Richard Bertinet's Slap & Fold Sweet Dough
Yesterday, I decided to tackle Richard Bertinet's "slap and fold" method of hand kneading after watching his video on Gourmet Magazine's website. I was extremely inspired. His motions and his hands make it look easy and in fact, overall, I found that it wasn't difficult to master.
The only problem I encountered was watching the video a few times and then using Gourmets web link to the recipe. This truly was user error, but I assumed the recipe was going to follow the dough video precisely, and the recipe on the website is modified from the video, so use caution. In Richards video it shows him using 4 whole eggs, so before I began mixing, I cracked four eggs to let them come to room temperature as I gathered the remainder of my ingredients.
As soon as I started mixing, I realized my dough was more like a very thick pancake batter, and even though in his video he warns that the dough is wet, it is NOT that wet!! So, unfortunately, I had to more flour in addition to the 3.5 cups that the recipe called for (and yes, I did weigh). I'd approximate that I added nearly 1.5 cups, or about 7 ounces.
The result after about 15 minutes was nothing short of lovely. The method of slapping and folding wasn't hard and once I got used to the sticky dough all over my hands that didn't seem to want to come off until the last few minutes of the knead, I was doing well. It's been a long time since I've felt dough transform with my hands and it truly was a lovely experience.
The dough was great to work with. I could tell when my dough was kneaded enough. I noticed good sized bubbles began to appear under the surface, so I tightened up the dough and let it rise. It rose beautifully after an hour. I didn't have the fresh yeast his recipe called for, so I used Active Dry and warmed my milk in the mircrowave to around lukewarm. Not as warm as suggested in the recipe. Another oversight, but it had no effect on the outcome.
As you can see, I packed them in pretty good. This was after about a 40 minute rise. I gave them 20 more minutes as I preheated the oven to 375 F
I decided to make some cinnamon rolls. We like them slightly gooey on the top, so I not only filled my rolls with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar, but I also melted butter and brown sugar together in the bottom of my pan before filling the pan with rolls.
Buttery, carmelization that was slightly crispy, not wet or too gooey
The cinnamon rolls were AMAZING and absolutely breathtaking! The crumb was feathery light, ethereal and by far, the very best cinnamon roll I have ever had. I almost made doughnuts using this recipe and next time, I think I will - that is, when I have a crowd. It makes ALOT of doughnuts, so you could do have in rolls or freeze it. I was inspired by this blog and her doughnuts using this recipe. Check them out!
Those look absolutely scrumptious! I just finished dinner and now you are making my mouth water all over again!
Paul
I use the Bertinet's "slap and fold" method in all my sourdough (except the really wet one like Leader's Rustic Rye). However, I've never tried his sweet dough recipe. So I gave it a try last night, and I had a problem.
I followed the recipe and used active dry yeast in my dough. Though I heated the milk to the temperature, the yeast never got dissolved in the dough. The instruction didn't mention dissolving the yeast in the warm milk. The yeast remained its granulated form during the entire process. As a result, the rolls were really dense, no good rise, and not good eat.
Did you use fresh or dry yeast? Should I dissove the yeast in the milk first?
Thanks for any advice.
Michelle
I used instant yeast, SAF brand. I added it to the flour as he shows on his video and didn't have any problems. Now, if I could just count how many eggs I needed.. I'd be fine!
Sorry you had problems. I don't have access to fresh yeast and have never baked with it before.
Laurel, yes, I did follow the recipe, and I doubt if the yeast isn't good any more as I do use the yeast from the same jar for other sweet dough recipes and they never fail me. (and yes, I do dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm liquid first)
Jemar, I don't know where I can buy fresh yeast locally, and in fact, I seldom make yeast dough as I'm really into making sourdough. However, once in a while I'd like to indulge myself in sweet bread (or give to friends) and so I opt for active dry yeast...
BellesAZ, you did use instant yeast! I don't know why the recipe says no rapid rise (i.e. instant) yeast. From your successful result, I guess there is no problem using instant yeast.
Maybe next time I'll try to dissolve the yeast in the milk first. BellesAZ's cinnamon buns simply look too good to resist.
Thanks everyone for your reply.
Michelle
I used the instant yeast and did not dissolve it in the milk. I also have made them a second time and used active dry and didn't dissolve that in the milk either. Both times I incorporated into the flour as he demonstrated on the video. It's hard to imagine why yours did not incorporate, not with all the abuse that dough can take. That's a real mystery. I hope you have better results next time and now I'm curious.
I too watched this video and in that video IT IS different than the recipe because it is DOUBLED hence the 4 eggs...in video he says 1 kilo flour....I Have his book which I purchased after watching his video ..... it really is an Amazing Bread and I had no problems at all .... I put orange zest and raisins into the dough and a little rum ...however add raisins after 2nd rise as you are shaping the loaf otherwise raisins will be all over the room....