The Bread Baker 39;s Apprentice Recipes
Elva Stuller
Bread 46 was the Cinnamon Buns recipe from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice (affiliate link). I had planned to make a different cinnamon roll recipe but didn't have the ingredients I wanted for it. It surprised me that I hadn't noticed this recipe from the book sooner, despite making probably about half of the book's bread recipes.
Thus, brunch on Christmas morning was cinnamon buns. You can bake the rolls on the same day you make them, but I didn't want that much work on Christmas (or any morning, really). To make brunch happen, I made the buns the day before and put them in the fridge overnight for their second rise. They became puffy in the meantime, and I removed them from the fridge 3 hours before I wanted to bake them to remove the chill.
Some aspects of these rolls were amazing, and some needed work. I've made great cinnamon rolls twice before (from Alton Brown's overnight recipe and from a recipe from Smitten Kitchen), and based on those, I've recommended some adjustments below.
I think this is the best dough for cinnamon rolls that I have ever made. It was puffy and tender once baked. The rolls had a beautifully open crumb. I enjoyed the hint of lemon in the dough. I need to note, though, that my dough might have been a little slack/wetter than the recipe intended, as my log of cinnamon rolls did not maintain its round shape before I cut it. Although I loved the dough, the rolls were not gooey or cinnamony enough for my taste. I think that it needed about twice as much sugar as originally called for in the filling, and definitely more cinnamon, so I changed the recipe above. Notable about this recipe is that you don't use butter in the filling, and it may have needed it. I can't tell without testing it, so I've mentioned above that it's optional.
A note on the glaze - the original recipe made twice as much glaze as I listed above. I made the full amount of glaze that the original recipe called for, but even using only half of what I made, it was too much for me. If you make the cinnamon swirl with more sugar, you won't need as much glaze. Also, I may have gotten too much lemon extract in my glaze; the citrusy glaze was certainly more lemon than I want with cinnamon rolls. We enjoyed these rolls mostly because lemon rolls are a nice change of pace, but if we'd really wanted cinnamon rolls, I think we would have been disappointed. I really enjoyed the thick consistency of the glaze, but I think that vanilla rather than lemon might be a better choice. I do prefer this over a cream cheese frosting, both because it's simpler and involves pantry ingredients, rather than cream cheese, which is a special purchase for me.
Like all breakfast rolls, these are best fresh and warm. On the second day, they were still fine when reheated, but they weren't nearly so good as they originally were. I love the bread part of the rolls, and think that with the changes above to the filling and glaze, the rolls will be excellent. I'm looking forward to trying them again.
Want more cinnamon rolls somehow? You can try these overnight cinnamon rolls adapted from Alton Brown; these cinnamon rolls adapted from Smitten Kitchen; these super-tender, quick and easy cinnamon rolls; or these gluten-free cinnamon rolls if you need to make something gluten-free.
A recipe for fluffy, delicious Cinnamon Rolls, adapted from The Bread Baker's Apprentice (affiliate link). Make the evening before, then bake for breakfast in morning! Alterations from the original are noted below.
Today, I baked 2 loaves of New York Deli Onion Sourdough Rye from The Bread Baker's Apprentice. They look ALOT better than the previous attempt. It's amazing what can happen when you watch the bread and make sure it doesn't overproof. I'm still getting used to my make-shift microwave proof box. The temp in there is about 80F so proofing loaves goes really fast. I also reduced the amount of yeast in the bread to 1 1/2 tsp. instead of 2 tsp. which had seemed pretty high considering there is also a good amount of rye sourdough starter in the bread as well. Here are my pretties -
In the better late than never category, I baked my first ever stollen tonight using Peter Reinhart's recipe in The Bread Baker's Apprentice. I made up some of my own almond paste, using ground almonds, confectioner's sugar and Karo light syrup. I am resisting the urge to sample this until Christmas.
Some days I don't know where my mind goes. I was baking 2 loaves of New York Onion Rye Bread from Peter Reinhart's book Bread Baker's Apprentice. Everything was going smoothly. The loaves were proofing in my make-shift proofer (microwave with cup of boiled water in it) but then disaster struck.
I didn't pay attention to the bread as it was rising. The recipe said 90 minutes to proof so I went with 90 minutes, oh so wrong! Bread was proofed and I hadn't even started the oven! In my tizzy, I set the oven 30F too cool and didn't realize it until 10 minutes or so into the bake. Bleh! So I watched my two loaves of bread meet in the middle of the baking pan as they rose (sideways) on the baking sheet. Argh!! No oven spring for me with that cool oven. Here are the loaves as they look, cooling on the rack. NEXT TIME - I'll check the bread about half way into the proof time. NEXT TIME I'll read the ENTIRE recipe through several times to get it straight in my head and not ASSUME anything.
The 100% Whole Wheat Bread from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice has been one of my favorite breads for years. I love it for it's delicious honey-wheat flavor. However, it often comes out with a dense, cake-like crumb. In April, I tried making this bread using a more intensive mix, as demonstrated by txfarmer. (See Light and fluffy 100% Whole Wheat Bread) I did, indeed, achieve a less dense, more open crumb. But I felt there was some loss of flavor due to oxidation of carotenoids.
The first difference in the bread was the wonderfulness of its aroma. I can't say it was different in quality, but it just filled the house as never before. When the bread was cool and sliced, the crumb structure was even more open than I got with intensive mixing. The bread is chewy like a good white loaf and not at all cakey or crumbly. The flavor is delicious. I can't really say it is better than the flavor I've gotten with either home-milled flour or KAF Organic Whole Wheat flour, but the combination of crumb structure, texture and flavor was remarkable.
My brother, Evan, came home from his trip to Antarctica and New Zealand a few days ago. We had a lot of family events that filled the entirety of the weekend, and we had no time to really even see each other. Even though I had school today, I took the morning off to bake bread and hang out with my brother before he flew back to California. English muffins were the next on deck-and I couldn't have asked for a more interesting bread to make with Evan.
English muffins, despite their name, are not like the typical muffins we are familiar with. Yeast-risen, English muffins are cooked atop a griddle, giving it its classic, flattened shape. Once browned on the outside, the muffins are baked fully in the oven. English muffins are usually eaten for breakfast, or for sandwiches. However, to retain the texture of the crumb, English muffins are split open with a fork, revealing the trademarked "nooks and crannies" inside.
English muffins are very similar to crumpets, which are yeasted breads baked in a mould on a griddle. However, crumpets have their defining holes on the top of the bread, while English muffins have holes on the inside.
Cooking yeasted breads on a griddle was nothing new- it has been documented that in 10th century Wales breads were made like this. In the 19th century England, yeasted griddle-breads were sold door to door by a muffin man. He would come around every day, and deliver fresh breads.
The English muffins that I've unfortunately been exposed to are rubbery, store bought Thomas' ones. The only positives about these are that when their split with a fork, toasted, and buttered, they do not taste half bad. However, I'm sure English muffins have the potential to be a delicious breakfast and sandwich bread.
English muffins are enriched bread, with butter and milk. They are a direct bread, meaning they do not have a preferment or retardation. However, I believe that these would be great using a sourdough starter, adding a more complex flavor. Evan and I decided that we would make two batches because it only makes six at a time. If we doubled it, we would have enough to feed our bread-hungry brother, Will, and freeze some for future breakfasts.
Evan and I began mixing the dry ingredients- flour, sugar, salt and yeast- together. Since we didn't have any buttermilk, we clabbered milk with vinegar to make a buttermilk substitute. We added the "buttermilk" and butter to the dough, and kneaded it until it made a soft, tender dough.
We let the dough proof until doubled, for about two hours. The dough was so soft and supple; It was surprised that it would be used for English muffins. We scaled it into 3 ounce portions, and shaped them into balls. We sprinkled them with a really coarse cornmeal, and a finer one. Then, we let them proof for about 2 hours until they puffed up significantly.
We originally were going to use a cast-iron skillet, but the one we own is only about 8 inches in diameter. We settled on our electric-griddle which we use for pancakes. They cooked on the first side for about 5 minutes, or until they were very dark brown, but not burnt. Then, we flipped them, and baked them on the last side.
They were on the big side, and a little thicker than the ones were used to. Evan and I split one open (with a fork!) and tried it. They tasted real, and delicious. Unlike store bought ones, they didn't taste chemically or rubbery, but were soft with a crunchy corn crust.
Next time (and I promise there will be a next time), I think I'll scale them into about 2.5 ounce balls rather than 3 ounce ones. It might have been Evan's presence in the kitchen, but English muffins were probably the most fun and most interesting bread I've baked so far.
93ddb68554