We 3 gmas baked Rum Walnut Bread
We 3 made "Cinnamon Rum Walnut Bread" from In Nonna's Kitchen, by Carol Field. Of course, as per our usual show of different personalities we each took a different spin on things. Helen made her wonderful loaves in more of a swirl design.
What a beautiful dark brown crust she has and the crumb looks delicious. Helen put her personal touch on these loaves and calls then "Cranberry Walnut Swirl Bread" she is keeping the "rum" a secret, I bet. Looks lovely and probably tastes even better.
Barb, also made the dark loaves and her crumb is also AWESOME!
You can see her walnuts trying to jump out of the loaf... beautiful and so full of goodies!
Those slices are a meal in themselves... like another loafer we know! ;-) Great job here too, my sisters are great bakers... and even greater sisters!
My loaves went pretty much to recipe, except I chopped my walnuts really small since my husband says he can't eat walnuts that are too big. (?)...
As you can see, my loaves were not left in the oven to brown as much as my sister's loaves.. and hindsight being all that it is, they should have stayed in longer. Crumb is a little underdone. My husband says this is the best bread I have ever made... (must be the rum talking).. LOL...
You can see where some of walnuts missed the smaller chopping. It is full of good stuff. It is actually a bit darker than shows in this picture.
All in all it was a good baking day... to accompany those great meals... Helen and I made Spinach and Cheese (homemade ricotti +) stuffed Manicotti and Barb's dinner was beef roast, gravy and green beans...
The manicotti recipe was from "AllRecipes.com" and was the best I have ever made... a definite keeper! It all cooked together so beautifully I couldn't get the manicotti noodles out whole... Delicious stuff.
We enjoyed our day and enjoyed visiting with each other and now with ya'll... Lucy pretty much stayed out of the kitchen. In Granbury, TX we woke to our first dusting of light snow for the season.
Nothing to compare to what Barb gets just 50 miles south of Canada... but okay with me!
Great sharing our baking with all the fresh loafers!
Diane
are really starting to make some really nice breads! Beautiful examples of proofing perfectly before baking. The rise and spring contributing to the height of these boules is impressive. You GMA's, who are baking so boldly, need to get your sister Diane an instant read thermometer for her birthday so she can bake to 205 F on the inside too! I have to admit that if I would have seen her bread first, I would have been convinced it was perfect :-) But, those caramel colored loaves sure say 'Brown food tastes good' as Anne Burrell is so famous for saying. I could be wrong but, I think this is a perfect Brunch Bread without the rest of the brunch required.
So very nicely done! You GMA's are becoming baking fiends - besides baking friends and sisters:-)
Way to go GMAs - great looking bread - a slice for brunch with a bit o' butter - heavenly. Thanks for sharing your weekly bakes with us all.
Linda
for the good words... I do have an instant thermometer, but I thought the bread was supposed to be 195 degrees... I am seeing that 205 would be better especially for the wetter breads... thanks again, glad you check in, always can use the encouragement and the wealth of knowledge. We are having fun making friends as you mentioned. Thanks.
Diane
calls for 195 F and your sister's baked to that too, then your oven isn't reading the right temperature or your sister's are reading too hot or, it could also depend on the steam method and amount and or the kind of DO too if they were used or not, and how long the preheat was......and if the planets were aligned......the time of day ......and, most importantly, if the bread gods like you as much as your sisters :-)
Happy Baking!
I think they do theirs to 205, this particular recipe just says "til bread sounds hollow". That is quite an objective statement to me... Would it hollow-er... with or without my hearing aids... better go with temp. LOL... thanks again.
Hope others decide to get together and bake by phone and cyberspace.
Diane