Whole Grain Breads #21 Cinnamon Buns

This was not my best effort, I doubled the recipe, since I had 2 trays i rotated and flipped the trays halfway through. Somehow i thought to use the convection bake setting of my oven,which would have been fine, if i remembered to 'reduce' the baking time,which I didn't. to compound it, i failed to roll it tightly, the results were dry over bake buns, sigh...
   The dough ,In my opinion could use more sweetening,and a flavor, such as, an extract or fresh orange peel, or both, because it definitely needs to be kicked up from a bland wheat bread taste to a dessert type flavor.
  I am ,at this time,not considering playing with this recipe, perhaps some future day when the urge hits me.As it is, doing 2 bread challenges  is more than enough on my plate,with everything else in my life.
Here are my photos.......

Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Icing And Marzipan Carrots

My wife recently asked that I make a carrot cake for a friends birthday, of course I agreed. Ok,  I haven't made a carrot cake in a coupla years, where is that recipe? I was not about to look through my organized mess of recipes to find it, i 'll just go online, and I remembered the first one I ever made was from a recipe in a better homes and gardens cook book set of 2 volumes .That was a really good cake, but it was made in an angel food cake pan with that hole in the middle, and I didn't want that shape. So ,back online, yes I know I could have used that recipe in regular cake pans and adjust the baking time. But this was needed to be done now, and I had no desire to start testing recipes in different cake pan sizes.
  The last cake I made was really really good, but of course the recipe I found sounded very similar, or it was just my wishing it so. Nevertheless, I printed out a recipe from Joy Of Baking.com, and it included a marzipan recipe, well not the recipe to make marzipan, but how to color it and shape it. Back online, isn't it amazing how we can find out 'anything' online,I found several methods to make marzipan. I chose the simplest, similar to making almond paste, but with more powdered sugar. Since i was limited in time i did not blanch my almonds, of course I could have bought blanched almonds ,but I didn't,which created a less than all white paste. The skins are  reported to be loaded with important nutrients, so I didn't feel too badly leaving them on. I chose to use the no cook recipe for the marzipan, simply, almond paste. Grind  8oz (1+1/2cups) almonds in food processor till finely ground, add 1+1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tsp almond extract and 1 egg white.Process till it comes together like a ball of dough. For egglesss version use a tbsp or so of 1/2 brandy and 1/2 water. the paste should not be wet or sticky,add more sugar if needed. To color, add a few drops of food color and knead in till uniform. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap refridgerate or freeze till needed. To create the carrots roll a small amount of  the colored paste tapering to one end. Using a tooth pick gently create horizontal lines by placing the tooth pick on the carrot and drawing it towards you
  Since I did not blanch the almonds the little brown flecks actually created a more realistic looking carrot.
The leaves can be made from the almond paste colored green or bits of herb leaves such as dill fronds or  fennel fronds, the wife wanted marzipan leaves, which were a pain to do.
  You may already have a carrot cake recipe of your own, or find one online if you wish. same for the marzipan. To save work ,buy blanched almonds, to blanch yourself, immerse almonds in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, remove, squeeze almond between thumb and forefinger to slip off the skin., WARNING, they will shoot out of your fingers, so cover with your other hand. If it doesn't come off easily dip again in the boiling water. After almonds are blanched ,spread out onto a baking sheet and let dry several days before grinding them.
Here are links to get you started..
 almond paste/ marzipan....http://www.ellenskitchen.com/pantry/almpaste.html
carrot cake....http://www.joyofbaking.com/CarrotCake.html

WGB # 20 Whole Wheat Multi Grain Cinnamon Raisin Bread

This is a great tasting Whole wheat bread,the addition of the optional cooked grains in the soaker  pushed it over the top. There is just enough cinnamon flavor. The 6oz of cooked grains added a considerable amount of moisture, which required another 1 + 1/2 cups of ww flour to adjust the dough. i started with 3 oz total dry weight of cracked wheat, red bulgar, and whole flax seeds cooked together till tender.And 3 oz total weight of whole wheat berries,brown rice,and a gourmet rice and wild rice mix,cooked till tender. The cooked grains were 18oz in weight due to the cooking.I weighed off 3 oz of each and froze the rest for a future use.  
The biga and soaker did not have to be chopped as there was enough moisture in the soaker to mix them together .Kneading went as directed,as well as proofing and shaping. I had sufficient dough to make 2  7x3 pans of bread, which i prefer as a sandwich size,and allows for giving away the 2nd loaf or freezing for another time.  Here are the photos of the finished bread........

 If you would like to join us in this whole grains bread challenge, get a copy of Peter Reinhart's book, Whole Grain Breads, and bake along with us. You may start where we are and do the previous breads after. After all this is a learning experience for all of us and it should be fun! As well as delicious! our group posts at....
 http://groups.google.com/group/wgb-challenge/about as well as our own blogs. Happy Baking!

WGB # 19 Anadama Bread

This was the first bread of the 'BBA' challenge, which is still on going. It used a  soaker . This whole grain recipe also utilizes a soaker and for an airy crumb, a biga. I totally enjoyed the first anadama, this one was just as good, and healthier due to the whole wheat .The only difference this time which may or may not have had an effect on the bread, was the biga was left at room temperature for 5 hours . As I was involved in another project and away from the house. I would think there would be more happy yeast cells and perhaps a little more flavor development. I would have to make it again to see the difference if any.
   The flavor was of molasses and wheat with a hint and slight texture of corn meal, which I enjoyed.I let it cool an hour then sliced it, it was still a bit warm and the crumb and not fully set yet. Spread with a non butter spread, it was delicious. made in a mini loaf pan ,this would be great with roast poultry, or ham.
Here are the photos.....

WGB #18 Potato Rosemary Bread

This bread uses a soaker and a biga, I chose to add the optional roasted garlic, which I love. The process went smoothly from the soaker and making the biga through kneading and proofing and shaping. I used 2 wicker baskets lined with muslin to let them rise in. they then baked on a stone with a steam pan, 20 minutes, rotated and another 25 minutes they were done.
I liked the flavor and the tender crumb of this bread, definitely will make again.

BBA # 32 100% Sour Dough Rye

I am not a fan of this bread, it is a dense rye although sliced very thin and served with or spread with a soft cheese it is good that way. This is definately not a sandwich bread. I have been cultivating 3 sour dough starters, an ap, ww, and a rye. I used my rye mother for this bread, I should have fed it twice over 2 days before using it, I did not. The result ,my starter for this recipe lacked strength, an 8 hour rise did little except ferment a bit. I went ahead and used it anyway. The final dough was sticky and impossible to create a true baguette,as there is no dough 'skin' to stretch, I wound up rolling to shape it. If I ever try this again, I will be sure to feed the starter before using it. Anyway here are the photos...