Celebration bread just seems like such an odd term to me. When I think about celebrating, I'm generally thinking more along the lines of champagne, a nice glass of wine, festive decorations, a fabulous meal, or a cake. I can't say that I really think of bread. My dad has a love affair with bread, his daily bread; it's the staff of life, after all. Maybe that's why I don't associate bread with celebrations: bread is for sustenance (albeit delicious sustenance), cake is for celebrating. Peter Reinhart points out that this bread is perfect for Thanksgiving, and that's a celebration, isn't it? A celebration of plenty . . . and isn't this loaf of bread appropriate, because there's plenty of it!
I was so very unenthused about making this bread. For one thing, it came right on the heels of cinnamon rolls and cinnamon swirl bread, and I was thinking longingly of a nice crispy loaf of ciabatta bread. I knew I was going to give this bread away, I just had to figure who my victims would be. Luck would have it that we went out of town for Labor Day, and I needed a hostess gift. Problem solved: a nice, giant loaf of Cranberry Walnut Celebration Bread. I have issues with giving away things that I haven't tasted, though. What if it's awful? What if it shouldn't be eaten at all? I made the big double braid, plus a small roll for me to taste. It turns out that this bread is actually fantastic, and I really do think that it would be perfect for a Thanksgiving celebration or any fall dinner party. I will definitely make this bread again, and I'm glad that I tried it, otherwise I'd never have known what a nice bread it is.
(One observation, though: the recipe calls for way.too.many.cranberries! I happen to love cranberries, so I put the full 3 oz. in my dough. Oh my word. The cranberries create little pockets in the dough, and when rolling out the strands, all of these little pockets created a very strange, ropy texture in my dough that wasn't altogether pleasant. I would reduce the cranberries to 1.5-2 oz. next time.)
18 comments:
I've been slacking on BBA because I didn't want to make this bread. I'm glad to read your good review. Maybe it'll finally motivate me to get in there and do it!
It looks fabulous by the way!
Oooo that would be great for french toast!
Your bread looks out of this world amazing!! Yum! I love cranberries!
This bread looks absolutely delicious! I bed your friends LOVED you sharing...YUM!
Your braid is gorgeous, and I'm glad you liked this bread. I thought it was fantastic too, and I think it was easy enough that it could be a bread for ordinary celebrations.
Well, if I made this bread I'd be celebrating how fantastic it turned out :)
what a beautiful braid! looks delish!
Your bread is gorgeous! That double braid is mighty impressive. I wasn't too excited to make this bread, either, though the end result was pretty tasty (though I altered the recipe almost beyond recognition). What a wonderful hostess gift, I would love to receive a beautiful loaf of homemade bread.
What a fantastic hostess gift! I'd be psyched to receive it :) I'm so intrigued by this bread. I think I'm going to make it for Thanksgiving and see how it goes over. Yours looks gorgeous!
I'm definitely going to have to try this as a braid at some point. I actually really liked the large number of cranberries in this recipe; they didn't seem to cause any textural issues in the rolls I made.
Your bread is really gorgeous! I love the red that the cranberry adds to it. Great job!
It looks like I would want to celebrate with that bread! Although it does look like a lot of cranberries in there :)
Your bread looks fantastic!
This looks awesome! I love cranberries so I think I'm going to have to give this one a try...
I love this bread, nice job!
Cranberries and bread. What a better way to celebrate fall!
I opened your blog and said WOW! I loved the braided presentation...and for some reason...bread making sparks my interests. Maybe because Im a tad afraid of bread making. I will definitely have to try this one--I've been on bread/dough making kick this week. I agree though--Cake/champagne screams celebration to me ;)
You braided! I'm so impressed since I totally wussed on braiding. I was feeling so lazy when I made this one, but it looks terrific braided. You've probably moved on to the focaccia already, but if not, run to the kitchen and start now. OK, you can start in the morning, but don't delay. It's seriously one of the best breads we've made.
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