How do we come up with new recipes in the King Arthur test kitchen?
I can tell you one thing: it’s a group effort.
And a total labor of love.
posts tagged ‘yeast bread’
No-Knead Chocolate-Cherry-Pecan Bread: (a) toast to the holidays
December 10th, 2012 by
You know those really dense, chewy rounds of bread you can buy at artisan bread bakeries?
Breads with a satiny, dark-brown crust, packed with fruit and nuts and, most of all, with incredible flavor from their long, slow rise?
Believe it or not, you – yes, YOU – can make a loaf like this at home. With no particular talent, and no special equipment.
Truth.
Thanksgiving Stuffing Loaf: sandwich time.
November 23rd, 2012 by
Recipe: Thanksgiving Stuffing Loaf
We wait all year for Thanksgiving, bake up a storm for 3 days prior, then POOF!
It’s all over in about 30 minutes flat.
The soft dinner roll leaking its melting pat of butter; bright, tangy fresh-cranberry sauce; the perfectly roasted bird, mashed potatoes enhanced with cream, the family’s favorite comfort-food side dish (green bean casserole? Sweet potatoes with marshmallow?)…
Enjoyed, and gone.
Gone – but in some cases, not forgotten. While the chocolate cream pie and cherry cheesecake may have vanished, and the turkey been turned into pot pie and soup, you can re-create stuffing’s wonderful signature flavor any time of the year – without even resorting to Stove Top.
Gluten-Free Filled Breads: a sweet and savory side-by-side
October 22nd, 2012 by
Oh the woes of gluten free bread.
It’s boring. Tasteless. The dough is unmanageable and not versatile.
I beg to differ.
When my family began making the gluten-free transition years ago, it was so hard to part with the comfort of good bread. It actually seemed easier to just avoid it altogether rather than risking failure in making it, or spending $6-$7 for a loaf at the grocery store.
We have since then, despite a small amount of whining in the process, successfully landed in a happy homemade loaf-loving life.
Cinnamon-Apple Raisin Challah: sweet circle of life
September 16th, 2012 by
Recipe: Cinnamon-Apple Raisin Challah
Happy Rosh Hashanah! Have you made your challah yet?
Challah is typically made as a long, braided loaf, its crust a shiny golden brown from a glaze of beaten egg applied before baking.
But Rosh Hashanah challah, which celebrates the Jewish new year, often appears in a spiral — signifying the circle of life.
This particular challah is studded with fresh apple and raisins, and rolled in an aromatic coating of cinnamon-sugar — autumn flavors to complement the September Rosh Hashanah holiday.
Don’t observe Rosh Hashanah? Try this challah anyway. You can never go wrong with apples, cinnamon, and raisins, right?
100% Whole Wheat Cinnamon Swirl Bread: riffing a tasty favorite
August 17th, 2012 by
This is not your mother’s whole wheat bread.
No offense to Mom, of course – but I’m guessing it’s probably better than hers.
Did your mom make you PB & J sandwiches on homemade whole wheat bread?
Orange Sweet Rolls: tangy twist on a favorite classic
August 14th, 2012 by
Recipe: Orange Sweet Rolls
Drip… Drip… Drip…
This is definitely NOT the sound you want to hear in the middle of a dark and stormy night, with the wind howling and tugging at those old shingles on your roof – you know, the ones you meant to replace last year only you spent your income tax refund on a stand mixer and a week at the beach.
This is also not the sound you want to hear when, against your better judgment, you left the dog alone in the kitchen with a pot of cooling soup barely within inquisitive nose reach on the counter.
And in fact, this is not the sound you hear at all when you drizzle vanilla glaze on a sweet roll.
Fruited Sourdough Bread: sandwich perfection
August 3rd, 2012 by
Recipe: Fruited Sourdough Sandwich Bread
When you think sourdough, you probably think:
A) San Francisco;
B) Crusty bread;
C) A lot of of work to make.
None of which paint an accurate picture of the sourdough bread pictured above. Which is:
A) A Vermont native;
B) Soft inside, with a chewy crust;
C) Potentially ready to enjoy in under 4 hours.
Have I piqued your interest?
Mardi Gras Jam Buns: the un-pazcki.
February 13th, 2012 by
Recipe: Mardi Gras Jam Buns
Repeat after me: these are NOT pazcki (say “POONCH-key”).
They have no paczki aspirations whatsoever. They’re nothing like what your babka or your busia made.
Sure, they started out to be pazcki, those fat, soft, luscious jelly doughnuts served on Mardi Gras throughout the Midwest, and in Polish-American households everywhere.
But truth to tell, this Irish-Norwegian-New England baker couldn’t pull them off.
A paczki pro I’m not.
No-Knead Harvest Bread: the easiest artisan loaf you’ll ever enjoy
October 21st, 2011 by
Recipe: No-Knead Harvest Bread
You visit a fancy metropolitan bakery. You pay fairly big bucks for a loaf of “artisan bread.”
You think to yourself, “Hmmm, I should be able to make this at home… how hard could it be?”
The answer is – as hard as you make it, given the degree of authenticity you want the loaf to have.
You can build your own starter, and feed it twice daily. Make dough figuring baker’s percentages and proper hydration, then mix and knead it to yield the perfect temperature for yeast growth. You can lovingly shape the loaf using traditional techniques, and bake it in an oven you’ve carefully filled with steam.
And if everything goes right, and you’re a pretty good baker, you’ll have an excellent loaf.
Me, I’m simply not that patient. I can certainly follow the artisan bread process; I’ve done it, it’s interesting, it works.
But most days, I’ll trade taste for classic preparation methods, thanks anyway. If you feel the same – read on.