Vienna Bread: BBAC #39

The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge #39: Vienna Bread

Vienna bread is a semi-enriched bread with just an egg and very small amounts of sugar and butter and can be categorized somewhere in between Italian and Portuguese (sans citrus flavor) breads because of its soft and slightly chewy texture. It uses a large amount of preferment which makes it so flavorful. It looks handsome too with its golden brown soft crust that becomes crunchy when toasted. Just like Italian bread it is perfect with both sweet and savory fillings/toppings. This is my kind of bread and it has already been added to my top 10 favorite breads in this challenge.

Rating:
flavor 5
texture 5
visual appeal 5
ease of preparation 5
performance 5
worth 5
Total: 30
Average: 5

This is the first of the 5 last recipes in this challenge; 4 more to get to the finish line. Yay! Next up is basic white bread which I'm baking today. I will try to shape the dough into New England-style hot dog buns. Wish me luck with the shaping! ^__^

Pinky, Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?

tapioca flour donuts

Remember Pinky and the Brain cartoons? Brain always asks "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?" and Pinky would answer something that is completely irrelevant to the question and he'll be bonked on the head by Brain. The quote kept appearing while I was searching for the recipe for the Asian donuts called Pon De Ring which I read about here. Sorry if I seem to be channeling Pinky myself.:)

Unfortunately I couldn't find the recipe anywhere but some sites say the donuts are based on the Brazilian cheese rolls Pão de Queijo. I made half a recipe which is too much for a donut experiment. I also didn't bother to glaze them. I love the texture of the donuts, the crumb is chewylicious similar to fried mochi and the crust is so crunchy. Since I have not eaten the donuts from Asia I can't recommend the recipe 100%. If you are crazy adventurous like me here is the recipe, it's somewhere in the middle of the post, add maybe a third to half a cup of sugar and omit the cheese.

I ♥ the slightly sweet chewy crumb