Thursday, February 17, 2011

Bread Baking Day

Ok, I decided to show the steps for making our new favorite, Braided Cheese Bread.
It's funny, when I'm frustrated about how a beading project is going, it helps to make a batch of bread. My lovely new dough mixer will make either 3 or 5 loaves at a time, so we have two regular whole wheat loaves, and the cheese bread.

Roll out to a rectangular shape.

 Brush with melted butter. Generously sprinkle garlic powder, and oregano (or your favorite spices) across the surface.

 Add cheddar, mozzarella, and Parmesan. Start rolling from the long side. Try to keep it a tight roll.

This is what it should look like when you finish rolling.

Cut into 3 equal sections.

Start rolling a section into a tube shape.

 One tube done.

After you finish rolling them into tubes, squish  (technical term, you know) one end onto your granite counter (love my granite) or cutting board, so you can start braiding them.
When you finish braiding, tuck the ends under all nice and pretty.

So, the tricky part is lifting this heavy braid quickly and dropping it just so into your bread pan. And, my little confession (just so you don't think I'm an expert or anything); my braid was just a tad too long for the pan. Therefore, it rose a bit unevenly, as you can see below....

And yes, for some reason, when I braid, whether it's filled or not, it rises a lot higher than if I don't. I'm sure there's a scientific reason for it. If you want to google that....

But it doesn't bother me a bit that it's a monster of a  loaf!  This is really yummy, and of course, best on the first day!  If you'd like to make it and need a basic dough recipe, let me know. Otherwise, enjoy!!




3 comments:

  1. Oh my if I made bread I would eat it all!!

    Cheers,
    Stacy

    ReplyDelete
  2. This looks so amazingly yummy...YES, I'd love a recipe...I want to make one just like this! Well, actually I'd like to make one with my 10 year old son who is the biggest bread eater, other than myself!! :-)

    ReplyDelete

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