Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire

The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge week 20: Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire.

If you are like me who loves hearty chewy bread with a bit of crunch, then this is the loaf for you. The slices are very good as they are and utterly delicious toasted for sandwiches. I spread mayonnaise on the toasted slices, piled thick slices of heirloom tomatoes sprinkled with sea salt, and had the best and satisfying sandwich ever! Seriously. This bread is just perfect, in my honest opinion. I also love it for open-faced cucumber sandwich and with the slightly sour-sweet caramelly cheese mysost.

The bread I made is loaded with a soaker combination of polenta, millet, quinoa, rolled oats, and wheat bran, plus the cooked brown rice in the dough. There was too much dough for my loaf pan so I shaped the extra into 2.5-ounce buns. I then rolled the tops of the shaped loaf and buns in white poppy seeds.

The bread is chewy from all the various grains and high-gluten flour but the extra chew comes from the brown rice; and the crunch is from polenta, quinoa, and poppy seeds. The honey and dark brown sugar, which might be too much for some but for me it is just about right, and buttermilk contribute to the bread's overall flavor and yummyness. I love soft white milky breads but this easy to make extraordinary multigrain bread is an absolute keeper; another winning formula from Mr. Reinhart. Can you tell I have a new number one favorite bread recipe from the book?

to make the seeds stick on the unbaked dough, I spread them on the counter and pressing slightly, roll the tops of the shaped dough on the seeds

Rating:
flavor 5
texture 5
visual appeal 5
ease of preparation 5

performance 5

worth 5
Total: 30
Average: 5

Piaya

filled with ube paste and muscovado (raw sugar)

One of the Philippine treats we truly love is the highly addicting piaya, sweet flaky flat bread snacks from the Negros province. These are best eaten when freshly baked and importing them from the Philippines is not possible, unless there are friends and family who are willing to hand carry them as pasalubong. I make them whenever I get the craving which is way too often.:-)

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Japanese Cheesecake

eating a slice of Japanese cheesecake is like eating a piece of cloud

The Japanese are very creative and innovative when it comes to breads and cakes. Last year I read that their cheesecake is softer and lighter than the cheesecake we know. I have always wanted to make it since and recently found in my opinion the best recipe. It has only half a pound of cream cheese, lots of eggs, and a little bit of cake flour and cornflour. Whipping the egg whites to soft peaks produces a chiffon cake-like cheesecake that is cotton soft, melt-in-your mouth, and light as cloud but tastes exactly like cheesecake. I love that the recipe doesn't have too much sugar and the sweetness to me is just perfect. As usual, I used calamansi juice in place of the lemon juice. This cheesecake is just heavenly.

Japanese Cheesecake
8 ounces cream cheese
4 tablespoons butter
3 ounces milk
6 egg yolks
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 ounces cake flour
1 ounce cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
6 egg whites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
¾ cup sugar

• Grease and line with parchment paper the bottom and sides of an 8-inch x 2 inch round cake pan, set aside.

• Melt cream cheese, butter, and milk over a double boiler, stirring with a rubber spatula, set aside to cool. When cool, fold in the flour, cornstarch, egg yolks, lemon juice, and salt; mix well.

• Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar and beat until soft peaks form.

• Add the cheese mixture to the egg white mixture and mix well. Pour into the prepared pan and bake in a bain marie in a preheated 325°F oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Transfer into a serving plate. Enjoy!

bake until top is golden

BBAC 19: Marbled Rye Bread

roast beef and coleslaw

The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge 19: Marbled Rye Bread. This is one of my favorite breads in the book; not only does it remind me of one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes, The Rye, it is also very tasty and chewy. The toasted slices make the best pastrami or roast beef sandwich specially with a layer of coleslaw or sauerkraut.

Mixing and kneading is not too difficult but the dough has the tendency to dry while proofing and shaping so I make the dough a teensy bit more wet. I have a small bottle of liquid caramel but I prefer using powdered caramel because it makes the dough darker. And the most fun part I have in baking this bread is the shaping. I love the swirl shape but the marbled loaf is more fun because the slices come out with different patterns and therefore never boring.

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