Delicious bread with lovely texture

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This article was published 12/08/2009 (5994 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jo-Ann McGirr was looking for a recipe she had lost for beer bread containing baking powder and baking soda. Thanks to Helen Glowienka of Selkirk and Edna Mroz of Beausejour who both sent in the same recipe for a whole wheat version. The second beer bread recipe is courtesy of Gale Grainger. Thanks also to Tamara Greenlay of Holland and Linda Snider of Glenboro. Both recipes are easy and produce rustic-looking, chewy-crusted moist loaves. The texture is surprisingly similar to yeast-risen bread.

Joelle Neufeld of La Broquerie had requested a recipe for bread pudding that was crusty on the outside and soft inside. Thanks to Barb Gmitrowski who shared the recipe that follows. Barb writes that while visiting New Orleans she attended a cooking class at the New Orleans School of Cooking and made this recipe, which she says is the best bread pudding she has eaten.

Last week’s column featured a recipe for Thai peanut marinade for chicken. Please note that the amount of lime juice to use was missing. The ingredient list should have included juice of one lime.

This week we have a couple of more cake requests.

Larissa Romaniuk of Stonewall is hoping to find the recipe for the maple mania cake that Natural Bakery makes. She writes that it is a rich marble cake and has a maple icing with swirls of chocolate.

Vanessa Olson would like a recipe for a cake that she has tasted at bridal and baby showers over the years. She describes it as an "amazing" banana cake, not a banana bread, with a white, creamy icing that is not just icing sugar.

If you can help with a recipe request, have your own request, or a favourite recipe you’d like to share, send an email to recipeswap@freepress.mb.ca, fax it to 697-7412, or write to Recipe Swap, c/o Darlene Henderson, Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R2X 3B6. Please include your first and last name, address and telephone number.

 

Beer bread (whole wheat)

 

750 ml (3 cups) whole wheat flour

5 ml (1 tsp) baking powder

2 ml (1/2 tsp) baking soda

2 ml (1/2 tsp) salt

30 ml (2 tbsp) mild molasses

341/355 ml beer (12 oz) beer, room temperature

5 ml (1 tsp) butter, softened, for brushing on top

 

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl. Add molasses and beer. Stir to moisten. Turn out onto floured surface. Knead 1 minute.

Put into greased 20 cm (8-inch) round cake pan. Cut lines with a sharp knife 1 cm (1/2-inch) deep, marking 6 – 12 wedges. Bake in 160 C (325 F) oven for 40 to 50 minutes until bread cooks away from side of pan. Turn out onto rack to cool. Brush warm top with butter.

 

Taste Tester Notes: This makes a delicious bread with a lovely texture, surprisingly similar to yeast-risen, and a chewy crust. The dough may be sticky, but knead briefly as directed and place in the pan and it will bake up just fine. This was still moist after a couple of days.

 

Beer bread

 

750 ml (3 cups) self-rising flour (*see below to make your own)

30 ml (2 tbsp) sugar

341/355 ml (12 oz) beer, room temperature

 

Measure ingredients into a large bowl. Stroke 17 times in a back and forth motion — don’t knead.

Put dough into a well-greased loaf pan 22 x 12.5 x 7.5 cm (9 x 5 x 3-inch) loaf pan. Bake at 175 C (350) for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Top will be crispy. Variations: Add dry onion soup mix, dried dill weed or other favourite herb to taste.

 

*Self-rising flour: To each 250 ml (1 cup) of all-purpose flour, stir in 7 ml (1 1/2 tsp) baking powder and 2 ml (1/2 tsp) salt.

 

Taste Tester Notes: This rustic-looking loaf has a very crunchy crust and is very moist inside with a texture similar to yeast-risen. You can brush some soft butter on it while still warm to soften the crust a bit if you like, but it will still have a nice chewiness to it. It is especially good warm from the oven. Self-rising flour is sold in small bags in grocery stores, but it is easy and more economical to make your own, which I did for this recipe.

New Orleans bread pudding

 

1 large loaf of stale french bread, cut into small pieces

(or if no stale bread, can cut up fresh bread and put in low oven to dry it out without toasting it)

1 litre (4 cups) milk

250 ml (1 cup) sugar

125 ml (1/2 cup) butter, melted

3 eggs, slightly beaten

10 ml (2 tsp) pure vanilla extract

30 ml (2 tbsp) ground cinnamon

2 ml (1/2 tsp) ground nutmeg

 

Optional ingredients:

250 ml (1 cup) raisins (soaked in dark rum)

250 ml (1 cup) chopped pecans

 

Hard Sauce

 

125 ml (1/2 cup) butter

375 ml (1 1/2 cups) icing sugar

15 ml (1 tbsp) dark rum or bourbon

5 ml (1 tsp) pure vanilla extract

2 egg yolks

Pinch of salt

 

Grease a 22 x 33 cm (9 x 13-inch) baking dish.

In a large bowl, whisk together vigorously milk, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add bread and optional ingredients and combine well with hands. Mixture should be very moist but not soupy.

Pour bread mixture into baking dish. If you added pecans, make sure none are exposed as they can become too dark and burnt tasting. Place into a non-preheated oven. Bake at 175 C (350 F) for 60 to 75 minutes, until top is golden brown.

While pudding is baking, prepare the hard sauce. In a saucepan over medium heat, cream butter and icing sugar together. Stir in rum and vanilla. Remove from heat and blend in egg yolks and salt. Sauce will thicken as it cools. Serve over warm bread pudding. This is especially delicious served with vanilla ice cream. Makes 16 to 20 servings.

 

Taste Tester Notes: Very rich and very good, and is moist inside with a crusty top. Depending on the size of the loaf of bread you use, you may need to add a bit more bread if the mixture is too wet. This has lots of cinnamon, and a bit of nutmeg, which I really like. I opted to use the rum-soaked raisins and combined with the rum in the hard sauce this adds great flavour. A scoop of quality vanilla ice cream will finish it off nicely.