Edible Lattice Bread Basket

I few years back I baked two woven bread baskets. I have since found this edible spring basket referenced in a few easter articles. Both of my earlier versions of baskets used ropes and the weave was tight. I was very happy with those baskets but I wanted to try something different. I wanted a make a basket with open holes that looked like it was part of the weave. This is what I came up with.

This basket was not made with ropes. Instead I made the lattice using flat strips of dough. I used a different technique with the weave. Instead of weaving it on the mold I wove it on a flat surface and then transferred it to the mold. This caused the holes to form in between the strips something I was looking for. In the end I was very happy with the result.

This basket is a lot easier to make than the two I made before. It is much smaller and uses a small amount of dough. The weaving technique is simpler too. I used my sourdough starter for this recipe but you could use commercial yeast if you wanted to. If you use commercial yeast refer to this basic dough recipe to prepare your dough.

Roll out a large rectangle from the dough. Using a small custard or similar bowl to ensure you have coverage cut a portion of the rectangle as the base (portion on left below). Cut this rectangle into wide strips being careful not to cut all the way through. Cut the remaining dough into wide strips cutting all the way through. These strips are to be used for weaving.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. On the base fold back alternating strips. Place a strip horizontally such that it covers end to end. Unfold the folded strips. Now fold back the other set of alternating strips and place a weaving strip horizontally.

Continue working the weave until you get to the end. Cover the outside of the bowl with foil. Place the woven lattice over the bowl taking care to see it does not unravel. Cut off the access.

Trim the edges to get a smooth edge around the edge of the bowl.

Using the discarded dough roll out a strip long enough to circle the edge of the bowl with a little overlap. Trim the strip to get neat edges and place it around the bowl. Seal the ends together by pressing the overlapping ends over one another.

Place the bowl on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes. The bowl should begin to brown slightly. Allow it to cool on a rack for a few minutes. Unfold the foil over the bowl and remove the bowl carefully. Now carefully peel off the foil from the bread.

Enjoy!

Fall Harvest Bread / Wheat Sheaf Bread

Bread made to look like a sheaf of wheat is a classic way to celebrate fall. I wanted to try my hand at making this traditional fall harvest bread. I added a mouse under the tie when I found that it is customary to add a mouse to the sheaf. I think is reason behind it is rather interesting. The mouse seeks shelter in the fields, when harvested the shelter is destroyed so the mouse is brought home with the sheaf.

I love fall. I love the beautiful colors, the cooler temperatures and the holiday season starting with Ganesh Chaturthi, Dasara, Diwali and finally Thanksgiving. Today I am posting my version of the fall harvest bread. I looked at pictures online and created this piece entirely on my own. Even the dough is mixed using bakers percentages and my gut feeling of the hydration level I would need.

To shape this bread I knew I would need a stiff dough. I started with 200 gm of whole wheat flour. I decided to keep hydrated at 70%. A added a tablespoon of butter and appropriate proportions of salt and yeast. I also added some sugar and substituted half the water with milk. I layered cinnamon sugar between the wheat stalk and the base of the bread so I could enjoy it with a cup of tea.

You will need
200 gm whole white wheat flour
6 gm salt
5 gm yeast
1 tsp. cinnamon powder
3 tbsp sugar
80 gm cold milk
40 gm cold water
1 tbsp. butter at room temperature

Topping
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. sugar

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the wet ingredients.

Mix together to form a stiff dough. Knead well for 5 minutes. Cover and keep aside for an hour until soft. Break away about 30% of the dough. Keep the rest covered. Roll out the cut portion into a the shape of a skinny mushroom. This is the base on which the bread is built.

Mix together the cinnamon powder and sugar for the topping and sprinkle over the the base. If you want you could mix the mixture with some melted butter and then spread it all over the base.

Now start cutting small portions of dough and rolling them thin to form the stalks. Vary the length slightly and width. Place then randomly over the base. Next cut additional pieces and roll them into cylinders. Using a kitchen shear snip away at the cylinder to form the tops of the stalk. Place these around the top of the mushroom head. Then add a few more lower near the stalks. Keep some pointed up, some bend over to create variety. Roll a couple of thin ropes and place then around the seed heads. Cut three pieces and create a braid. Place it as seen in the picture. Create mouse with two tiny pieces of dough. Attach a tail and place the mouse on the sheaf.

Preheat oven to 425 F. Cover and allow to rise for 20 minutes. Wash with milk and bake for 10 minutes. Lower heat to 375 F and bake another 10 minutes. Cool completely.

Enjoy the harvest bread. You could use it as a centerpiece on your Thanksgiving table or you could eat it with your cup of tea.

Braided Bread

I have always been fascinated with fancy braids. In my college dorm I used to braid my roommates long hair. My daughter has waist length hair but she would not let me play with it. Then I found braided bread. I really like the bread with 8 or 9 strands. Today I present braided bread with 6, 8 and 9 strands along with a 4 strand round bread.

The turtle was made by my daughter. She said the round braid looked so much like a turtle she had to give it a head, hands and feet. It was a lot of fun making these as my daughter was a very willing participant. Guess she loves braiding as much as I do.

You will need
Dough prepared using my basic dough recipe

To make the braided bread you need rolled strands. I find it it easiest to roll the dough in a flat rectangle, cut out strips and roll each one into shape.

This gives me ropes of the same size and diameter that are evenly finished. To start place all the ropes parallel to one another. Bring one edge together and squeeze together. Now you are ready to begin.

To make the 9 strand braid
Start on the right. Place the right most strand to the left over the next two adjacent strands and under the following two strands. Do the same with the left most strand.

Repeat this process and the braid will start to appear.

Continue to the end as far as you can go. Tuck all the strands together under the dough to finish. Cut off about a half inch at the end from which you started and tuck the strands under.

For the 8 strand braid
Before you begin arrange the 8 strands the same way you would for the 9 strand bread. Pick up the rightmost strand and place it over the top of all the other strands to the left. Repeat with the leftmost strand.

Now place the right strand in the middle of the remaining strands. Place the new rightmost strand over to the left. Place the leftmost strand in the middle of the remaining strands and place the new leftmost strand to the right.

Continue to the end. Finish similar to the 9 strand braid. The finished 8 and 9 strand braids look like this.

For the 6 strand braid
This is very similar to the 8 strand braid except you have 2 fewer strands to work with.

For the 4 strand round braid and turtle
The 4 strand round braided bread is a little different from the above. To start place the 4 strands as shown in the picture below.

Now twist the adjoining strands such that the one that went under goes over and vise versa as shown in picture below.

Continue this process until you reach the end. Pick up the braid in your hand, turn it over and tuck the end on the underside. For the turtle attach head, hands and feet. Add cloves for eyes if you like. Wash everything with a milk to egg white and milk wash.

Bake at 400 F for 15-20 minutes. I used leftover pizza dough to bake these breads.

Enjoy!

Hungarian Ring Bread

Hungarian ring bread is made for special occasions like weddings. There are seven rings, one on the outside and six on the inside, that intertwine with no apparent start or end. I have always wanted to try this bread and have had it on my wishlist for a very long time.

I made a decorative bread without sourdough after a long time. I am now used to sourdough and its long rise times. I let this bread rise a little longer than I should have before I shaped it. The end result was a delicious flavorful bread that was not exactly suitable for shaping. The dough kept rising. I am glad the shapes are still visible and did not blend into each other completely.

The bread was pretty easy to shape and I always have fun when I am playing with dough.

You will need
500 gm bread flour
40 gm sugar
37 gm egg yolks
70 gm whole eggs
37 gm vegetable oil
160 gm water
7 gm salt
15 gm fresh yeast

Combine the wet ingredients in a mixing bowl. Sift the flours and add all the dry ingredients. Combine to form a soft dough. Knead well until the dough is elastic and smooth. Cover and keep aside until it doubles in volume. Divide into 7 pieces, 6 small (~70 gm) and one large (~ 300 gm). If you want to decorate it put a little dough aside before you divide into above mentioned portions.

Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll the large portion into a rope and shape as a ring. Place it on the prepared sheet.

Shape the other portions as ropes. Intertwine as shown in the picture.

If you want you can add a few decorations.

Cover in egg wash and let it sit for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 F. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Enjoy!

Savory Eatonian Kringle

I chose the Estonian Kringle bread because of how pretty it looked. The dough is rolled into a flat rectangle, filled with cinnamon sugar, rolled tightly into a roll, slit and shape.

On baking just before I was getting ready to make the filling my family revolted. They did not want another sweet bread. In the last few weeks I have made a few sweet breads like the beautiful bread, the Swedish coffee bread and the cinnamon swirl bread. So I gave in and switched to a savory version of this bread.

Instead of cinnamon bread I used goat cheese, basil pesto and sun dried tomato. My daughter does not like nuts in bread so I made the pesto with just basil and olive oil. I mixed all the filling ingredients together and used them just like the sweet version. The end result was pretty, very tasty and disappeared very quickly.

This recipe was adapted from here.

You will need
For the dough
2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. sugar
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup warm milk
2 1/4 cup bread flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 oz. instant dry yeast

For the filling
3 tbsp. olive oil
4-5 leaves basil, chopped
2 tbsp. creamy goat cheese
a handful sun dried tomatoes (not soaked in oil), chopped

1 tbsp. milk

In a mixing bowl beat the melted butter and sugar. Add the egg yolk and beat. Add the milk and beat until combined. Sift in the flour, yeast and salt. Combine to form a soft dough. Knead for about 10 minutes until it forms a soft elastic dough.

Keep aside until it doubles in volume, about one hour.

In a blender blend the chopped basil with the olive oil. In a separate bowl combine the basil oil mixture with the goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes. Keep aside.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Transfer the risen dough to a floured working surface. Using a rolling pin roll it out in a large rectangle about a quarter of an inch thick,

Spread the filling all over the flattened dough leaving a half inch border all around.

Starting from one of the longer sides roll tightly into a roll.

Using a sharp knife cut the roll in half leaving it attached on one side.

Braid the two ropes ensuring the cut edge is facing outwards. Seal the edges together forming a wreath. Brush with milk.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. If the top browns tent with foil and continue to bake for another 15-20 minutes or a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Serve hot.

Edible Spring Bread Basket / Braided Bread Basket

After I had made an edible bread basket I had this vision of a shallower basket that could be used as a centerpiece decorated with flowers. I used the recipe for Basic Bread Dough for Shaping. Once the dough had risen I used a pie baking dish as my mold to create the basket. I used the back of a mixing bowl as the mold for the handle. I was pretty happy with the result.

Beginner baking skills is all you need to try this basket. If you can braid hair then you can braid the handle and the finished edge on the basket.

You will need
Basic Bread Dough
1 egg for wash

Prepare the dough as per the instructions in basic bread dough for shaping. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Prepare a pie baking dish by covering the inside of the dish with aluminium foil. Transfer the dough to a floured working surface and roll it into a large rectangle with a rolling pin. The thickness should be about 1/4 of an inch. The picture before is close to half an inch thick.

Using a pizza cutter cut 1/4 inch wide strips.

Place one of the strips on the work surface separate from the others and roll it with the palm of your hand to form a rope. Repeat for another five strips and place them on the pie dish.

Roll more strips into rope. Weave the rope through the 6 base ropes placed in the dish. Work in concentric circles. Always start under so the joints are hidden.

Continue until the entire surface is covered.

Take three ropes and form a braid.

Place the braid on the edge of the prepared basket and press down gently.

In a separate bowl beat the egg with 2 tbsp. water. Apply the wash over the entire surface of the basket using a pastry brush. You can skip the egg wash if you want, it is mainly for color.

Bake the basket for 20 minutes. If the edge browns while the center is undone, cover the edges with aluminum foil.

Continue to bake for another 10-15 minutes until the center is golden brown.

Prepare the handle by braiding 3 more ropes. Place it on an inverted oven safe mixing bowl that has been covered in aluminum foil. You may have to use your imagination to ensure you have a gentle curve on the handle.

Place the handle on the basket and attach with toothpicks.

Decorate with flowers. I used carved vegetables, red pepper, leek, radish and spring onion for the flowers.

Enjoy the yummy bread when you are done with using it as a centerpiece.