December 24, 2010 - 7:28pm
Larry's Christmas Cheese Bread - for my husband
Hello, and special thanks to Larry for posting about his Cheese Bread!
My husband loves cheese bread so I made this for him, shaped as a Celtic Knot, for Christmas.
I followed Mr. Hamelman's method for retarding the dough, to help with shaping with the strands.
Somewhere along the line I found this post on shaping, so tried it out:
http://piroulie.canalblog.com/archives/2008/09/12/10232468.html
The baked loaf:
The proofed and glazed loaf:
Husband's eager to cut into this and taste it!
Merry Christmas from breadsong
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Comments
That's a beautiful braid and a beautiful looking loaf!
Good baking in 2011-
Larry
My husband is eating a piece of toasted cheese bread right now, and he says "Thanks Larry!!!". Thanks so much for posting your wonderful formula.
I'll be making this bread again for a New Year's party - it's too good not to share!
Thanks from breadsong
first .. is there any way I can get the recipe scaled down to just one loaf ?
Micki
Hello Micki,
I had Larry's formula in a spreadsheet so I added a couple of columns to it, with these various weights.
Hopefully one of these weights will work for your pan size, or be helpful to you for making a freestanding loaf.
:^) from breadsong
can't thank you enough .. now I depart for my local grocer to buy some cheese ..
Your husband is a lucky fellow Breadsong! The cheese bread looks marvelous, and so well braided. A real treat for the eyes.
Merry Christmas to you and a Happy New Year!
Franko
Husband was delighted with his bread & I was happy to give him a pretty loaf.
I thought the round-shaped braid might be a bit more forgiving if I didn't braid well. Larry's loaf was so perfect and even - I doubted I'd be able to get a long braided loaf to look as nice as his!
There was quite a lot of helpful information on braiding in Mr. Hamelman's book & for that, along with Larry's great formula, I am grateful!
Merry Christmas to you too! from breadsong
Nice braid and a wonderful glow. I bet it's delish!
Glenn
a ratio of 94g sharp cheddar to 375g flour, and an egg yolk/milk wash (free range egg with exceptionally orangey-yellow yolk!).
Thanks Glenn - the bread is really flavorful, toasted or untoasted.
Happy holidays from breadsong
What a lovely braid and delicous bread. I love the way round braids make for some very nice slices of bread. I do have this one my to do list, the cheese being shredded into the dough sounds perfect!
Merry Christmas!
Sylvia
Thank you and this was very good bread (imho everyone should put this bread on their to do list!)
Happy holidays from breadsong
The celtic knot is gorgeous. Goint to try that shape next time I shape bread.
Pam
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Happy holidays, and happy baking, to you too :^)
Well, breadsong you are amazing. Husband is lucky! I am interested in finding larry's original recipe with kneading times, ferment times etc. I obviously do not have any of your skill. Also, why no preferment? I am a new baker who has had mixed success -mostly failure-.
Happy New Year!
Hello, and thank you for your kind comment!
Larry's full post about his lovely and tasty bread is here:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/21126/christmas-breads
Considering your question re: preferment, I thought, why not? :^)
I've adjusted Larry's formula, to use a sponge (please see below). The sponge below is based on Mr. Hamelman's biga (Ciabatta with Stiff Biga formula). I will try it with the sponge, the next time I make this bread.
The yeast, overall, is reduced a bit, because of the preferment; not sure how much of a difference this will make (guessing re: overall yeast quantity).
Happy New Year, and happy baking, to you - and hope you enjoy making this bread!
:^) from breadsong
thanks for posting. i am trying it out today will let you know how it works bye albetrt
Hi Albert,
You are so welcome and I hope you enjoyed this bread.
I hope it all worked out!
:^) breadsong