Inside The Jewish Bakery, by Stan Ginsberg and Norman Berg
I'm a huge fan of Inside The Jewish Bakery, by Stan Ginsberg and Norman Berg. Today I had a taste for a rich white bread, and so I decided to bake up a couple loaves of the Vienna Bread (Vinnerbroyt.) It is described in the book thus:
"This sweet, enriched loaf has a lovely open crumb and soft texture. In the Jewish bakeries, it was used for sandwich loaves and, when left to ferment for 2 to 3 hours, for kaiser rolls."
It sounded like just what I was after.
Stan has indicated that he does not wish to post the recipes from this book, so I won't. I'll just say that it calls for 1 3/4 tsp. of instant yeast. The recipe makes slightly more than 2 pounds of dough.
The recipe also states that fermentation should take about 40 min to an hour for the dough to double and about the same for the loaves to proof. This a dough rich with egg, oil, and sugar and it seemed like not much yeast , but I followed the recipe, something I rarely do.
In reality, the dough took 2.5 hours to double and almost as long to proof.
The loaves are beautiful, light, and tasty, with a light, crackly crust. I'll use a bit more yeast next time.
Comments
Never hold a recipe to its timing. Yeast and the resulting bread dough are living things and sometimes us living things are just not predictable. It could be a matter of just a few degrees difference in the kitchen or even in the temperature of the ingredients. This is where the "art" of breadmaking comes in-always look at your dough rather than the clock for when it is ready.
I love that book-so much history and so much knowledge. I pick it up periodically and always learn something new.
Enjoy and bake deliciously!
I am planning to do a series of challahs from different recipes, including a few from Inside the Jewish Bakery. Since I grew up around the corner from a Jewish bakery, I am expecting some nice taste and aromas from my kitchen.
Let us know if you bake this bread again.
This Vienna bread was a big hit here. It was soft and sweet and it made great toast. Next time I bake sandwich buns buns I'll use this recipe for them.
I also believe that it would make a nice whole wheat sandwich loaf if you mixed the flour half and half with WW.
I have baked the Sweet and Rich Challah from the book. It too was a hit. I plan on trying the Honey Whole Wheat Challah next, and, perhaps, the Bakery Challah.
I too grew up around the corner from a Jewish bakery. Actually, there were 5 of them around the corner! You could say that the bread got into my DNA.
I got the bug to make cultured butter. I have the Brod & Taylor proofing box and put the cream in that. I'll make the butter tomorrow. It can make a nice yogurt as well, which I can use for the blueberry muffins. Thanks for the recipe. I have two copies of Inside the Jewish Bakery, don't ask how that happened, but, it did. I've spent hours making the corrections. Thanks for the information about the extended proofing times. I'll add that now to the Vinnerbroyt recipe.
The blueberry muffins I bake using home made yogurt for the liquid are the best I ever made. Trying to describe them misses the point. You must taste them, straight from the oven.
By the way, please don't ruin them by using those dreadful, tasteless, frozen wild blueberries.
You know the ones I mean, the ones praised by America's Tasteless Kitchen. Use fresh!