as it will get me, given time -or should I say: is already getting me? Even this lovely bread seemed to be wriggling to get out of the picture. (I was convinced I had better pics somewhere, apparently not so this is it, blurry as is). Another month of Bread Baking by the Babes resulted in an excellent choice from Katie who invited us all into her brand-new home-made nearly-finished Kitchen of the Month over at Thyme for Cooking. (Phew.. did you read that in one breath?).Katie had to make a choice of baking in December... not an easy one. You can go either intricate and daring or equally delicious and deceivingly daring. Which Katie did.
She made us bake this wonderful sweet loaf of bread, filled with dried fruits and flavored with a little cinnamon and mace.
She even provided for a Christmas Martha moment when we had to braid: first a 4-strand braid, topped with a 3-strand braid, topped and finished with a twisted rope... and then my whole thing slip-slided away during oventime! Never mind, it looked as good as it tasted. Although when I read through my fellow Baking Babes posts I suddenly saw I had to drizzle and finish the bread with a glaze and chopped walnuts... Ai! Go and check my fellow Babes results -and better pictures- in the right hand side column!
My changes to the recipe were to substitute the candied cherries for cranberries, and adding a small amount of cedro/candied citron, "sukade" in Dutch, which I happen to like in these kinds of bread (and "oliebollen") and my children hate. Not enough to attack the bread as if there was no tomorrow... See, they asked if there was any cedro in it and I chose not to listen so they just ate.
That does the trick. Sometimes.
Furthermore I added quite a bit of flour to the dough which in retrospect maybe I shouldn't have done, I feel the crumb could have been more fluffy. All in all I really liked the subtle flavours in this one, it behaved very good toasted as well. Thanks Katie, another good one to our list!
No-one, certainly not us, would frown upon you for just braiding a nice fat 3-strand and bake as such. We're all for fun, it's about the aroma of a fresh baked loaf and enjoying the goodies! So go ahead and bake yourself and your family this nice Viennese Striesel, mention it at Thyme for Cooking and get your Buddy Badge in the mail.
If you didn't know otherwise, it would seem that this rope around the bread is intentional! I like it! These slippery ropes and braids are hard to keep in place (even with a dozen skewers like I tried hehe). The glaze and nuts covered up a lot I guess that was my secret. As long as it tasted good!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lien, it is rather artistic the way the top braid is draped over like a sash.
ReplyDeleteLovely bread, so glad it got eaten up by your unsuspecting candied fruit haters!
I squished my layers down in hopes of melding them before the last rise. Seemed to work, although bakers might frown on the squishing!
Hey Karen, BTW Why are you a buddy? you have BABE written all over you! You were in time right?! (or did you have some dough in your eyes??? and used the wrong badge here). hehe
ReplyDeleteHave I ever told you I love the way to say is just so beautifully ... this is so fun and so gracious! We are all for the fun!
ReplyDeleteI chose not to listen so they just ate ... I did that lots!
Yes, I'd love walking the aisles with you showing off our naked braids ;0)
Kids would never learn to eat anything if we 'listened'.
ReplyDeleteGlad they liked it. Citron would have been good. I think I'll use a bit more fruit next time.
Whaaaaaa!!! You're right! Ok watch me transform from Buddy to Babe.... tadaaaa
ReplyDeletelooks good to me! i like the idea of using cranberries too.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of substituting in cranberries. My husband loves the candied fruit and I think it's kind of nasty. My braids slipped, too, but yours came out more artistically than mine.
ReplyDelete