February ABC challenge: mini Brie, date, and walnut bread

This is our first challenge from this year's source, Brown Eyed Baker. (We skipped January, although I did make her Morning Buns last month, because I LOVE THEM.) I'm afraid I've changed it up so much that it doesn't much resemble the original. The idea of going through all the trouble of making a cheese-swirled yeast bread when I could get essentially the same thing, albeit not as fancy, by melting a few slices on a piece of white didn't excite me. I could have replaced the filling with any number of things, but I tried to stay within the "savory" category as much as I could while still being intrigued by the bake.
I discovered the decadent combination of dates and this incredibly rich, buttery (and expensive) Saint-André triple-cream Brie cheese several years ago and decided to try working that into the bread. I also added walnuts for texture and flavor, as well as using half whole wheat flour.

The original recipe makes 2 large loaves, which I scaled back to one-quarter of the original.  This is what I used:

1/4 cup lukewarm water 
56g (1/4 cup + 1½ teaspoons) lukewarm milk(65g)
1 Tablespoon honey (or 1 Tablespoon + 3/4 teaspoon granulated sugar)
1⅛ teaspoons (3.5g) instant yeast
198g flour (¾ cup AP, ¾ whole wheat, 1 Tablespoon high gluten) (209g)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup (140g) dates, chopped and softened in 3 Tablespoons warm water
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
4 ounces (113g) triple-cream Brie cheese, thinly sliced
1¾ cups (7oz/198g) diced onion (about 1 medium onion) or 1 small bunch of fresh chives (1 oz/28.5g), minced
2½ cups (12 oz/340g) grated, shredded, or cubed cheese

Combine the water, milk, and honey (which is what I used) and whisk in the yeast until dissolved; allow to proof.  In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt (and sugar, if using.)  When proofed, add the yeast mixture, along with the vegetable oil, into the dry ingredients.  If using a mixer, use the paddle (or hook) attachment and mix on the lowest speed for 2 minutes. If mixing by hand, use a large spoon and stir for about 2 minutes. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. 

Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium-low speed, or continue mixing by hand, for 3 minutes, adjusting with flour or liquid as needed. The dough should be soft, supple, and tacky but not sticky.  Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface.  Work in the walnuts, then knead for 1 or 2 minutes until they're evenly distributed.  Form into a ball and place in a clean, lightly oiled bowl; cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and immediately refrigerate overnight for up to 4 days.  The dough should double in size in the refrigerator.  (If you want to bake the bread the same day, just let it rest at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes, until it doubles in size.)   

 

When you're ready to shape the dough, pour off and reserve any excess water from the dates, then puree, along with the ginger, to a thick but spreadable paste, adding reserved water if necessary; set aside.  Bring the dough to room temperature before shaping.  Transfer to a lightly floured work surface, dust with flour, and roll into a rectangle about 4 inches wide and 16 inches long.  (See thoughts on size.)  Spread the date paste over the surface, weighing it more heavily on the outside end of the strip and leaving about an inch on the outside end bare.

Lay the cheese slices in a staggered formation on top, also weighing them more heavily on the outside end of the strip, then roll it up to form a log. (It should be as tight as you can get it without squeezing out the filling.)  If any cheese or walnuts fall out, tuck them back in.  Pinch the seam to seal.  


 



 
Place in either a greased pan or on a greased cookie sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap, then let rise at room temperature for about 90 minutes, until increased to about 1½ times its original size. 


About 15 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C), or 300°F (149°C) for a convection oven. Because of the cheese, there may be air pockets or tunnels in the risen dough that could cause it to separate in the spirals. To minimize this, poke through the top crust in a few spots with a skewer or toothpick. The dough may fall a bit, but it will recover in the oven. Bake for about 35 minutes. The bread is done when it's a deep golden brown and the internal temperature is about 185°F (85°C) in the center. Remove from the pan or sheet and cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

I was a little afraid that this was going to be an expensive disaster, but it turned out well!  I was disappointed in the shape; I think perhaps I didn't allow it to rise long enough before baking.  Consequently the outside hardened, leaving the inside nowhere to go but out the sides.  I also think the size was unwieldy.  I based it on this Cranberry Cinnamon Swirl Bread, but the filling for this recipe was much bulkier and it didn't roll up as nicely.  Next time I might roll the dough out to 5 x 12 or 5 x 14.   

Conclusion:  This had a curiously "dark"---perhaps earthy---flavor to it that I couldn't quite pin down...  sort of  anti-umami.  I think it was the combination of the pungent cheese and the dates and the whole wheat.  Unusual, but very tasty.  I was trying to decide whether it needed some sort of spread, but I really can't think what I would put on it.  (If I ate pork, a thin slice of Serrano ham rolled in would be great.)  The cheese already gives it a buttery flavor, and there was plenty of date paste to add enough moisture.  I'd have liked it to have had a little more cheese, and a few more walnuts, maybe even up to 1/2 cup.  But over all I was really pleased with how this turned out (other than the shape.  I'd try to find a proper pan for it next time.)

Original recipe:  Soft Cheese and Pepperoni Bread via Brown Eyed Baker

Morning buns

Apparently these are a new fad that started slowly but is quickly gaining momentum. They were created at Tartine Bakery in San Francisco in the 1970s; I first had one many years ago, but it's been only recently that I've started seeing them more frequently in coffee shops. (I don't think I've ever seen one in a bakery.) I'm not a fan of the super sweet, heavily laden breakfast pastries that are the usual fare in American bakeries, so I was immediately addicted to these lightly sweet, flaky, buttery rolls. (I'd call them a roll, not a bun. After all, they are rolled!) That said, while every one I've had has been very flaky, similar to a croissant, I just found another recipe from Bon Appétit that is made with enriched bread dough, which to me seems more like a cinnamon roll.

I didn't change much in this recipe. I switched out cardamom for the cinnamon (the scent of the cardamom with the orange was otherworldly), water for the orange juice (and used it for proofing the yeast), used less orange peel, and a mix of salted and unsalted butter (adjusting the added salt accordingly.)  I also modified the rising technique as recommended in one of the comments.  Here's what I used:

For the Dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon + 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2¼ teaspoons instant (rapid-rise yeast)
¼ cup orange juice water, very warm
3/8 teaspoon salt
1½ cups butter (half unsalted) cut into ¼-inch-thick slices and chilled
1 cup sour cream, chilled
3 tablespoons ice water
1 egg yolk

For the Filling:
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon grated zest of one small orange
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon cardamom, freshly ground
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Proof the yeast in the warm water with 1 teaspoon of sugar.  Combine the flour, 2 teaspoons sugar, and salt in a large zipper-lock bag. Add the butter, seal and shake to evenly coat the butter. Press the air out of the bag and reseal. Roll over the bag several times with a rolling pin, shaking the bag after each roll, until the butter is pressed into large flakes. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the yeast mixture, sour cream, ice water, and egg yolk until combined.  Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead briefly to form a smooth, cohesive ball. Roll the dough into a 20x12-inch rectangle. Starting at the short end, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Pat the cylinder flat into a 12x4-inch rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for 15 minutes.

Line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners and grease with non-stick cooking spray.  In a medium bowl, stir together the sugars, orange zest, cardamom, and vanilla.  Remove the dough from the freezer and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a 20x12-inch rectangle and sprinkle evenly with the filling, using more towards one long (outside) edge and less on the other long (inside) edge.  Leave a ½-inch border at the long ends. Lightly press the filling into the dough. Starting at the long end with less filling, roll the dough into a tight cylinder and pinch lightly to seal the seam. Cut the cylinder into 12 equal pieces and transfer cut-side-up to the prepared muffin tin. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and place loaf or cake pan on bottom of oven. Remove plastic from rolls and place in oven. Pour 3 cups boiling water into pan in oven, close oven door, and let buns rise until puffed and doubled in size, 20 to 30 minutes*.  

Remove the rolls from the oven and heat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.  Bake until the rolls are deep golden brown, **40 to 50 additional minutes. 

Allow the rolls to cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and remove the liners. The rolls are best served warm, but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Make Ahead: After placing the buns in the muffin tin, place the tin in the freezer until the buns are firm, about 30 minutes. Transfer the buns (with the liners) to a zipper-lock bag and freeze for up to 1 month. To finish, return the buns to a muffin tin and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours, then proceed with rising in the oven as directed.


I had some problems with this recipe.  The first was with the rising.  According to the comments, this recipe is from Cook's Country (subscription required), although the blogger did not credit them.  (She claims she did, but I still don't see it.)  They modified the rising technique so that, instead of placing the rolls in a warm oven (which apparently caused some butter leakage), they put them in a cold oven with a pan of hot water.  My oven has a constant pilot light and so is always a little warm (no more than 100F), but I also used the pan of hot water.  *After 30 minutes, the rolls had hardly puffed at all, which didn't surprise me.  (It might be my yeast, which has been in the freezer for several years.  While it proofs fine in warm water, dough seems to rise more slowly than expected.  It really seems to need the heat.)  I let the rolls rise until they looked puffed and actually doubled, which was an hour and 45 minutes.  (On the other hand, in this demonstration by Claire Saffitz for Bon Appétit, the rolls have risen only about 1 cm after 30 minutes--not much different from mine.  She tests their readiness by the dent test.  I tried that at 30 minutes and the dough sprang right back, but I wasn't sure if it wasn't just sticking to my finger.  Besides, her dough was an entirely different consistency.)  By that time, there was a substantial amount of leakage of the sugar water.

Which brings me to problem #2:  the liners.  I had been counting on using my silicon muffin liners, but despite digging through every box I thought might have kitchen items, I couldn't find them.  The blogger warns that these rolls WILL stick, so I had concerns.  I greased the tins, lined the bottoms with a circle of greased parchment, then wrapped a strip of greased parchment around the side of the rolls and crossed my fingers.  It worked fine--- no sticking.

Since my oven's only heating element is at the bottom, I end up with burned bottoms with items that have a high butter content, so I try to use an air-bake pan in those cases.  To address that here, I put the muffin tin on an air-bake sheet pan (which also helped to catch some of the leakage.)

One problem I did not have was a wet dough, as some people did.  My dough was beautiful--soft and easy to work with.  I can only assume either they put in too much liquid, or, most likely, their butter softened while they were working with it. 

At 40 minutes, the rolls looked done, but I wanted them more caramelized and crispy, so I left them another 5 minutes.  I sort of think that, since butter browns so easily, anything with a high butter content probably needs to get pretty dark before it's actually fully baked.  (I was also concerned about what effect the liquid leakage and the air-bake pan would have on the bottoms, whether they'd be soggy.  Better over baked than under.)  But when I started taking them out of the pan, they seemed too pale and soft on the undersides.  So I put them back in the oven, without the air-bake pan, and baked for another 10 minutes.  I checked the undersides again, and they still seemed too pale and soft.  Back in for another 10 minutes.  **In all, I baked them for about an hour and a half, minus the five minutes or so that they were out of the oven while I was fussing with them.  They turned out perfectly:  crispy and flaky on the outside, very soft and airy on the inside.  (The tips and edges were just starting to get too brown.)  There was a little caramelized sugar at the bottom of each tin that would have cemented the rolls to the tin if I'd let them cool very long in it, but I took them out hot and cooled them on a rack upside down.  (And peeled the paper off before it hardened on as well.)  I'm not even sure it's necessary to do anything more than grease the tins, as long as you remove the rolls soon enough.

Conclusion:  These were absolutely delicious.  They are a bit fussy when you don't know what to look for or expect, but I think once you know that you can whip these up pretty easily.  The reduced amount of orange was still plenty for me--- just a hint.  My only issue is that they are almost too buttery.  I'd probably start with 1 cup of butter next time and see how that works out.  I'm just hoping now that they'll freeze well.

Original recipe:  Morning Buns via Brown Eyed Baker (via Cook's Country)

Tahinli çörek (Turkish sesame pastries)

I read somewhere that mahlab is good for only something like 6 months. I've had mine for quite some time, but I keep it in the freezer, hoping that will extend its viability. It had a bitter flavor, but one might expect that since it's made from the pit of a type of cherry. I wish I'd tasted it when it was fresh. I wasn't sure it was a pleasant flavor.

These are pretty rich, so I cut the recipe in half and made them the smaller size (3 instead of 2.) I have to admit that one and a half of the pastries was just about the right amount for breakfast to satisfy the taste buds and the tummy, but for health's sake one should probably stick with a single, smaller bun.

Since these are unique, I stuck pretty closely to the original recipe, mostly just adjusting the salt quantity.  Here's what I used to make half the original quantity:

For the dough:
1/2 heaping teaspoon dry yeast
1/6 cup warm water
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon oil
1 heaping tablespoon sugar
1 egg, scrambled and divided
1 -1¼ cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mahlep (mahlab)

For the filling:
5 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon melted, salted butter
1 teaspoon orange flower water
salt to taste (if necessary)
2 teaspoons finely chopped shelled pistachios per pastry (optional)

2 tablespoons orange flower water for coating pastry
raw sesame seeds
sugar (granulated or demarera)

Proof yeast with warm water and sugar. Set aside approximately 10 minutes, until well frothy.  In a mixing bowl, add the milk, butter, oil, and sugar and mix well. While still warm (not hot!), add  half the scrambled egg and the yeast mixture and mix well with a whisk. Sift together 1 cup of flour, salt, and mahlep. Add this to the egg mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until you get a slightly sticky dough. Knead the dough, adding the extra ¼ cup flour if needed. Once you have a nice dough, place it back in a greased bowl, cover, and place in a warm area for approximately 2 hours (until doubled).

Punch down the dough and knead for a minute; divide into 2 or 3 equal pieces. Let the balls rest about 25 to 30 minutes. After 15 minutes, mix together the tahini, sugar, melted butter, and orange flower water.  Mix well, then check to see if you want to add salt. The mixture will be granular. (And for me there seemed to be some sort of chemical reaction which made it become fairly thick and almost gummy.  Weird.)

Once proofed, roll each ball into a disk about 1/8-inch thick. (If making 2, it should measure about 11 or 12 inches; 3 should measure at least 7 inches.  They should be as thin as you can get them while still being manageable.) Divide the tahini mixture evenly for each pastry, approximately 3 tablespoons each. Spread this out very thinly almost to the edges. If you like, sprinkle 2 - 3 tsp of finely chopped pistachios on each one. Roll each round into a tight cigar shape; pinch each end closed. Slowly and gently roll each pastry back and forth with your hands to extend it, starting at the middle. Don't worry if small tears occur. The final strand will be almost as long as from the tip of your fingers to your elbow. Twist the long strand of dough gently over and over again (but don't over twist or you will snap it.) Coil the twisted pastry loosely from the center working outwards and tuck the end underneath. Place the coils on prepared baking sheets (either lightly greased or lined with parchment) several inches apart, leaving room for final rolling.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Cover pastries with a tea towel and let proof for 30 minutes. (While proofing, the centers might pop up -- that will be fixed with the rolling. There might also be small amounts of oil weeping from the pastry.)

When the rolls are nearly done, beat the remaining egg half in a small dish; arrange in separate bowls the orange flower water, sesame seeds, and some sugar. Flatten each pastry with a rolling pin gently to half its size. Prick it all over with a fork to arrest its rising in the oven. Using a pastry brush, wash the pastries with orange flower water all over, then the egg wash. Sprinkle each pastry generously with sesame seeds and finally with sugar. (It will make a nice crust when baked). Bake pastries for 30 minutes (for the large) or about 20-25 minutes (for the small), or until golden brown.  Watch for over browning the bottoms.

 

These were more time-consuming than I had anticipated, perhaps mostly because I had to keep checking the directions.  (I've simplified the process here.)  I tried to call up the web page, but it kept diverting to another screen (although I could call it up on the iPhone.  Apparently this redirect is due to a faulty widget, but the original blogger is no longer maintaining his blog, so this won't be remedied.) It helped to check the photographs in the original blog post.

They were probably plenty done at 25 minutes (perhaps could have done less), but since it mentions a brown crust I left them a little longer, but then they were over done. (The bottoms were dark.) And the twists didn’t show up on the outside.

Conclusion:   These were tasty, with an unusual flavor (perhaps the mahlab), fairly crisp on the outside but tender on the inside.  The filling wasn't very noticeable, but I'm sure lent moistness and flavor, though subtle.  They were good despite being a little tough (from extra baking); they just don’t look terribly appetizing.  (They'd look better if they weren't over baked.)  The orange flower water wasn’t very discernible. Perhaps could have done with a tiny bit more salt, but were okay as they were. (I didn’t add any additional salt to the filling.)  I probably would not make this recipe again, but I'd like to try the one at M bakes.

Recipe:  Tahinli via Is That My Buréka?