How To Make French Bread

Making authentic French bread at home is simple with this easy to follow recipe.

Before beginning, gather all equipment needed for completing the recipe.

Equipment:

• Heavy-duty standing mixer with a paddle attachment
• Small bowl
• Large bowl
• Wire whisk
• Pastry brush
• Pastry scraper
• Baking sheet lined with parchment paper

After gathering the equipment, prep the ingredients required for the recipe.

• 2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 ¼ cup lukewarm whole milk
• 2 cups unbleached bread flour
• 2 cups All-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting work area
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ¼ cup unsalted butter at room temperature or ½ a stick
• 1-teaspoon canola or oil olive for greasing bowl

Instructions:

1. Line pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Cooking spray, butter or grease are other options to prevent bread from sticking.
2. Pour ¼ cup lukewarm milk into a small bowl. Lukewarm milk is best to help dissolve the yeast. Add 2 ½ teaspoons of active dry yeast to milk and whisk to dissolve. Lukewarm milk is best when activating yeast. If milk is too warm, the yeast will not activate. If milk is too cold, the yeast will activate too slowly.
3. After yeast has fully dissolved, add ¾-cup lukewarm milk to the mixture. Whisk together until the mixture is foamy and forms bubbles on the top. Properly activated yeast will foam. If the yeast does not foam, then the yeast is not working. Check the expiration date to make sure the yeast has not expired. Pour the yeast and milk mixture into the standing mixer.
4. Add bread flour, All-purpose flour, salt, and sugar into the mixer with the yeast mixture. Turn the mixer on low and began slowly mixing the ingredients. The ingredients begin to resemble a dry, coarse meal. Add the room temperature, unsalted butter into the mixer. Continue to mix the ingredients on low to medium speed. After dough comes together and begins to form a ball, turn off the mixer.
5. Lightly flour work surface with All-purpose flour. Use less flour rather than more since too much flour changes the consistency of the dough. Tour dough out onto floured surface. Dough should not be wet or overly sticky. Work dough into a ball with hands. After dough forms a ball, lightly flour the top of the dough. Lightly flour palms of hands and push them into the center of the ball pushing away from the body. Then, fold dough over back towards the body. After every sequence of motion, turn the dough a quarter turn and repeat. This is the kneading process. Continue to follow this process and knead the dough for 8-10 minutes. Kneading the dough gives the bread a light, airy texture. Under kneaded bread is dense and heavy. Dough becomes smooth and elastic after about 8-10 minutes of kneading.
6. Lightly oil large bowl. Place dough into bowl and turn it several times to coat the dough with the oil. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the bowl containing the bread. Set bowl aside for two hours and let dough rise until doubled in size.
7. After dough doubles in size, deflate dough with hands then turn it out onto lightly floured surface. Cut dough in half with pastry scraper. Set half aside for later use. Slightly flatten remaining half of dough. Gently roll dough back and forth to form a baguette shape about 8 inches long. Dividing dough into smaller portions before rolling will yield smaller loaves. Place loaves on baking sheet and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Allow dough to rest for 20 minutes. While dough is rising, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. After 20 minutes, remove plastic wrap. Make horizontal lines through tops of loaves with a sharp knife. Do not cut too deeply into dough. Take pastry brush and apply the remaining milk on tops and sides of loaves.
9. Place baking sheets with dough into preheated oven. Bake loaves for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. When loaves become golden brown, remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes before slicing. Bread will be crisp on top, crunchy on bottom and soft and chewy in the center.

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How To Make Baseball Player Bomb Pops

Summer has arrived. The warmer weather will bring with it requests for cooler fare – including treats! Chances are, with school being out, you are looking for entertaining ways to keep the kids occupied. Have them pitch in on this recipe for Baseball Player Bomb Pops. These whimsical cool treats are personalized so each person will be able to select their favorite team and player. The setup and preparation time are a breeze. They are fun to make and eat. Nothing says summer like baseball and popsicles. Combine the two and you’ll score a home run!

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Serves: Makes 8 medium popsicles

Ingredients

• 8 Multi-color bomb pops
• 8 Strawberries
• 1 Tube of White Frosting
• 16 (8 pairs) Sugar Cake Decoration Letters
• 16 Candy Eyes
• 8 Graham Cracker Sticks (cut in half)

TIP: To help you envision this tasty treat, imagine that the strawberries form the baseball helmet and the graham crackers form the arms. The frosting is the “glue” that holds the eyes and letters together.

Preparation

1. Remove the stems from the strawberries then pat them dry removing any moisture.
2. Core each strawberry in the center enough so that it will fit snugly over the top of each bomb pop.
3. Cut off a V-shaped slice of the long edge of each strawberry.
4. Place a dab of white frosting at the center of the strawberry (where you cut the V shape).
5. Attach a sugar cake decoration letter to the frosting. This will be your team’s letter.
6. Place a tiny dab of white frosting near the top of each bomb pop.
7. Stick the candy eyes to the frosting. Alternative: if you do not have candy eyes, simply dab a tiny bit of frosting (as instructed in # 6) and add a tiny piece of chocolate to form the pupils.
8. Add a dab of white frosting to the front of the bomb pop and attach the corresponding sugar cake decoration (team) letters.
9. Dab a bit of frosting to the sides of the bomb pop and attach the graham crackers to form arms.

The next step is easy: eat and enjoy your creation. It will cool you down on a hot summer day. This recipe is also perfect for birthday parties. Have the birthday child and attendees make Baseball Player Bomb Pops for an undeniably great time.

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How To Make Greek Easter Bread

Greek history begins way past the starting of Christianity, but from the early days of Christian Faith, the Greek people have accepted Christian beliefs and now they are a big part of what is Greek heritage today. Easter is by far the largest celebration and feast for the people of the Greek Orthodox Faith. One great traditional food that is served during this time is, Easter Bread. It is a sweet yeast bread, also known as Tsoureki, made up of butter, milk and eggs. It also contains, mahlepi, the main flavor in the bread, which is a seed that is found within the stoned of the St. Luci Cherry, and is used as a spice in many other middle eastern foods. It has a cinnamon/nutty like taste. This bread is traditionally baked on Holy Thursday, and then feasted upon on Easter Sunday morning. It is a light bread, with a denseness that is very filling. The sweet bread served along with a nice cup of hot coffee is absolutely delicious!

 

Ingredients:

• 7 cups flour
• 3 quick rise yeast packets
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. mahlepi
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tsp. lemon and orange zest
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 cup hot milk
• 1 cup melted butter
• 1 red dyed hard-boiled egg

Egg Wash for bread

• 1 egg
• a few drops vanilla
• 1 tbsp. water

Note: All ingredients should be at least room temperature in order to help make the dough rise faster.

Preparation:

1. Pour flour in large mixing bowl, and make a hole in the center of it with your hands. This is where you will put the sugar, salt, mahlepi, and zest. Make sure that the mahlepi is grounded up into a fine powder, like the consistency of flour, before adding to the mixture. Now mix this all together with your hands. Then add the hot milk and mix this in with your hands as well. Once the mixture is formed, add the eggs one at a time, mixing in each one well. Next, add the yeast and water mixture. After this is done, the dough should appear stringy when stretched apart.
2. The next step is to pour the melted butter into the mixture, one handful at a time. Fold the butter into the dough, do not kneed it. Keep repeating this process until all the butter is used up. It’s okay if any butter is pooling around the edges, it will absorb into the dough as it rises.
3. Cover the dough while it is still in the bowl, with plastic wrap, so it is tucked down around it. Next, wrap the bowl in towels and keep it in a warm place where it will rise for the next 2 hours.
4. Next, separate the dough into four equal parts. Then separate each of the four parts into three separate sections. Roll each piece until it is about 14 inches long, and about as thick as your finger. Then braid 3 sections together, which will be one loaf of bread, you should end up with 4 braided sections. The three strand braid symbolized the Holy Trinity.
5. The next step is to take 4 round pans that have been lined with wax paper, and put one braid of dough into each pan, lining the rim of it. Cover each bowl with a towel and place them in a warm spot again for 30-45 mins for the dough to rise once again.
6. Once the braids of dough have risen, mix up the egg wash, and beat the three ingredients well together in a small bowl. Then brush each braid with this mixture, which will give the bread a nice shine once it is done.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and bake two pans at a time, for 30 minuets. Watch dough to make sure it does not get too brown, you can cover the top with foil until it is finished baking.
8. When the bread has finally cooled, cut a small circle in the center for the bread for the hard-boiled egg, which is dyed red to represent the color of life, as well as a symbol of renewal and victory over death. 

Now that this great traditional bread is finished, enjoy!

Image: SpiceRoots

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