Week #7 of the The Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge was Ciabatta! I started off the week very excited about this challenge. After all, it is an Italian bread!
Ciabatta (pronounced cha-bat-a) literally translates to “slipper”. The name was said to be given because the shape of the bread resembles a slipper. Ciabatta is an Italian white bread with a crisp crust and a soft, porous crumb. Ciabatta was said to be first made in Liguria. There are many variations of Ciabatta and they vary from region to region. We had several different versions to choose from: Regular Ciabatta, Wild Mushrom Ciabatta, Ciabatta with Cheese or Carmelized Onion and Herb Ciabatta. Since it was my first foray into Ciabatta bread I chose the regular Ciabatta.
Week 6 of the The Bread Baker’s Apprentice was CHALLAH! To give you a little background, Challah is the braided Sabbath bread of Judaism. According to Peter Reinhart, Challah “is a European celebratory loaf symbolic of God’s goodness and bounty. The braids traditionally separate the loaf into twelve distinct sections representing the twelve tribes of Israel.” It’s always fascinating to me to know the history behind something. Makes it more meaningful, doesn’t it?
I’ll save you the suspense because I just can’t stand it and just tell you that I LOVED THIS BREAD! It is by far my favorite thus far. I know I practically say that every week but this bread was dee-lish! It was not only beautiful to look at but incredibly beautiful to eat. It was glowing golden brown on the outside & It was light and airy inside and practically floated down your throat. Definitely a centerpiece bread. Read the rest of this entry »
Week 5. Well, we’re moving right along through the The Bread Baker’s Apprentice - Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread,. Are you out there baking along with me? I don’t want to be having all this fun by myself & of course gaining all this weight by myself! LOL! Although this has been a delicious adventure it really is wreaking havoc on my waistline. I really need to put myself on an exercise program to go along with this baking challenge!
Okay, back to bread…I must admit I was quite terrified when I started this challenge. I am NOT a baker. So the thought of all of this measuring and being at the mercy of yeast just frightened me. As you may know I’m a by sight & taste kind of cook. I put in my ingredients, taste & adjust. Cooking is very forgiving. Baking on the other hand, not so much. But I do find myself enjoying this immensely. Hoping my book makes it through this challenge. Already after week 5 it’s looking very worn with it’s buttery fingerprints & oil stained pages. LOL
I was particularly excited this week to be making an Italian bread. Evviva (hooray!) Okay, everyone knows by now that I’m crazy about all things Italian. So, suffice it to say I was jazzed. So before I got started on this bread I did a little research so I could give you some background.
Week 4 in the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge is BRIOCHE! Oh me, Oh my the buttery goodness that is inside this bread! Brioche is THE bread to which all rich breads are compared and now I know why! It has A LOT of butter. Paula Deen size amounts of butter *wink wink*.
At least a 20% butter to flour ratio is used when making Brioche, but normally 50% or higher is used. Making it decidedly decadent and devilishly delicious. The history of the bread alludes to Marie Antoinette’s last words which properly translates to, “Let them eat Brioche” and not, “Let them eat cake.” Of course we’ll never know which exactly but I think I like the Brioche version myself. I can see why as Brioche is cake-like in texture and extremely moist & buttery, sliding over your tongue and delighting your taste buds.
In Peter’s book, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice - Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread, we were given the choice of three versions: Rich Man’s Brioche, Middle-Class Brioche & Poor Man’s Brioche! Well I figured it was already over the top decadent so why not go ahead & go for the Rich Man’s Brioche which calls for a WHOPPING one pound of butter (told you it was Paula Deen doses). Naturally this has to be good (I didn’t say good for you, just good!)
Week 3 in the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge - Bagels! Yes I made it another week! I know, I’m just as shocked as everyone else! Sadly, I must start out with news that, my trusty Kitchen Aid mixer has gone on to greener pastures. Yes, Alice is no longer with us. Artos killed her! Boo hoo hoo! So working on this challenge was a little more challenging than I expected because all of the kneading had to be done by hand! I used muscles in my arms I haven’t used since … well let’s just say it’s been a while!
Not one to let a little setback get me down, I pressed onward. I started out every challenge the same way, reading through the commentary & recipe in Peter’s book. This one was a little daunting, 6 pages worth of daunting to a newbie baker like myself. There were a few ingredients that I could not find locally, malt syrup & high gluten flour but luckily Peter (I feel we’re on a first name basis now since I am afterall in week 3, hope that’s okay with you Peter!) gave me substitutions.. Whew. Yes, I know I could have ordered them online but I ran out of time.
Well, I made it past the first week’s Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge WOO HOO (wiping hand off forehead)! However, there’s no time for me to savor my accomplishment (if you didn’t see my post on my first challenge - Anadmama bread you can read about it here) and now I’m onto week two.
This week’s challenge was Artos Bread - Greek Celebration Breads.There are many different types & varieties of this bread & they all vary from family to family & region. Artos is the general name for these celebration breads. They are given more specific names for specific festivals and celebrations. Our Artos bread choices were: Christopsomos & Lambropsomo.
Something you may not know about me is that I’m not much of a baker! Gasp! Shocking I know right! Ask me to whip up a five course meal & that’s no problem. But ask me to bake homemade from scratch bread & I’m at a loss! You see, I’m more of a taste & see kind of cook. I add ingredients mostly by sight, taste them & then adjust as needed. Well, in baking you simply CAN NOT do that. Measurements have to be precise or your final product is a bust!
Despite my lack of baking skills, In the past few weeks I really have been wanting to bake bread! & then a large FLASHING SIGN came down in front of me via Twitter! Nicole of PinchMySalt recently started a group called The Bread Bakers Apprentice - (bba for short). The group is going through Peter Reinhart’s book “The Bread Bakers Apprentice- Mastering The Art of Extraordinary Bread” and making each & every recipe. I saw this is my chance! A HUGE undertaking for a novice baker mind you. But as I do love a challenge I signed up & now we’re off. The first week’s challenge (& of course all of these will be a challenge for me) is ANADAMA bread!
