Cheers! Bread Baking Babes

Yes there is a party! What occasion you say? Of course the Bread Baking Babes are baking again this month and that gives us a Bread party each month. This month we don't even have to pour ourselves a glass of wine.. we're just pouring the wine in the bread. A wonderful recipe chosen by our charming Babe and co-founder Tanna ("My kitchen in half cups"). This is a fun recipe to make, you get a real girly dough - it's pink, and you get to shape a huge bunch of grapes. It's also fun to take the rolls off later, perfect for a party or BBQ. 

You can knead the (quite wet) dough like the recipe says or just pop it in your stand mixer with dough hook attached.
It's a slow and not too enthousiastic riser, so don't place the rolls too far apart from eachother, so they do stick together without loosing their round shape. When your rolls aren't getting a lovely brown colour, just cranck your oven up a bit (or turn on the fan) the last minutes of baking.The salami was a lovely addition, and a great flavour maker. I bet they're delicious without the salami too for non meat eaters/lovers. 

Have a go and bake this gorgous bunch of grapes, tell us about it and become a Bread Baking Buddy and earn the BBBuddy Badge. Send in your findings and details to Tanna (kitchen of this month) and you'll be part of the round up. Deadline as always 29th of this month. Have fun baking.

Beaujolais Bread

Yield: 16 rolls or a grape cluster

(PRINT recipe)

454 g white bread flour, unbleached

7 g fine sea salt

5 g instant dry yeast

21 g honey

320 g Beaujolais wine

113 g salami cut into 1/4 inch cube

Scale all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the honey to the dry ingredients and using your hands bring loosely together then form a well in the center. The wine should be 28°C.  

Add the wine to the well in a slow steady stream, as you rotate the bowl with one hand, while simultaneously mixing the wine into the dry ingredients with your other hand.

Frequently scrape your fingers and the bowl to gather all ingredients into the dough ball. The bowl should be quite clean. The dough will be soft, slightly wet and extremely sticky.

The dough should be just coming together. Turn the dough out onto the counter.

The dough will be very sticky; do not give into the temptation to add more flour.

Kneading wet dough.

Hold hands, palms facing up, at opposite sides of the dough mass. Slide your fingers under the dough and lift the dough an inch or so from the surface. Squeeze your thumbs and index fingers together to form a tight OK sign through the dough.

While holding the OK sign, continue to curl thumbs and index fingers tightly together to pinch off a portion of dough. Working as quickly and smoothly as possible, moving the dough mass in approximately 1 to 1.5 inch increments, until the entire dough mass has been worked through. You should begin to feel the dough coming together.

“Remember, your hands are your memory-pay attention to the feel of the dough as it comes together.”

Turn dough a quarter turn and continue lifting, pinching and turning until it begins to take on an identifiable shape and becomes less and less sticky; taking anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes.  Resist the urge to add flour. A scraper is useful in collecting all the dough off the work area. Consider the dough kneaded when it forms into a ball. The dough should be soft, pliable and hold it’s shape; it should not be stiff and dry.

Form dough into ball: using both hands, lift front and fold over, quickly dropping it down to the counter. Repeat 4-5 times until a ball is formed. Use the scraper to ensure all the dough is gathered. Using the palms of your hands, flatten the dough ball into a rectangle. Scatter the salami evenly down the middle. Wrap the sides up and over salami, pinch dough together, turn and repeat until the salami is incorporated.

Form into a ball. Again lifting from the front, fold it over onto itself in one movement then dropping dnow onto the counter. Repeat 4 to 5 times until ball forms. Using your scraper to be sure all the dough is gathered. The dough should no longer be sticky. If it continues to be sticky repeat the folding process until it is no longer sticky.

First fermentation

The dough should register between 22°C and 27°C. The wine will extend the fermentation, probably to about three hours.

Use a container, either a large glass bowl are a clear rising container large enough to allow the dough to rise without coming in contact with the lid. Taking care to maintain the round shape, transfer the ball to the bowl or rising bucket. Cover the container.

Fermentation will take about one hour in a warm 24 to 27ºC draft free place.

Dust the counter lightly with flour. Place the dough onto floured counter. Pat into a thick square. Lift the two right corners and fold into the center patting the seam lightly. Lift the left two corners and fold into the center lightly patting the seam down. Repeat with the top two corners and the bottom two corners meeting in the middle patting down the seams.

Return the dough to the bowl seam side down, cover and return to a warm draft free place for about an hour. ..

Repeat this process one more time. Total Time: three hours.

Dividing

Flour the counter. Scrape the dough onto the counter and allow to rest 30 seconds.

If the dough is very sticky at this point dust your hands with flour but do not add additional flour. Use the bench scraper to lift the dough if it sticks to the counter but do not pull and do not stretch the dough. Press the dough into a rectangle 30 x 10-12 cm wide. Be sure the dough is not sticking to the counter by lifting it to gently up. Cut the dough into 16 equal pieces with the bench scraper.

Shaping

Use parchment paper or a silicone liner in a baking sheet.

Roll 15 pieces into a small ball shape for rolls, the last piece will become the grapevine. Create a triangle by setting four balls together in a line followed by a line of three balls then two balls and finally one ball. Angle the remaining four balls to one side of the triangle so that the entire piece resembles a large cluster of grapes with the smaller one to the side.

With the last piece of dough roll it into a rope about 10 inches long and shape it into a curved grape vine shape that you attach to the top of the grape cluster. Dust with flour.

Final fermentation

Final fermentation may take from 60 to 90 minutes. If it over proofs the dough will be unusable. Set the timer so that you can record the time it takes for the final fermentation. Place the baking sheet in a warm 24-27°C draft free place.

Determine the dough is ready to be baked by uncovering and making a small indentation in the center of the role with your fingertip. The dough is ready to be baked if the indentation slowly and evenly disappears.

Baking

Slide the baking sheet into the oven onto the pre-heated baking stone.

What ever you find to fit over it bake for 10 minutes with the dough covered and then remove the bowl. Continue to bake until the bread is golden brown has a thick crust, total additional time 15 to 20 minutes. The total time then would be 25 to 30 minutes. The bread will be fully baked if it registers 85 - 99°C..

When fully baked transfer to cooling rack for at least one hour to cool.

(Source:”A Passion for Bread” – Lionel Vatinet)