Blogging Advent - Tuesday 12th
Tomorrow is the Feast of St Lucia. In preparation, we made a Swedish festive bread. Puggle had a great time pouring in all the ingredients, stirring, and then helping with the kneading:-)
Cherry and Cardamom Bread (should be blueberry, but I couldn't get dried blueberries) from Bread for All Seasons by Beth Hensperger.
1/4 cup bulgar wheat
120 grams dried cherries
1/4 cup orange liqueur
1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
pinch brown sugar
70 grams butter (melted)
1/2 cup warm milk
65 grams brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons ground cardamom (or crushed seeds from about 20 cardamom pods)
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups (approximately) all-purpose flour
1 egg-white beaten with 1 teaspoon of water
1/3 cup slivered or sliced almonds
2 tablespoons sugar mixed with 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom, for topping
Soak the burgal wheat in cold water for at least an hour, then drain. Macerate the cherries in the liqueur for at least an hour.
In a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast and the pinch of brown sugar over the warm water. Stir to dissolve. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.
Stir in the drained burgal, warm milk, eggs, the rest of the brown sugar, butter, oil, cardamom, salt and 1 cup of the flour. Beat hard until smooth, about a minute. Stir in the macerated cherries and liqueur and the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until a soft dough is formed that just clears the sides of the bowl.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and springy, about 3 minutes, adding only 1 tablespoon of flour at a time as necessary to prevent sticking. The dough will have a nubby, tacky quality because of the burgal. Place in a greased deep container, turn once to coat the top, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, one and a half to two hours.
Turn out the dough onto the work surface and divide into 2 equal portions. Form into rectangular loaves and placed in two greased loaf plans. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until the dough is a couple of centimetres above the rim of the pan, about 40 minutes. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 180˚C.
Using a serrated knife, cut the tops decoratively, first lengthwise down the centre, and then with 4 or 5 diagonal slits on either side of the central slash. The cuts should be no more than half a centimetre deep. Brush the tops with the egg white glaze and sprinkle each with the almonds and sugar mixture. Bake in the pre-heated oven until the loaves are brouwned and sound hollow when tapped, 40 to 45 minutes.
Remove from the pans immediately to racks to cool completely before slicing.
I left it too long in the second rising (Australia in the summer is perhaps not the climate for which the times were meant!), but it tastes quite reasonable. I don't think the cherries are particularly obvious... I'd be interested in trying it with blueberries. The cardamom is quite interesting in a bread, it's not what I usually expect from that aroma:-)
Cherry and Cardamom Bread (should be blueberry, but I couldn't get dried blueberries) from Bread for All Seasons by Beth Hensperger.
1/4 cup bulgar wheat
120 grams dried cherries
1/4 cup orange liqueur
1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
pinch brown sugar
70 grams butter (melted)
1/2 cup warm milk
65 grams brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons ground cardamom (or crushed seeds from about 20 cardamom pods)
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups (approximately) all-purpose flour
1 egg-white beaten with 1 teaspoon of water
1/3 cup slivered or sliced almonds
2 tablespoons sugar mixed with 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom, for topping
Soak the burgal wheat in cold water for at least an hour, then drain. Macerate the cherries in the liqueur for at least an hour.
In a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast and the pinch of brown sugar over the warm water. Stir to dissolve. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.
Stir in the drained burgal, warm milk, eggs, the rest of the brown sugar, butter, oil, cardamom, salt and 1 cup of the flour. Beat hard until smooth, about a minute. Stir in the macerated cherries and liqueur and the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until a soft dough is formed that just clears the sides of the bowl.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and springy, about 3 minutes, adding only 1 tablespoon of flour at a time as necessary to prevent sticking. The dough will have a nubby, tacky quality because of the burgal. Place in a greased deep container, turn once to coat the top, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, one and a half to two hours.
Turn out the dough onto the work surface and divide into 2 equal portions. Form into rectangular loaves and placed in two greased loaf plans. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until the dough is a couple of centimetres above the rim of the pan, about 40 minutes. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 180˚C.
Using a serrated knife, cut the tops decoratively, first lengthwise down the centre, and then with 4 or 5 diagonal slits on either side of the central slash. The cuts should be no more than half a centimetre deep. Brush the tops with the egg white glaze and sprinkle each with the almonds and sugar mixture. Bake in the pre-heated oven until the loaves are brouwned and sound hollow when tapped, 40 to 45 minutes.
Remove from the pans immediately to racks to cool completely before slicing.
I left it too long in the second rising (Australia in the summer is perhaps not the climate for which the times were meant!), but it tastes quite reasonable. I don't think the cherries are particularly obvious... I'd be interested in trying it with blueberries. The cardamom is quite interesting in a bread, it's not what I usually expect from that aroma:-)
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