by about ¾ inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2 cm thick). Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer and cut two more scones (these two scones will not raise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire.
7. Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden color on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones.
8. Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly colored on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.
9. Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm.

 

Note :


For the Herb and Caramalized onion scone 



Onion - 1 finely chopped
Green chillies - 3 very very finely chopped
Scallions/chives - 4 only green part finely sliced
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cilantro - 1/4 cup very finely chopped
Oil - 1/2 tbsp
salt - little



Method :

1. Heat oil in the pan . Add the cumin once it splutters. Add the green chillies.
2. Add the onion to brown color in low flame.
3. Now once it is done add other ingredients and give it a stir and put off the flame.
4. Let them cool and add this cooled mixture after step 3 in the above scone recipe.
5. And follow remaining steps.  


Enjoy the Scone with Indian touch !!!!

I used egg wash for my Herb scone but if you want to avoid egg , just substitute with milk like the basic scone.



Storage and Freezing Instructions/Tips:

Scones are best eaten warm. Scones (biscuits) are really easy to store – bag the cooked and cooled scones and freeze until needed then reheat in a moderate hot for a few minutes.

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CROISSANTS (PLAIN AND SOME SPRINKLED WITH ZATAR) - DARING CHALLENGE FOR SEPTEMBER 2011

The Daring Bakers go retro this month! Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child!

A croissant is a buttery flaky bread named for its distinctive crescent shape. It is also sometimes called a Crescent. Croissants are made of a leavened variant of puff pastry. The yeast dough is layered with butter, rolled and folded several times in succession, then rolled into a sheet, a technique called laminating.

The most difficult part of making croissants is that they take a veeeeery long time. About 12 hours total, with resting and rising periods. I made few plain croissants and other sprinkled with Za'atar(Zatar) middle eastern spice...yummm... here you go for virtual treat.

PLAIN BUTTERY CROISSANTS & WITH ZATAR

Recipe source : Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume Two. Julia Child and Simone Beck
Ingredients :

¼ oz (7 gm) of fresh yeast, or 1¼ teaspoon (6¼ ml/4 gm) of dry-active yeast (about ½ sachet)
3 tablespoons (45 ml) warm water (less than 100°F/38°C)
1 teaspoon (5 ml/4½ gm) sugar
1 3/4 cups (225 gm/½ lb) of strong plain flour (I used  Bread flour)
2 teaspoons (10 ml/9 gm) sugar
1½ teaspoon (7½ ml/9 gm) salt
½ cup (120 ml/¼ pint) milk
2 tablespoons (30 ml) tasteless oil ( vegetable oil)
½ cup (120 ml/1 stick/115 gm/¼ lb) chilled, unsalted butter
1 egg, for egg wash

Directions:

1. Mix the yeast, warm water, and first teaspoon of sugar in a small bowl. Leave aside for the yeast and sugar to dissolve and the yeast to foam up a little.
2. Measure out the other ingredients.
3. Heat the milk until tepid (either in the microwave or a saucepan), and dissolve in the salt and remaining sugar.
4. Place the flour in a large bowl.
5. Add the oil, yeast mixture, and milk mixture to the flour
6. Mix all the ingredients together using the rubber spatula, just until all the flour is incorporated
7. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and let it rest a minute while you wash out the bowl
8. Knead the dough eight to ten times only. The best way is as Julia Child does it in the video (see below). It’s a little difficult to explain, but essentially involves smacking the dough on the counter (lots of fun if you are mad at someone) and removing it from the counter using the pastry scraper.
9. Place the dough back in the bowl, and place the bowl in the plastic bag.
10. Leave the bowl at approximately 75°F/24°C for three hours, or until the dough has tripled in size. 

11. After the dough has tripled in size, remove it gently from the bowl, pulling it away from the sides of the bowl with your fingertips.
12. Place the dough on a lightly floured board or countertop, and use your hands to press it out into a rectangle about 8 by 12 inches (20cm by 30cm).
13. Fold the dough rectangle in three, like a letter (fold the top third down, and then the bottom third up).
14. Place the dough letter back in the bowl, and the bowl back in the plastic bag.
15. Leave the dough to rise for another 1.5 hours, or until it has doubled in size. This second rise can be done overnight in the fridge.
16. Place the double-risen dough onto a plate and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place the plate in the fridge while you prepare the butter.
17. Once the dough has doubled, it’s time to incorporate the butter.
18. Place the block of chilled butter on a chopping board.
19. Using the rolling pin, beat the butter down a little, till it is quite flat.
20. Use the heel of your hand to continue to spread the butter until it is smooth. You want the butter to stay cool, but spread easily.

21. Remove the dough from the fridge and place it on a lightly floured board or counter. Let it rest for a minute or two.
22. Spread the dough using your hands into a rectangle about 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).
23. Remove the butter from the board, and place it on the top half of the dough rectangle.
24. Spread the butter all across the top two-thirds of the dough rectangle, but keep it ¼ inch (6 mm) across from all the edges.
25. Fold the top third of the dough down, and the bottom third of the dough up.
26. Turn the dough package 90 degrees, so that the top flap is to your right (like a book).
27. Roll out the dough package (gently, so you don’t push the butter out of the dough) until it is again about 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).
28. Again, fold the top third down and the bottom third up.
29. Wrap the dough package in plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge for 2 hours.
30. After two hours have passed, take the dough out of the fridge and place it again on the lightly floured board or counter.

31. Tap the dough with the rolling pin, to deflate it a little.
32. Let the dough rest for 8 to 10 minutes.
33. Roll the dough package out till it is 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).
34. Fold in three, as before.
35. Turn 90 degrees, and roll out again to 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).
36. Fold in three for the last time, wrap in plastic, and return the dough package to the fridge for two more hours (or overnight, with something heavy on top to stop it from rising).
37. It’s now time to cut the dough and shape the croissants.
38. First, lightly butter your baking sheet so that it is ready.
39. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it rest for ten minutes on the lightly floured board or counter.
40. Roll the dough out into a 20 by 5 inch rectangle (51 cm by 12½ cm).

41. Cut the dough into two rectangles (each 10 by 5 inches (25½ cm by 12½ cm)).
42. Place one of the rectangles in the fridge, to keep the butter cold.
43. Roll the second rectangle out until it is 15 by 5 inches (38 cm by 12½ cm).
44. Cut the rectangle into three squares (each 5 by 5 inches (12½ cm by 12½ cm)).
45. Place two of the squares in the fridge.
46. The remaining square may have shrunk up a little bit in the meantime. Roll it out again till it is nearly square.
47. Cut the square diagonally into two triangles.
48. Stretch the triangle out a little, so it is not a right-angle triangle, but more of an isosceles.
49. Starting at the wide end, roll the triangle up towards the point, and curve into a crescent shape.
50. Place the unbaked croissant on the baking sheet.
51. Repeat the process with the remaining squares of dough, creating 12 croissants in total.
52. Leave the tray of croissants, covered lightly with plastic wrap, to rise for 1 hour
53. Preheat the oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.
54. Mix the egg with a teaspoon of water.
55. Spread the egg wash across the tops of the croissants.
56. Put the croissants in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the tops are browned nicely.
57. Take the croissants out of the oven, and place them on a rack to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

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STOLLEN - DARING TREAT !!!

This month challenge is Stollen a traditional German fruit cake.  This  recipe is sure a keeper. It just stole my heart... :)  Enjoy Stollen and Wish you all very " Happy Christmas" .

 

The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book.........and Martha Stewart’s demonstration.

STOLLEN
A Stollen is a loaf-shaped cake containing dried fruit, and covered with sugar, powdered sugar or icing sugar. The cake is usually made with chopped candied fruit and/or dried fruit, nuts and spices. Stollen is a traditional German cake, usually eaten during the Christmas season, when called Weihnachtsstollen or Christstollen. A similar cake from the Dutch cuisine is called a Kerststol in Dutch, while in Italian cuisine the panettone also shows a likeness.

Stollen is a bread-like fruitcake made with yeast, water and flour, and usually with zest added to the dough. Candied orange peel and candied citrus peel, raisins and almonds, and different spices such as cardamom and cinnamon are added. Other ingredients, such as milk, sugar, butter, salt, rum, eggs, vanilla, other dried fruits and nuts and marzipan may also be added to the Stollen dough. Except for the fruit added, the dough is quite low in sugar. The finished cake is sprinkled with icing sugar. The traditional weight of a Stollen is around 4.4 pounds (2 kg), but smaller sizes are now available.

Stollen Wreath
Makes one large wreath or two traditional shaped Stollen loaves. Serves 10-12 people.

Ingredients:

Water - ¼ cup lukewarm
Active dry yeast - 2 packages
Milk - 1 cup
Unsalted butter (can use salted butter) - 10 tablespoons
All-purpose (plain) flour - 5½ cups  (Measure flour first - then sift- plus extra for dusting)
Sugar - ½ cup
Salt  - ¾ teaspoon (if using salted butter there is no need to alter this salt measurement)
Cinnamon - 1 teaspoon
Eggs, lightly beaten - 3 large
Grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
Vanilla extract - 2 teaspoons
Lemon extract or orange extract - 1 teaspoon
Mixed peel - ¾ cup
Firmly packed raisins - 1 cup
Rum - 3 tablespoons
Cherries (roughly chopped)  - 12 red for the color and the taste. (optional)
Flaked almonds - 1 cup
Melted unsalted butter for coating the wreath
Confectioners’ (icing) (powdered) sugar for dusting wreath

Note: If you don’t want to use alcohol, double the lemon or orange extract or you could use the juice from the zest ed orange.

 
Directions:

1. Soak the raisins
2. In a small bowl, soak the raisins in the rum (or in the orange juice from the zest ed orange) and set aside.

To make the dough :

1. Pour ¼ cup warm water into a small bowl, sprinkle with yeast and let stand 5 minutes. Stir to dissolve yeast completely.
2. In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup milk and 10 tablespoons butter over medium - low heat until butter is melted. Let stand until lukewarm, about 5 minutes.
3.Lightly beat eggs in a small bowl and add lemon and vanilla extracts.
4. In a large mixing bowl (4 qt) (4 liters) (or in the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment), stir together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, orange and lemon zests.
5. Then stir in (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment) the yeast/water mixture, eggs and the lukewarm milk/butter mixture. This should take about 2 minutes. It should be a soft, but not sticky ball. When the dough comes together, cover the bowl with either plastic or a tea cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.
6. Add in the mixed peel, soaked fruit and almonds and mix with your hands or on low speed to incorporate. Here is where you can add the cherries if you would like. Be delicate with the cherries or all your dough will turn red!
7. Sprinkle flour on the counter, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mixing with the dough hook) to distribute the fruit evenly, adding additional flour if needed. The dough should be soft and satiny, tacky but not sticky. Knead for approximately 8 minutes (6 minutes by machine). The full six minutes of kneading is needed to distribute the dried fruit and other ingredients and to make the dough have a reasonable bread-dough consistency. You can tell when the dough is kneaded enough – a few raisins will start to fall off the dough onto the counter because at the beginning of the kneading process the dough is very sticky and the raisins will be held into the dough but when the dough is done it is tacky which isn't enough to bind the outside raisins onto the dough ball.
8. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling around to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
9. Put it in the fridge overnight. The dough becomes very firm in the fridge (since the butter goes firm) but it does rise slowly… the raw dough can be kept in the refrigerator up to a week and then baked on the day you want.

 
Shaping the Dough and Baking the Wreath :
1. Let the dough rest for 2 hours after taking out of the fridge in order to warm slightly.
2. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
3. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4 with the oven rack on the middle shelf.
4. Punch dough down, roll into a rectangle about 16 x 24 inches (40 x 61 cms) and ¼ inch (6 mm) thick.
5.Starting with a long side, roll up tightly, forming a long, thin cylinder.
6. Transfer the cylinder roll to the sheet pan. Join the ends together, trying to overlap the layers to make the seam stronger and pinch with your fingers to make it stick, forming a large circle. You can form it around a bowl to keep the shape.
7.Using kitchen scissors, make cuts along outside of circle, in 2-inch (5 cm) intervals, cutting 2/3 of the way through the dough.
8.Twist each segment outward, forming a wreath shape. Mist the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
9.Proof for approximately 2 hours at room temperature, or until about 1½ times its original size.
Bake the stollen for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees for even baking and continue to bake for 20 to 30 minutes. The bread will bake to a dark mahogany color, should register 190°F/88°C in the center of the loaf, and should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.
10.Transfer to a cooling rack and brush the top with melted butter while still hot.
11. Immediately tap a layer of powdered sugar over the top through a sieve or sifter.
12. Wait for 1 minute, then tap another layer over the first.
13. The bread should be coated generously with the powdered sugar.
14. Let cool at least an hour before serving. Coat the stollen in butter and icing sugar three times, since this many coatings helps keeps the stollen fresh - especially if you intend on sending it in the mail as Christmas presents!

Note :

1. When completely cool, store in a plastic bag. Or leave it out uncovered overnight to dry out slightly, German style.
2. The stollen tastes even better in a couple of days and it toasts superbly…. so delicious with butter and a cup of tea….mmmmm
3. You can substitute the raisins with cranberries or other dried fruit. You can substitute the lemon and orange zests for other zests example lime.

Storage : 
The more rum and the more coatings of butter and sugar you use the longer it will store.
The following is for the recipe as written and uses the 45 mls of rum and two coatings of butter and icing sugar
1. Stollen freezes beautifully about 4 months
2. The baked stollen stores well for 2 weeks covered in foil and plastic wrap on the counter at room temperature and
3. One month in the refrigerator well covered with foil and plastic wrap.

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