Crack(er)ing Up

While I’m ordinarily one of the last ones to finish my Daring Bakers’ challenges, this time I was among the first.  There was a possibility I would be returning to full-time employment in July so I wanted to do my challenge baking while I knew I would have time.  Unfortunately, that meant baking while the thermometer hovered somewhere around 104°F.  But the motivation was there, so I went with it.  By the time I was done, Satan would have felt at home in our kitchen.

Battenberg Up

When I read this month’s Daring Baker’s challenge, I was kind of excited that it was cake.  "Mandy of What The Fruitcake?! came to our rescue last minute to present us with the Battenberg Cake challenge! She highlighted Mary Berry’s techniques and recipes to allow us to create this unique little cake with ease."  It’s been awhile since I’ve made a cake and I’ve been feeling the urge a little bit.  This cake was the perfect answer as although it’s small in size, it involves a lot of technique.  Perfect!

Happy Challah Days!

First things first, let me get the required verbiage in before I forget - again:

May’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge was pretty twisted – Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood challenged us to make challah! Using recipes from all over, and tips from “A Taste of Challah,” by Tamar Ansh, she encouraged us to bake beautifully braided breads.

Okay, that taken care of, this was my first attempt at challah.  We were supposed to make it in school, but somehow didn’t get to it.  Making the dough itself isn’t much different than making any other enriched bread dough.  However, because it’s a traditional Jewish bread, there are certain dietary rules to be kept in mind if you’re keeping your challah true to tradition.  This usually means no dairy in the bread.  Ruth provided some great information about the history of challah and what the different braids and shapes symbolize.  (She also included videos of braiding techniques which I tried to watch, but since my laptop doesn’t seem to like video I finally gave up in frustration.)  Of the recipes provided, I went with the Easy Challah mostly because it was a smaller quantity.  I do want to try the recipe for Honey White Challah at some point though.  It sounds really good and my braiding skills can use a lot more practice.

Daring Bakers Go Armenian

For April, Daring Baker Jason (of Daily Candor) challenged us to make at least one of two recipes he provided which represent his Armenian heritage:  nazouk (or nazook) and nutmeg cake.  Both were completely new to me and right away I had a strong suspicion I would make both of them. 

Daring Bakers: Dutch Crunch Bread

Until this month, I had never heard of Dutch Crunch Bread.  Living in small-town Southern Illinois, that’s not particularly surprising.  If not for the Daring Bakers’ Challenge, I’m doubt I ever would have heard of it.  Dutch Crunch is also known as tiger bread or giraffe bread because of the pattern of the crust after baking.  The “crunch” is actually a topping applied to the bread (any bread) and not the bread itself. 

Most of the bread I make is sourdough.  I considered other types of bread for this challenge as I wasn’t sure if sourdough would be a good match for the topping, but compromised by making a less tangy sourdough with a softer crust. 

Making sourdough bread has nearly become second nature to me.  Since the Tea & Cookies sourdough challenge in February, I’ve made sourdough bread at least once a week, sometimes twice if I’m giving bread to friends.  The recipe I use makes two loaves of bread.  Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to put this crunch topping on all of the bread.  What if I didn’t like it?  Why waste perfectly good bread if I didn’t like the "crunch"?

the Dutch Crunch topping

Although I’d only intended to make half of the topping recipe, I mistakenly measured the rice flour out for the full amount.  I chose to adjust all of the other ingredients to the full amount since it would be quicker than starting over.  Then I started to wonder if my active dry yeast was still good as I've forgotten how long I've had it.  (My sourdough bread doesn't use yeast, and I ordinarily use instant when I need it.) 

I'd say the yeast is still good.

Mixing up the topping didn’t do anything to reassure me that I would like it.  It smelled rather badly in my opinion – sweaty gym socks came to mind.  All I could think was, “please, please, please don’t let it taste like it smells!” and “maybe baking gets rid of the smell.”  But at least the yeast was still active. 

one topped, one waiting

The next step was to spread the smelly topping over the two small sourdough boules I was "sacrificing" for the cause.  The instructions indicated to err on the side of too much topping versus too little.  I spooned and spread the topping until I just couldn't stand to add any more. 

Once the bread was out of the oven and slightly cooled, the first thing I did was smell the crust.  While not as strong, it still smelled a little bit like sweaty gym socks to me.  I wasn’t looking forward to the second half of the challenge:  creating a sandwich using the bread. 

it is rather attractive bread

Tug had grilled chicken breasts for dinner the night before.  They were so large that neither of us finished them, so grilled chicken was part of my sandwich.  We also had a significant quantity of lettuce from our hydroponic garden that needed to be used.  Then I remembered some goat cheese I had bought and not opened yet.  And since I’m a big fan of goat cheese with citrus, my sandwich also included some of the preserved lemons I made earlier this month.  Tug had no desire to try my sandwich and made his own chicken sandwich.  I’ll admit, my sandwich isn’t for everyone.

It looks like a Dagwood, but I smashed it down to size.

And in all honesty, Dutch Crunch Bread really isn’t for me.  Eating it as part of my sandwich was fine, but at one point I pulled off a small piece of the “crunch” and ate it on its own.  It does taste like I think it smells!