August 11, 2023 - 8:06pm
Best bread for tasting honey on?
A friend has invited me over for “honey tasting“ in a few days. They bought many different kinds of honey while traveling over the summer. I offered to make and bring bread.
I am considering making some kind of part whole wheat bread, softened with milk and butter but with little sugar or honey. Perhaps freestanding loves that are longer and thinner, like baguettes, so small slices can be used to taste different honeys.
Reinhardt’s recipe (in Whole Grain Breads) for “transitional whole wheat bread” that has about 56% whole wheat flour would probably be something close.
Other suggestions for breads with some flavor, but mild enough that they would be good for tasting honey on, would be appreciated.
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I wouldn't include honey in any of the breads that you choose to make. That will allow the honey your friend is supplying to be the star, flavor-wise.
Unless some of the honeys that your friend plans to use have powerful flavors of their own, like buckwheat honey or tupelo honey, breads that are light in flavor and color are probably the best choice. I'd choose to limit the whole-grain fraction to about 25% but that's just my notion of what would complement the honey without overwhelming it.
Whole wheat flour, whole oat flour or flakes, whole barley flour or flakes are all potential candidates. Rye certainly tastes good with honey but it might overpower the flavors of more delicate honeys. You could also experiment with some porridge breads that use cooked whole grains or seeds.
Sounds like fun, both the baking and the tasting.
Paul
Traditionally you'll find honey in spelt breads. Perhaps, as Paul suggested, make some spelt bread or crackers without honey as carriers for honey tasting.
or white bread sticks
. A low hydration dough. And when ready to shape, roll it out, cut with a pizza cutter thin strips to twist, rise and bake. Bake a second time on low heat to dry out and serve standing in wide mouth jars. (Empty cheese or honey pots, beer mug, etc.)
The bread sticks would have been a great idea, Mini Oven. But I did not want to risk making some thing I have never made before for this event.
So I made part whole wheat baguettes with a decent amount of butter in them to soften the bread. Cold autolyze on the whole wheat flour for 24 hours, and prefermented the white flour in a biga.
I think they turned out okay. Can’t wait to taste them, and the honeys.
These should be perfect for your honey tasting. Let us know how it goes and we would love to see some photos 😻