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2013 Cooking Club Week 23: Braided Loaf

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  • 13-06-2013 11:14am
    #1
    Chong
    Registered Users Posts: 8,676 ✭✭✭


    Hello Folks,

    I cant believe its nearly a year since I had a cooking club week to do. Anyhow sticking with last year I am going with a baking based week, so I hope you enjoy this 3 stranded braided bread. It could not be easier to make, it looks like Challah bread but there is no sweetness here so its perfect for sandwiches etc, or my favourite toasted with some Gooseberry preserve. I hope you make this and enjoy it, any questions give me a shout.

    Thanks for reading.

    Will

    20130606_222453_zpsb6bc6329.jpg


    Ingredients:

    500g strong flour
    Pinch of salt
    Pinch of caster sugar
    1 Egg
    1 Tablespoon dried fast action yeast
    320 gr milk
    75 gr melted butter
    1 egg yolk with pinch of salt for glaze whisked

    Method

    20130606_192501_zps395ef40a.jpg
    1. Heat the milk in a microwave for 1 minute or till lukewarm in pan. Take off the heat and add the yeast with pinch of sugar, whisk and allow to dissolve. The addition of sugar encourages the yeast to grow, feeding it if you like.
    2. Sieve the flour into a bowl and place pinch of salt in the opposite side of the bowl. The purpose of this is if the salt mixes with the yeast too early on it will damage the growth of the yeast later in the prove.
    3. Make a well in the flour and add the milk mixture, give a quick stir then add your whisked egg.
    4. Combine the ingredients and finally adding your butter.
    5. Bring together to form a dough ball, it will be quiet sticky, this is how it should be.
    6. Place on very lightly floured counter top, literally a sprinkle.
    7. 20130606_193043_zpse80d1988.jpg
    8. 20130606_193215_zpsa1f212c0.jpg
    9. Knead the dough for roughly 5 - 7 minutes. As you need the dough will be come less sticky. By the time you are finished kneading you will have a smooth round ball.
    10. 20130606_193910_zpsdfedac72.jpg
    11. Place the dough back in a large bowl, and cover with a damp cloth. Allow to prove in a warm place for 45 mins, room temperature should do or even the hot press. It should have doubled in size when you return to it. The purpose of proving is to build up the gluten proteins allowing them to react and expand with the yeast.
    12. When the dough has doubled you now need to knock it back, to do this gently tap down the dough with your hand to knock back the air that has built up in the prove.
    13. Once you have knocked back the dough, weigh the dough ball cut in to 3 equal weighted smaller dough balls. With these dough balls you now need to roll in to 3 long strands with your hand all the same size and length, each strand should be about 60 cm in length.
    14. Now line up your three strand and follow this technique:
    15. 2579763716_105830e3ec_o.jpg
    16. What you are looking to do is bring the left most strand to the middle of the further right two strands and then the furthest right to the middle of the furthest left strands, and so forth till you have it fully braided. Once braided chop off both ends with a knife roughly an inch.
    17. Place on a floured tray and allow to prove for a further hour in a warm place again.
    18. Pre heat oven to 240c / 230c for fan ovens 15 mins before end of prove.
    19. Once doubled in size, glaze with egg glaze making sure to glaze all over to achieve maximum colour. Bake for 30 mins.
    20. Take out allow to cool and enjoy!


Comments

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    #2
    fitzcoff
    Registered Users Posts: 528 ✭✭✭fitzcoff


    is it 320ml of milk or did you weigh the jug of milk?

    looks good, will have to try next week.


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    #3
    Chong
    Registered Users Posts: 8,676 ✭✭✭Chong


    I use a digital weighing scales to weigh the milk but can just measure by jug, but I love the accuracy of the digital scales.


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    #4
    fitzcoff
    Registered Users Posts: 528 ✭✭✭fitzcoff


    Ah, that makes sense. Thanks


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    #5
    oscarBravo
    Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 28,792 Mod ✭✭✭✭oscarBravo


    braid.jpg

    Delicious!

    I know you said the dough would be sticky, but I just can't knead dough that's gluing itself to the counter. I kept having to add light dustings of flour and scrape the dough off the counter until it eventually became manageable enough to knead.

    Lovely bread though, and looks amazing. :)


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    #6
    Dizzyblonde
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Politics Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 12,108 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dizzyblonde


    Chong, I made this today and it was delicious :)
    The only thing was, I rolled the dough balls out to 60cm and it looked like a longer, flatter loaf than yours or oscarBravo's. In future I'd have it shorter and higher. It was really good though, thanks.

    8xu2bm.jpg


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    #7
    jimd2
    Registered Users Posts: 789 ✭✭✭jimd2


    hope to try this, have you ever made this recipe with fresh yeast?


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    #8
    Chong
    Registered Users Posts: 8,676 ✭✭✭Chong


    Oh my those pictures look fantastic!

    @Oscarbravo, it does tend to stick a lot but rather than use more flour ( light dustings are grand ) use a plastic scraper if you can at the start to move the dough about whilst its very sticky.

    Looks ace Dizzyblonde!!

    And Jimd2, I have never used fresh yeast before for this bread so I wouldn't be too sure the measurements lets say.


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