SAATENBROT - GERMAN MANY SEED BREAD

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The best recipe collection (bread, rolls and snacks) of German bakers' magazine,
"Allgemeine Bäckerzeitung", supplied this "seedy" bread for my "Equal Opportunity Baking" list.

A heavy weight, scaled for 21 loaves, with selling points, marketing tips, production cost and time calculation, including sales tax (7%) and even a suggested retail price (1.83 Euro). The production steps are briefly listed - no need to explain to professionals what they do every day.

Scaling the ingredients down to home baking proportions was not difficult (a minimum of 3 loaves), and the instructions, though brief, were precise, and didn't overtax my mental capacities.

The recipe said (more or less) only: "make a dough". I tried to stretch and fold it, but that didn't work too well, the dough was too wet. Therefore, instead of soaking only the flaxseeds in hot water for 1 hour (original recipe) I would include some of the flour in the soaker, to have a larger preferment, and more water already absorbed in the flour.

I like to retard my doughs, overnight fermentation works better for my schedule, and, also, improves the taste (the original recipe had only the longer starter development.)

The Bäckerzeitung says: "roll the shaped loaves over a wet towel, and then dip them into the (topping) seed mixture". Though this coated the breads nicely with seeds, they didn't stick well enough, and a lot of them fell off during and after baking. Next time I would brush the loaves with egg white, instead of just moistening them with water.

The breads turned out very nice, crusted with seeds they looked quite attractive, and the taste? Modestly (haha!) I will only quote my friend Lynn - beneficiary of this triplet bake: "Our seedy, seedy bread was delish! We toasted it which really brought out the flavor of the seeds! Mmmmmmm!"

SAATENBROT - MANY SEED BREAD (3 loaves, ca. 600 g each)

SOAKER
143 g whole wheat flour
  84 g medium rye flour
299 g water
     4 g salt
129 g flaxseed

 STARTER
  21 g rye mother starter (mine is 100% hydrated)
214 g medium rye flour
214 g water, lukewarm

FINAL DOUGH
130 g medium rye flour
143 g bread flour
187 g water
    5 g instant yeast
  12 g salt
129 g sesame, toasted
129 g hemp seeds
    2 g anise, caraway, fennel and/or coriander
    1 egg white (for brushing)
 14 g sesame seeds (for topping)
 14 g hemp seeds (for topping
 14 g flaxseed (for topping)

 DAY 1:
In the morning, stir together all ingredients for soaker, cover and let sit at room temperature. Mix all ingredients for starter (in 1-step), cover and let ferment at room temperature.

In the evening, mix together all ingredients for final dough for 1 - 2 minutes on low speed. Knead on medium-low speed for 4 minutes (or knead by hand). Let dough rest for 5 minutes. Resume kneading for another minute (dough will still be somewhat sticky). Divide dough into 3 portions, place in oiled containers, cover and refrigerate overnight.

DAY 2:
Remove dough from refrigerator 2 hours before using. Shape into sandwich loaves, or bâtards for free standing loaves. Brush breads with egg white, and then roll over seed mixture.

Place breads in oiled loaf pans, if making sandwich loaves, or bâtards on parchment lined baking sheet (no scoring.) Mist with spray oil, cover, and let rise for 45 - 60 minutes, or until they have grown 1 1/2 times their original size.

Preheat oven to 240ºC/465ºF, including steam pan. Place breads in oven, steaming with 1 cup of boiling water.  Bake at falling temperatures: 10 minutes at 240ºC/465ºF, 10 minutes at 220ºC/428ºF, then turn loaves out onto baking sheet, remove steam pan and continue baking for 10 minutes at 200ºC/400ºF, and 10 minutes at 180ºC/355ºF. The internal temperature should be at least 200 F/93 C.

Let breads cool completely on wire rack before slicing.

Update: I made them again, this time with chia instead of hemp seeds, and as free standing bâtards. With flour included in the soaker, it was much easier to handle the final dough. Brushing the loaves with egg white worked much better for the seed topping than the wet towel method.

Saatenbrot - Many Seed Bread


The German version of this post you'll find here.                                    Submitted to YeastSpotting

(UN)GLAZED CINNAMON ROLLS

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Fellow baker Hanaâ instigated me to buy yet another baking book - as if my bookshelves were not already buckling down under the weight of my cooking library. She invited me to join her ABC baking challenge, every month trying out a new recipe, currently from Abby Dodge's: "The Weekend Baker".

My husband loves sticky buns and their sugar laden relatives, but, though I like cinnamon, I was never very fond of the overly sweet stuff, he would sometimes buy. Therefore, without Hanaâ's challenge, I would probably never have thought of baking cinnamon rolls.

What I especially like about "The Weekend Baker" and this recipe, are the several "do ahead" options. I prefer working with slow fermentation, and most doughs show their appreciation for the cold treatment with a significant better taste, so, after a 30-minute rise, I put my my dough to sleep in the fridge overnight.

I always try to incorporate some whole grains in my recipes, a substitution of 10% white flour with whole grains doesn't require additional liquid, so I replaced 47 g of all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour.

The recipe was easy to follow, and the next morning the dough had nicely risen in the fridge. I rolled it out cold - it will come to room temperature quickly - and the filling was no problem, either. Next time I probably would add some toasted, chopped nuts, though.

Cutting a roll of dough in even slices with a bench scraper or knife is not that easy, the layers slipping away over the crumbly filling. Using dental floss, as Hanaâ suggested, works much better.

I skipped glazing the rolls, nice as it looks, it adds even more sugar, without contributing to the taste. And even without this decoration - the cinnamon rolls looked beautiful when they came out of the oven and their wonderful aroma filled the whole house, so that I could hardly wait to try one until they had cooled down a bit.

"... now I know their taste - now I'm a believer..." you don't have to be a Monkee to love these treats!
I am converted, and my husband could wallow in them, so good are they!

They, also, freeze well, wrapped in plastic foil and then placed in a ziplock bag. To enjoy them you only have to nuke them for a few seconds, and then re-crisp them at 350ºF/175ºC for a few minutes in the oven.

I can only encourage everybody to purchase Abby Dodge's "The Weekend Baker" - I got it, used, at amazon. But, if you would like to bake the cinnamon rolls, and don't have the book, Abby posted the recipe in Cookstr http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/glazed-cinnamon-rolls-2

And if you would like to join the ABC challenge - Hanaâ will be happy to welcome you (if you are not a jerk!)