Thursday 21 August 2014

Stuffed.......or Stuffed Up? part two...

During the day of the Great British Bake Off Bread Week yesterday, young Danny @foodurchin called for his Twitter and Beamly friends to join him in baking something to scoff during the programme.  I didn't have a huge amount of time, it was a work day after all, but I decided it was a good time to revisit a stuffed bread. Sorry.. what did I say there? .. I DIDN'T HAVE A HUGE AMOUNT OF TIME. We are back to rushing a bread that shouldn't be rushed again. Sigh

I don't learn do I?

Sweet this time I thought. I hadn't watched yet don't forget, so hadn't seen Jordan's debacle with his sweet stuffed bread. Probably just as well. It should have put me off.

I have Nutella (well, Sainsbury's own brand version, which is fine by me) and some hazelnuts.   I don't bother to double check the recipe on line. My dough is fine. I know how to make this. I do. 

No I don't. I stuffed it up.

This is my stuffed-up chocolate bread.



This should look like this... (the link explains how the shaping is done as well. Though the dough is a simpler one than mine)

http://diply.com/different-solutions/share-a-homemade-braided-nutella-bread-with-friends/10713

oops.


I rushed it. You can see it. That 2nd picture is a thing of beauty whilst mine is totally ugly.

The dough was too soft. It was sticky and slithery and I made a right pigs ear of it.  I didn't roll it properly, I didn't twist it properly, and I overbaked it too. But let me tell you for nothing, it tastes lovely. And that is what is important isn't it? No, sorry, you won't find style over substance in my kitchen.

Here you are, it is based on my demi-brioche dough cobbled together from various different recipes. This is MY version - yours may vary... for instance,  you may actually bake it nicely :)

Semi brioche dough is semi as it is only half as rich and half as sweet as true brioche dough, so it is much easier to use for something like this. It would work just as well with a savoury filling such as the pesto and cheese one here:

preferment:
150g bread flour
150g water
1 tsp instant yeast

Mix this together to make a rough dough, and put to one side for 4-5 hours. You can even make it in the evening and leave it at room temperature overnight, in which case, you probably only need half a teaspoon of yeast.

Main dough.

200g strong bread flour
150g OO flour or plain flour if you don't have OO
4 level tablespoons milk powder + 1 tablespoon of buttermilk powder (you can omit this if you don't have it)
2 whole eggs broken into a measuring jug, level made up to 200ml with warm water and mixed together
1 tablespoon Total Classic Greek yoghurt
1.5 tsp salt
75 g unsalted butter at room temperature
2 tablespoons runny honey

Filling
4-6  tablespoons Nutella at soft room temperature
2-3 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts
I egg mixed with a little water and salt

In a stand mixer* (*I really do recommend a stand mixer for this, you can use a Slap and Fold method of mixing and kneading but it is very messy) put all the ingredients minus the butter and honey, along with the preferment you made earlier. Knead at a low speed for around 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and you can pull it out easily without it tearing.

Start the mixer again and add the honey and the butter in chunks. Allow the butter and honey to fully incorporate and knead for a further 5 minutes.  Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, fold the dough onto itself to form a plump ball and cover with cling film or a clean shower cap.

Either allow the dough to rise at room temperature for around 2 to 3 hours (until very light and fluffy) or move it to the fridge to prove slowly overnight.  If you prove at room temperature, chill the dough for at least 20 minutes before trying to roll it out (I didn't have time for this, hence the almighty mess...)

After chilling, cut the dough into four equal sections, and form each into a round. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Roll and stretch each section into a round about 20 cm across.  Spread one with Nutella and sprinkle with the hazelnuts Put another round on top.  Repeat until all four rounds are used up, but don't spread any Nutella onto the top round. 

Move to a parchment covered baking tray. Chill if possible for another 10 minutes before cutting and twisting (I can't ever do this as I don't have room in the fridge). (Follow the cutting and twisting instructions in the nice photo above, or here are even better pictures . You will see that I didn't double check the twisting instructions. Or the rolling out instructions either as I only made two rounds. Oh. You will do better I am sure.)

(edit:  I'm being told that the instructions are toooooo complicated! Well, I've found it on You Tube for you..



I hope this will help a bit....)

Brush with egg wash, and leave to prove again for around 45 minutes to an hour at room temperature. Put the oven on at Gas mark 6 or electric equivalent for the last 30 minutes. 

Bake the loaf for around 20 minutes (keep an eye on it, brioche burns easily) and then move to a rack to cool.

Even with one layer it still twists beautifully, and perhaps has thicker brioche layers this way, which suits me as I like the brioche as much as the Nutella. 



The crumb on this is lovely and light.







It reheats well for breakfast by the way. I broke it into pieces, and gave these 10 minutes at Gas mk 3 just to warm the filling.




p.s. If you have some dough left over, you can make simple round buns with it, and toast them for breakfast with butter fried tomatoes. Simple pleasures...









2 comments:

  1. That video is much clearer, thank you! The instruction from the picture "Use a knife to cut the dough down the middle, but keeping one end intact. By turning the cut side toward the top, twist the ends of the dough on top of each other. Do this for every cut you made" was not making sense to me at all.

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    1. I love youtube for instructions for tricky things like that. So much easier. I couldn't think HOW to describe how to do it, hence all the links!

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