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Sunday 6 January 2008

Bread Baking Day BBD#06

When moving to Sydney a bit more than two years ago, I knew right from the start that I would have to learn how to make decent bread. After two previous visits down under, it was pretty clear that I couldn't survive on pillowy, white toast alone. Little did I know back then what a wonderful journey in the land of the bread lay ahead of me. Although I bake regularly, I'm still far from mastering this art and there is so much more for me to learn about the combination of such humble ingredients like flour, water, yeast, and salt.

I'm always eager to check out what fellow bakers are doing to turn out wonderful, crusty loaves - and one of my valuable ressources in this matter is Zorra's lovely blog 1x umrühren bitte. Zorra also created the monthly event Bread Baking Day - and I have the honour of hosting the February edition BBD#06!

We've had herbs, spices, and fruit - this time, it's all about the shape. I invite you to share your favourite recipes for all sorts of shaped breads - be it something traditional like a braided challah or a pretzel or something a little unusual like a cut-out sun, letters made out of bread dough or whatever you can think of. Although I'm most interested in hand-shaped bread, you can also use a fancy mold.
The only requirement is that you don't choose a normal loaf shape like batard, boule or baguette. However, round bread rolls count as well as long as they have something unusual like a decorative slashing pattern.

Please post about your recipe and your experiences with shaping between now and 1 February 2008. Make sure to send me an email (eva.schatz at gmail.com) until 1 Feb 08 including the name of your blog, your location, the name of your creation, and a perma link of your post. If you have a photo of your creation, please attach a small version, about 100 pixels in width.
I will be posting the round-up by 5 February 2008.

PS: Due to my Christmas trip I couldn't participate in BBD#05 with its theme of filled breads. However, I did make a filled bread in the kitchen of a New Zealand backpackers accommodation without scales, measuring cups, and modern mixing tools. Luckily, I managed not to botch our only edible Christmas item, so we were able to feast on quark stollen with almond-walnut-marzipan filling during our holiday.
Please check out all the sweet and savoury creations in Chelsea's BBD#05 round-up at Rolling in Dough!


16 comments:

Nora B. said...

Only you would find the inspiration and energy to bake bread in a backpacker's hostel! :-) Fantastic work! You know that you are my "bread idol". All the breads you've given me have been soooo good. I finished the stollen you baked for me way before Christmas even arrived.

Since you are hosting BBD, I'll have to do my best to participate.

Nora

Suzana Parreira said...

Shaped breads? that sounds challenging, I'll see if I manage to participate.

It's my first time here. I loved reading your blog and will return!

Gretchen Noelle said...

Love the theme! Already started mine today as making challah was one of the goals I set forth for 2008. This was a perfect push to get me to do it! Yeah!

ostwestwind said...

Umpf, nun bin ich ja nun ganz die Dekorationslegasthenikerin.... Brote backen frei geschoben, kein Problem aber besonders geformt? Na, ja 'mal sehen.

Hast du kein personalisiertes Banner mit der 6 darauf, den ich für die Sidebar in meinem Blog verwenden kann?

Marta said...

What a difficult theme!! But I'll try to participate!!

Read you soon!!

Regards

Marta

zorra said...

@ulrike and all
You can find the logo here: http://kochtopf.twoday.net/stories/4124192/

Cakelaw said...

Hi Eva, Thanks for dropping by my blog - hope you like Eve's pudding when you get a chance to make it. I have just come back friom a trip to the South Island of NZ - loved it! Hope you are having a blast.

Eva said...

Nora - I feel quite flattered but I know that I've just started to know anything about the subject... Looking forward to seeing your creation!

A warm welcome, Suzana! And don't hesitate to participate, it doesn't have to be something very difficult.

Well done, Gretchen! I've made so many "Hefezopf" but never a real Challah, maybe I should change that...

Hallo Ulrike, keine Bange - ich hab mit Absicht ein Thema gewaehlt, bei dem ich mich selbst nicht so gut auskenne, daring bread bakers sozusagen...

Don't worry, Marta! You could still just take out your scissors and get creative that way!

Sorry Zorra! I completely overlooked that little "6" on the top but I've changed it now...

Hi Cakelaw, NZ was simply wonderful! Although I'm quite spoiled in terms of beauty (Australia offers a lot!) - I almost felt like home seeing all those green hills...

Jenny said...

Sounds fun! Does monkey bread count? Thanks!

Jenny

Eva said...

Hi Jenny, I hope you'll have fun participating! As far as I know, Monkeybread is something like a filled roll (cinnamon bun or sticky bun) - is that right? In that case I'd say it's a bit too close to the last theme which was "filled bread". However, if you decide to braid your filled strands of dough, that'll be very fitting!

Jenny said...

I made savory monkey bread, which is actually not filled. After making the dough I cut it into strips and arranged them in a loaf pan. The bread pieces themselves have garlic and herbs, but there is nothing filling the gaps between the pieces, save a little melted butter so they stick together. There really isn't any filling. Although it's baked in a loaf pan, the dough itself is shaped into many pieces, which are then arranged.

.... Does that make sense? :) It sounded like shaped bread to me.

Eva said...

I think that's pretty good, Jenny!

I did my first attempt at proper shaping today but for some reason my bread didn't have an appealing colour (probably should have added a little sugar) so I'll have to shape some more...

ostwestwind said...

Dekorationslegasthenikerin, aber dafür ein Zopf mit 4 Strängen, hab alles gemailt.

Anh said...

Eva, such a wonderful theme. I will be away so I don't think I have time to participate (what a shame!)

I hope you enjoy the round up and I will be checking it when I am back.

Eva said...

Also da bist Du mir um einiges voraus, Ulrike! Schon einen normalen Zopf gleichmaessig hinzukriegen, finde ich schwierig genug...

Too bad, Anh, but enjoy your trip! I'm sure you'll find some inspiration in the round-up that will get you baking afterwards!

Marta said...

Here is my contribution

http://misfogones.blogspot.com/2008/01/bbd6-trenza-de-pan-bread-plait.html