I figure the first question here is: What is your secret/individual/unique way to eat peanut butter? The almost universal answer is probably: on a spoon straight out of the jar … and yes I certainly have enjoyed my share of peanut butter that way. But from a very long time ago, 65 years ago, my favorite peanut butter sandwich has always been open face peanut and mayo. In the last year that has morphed into bacon hot chili jam, peanut butter and mayo on toast.
Happy chaos!
One should never worry about pronunciation when bread is this easy to put in the oven and brings smiles when someone takes a first bite.
All together now.
Aparna is our Kitchen of the Month and she will have the full recipe on her site. True to the Babe Code, she gave us lots of room to play with this recipe. Recipes on offering: Aparna adapted this recipe; make it with SourDough; make it NoKnead; Google the title and you can find any number of variations. Filling? Don’t be silly, sweet red bean maybe the traditional but in true Babe Fashion please use your imagination, I certainly did.
For something of a demo on applying the streusel check out this video. BUT what ever you do DO NOT MISS OUT ON THE STREUSEL! This is a winning topping. I have some left in the refrigerator and know I will find another fantastic way to use it.
Change? Fiddle with a recipe? Well of course. In the STREUSEL I replaced cornstarch with oat bran (my theory was oat bran will make it more crumbly, I think it did). I cut any place the recipe called for any kind of sweetener by 5 to 15 grams. To make the DOUGH, I used 140 g white whole wheat flour + 100 g AP flour to replace 238 g AP flour. FILLING I totally ignored any amounts and mixed some canned red beans, peanut butter, bacon hot chili jam and coconut flour to a consistency I could roll into balls.
Take a bite … and Smile!!
It’s not really about the filling, it’s all about that streusel topping. Go for it. Bake with us if you dare! Put your own touch on it and Smile!
Going fast …
We would love for you to bake along with us this month and try out these crispy topped rolls. Check out our Facebook group to see the participants’ baking results. If you would like to post your results with a Buddy badge on a blog, let us know in the comments or on the Facebook page.
What happens when you refresh your sour dough yeasties and then ask them to stay alive for 33 days in a dark refrigerator … I find they are VERY reluctant to greet you with bubbling smiles upon your return. I had 7 days to coach the little boys and girls back into bubbles. It didn’t go as well as one would hope.
I took the two that seemed to have the most bubbles yesterday … and I spiked it with a pinch of yeast.
Our Kitchen of the Month, Judy of Jody’s Gross Eats, presented us with SourDough Hawaiian Rolls and gave us two options … I should have gone with the sourdough discard seeing’s as how I was discarding everyday for over a week. I tried for the straight sourdough. My yeasties were sluggish and I didn’t get the light fluffy ones like I’m imagining all the other Babes did BUT I did get some incredibly glorious aromas and delicious rolls that my husband is crazy for.
I followed Judy’s Sourdough recipe in every way except I replaced 100 grams of bread flour with King Arthur’s Golden Wheat. So right there is a small degree that accounts for the lack of fluffy.
Ingredients added to the mixer and the dough comes together easily.Dough ball 948 grams.Last dough ball 107 gramsAll other dough balls 105 grams7 hours after shaping …Brush with cream …
BAKE!
Tops … brushed with butter.Bottoms …Side …Nine all together…Not the lightest crumb …I do love toasted!
The aroma of these is not not pineapple but it’s not pineapple … I think the vanilla does some alchemy with the pineapple and it is glorious.
All in all, I’m very happy. I believe anyone would be happy with these.
I’m giving my starter one more try before I start over. We’ll see.
Long ago and far away, I dreamed a dream … of a Sourdough Croissant Loaf … can there be such a thing?
Leave it to a Babe, in this case it is Cathy of Bread Experience who tuned us onto this one and is Kitchen of the Month.
Did I get any croissant effect? Um, well. You can always count of something unique if you’re coming to a Babe’s Bread Baking Kitchen Table.
Cast Iron bread loaf pan … is that butter?
Yes, dear friends that was butter that baked out of the loaf baked in the special French cast iron loaf pan. I divided Cathy’s recipe and baked one loaf for a friend in a cast iron casserole pan with lid.
Both loaves rose in baskets.
And I put both loaves into the fridge for a slow overnight rise covering them with a shower cap.
Butter baked out of only the one.The casserole pan: NO butter.Kept it frozen until I folded into the dough.I grated frozen butter.With butter folded in and dough now ready to shape.After resting overnight in fridge, turned out of baskets, scored and ready for the preheated pans and oven. You do want to preheat the pans and lids. You will note the special French pan comes with a mesh liner which makes it easy to drop into the super hot cast iron pan and I used a parchment round to drop the other loaf into the casserole cast iron pan.French special cast iron loaf pan.Cast iron casserole pan.Both loaves: Super crust!
I got two beautiful loaves I was very happy to share one with a friend.
Did I get croissant effect?Not so much.Did I care? Not so much! and I think fairly close to what Cathy’s looks like. Just do not compare me with Kelly’s A Messy Kitchen!
Even though so much butter leaked out of the one loaf, they both shared the croissant butter flavor and especially when toasted, the croissant flavor. Why did the one leak and not the other? Was it the liner? OR Was the special French pan so much heavier and so required longer preheating to reach the same heat as the other? OR Was it hotter because it was heavier and absorbed more heat than the casserole cast iron pan? I will try some alternative baking but didn’t have time for this bake.
How much did I change Cathy’s recipe? It’s pretty much a given that a Babe must! So yes I did but all I did was use 50% sprouted rye and 50% bread.
Bake it. There will be no regrets! This is just fabulously tasty!!!
Bake on …
And check out the other Babes bakes as well. I know each will be beautiful and as always Babe unique.
Oatmeal … how do I love you … let me count the ways … #1: Burger Buns
I do love oatmeal.
Super Bun!
Elizabeth – yes that Elizabeth of blog from our kitchen, has given the Babes our June bread, Oatmeal Burger Buns, and let me tell you, this is one not to miss that will be the star of your summer grill … and since I can attest that it works great in the oven and on the indoor grill, the star of your winter indoor grill as well. In fewer words, this is a star keeper. I suggest you check out all the Babes, because we all have our ways with the same recipe.
For my part – my way: in place of Elizabeth’s whole wheat starter, I used 200 grams of my refreshed the night before excited rye starter, in place of all purpose flour, 100 grams sprouted spelt, 20 grams bread flour and 130 grams white whole wheat, I added 20 grams of ground flax seed. I topped the buns with King Arthur’s Everything Babel Topping. I did use the added dry yeast, not sure why. For the ultimate ‘my way’ I added 50 grams of slow cooker caramelized onions! I highly recommend the caramelized onions!
Here’s where I added those caramelized onions!Heirloom Tomatoes.On my stove, top grill.Where’s my burger? Amazing crosshatch!
I think because I added those caramelized onions and all the liquid, my dough required more flour. Because I used whole grain flours, my buns required an extra 15 minutes (30 minute total) in the oven.
Let me count the ways after that first burger: #2 used for avocado toast, then #3 topped with Dishoom’s House Black Daal (page 215 from Dishoom: From Bombay with Love by Shamir Thakrar, Kari Thakrar and Naved Nasir – WOW of a Daal), next #4 topped with mushrooms & spinach, and finally #5 topped with black beans and broccoli!
My notes.
If you bake this we’d love to hear about it. I can just about guarantee you won’t be disappointed and more than likely it will become your routine bun.
I’ve baked bread and I’ve baked BREAD and then I’ve baked BREAD and then some. But, I’ve never gotten tired of baking bread. Karen from Karen’s Kitchen Stories suggested the Babes bake Dollywood Cinnamon Bread. It’s bread but it’s also Cinnamon Bread but then it’s Cinnamon Bread like you’ve knot known it before. Oh and it’s not a knot! It’s more pull apart log but different even so.
Karen found this recipe in a beautiful new book – and yes I succumbed and now have a copy in my library. I love all the stories Anne Byrn has, one for each recipe. And I’ve bookmarked too many to ever get them all baked but life should be full of challenges one chooses!
I used two rolling pins about the same size so I could cut without going through to the bottom.
Ready to slice …
The slice in allows all the goo …
To filter down and permeate the loaf … I will confess, the two best slices are the ends…heaven.
I did observe the overnight rest in the fridge. I will make it again with double the topping and open those slices more to allow that topping further in if that’s at all possible.
Karen’s got her adaption of Anne Byrn’s recipe on her site but I’d encourage you to check out the book and the other Babes baking this month.
You are correct. I have been absent over 3 years now. But, well, I feel I must make a come back for this one.
Rieske – A Finnish Flatbread
It is a simple bread. It isn’t even a yeast bread. But it is none the less for using baking powder and baking soda. I will be so bold as to say this has proved to be one of my favorite quick breads. I rate this one up there with my two all time favorites: Irish Soda Bread and Chili CornBread.
Our host Kitchen of the Month is Kelly at A Messy Kitchen. Thank you so much for a perfect Babe bread rich with variation opportunity!
I found recipes for Rieske in three of the books I had. Considered savory toppings for the first bake. By the time I got to the second bake surprisingly I went sweeter – to please the resident sweet tooth.
I baked this one twice: perfect Babe bread rich with variation opportunity…both times I used the King Arthur recipe but took liberties both times.
First Bake – Savory
Wonderful topping. ‘The Works’
I replaced the all purpose flour with barley flour but and topped the bread with King Arthur’s ‘The Works’ bread topping.
Oh, yes, I also added a few walnuts to this one. We really enjoyed this multiple ways/times. The barley flour I think made it fairly crumbly but still delightful and delicious.
Second Bake – Sweet
The fellow resident sweet tooth ask for raisins, apples and walnuts – a wonderful addition! The recipe calls for 2 T sugar – did I put that in – I did not. Unless a recipe calls for over 1/4 cup of sugar it gets left out, over 1/4 cup I reduce some amount.
I baked this the 17 minutes, took it out, brushed it with melted butter and then sprinkled Turbinado sugar on the top, returned it to the oven for 2 minutes.
This one I baked in a ceramic casserole 9X13 … I prefer the quarter sheet pan.
What did I gleam from this: bake it in a quarter sheet pan; apples add needed moisture to balance the dry oatmeal and barley flour; add ins, add ons are delightful!
Happy Anniversary! Seventeen years is cause for celebration and a time to reminisce. On this anniversary I am sorry to say we have lost one of our original Babes: Mary Cook – Bread Chick. Mary would have been leading us all from the back bench in a rousing cheer. I will always miss Mary.
I’ll be checking out all the Babes today because I know the variations will be beautiful and ones that may not have occurred to me.
Cheers to all of us who love baking breads. There are always new ones to discover. If you haven’t already checked out the latest King Arthur book “Big Book of Bread” get on it because it is beautiful. One recipe that has me making preserved lemons again (recipe from Paula Wolfert) is ‘Preserved Lemon and Olive Bread’. It is WOW! Perserved lemons are so unique and change things in surprising ways. King Arthur gives a short cut way to do the lemons but I prefer the 6 week wait.
Every bread recipe is the same simple basic: flour, water, yeast. And every time it comes out of the oven it’s
Dramatic Complex Different ~ Flour Water Yeast
Years ago, the Babes baked the infamous “Crock” aka Coccodrillo, Crocodile Bread AND Babe’s Nightmare. You will find the recipe in Carol Field’s The Italian Baker. At the time, it was the highest water ratio the Babes had ever dealt with. Now, along comes Kelly in AMessyKitchen bringing us Glass Bread with 106% water! There was at least one Babe with hellish memories of the “Crock” and the outcry was deafening. That Babe shall remain nameless at least here. It was not I. I found the “Crock” good bread and had no issues. Yeast can be fickle.
I strongly urge you to catch this sourdough version video because it shows the coiling turns so beautifully. I guess I would say this is a bread to be handled delicately once you turn the dough out to cut and then move to parchment paper. I was overwhelmed with how this dough transformed between coiling turns. Kelly advocates strong gluten bread flour to stand up to the huge amount of water and I would second that advice. Even I did not add flax or any whole wheat HOWEVER when I did the sourdough version I confess my starter is a whole grain rye and that is what I used.
Comparing my yeast and sourdough bakes, I think you will find the yeast has better color, better rise and many more holes. Both had wonderful oven spring but still the yeast was the winner there as well. The crust was crisper on the yeast. I did leave the yeast bread in the oven longer. I consider both versions excellent breads and would bake them again. I cut 6 rolls when doing the sourdough and find that the optimal size for sandwiches. I made travel sandwiches both times and it is excellent either way.
Using yeast…
King Arthur recipe: 500g water 500g King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour 2.5g (3/4 teaspoon) instant yeast 10g salt 15g olive oil, for the pan
To make the dough: Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. (To measure by volume, see “tips,” below.)
In a medium bowl, mix the water, flour, yeast, and salt until thoroughly combined and homogenous. Note: The dough starts off very slack and wet. That’s OK; it will transform itself through time and folds.
Oil a two-quart rectangular baking dish (10” x 7”) with the olive oil. If you don’t have a 2-quart dish, an 8” or 9” square pan will work. Don’t worry about any pan you use being oven-safe; you won’t be baking the bread in it.
Pour the dough into the pan. Check the dough’s temperature by inserting a digital thermometer into the center. If it’s less than 72°F, move the pan to a warmer spot, e.g., your oven with the light turned on.
Cover the pan and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.
Start with a bowl fold: Use your wet hands to grab a section of dough from one side, lift it up, then press it down into the middle. Repeat this eight to 12 times.
My amateur video
Cover the dish and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.
Then do a coil fold: With wet hands, reach under the dough and stretch the middle upward until the dough releases from the dish. Roll it forward off your hands, allowing it to fold over (or “coil”) on itself. This is called a coil fold. Rotate the dish 90 degrees (a quarter turn) and repeat. Continue performing this folding action until the dough feels like it won’t stretch and elongate easily, usually four to five times initially. Note: You’ll be doing this three more times, each time building strength and developing the dough. See “tips,” below, for more details,
Cover the pan and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.
Repeat the coil fold. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.
At this point, the dough should be easier to handle and feel tighter. Repeat the coil fold using only two or three folds this time. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.
Repeat the coil fold one last time, using only one or two folds if the dough is relatively strong. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rest for about 80 minutes.
To divide the dough: As gently as possible, turn the dough out onto a heavily floured surface, maintaining the rectangle or square shape – be careful not to deflate the delicate dough. Sprinkle a generous amount of flour on top of the dough, leaving no exposed sticky spots. Then, working as gently as possible, use a bench knife or other sharp knife to divide it into four pieces. Gently place two pieces on a piece of parchment, leaving space between them. Repeat with the remaining two pieces of dough, placing them on another piece of parchment.
Allow the loaves to rest at room temperature for 2 hours, uncovered. While the loaves are resting, preheat the oven to 475°F with a baking stone or steel on a lower rack. (If you don’t have a stone or steel, see “tips,” below.) Allow the oven to preheat for 1 hour to ensure it’s thoroughly heated. The loaves are ready for the oven when there are a few large bubbles on the surface of each loaf and they feel light and airy.
To bake the bread: Carefully slide the two loaves (still resting on the parchment) into the oven onto the preheated stone or steel. If space is tight and the full sheet of parchment won’t fit on the stone or steel, cut the parchment between the two loaves and arrange them as best you can. Allow the other two loaves to continue to rest.
Bake the loaves for 15 minutes, then transfer them, from the stone or steel, directly onto a rack in the upper third of the oven for an additional 13 to 15 minutes. (Leave the stone in place.) Moving them to the rack allows the baking stone or steel to become hot again in preparation for the next two loaves. After a total of 27 to 30 minutes of baking, remove the loaves from the oven and allow them to cool on a rack.
Repeat the process with the two remaining loaves. Cool the bread fully before slicing.
Storage information: Wrap the bread loosely and store it at room temperature for up to several days; freeze for longer storage.
Formula for four: 470g strong flour 470g water (400+70)* 10g olive oil 11g salt 100g whole grain rye starter (100% hydration)
Method: Mix flour and water. Autolyse above for 45min.
Add 100g starter to autolysed flour and water and work it together well; Give that a 60 minute rest. Combine 70g reserve COLD water & 11g salt, add half and fold/mix together. Allow 10min rest Add remaining water/salt & mix well; add EVO & mix, Allow 15 min rest 1. Folds: Oil square cake pan, add dough and do a few large (coil) folds. 45 min rest 2. Folds: Large (coil) folds in thirds, then rotate 90 and fold in thirds, rest 45 min 3. Folds: Repeat folds, rest 45 min Folds: 4. Repeat folds, rest 45 min Folds: 5. Repeat folds,
In retrospect I believe I should have given the dough another 2 folds; every fold and rest really give this dough strength.
Overnight in fridge for cold bulk Room temp rest 60 minute . Heavily flour table and pour the dough out, ~ if you watch the video you’ll see I think the move that works the best: just turn the pan upside down, hold it 2-3 inches above and let it fall out. divide into 4 pieces – I did 6 for my 2nd bake and place on parchment. 60 min rest Bake on steel at 500ºF for 8min with steam, drop to 410 and bake for 20 minutes – I would give it 5 or more minutes more next time.
*Note that the 70g is mixed with the salt and kept aside to incorporate after initial autolyse..
Aparna, our kitchen of the month, you may have thought it was hard to find a bread we haven’t baked but honestly even though this little group has been baking for these many years and it does seem like we’ve baked just a huge number of breads, every month I marvel that wow it’s just water yeast flour, the same ingredients as last month BUT it’s just never the same and it NEVER gets boring. Thank you so very much for this introduction to this our 14th anniversary bread.
300 gm mozzarella sliced (thinner slices will work best)
400 gm Ricotta
BREADCRUMB LAYER :
Some chopped scallions
4 to 6 slices of BEEKEEPER’S PAIN DE MIE
100 gm grated Parmesan cheese
50 grams walnuts
Salt to taste
Red chilli flakes or crushed pepper to taste
1 tsp dried oregano
Also two very well oiled round 23cm trays
HOW TO MAKE IT :
Make the Poolish by mixing together in a medium sized bowl the flour, dry yeast, and water until a sticky dough is obtained. Add more water if necessary to achieve this. Cover loosely with a plastic film and leave to rise for about 2 hours. The polish should be somewhat bubbly and have doubled in size.
I mixed the dough by hand. Mix together the flours, water (more or less as required), oil and the poolish. The dough will be sticky. Add the salt and knead till it is soft, very pliable and smooth. Shape it into a round and place it in a bowl greased with olive oil. Cover the bowl loosely and leave it to rise till double in volume. Mine took about 2 and a half hours.
Cook the onions. While the dough is rising, get the toppings ready. Heat the oil in a pan and add the sliced onions. Sprinkle a little salt and cook the onions on low to medium heat until they turn translucent and soft. Do not brown or caramelized them. Take the pan off heat and let them cool to room temperature.
Prepare the breadcrumb mixture. Run the bread slices (with or without crusts) in a food processor to make the crumbs. Put the breadcrumbs in a bowl. Mix together with the oil, salt, red chilli flakes (or crushed pepper) chopped scallions/ spring onions, oregano and grated cheese. The texture should be of loose but moist crumbs.
Once the dough has risen, gently knead to deflate it. Divide it into two equal portions. Press out each portion into a roughly 9-inch circle (or oval) using your fingers. ****Since Aparna and I both seem to think the topping is the show of this bread, next time I will bake mine in a 10 inch or larger pan and make more topping to cover the larger surface area. If the dough feels sticky, oil your fingers lightly. Place in the oiled trays. I used a pie dish. Let the dough rise again, for about an hour till almost double in thickness and quite puffy.
Top with anchovy (maybe one day I’ll try anchovy but not this time), then the cooked onions. Next comes the Ricotta and a hard cheese (I used Parmesan ). Make sure to cover the surface of the dough evenly. Finish layering by spreading the breadcrumb mixture on the top.
Bake the Sfincione at 250C (480F) on the bottom shelf of the oven for about 10 to 12 minutes. The underneath of the bread should become golden and crisp. Then move the pan to the middle shelf of the oven and bake for another 10 minutes or so, until it is crisp and golden brown on the top as well. Remove from the oven and let it cool.
Next time I will use parchment on the bottom so there will be no issue of sticking AND if the bottom seems too moist, I can take it out of the pan and return it to the oven rack for 2 to 5 minutes for crisper texture.
Cut and serve. Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Hahaha. I did give one loaf away but the other loaf we very quickly took care of.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ALL BABES, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.
We know you’ll want to make Sfincione Bagherese too!
To receive a Bread Baking Buddy Badge to display on your site: make the topped flatbread in the next couple of weeks and post about them (we love to see how your bread turns out AND hear what you think about it – what you didn’t like and/or what you liked) before the 28 February 2022. If you do not have a blog, no problem; you can also post your picture(s) to Flickr (or any other photo sharing site) and record your thoughts about the bread there. Please remember to contact the Kitchen of the Month to say that your post is up.
For complete details about this month’s recipe, the BBB and how to become a BBBuddy, please read:
When I first saw the post for January’s Babe bread, I thought here’s a simple easy fun bake perfect for after the holiday crazy actions. A small stuffed roll perfect for just about anytime, anyplace and any occasion. Our host kitchen, FeedingMyEnthusiasms, has a good story on finding this bread you should find fun.
A quick read through the recipe and … Pepperoni…ha, I’m in!
My next reading brought me up short. I left the following on the blog: Ye gad, I’m just looking at that 3/4 cup of sugar! Really with pepperoni?! Sounds terribly sweet. How much sugar does this need? What amount of sugar will change the texture here? Adding this much sugar to something that seems savory is REALLY foreign to me. I get the feeling this is a very Americanized food, we just add sugar to everything.
Simple and easy … Then there was a long discussion of what if you don’t want meat!! That how I happen to have the sautéed mushroom with pepperoni spices idea. VERY good.
Holy Batman! I made them. Did I follow the recipe? Better than I thought I had on initial inspection but I divided the ingredients in half and only added 20 grams of sugar … and when the dough just wouldn’t come together – fully 3/4 of a cup of flour was not going to incorporate – I threw in the rye sourdough throw out from the night before. I threw that in and it was perfect. This took a full 90 minutes to double. We were having our “pod” friends (pod being like minded fully vaccinated friends) for pepperoni pizza dinner. SOOOO for filling I used pepperoni seasoned baby Bella mushrooms sliced, there were 4 half slices of cooked bacon added to the mushrooms … then there were two dough balls left when I ran out of mushrooms and bacon, perhaps there was a slice or two of cheese as well. The last two dough balls: one I filled with pepperoni and one I filled with ……..see below. These were seriously good 😊!!! They were a terrific appetizer for hungry boys before pizza!
What looks like a beautiful boat with a gem and tastes like a bite of heaven. EKMAK.
This bread was brought to the Babes kitchen table by Karen’s Kitchen Stories! It is lovely in every way. I know I will be baking it again because there are obviously so many jam/preserve flavor gems to play around with on this one. Karen has great photos of how to shape these – it is super easy. Perfect for Christmas, New Years Eve, New Years morning breakfast BUT equally special any day with morning coffee, afternoon tea, dessert after dinner … maybe this could be dinner, I mean there’s cheese.
CHEESE FILLING:
Ricotta is easy to make and I did … it just wasn’t enough for this recipe but WOW was the whey ever delightful in another bread! Most of the ricotta I used here was full fat commercial along with my homemade.
115 grams (3/4 cup) fresh blackberries, cut in half, lengthwise
112 grams (1/3 cup) blackberry preserves
DOUGH:
4 tablespoons brown sugar, divided
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry or instant yeast
12 ounces warm water (95 to 100 degrees F), divided
105 grams all purpose flour
470 grams white whole wheat
1/4 cup (57 grams) butter, room temperature (super soft)
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
9 grams (1 tablespoon) kosher salt
EGG WASH:
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon water
GARNISH:
Confectioner’s sugar
Honey for serving
CHEESE FILLING:
First, mix the cheese filling ingredients thoroughly. Refrigerate at least three hours, while you are making the dough. Or mix the night before.
FRUIT FILLING:
Mix the ingredients and set aside.
EKMAK Dough:
1. In a small bowl, whisk together the yeast and one tablespoon of the sugar. Add 6 ounces of the warm water and let sit until foamy.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 500 grams of the flour, the remaining 3 tablespoons of the sugar, and the butter and mix with the dough hook on low until the butter is evenly distributed, about a minute. Pour in the yeast mixture and the apple cider vinegar and mix on low while gradually adding the remaining 6 ounces of warm water.
3. Knead on medium-low until the dough comes together. Switch to medium and knead until the dough clears the sides of the bowl and is tacky but not sticky. Add remaining flour, by tablespoons, until the dough is the right consistency – smooth & silky.
4. Add the salt and knead for an additional minute on medium speed.
5. Turn the dough out onto your counter and form it into a ball.
6. Place it into an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes to an hour.
7. Heat your oven to 420° F with a rack in the upper third of the oven.
8. Line three baking sheets with parchment and lightly sprinkle each with flour.
9. Deflate the risen dough and let rest for 10 minutes.
10. Divide the dough into 9 pieces (I divided into 10 pieces because 12 inches just sounded huge to me. 10 pieces were still plenty large) and cover the pieces with oiled plastic wrap. (I covered mine with extra cookie sheets.) Let rest for 15 minutes. We went for a walk and this got extended to 40 minutes.
11. Roll each piece into a round and place each onto a lightly floured work surface. Cover with oiled plastic wrap (cookie sheets) and let rest for 10 minutes.
12. Stretch each ball into a 6 inch round, re-cover, and let rest for 10 minutes.
13. Stretch each round into a 10 inch by 4 inch oval (mine slightly smaller) and spoon 1/3 cup of the cheese filling onto the dough.
14. Fold the dough as pictured to create “boats” and stretch the dough to about 10 inches long. Place the “boats” on the parchment lined baking sheets, 4 per sheet. Really pinch the boat ends tightly. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
15. Spoon a tablespoon of the blackberry (I did 4 raspberry and 6 cherry) mixture in the middle of the cheese mixture. Brush the dough with the egg wash.
16. Bake the ekmak for 17 minutes – mine took 2 extra minutes because I used 470 grams white whole wheat flour – one sheet at a time, turning the baking sheet half way through.
17. Let cool on the pan for 10 minutes on a rack.
18. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm with honey.
Refrigerate leftovers and REHEAT in a 325 degree oven for about 5 to 10 minutes.
Tip: Work with dough in stages so that you can prepare three ekmak at a time and continue to shape, fill, let rise, and bake, in stages. I worked in 5 minute intervals so that each 3rd of dough was about 5 minutes behind.
Sorry to be so fast with this but my batteries are low on the iPad and the phone (& the hotspot for internet). We are without electricity this morning.
Bake this please. I know you won’t regret it! Let us know: Karen has the details on her site.
Ricotta added …Start of the boat …Cherry or Raspberry …What ‘gem’ will you sail in your boat?
These are not overly sweet … it only now occurs to me, these could so easily be savory! Above I said these could be dinner what with the cheese. I’m thinking instead of jam there could be … sail with your imagination! Go for it!
MyKitchenInHalfCups 