#23 Whole Wheat Hearth Bread

This looked to be a pretty standard loaf, so I decided to play around with it a bit. Hoping for a rounder (i.e., taller) loaf, I decided to bake this in a dutch oven following the protocol used with no-knead breads. (Otherwise, I followed the directions as given.)

As can be seen, I did get a somewhat rounder loaf, but I got a fairly poor oven spring and a somewhat dense loaf. (Up until it went in the oven, it seemed on coarse for a light, well-risen loaf.) Overall, this gave a reasonable loaf with a pleasant taste, but a bit too dense. I guess I'll have to shoulder the blame for that.

#22 Whole Wheat Challah

Although I haven't posted on it yet, as part of the Hamelman Challenge, I recently made a Berne Brot, a challah-like bread but with milk replacing the water and butter replacing the oil. The Berne Brot was so much tastier than challah in general that I found it a bit hard to face making a whole-wheat challah.

I followed the recipe as given using agave nectar and sesame seeds. The braiding instructions for a six-braid were very hard to follow. I ended up ignoring them and doing a standard braid. The results were a very large loaf. Overall, this is not a bad loaf, but I'm definitely in the Berne Brot camp now.

#21 Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Buns

Finally, another new recipe! And a pretty good one. For the dough, I followed the recipe fairly closely. I used milk throughout, agave nectar, and a mixture of butter and oil. This produce a nice soft cinnamon bun.

For the filling and toppings, I was a little more creative making a mixture of different buns. If the buns look different, there is a good reason—they are different. The night I started these, I watch Todd Wilbur on CMT as he tried to reverse engineer Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls. So for some of these, I used his recipe for Cinnabon filling along with a few minor variations of my own. The rolls starting at the top right of the picture have Wilbur's recipe. Those at the lower left have Reinhart cinnamon sugar. Those in the middle row have one or the other of the filling but with additional butter spread on the dough.

I did make one change in Wilbur's recipe—I cut the amount of xantham gum in half as the amount in his recipe seemed excessive. I also used his topping recipe on some of the buns.

Overall, while I'm not that big a Cinnabon fan, I preferred the buns with Wilbur's filling and the extra butter. The topping was also an improvement. (I keep this in the refrigerator and add it to the buns at serving time.) Reinhart's recipe doesn't give a very sweet bun so a slight drizzle of fondant isn't enough for my sweet tooth. Overall a good recipe.

#20 Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Bread

This is another recipe I've made before, but not one I minded making againb. We are back to a one loaf recipe with this bread. I used a mixture of dried fruit rather than raisins—dried cherries, cranberries, blueberries and plums—a combination that worked quite well. I chose to flatten the dough and then roll the fruit and nuts up in the bread. This disrupts the gluten a little less. Also, I used walnuts and a strong Vietnamese cinnamon (or cassia) for this bread.

The recipe worked pretty much as expected. It took somewhat longer to rise than most breads (no surprise here). The cooking temperature was quite low—325 degrees F. Frankly, I suspect this is a bit too low. The bread took a long time to cook and the crust was quite dried out and very dark before it was done.

Overall this is a recipe I like. But that said, I find the cinnamon raisin bread in the Bread Baker's Apprentice spectacular. So I would likely go to the BBA before making this one again.

#19 Anadama Bread

This is a recipe that I'd made before shortly after buying Reinhart's book. I've also made Anadama breads before as part of the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge.

In fact, I made the original recipe in BBA and a variant where I replace the molasses with golden syrup. And while this might not be authentic anadama bread, I definitely preferred it to the original recipe. So this time around, having previously made the recipe, I decided to experiment some more. This time, I replaced the molasses with maple syrup. Otherwise, I followed the recipe as written using Bob Red Mill Cornmeal.

Overall, the bread was quite good. It did not have a maple flavor, but was well flavored. I found the cornmeal way too gritty for my taste. If I were doing it over, I think I would try a corn flour. And I think I would go back to the golden syrup. Still, a good bread.

#18 Potato Rosemary Bread

After several rye breads, this bread was a welcome change. I'm partial to potato breads and like rosemary, so I was looking forward to this bread and I wasn't disappointed.

This was another two loaf recipe. And, once again, I cut the recipe in half. I skipped the optional garlic and went with fresh rather than dried rosemary. Otherwise, I followed the recipe.

Reinhart describes the rosemary as a subtle presence. While not overly strong, I wouldn't describe the taste as subtle. Still, as I said, I like rosemary so I didn't find the bread overly strong. Overall, a fine bread.