BBA S&S: Loafin' Around

I'm doubling up on this Bread Baker's Apprentice post because then I'll actually be caught up on BBA S&S posts (I still haven't started pain a l'ancienne. EEEK!). Without further ado, let's check out the Marbled Rye Bread and the Multigrain Extraordinaire.

I put off the rye bread as long as I possibly could. I don't like rye bread. I like a reuben sandwich, and that's about the extent of my relationship with rye bread. Truth be told, I'd prefer that the great rueben alchemy work with something other than rye bread, but I won't quibble. I was going to make the rye bread for a really fun Austrian dinner party that I wanted to make (and I roped Nancy into it as well), but my schedule has not been kind for the last couple of months, and the dinner party has been postponed . . .

So, the only other way I could think of to make the rye bread and enjoy it was to make reubens for St. Patrick's Day. The bread isn't very difficult to make, but it does involve mixing up two separate batches of dough. I made a half recipe because I didn't want two loaves of this bread. I looked all over for the caramel coloring that you can use to get your dark dough that lovely dark chocolate color to no avail. I still have no idea where one procurs the mythical caramel coloring. The recipe also states that you can use either cocoa powder or coffee to color your dark dough. Well, come on, if it's marbled then I need two tones of color, so I went ahead with the cocoa powder in the dough. I know what you're thinking:  chocolate? In bread? This can't be good. I thought the same thing and I was a little hesitant, but the good thing about making something that you're not crazy about to begin with is that your expectations are very low. Other than the cocoa powder decision, I followed the recipe exactly as written and it was a fairly simple process. The book gives instructions for either a true marble (this involves mushing balls of dough together and then twisting the formed loaf) or a spiral loaf. I was a little distracted when I made this bread, so I did the spiral loaf and then I gave it a good twist for good measure. And, I still don't like rye bread . . . ergo I didn't like the flavor of this bread. What I LOVED were the fun spirals! I don't know why, but I was sure that my spiral was going to melt or collapse in the oven, but it didn't! I deem this a very fun bread . . . I want to make fun spiral bread without rye flour!

Spiral on the outside -- a good sign of things to come. 

Oooooh, look, it's spiraled on the inside, too!

More spiral action.

Are you still reading? Wow. The next bread is the Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire. When I first got The Bread Baker's Apprentice, this bread was one of the first recipes I flagged. I love breads with seeds, etc. Any sort of bread with a few extra bells and whistles in the grains department is almost sure to ring my bell (except that pesky rye). To say that I had high expectations for this bread would be right on point. And, really, can you blame me? It's called Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire. (Side note: when I was in college I had a very good friend who swore that expectations were not a good thing to have. Her theory was that if you have expectations of people, places, events (you name it) then you're bound to be disappointed. I don't agree. I have very high expectations for myself, the people in my life, and the bread that I bake, among other things.) 

The multigrain bread has a soaker component, and so far I've loved the BBA breads that start with a soaker (cornbread -- yum). For my soaker, I used a combination of the King Arthur Harvest Grains blend because I'm trying hard to use it up, and a little bit of wheat bran.The grains soak overnight, and then the next day you mix up the bread. I actually made this bread out of order because I happened to have some leftover brown rice, and it seemed like a sign. You see, I've tried to make this bread a few times. The first time Dudley put the soaker in the fridge, the second time I forgot about the soaker and didn't remember for 72 hours (and it looked and smelled funky), and the third time I realized I didn't have any brown rice for the dough. So, I think that leftover brown rice is a serendipitous sign that it's time to make multigrain bread. It's a very simple bread to make, and I loved the texture of the dough. I thought my bread baked up nicely, but what's up with the white-ish top on my crust? I have no idea, but it looks like it needs to moisturize, doesn't it? I think that some melted butter would help with that.

While I certainly enjoyed this bread, it wasn't exactly the bread nirvana I was expecting. This could certainly be attributed to user error, and I'll definitely make it again. I ate this bread as toast for breakfast, and it was a lovely way to start my day. PR is right -- this bread toasts beautifully. I think that the next time I make this bread I'll go the hearth route and I'll add even more grains and seeds. I might add a bit of whole wheat flour as well.

For the first time since the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge (Slow and Steady Group) began, I'm actually caught up on posting. I have no idea where I'm supposed to be schedule-wise, but I haven't baked past this point in the book. I actually haven't baked much bread at all lately, but I think that needs to change -- soon! In the meantime, do check out the other BBA S&S blogs to see what they think of these breads:  Pink Stripes, Shortbread, Grandma's Kitchen Table, Gatti, Fili e Farina, Blue Ridge Baker, Lethally Delicious, Di's Kitchen Notebook, and The Corner Loaf.