Desert or Dessert

                    I am still on cloud nine with last month bread breads.
The Epi was just so pretty. Almost as pretty as all that snow we finally received.
 I just love to look out my office window because this is what I see. To the left you see a “Zwetschgen” tree with a compost bin right underneath. The pole to the right was hosting “black beans” last summer.
                                              
As I was whipping up this batch of the soft whole wheat dough for the first challenge of this month bread braid I was wondering if my search for a quick and tasty hamburger roll was over. The eggs and honey should make for a nice and soft texture.

         

After an overnight chill I pulled up my sleeves and got to work.
I formed the loaf and placed it in an 8.5 x 4.5 inch loaf pan and covered it. I don’t cover mine with plastic foil but with a square clear pan like this.
                        The sandwich bread is to the left and the apple strudel bread is to the right
                                            
The picture above points to the fact that the apple strudel bread was next. I had a feeling that this was not going to be one of my favorites. I just love real Apple strudel to much. I will give it a try anyhow. 

                   

The loafs came out looking beautiful and the cut ones are not bad either. However the taste was not to our liking. I admit that the apple loaf ended up in the trash.

If you look close you can see my very small German kitchen. The stove is also my workbench. I simply place my wooden baking board over the glass top and voila i have more space to work on. 

This is how we enjoyed the sandwich loaf. Toasted, with butter and homemade jam. In this case grape-mint made in the fall of 2008.

As beautiful as those buns look the taste did not convince me and so my search for a quick and easy bun goes on….
So was it worth baking these recipes?
You bet it was. Though the taste was not really to my personal liking I am still glad I tried and I know that these recipes will be loved by many.
So get yourself a book and try them yourself. Next report on HBin5 will be on the 15th but until then I will post some other goodies.  So don’t forget to mark my page and come back often.

Update: You can also simply top with another crust like this

I mean, what do seeds that I usually use in cabbage dishes and bread would taste like in a dessert?
I added an oven guard underneath because I thought my Springform
might leak but that did not happen either.

                           I will make this again and it will be on our Thanksgiving table.

Since I am not quite ready to post the first bread of the HBin5 challenge I thought I would share the goods I baked yesterday with you.
If you don't have Zwetschgen or plums in your freezer why not try some seasonal fruits. Apples would be a great choice or even some Jam you want to use up. I have canned homemade apple pie filling in my pantry and I often use it on top of that yeast dough instead of making a more traditional apple pie. You could also just top it with some crumbs to make it a crumb cake or some butter, cinnamon and sugar. You see if you can think of it you can top this dough with it.
 


Update: My new pan is 14x17 inches (36x43 cm). Just to show you don’t have to be exact. It’s a guide so you know what size the dough approx. covers.

Hello cyber-world, a new year, a new adventure and my very first post on this new blog.
I am quite excited to finally getting this blog out there.

About a year ago I was introduced to Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois book ABin5 when I ran across an article in this Mother Earth News edition.

I was hooked right away because the crust and crumb reminded me so much of the bread I grew up with.
Right away I started to alter the recipe to add more fiber by simply exchanging at least half of the flour for whole wheat as well as adding wheat bran or flaxseed to the mixture.
It worked out well.

The end of last year the new HBin5 came out and Michelle who hosts this Blog announced the start of a new baking group.

I ordered the book and signed up and with that committed to report on a regular basis as we bake through this book. So here I am the official owner of a spanking new Blog and I would love to share the ups and downs of my baking adventures with all of you.

Starting next week I will post January’s breads not just the successes but the failures as well. Since we bake about 6 breads a month and my oven asks to be used more often I will also post and share some other goods with you. I hope you will visit me often.