The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Passover/Easter/Ramadan Community Bake

Abe's picture
Abe

Passover/Easter/Ramadan Community Bake

So it's been a little while since the last Community Bake and I thought since Passover and Easter coincide this year why not celebrate both in one Community Bake? 

Passover:

When it comes to bread I think Passover will be easier. Matzah! Unleavened bread using Flour, Water and Salt only. From start to finish the entire process must be completed within 18 minutes. There are two kinds of Matzah, Ashkenazi and Sephardi. Ashkenazim will roll the dough thinly, poke holes in the dough and bake in an oven. The final result is cracker like. Sephardim (although many Sephardim in Ashkenazi countries have adopted the Ashkenazi way) will follow the same recipe and 18 minutes rule but instead of baking it into crackers they will bake it on a hotplate, without poking any holes into the dough, and the final result will be something more akin to a Laffa. This results in a wrap type bread. I'll leave you with one YouTube video for a Matzah...

https://youtu.be/DF2I68KMfzU

All other baking for Passover must be grain flour free* and there is no 18 minutes rule for cake since it has no flour nor yeast. Chemical leavening is fine for cakes. Popular recipes are cakes with Potato Flour or treats like Coconut Macaroons (not to be confused with Macarons). As long as it is grain flour* and yeast free you can be as creative as you like. 

I have had a look at this recipe and it is Kosher for Passover, plus it looks delicious, so i'll post it here:

https://youtu.be/zUUyhyMfpQw

You are not bound by these recipes. Well if you go down the unleavened bread route there's not much variation one can do as the rules are strict. However when it comes to other baked goods anything that is flourless and doesn't use yeast otherwise you can be as creative as you like. By all means google some traditional Passover recipes but anything that fits the bill will be accepted. 

*Correction...

Ilya has made an excellent point that completely slipped my mind. While grain flour is not used in Passover baking one may use Matzah Meal. This is exactly how it sounds. Matzah ground up in meal/flour. You can buy it or make some matzah then put it in the food processor. Thank you Ilya.

Easter:

When it comes to Easter, and breads, you have far more choice...

To name a few. I'll post recipe for each of these but again you can bake anything you choose which is traditionally eaten at Easter time. 

https://youtu.be/PufXn6IdgiA

https://youtu.be/XCf2zZ-_Swo

Ramadan:

Would be nice to hear what Muslims like to break their fast on, on Ramadan. Any traditional food will be most welcome. I'm not familiar with any so please post the recipe where possible. 

Just googling traditional recipes for Ramadan and Halwa has come up. Halwa, or Halva, has it's origins in Persia but has spread all over the Middle East and there's even Greek Halva (semolina pudding cake). Which brings me to this recipe which i've wanted to try for a long time...

1:2:3:4

cup oil : 2 cups semolina : cups sugar : cups water 

You can add things like almonds, cinnamon, cloves etc. 

Method: 

  • Toast the oil and semolina till it changes colour and it has a nice aroma. 
  • Make a sugar syrup with the sugar and water. You can add a stick of cinnamon and 3 cloves if you wish. Just put it all in a pan, no need to stir, and bring to the boil. Allow it to reduce a little and become thicker. Take out the cinnamon and cloves. 
  • Add the sugar syrup to the semolina and on a low heat stir till it thickens up. 
  • Portion out into a cake pan (Bundt pans are popular) or loaf pan and allow to cool. 
  • Enjoy your stove stop, no oven, "cake". Slice and enjoy with a coffee. 

P.s. He does it differently in this recipe. Rather than making a separate sugar syrup he does it all in one pot. I'm more familiar with toasting the semolina and making the syrup separately then combining. 

I'm looking forward to all your contributions. 

Happy Baking! 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

.love it.

Ilya Flyamer's picture
Ilya Flyamer

For Passover, interestingly, it is allowed to grind up the matzah and use that instead of flour! Obviously, it is functionally gluten-free, since after baking the matzah the gluten in inactivated. But there is a bunch of traditional dishes made with this matzah meal, e.g. chremslach.

Abe's picture
Abe

This completely slipped my mind. Thank you!

Grinding matzah into crumbs may be used as flour in Passover baking. This opens up endless possibilities. Have to make Matzah first though :) Unless one cansource Matzah Meal locally. 

I'm going to update the Community Bake. 

Ilya Flyamer's picture
Ilya Flyamer

My grandma sometimes could find already ground matzah meal, but more often she would grind up bought matzah herself. So one can source just matzah and then make the meal :)

Abe's picture
Abe

and pointed this out. Chremzels are delicious. And then there's Egg fried matzah. A nice idea to make a load of matzah and then make other things from it. 

Thank you, Ilya. Opened up many more possibilities. A good start to the Community Bake. All abot sharing and learning. I look forward to your recipes. 

Ilya Flyamer's picture
Ilya Flyamer

Thank you Abe! I forgot about egg-fried matzah, that is delicious, such interesting texture.

Debra Wink's picture
Debra Wink

20 spring celebration bakes for Easter, Passover, Ramadan, and beyond | King Arthur Baking

There's a recipe partway down for Passover Popovers which uses matzah meal.

Happy Baking :)

Abe's picture
Abe

First time i've heard of them but what a wonderful idea. Chremzels is Matzah Pancakes using matzah and eggs. Then there's egg fried matzah which is basically French Toast done with matzah instead of bread. And now Popovers. Now that my slip up has been corrected the Passover side of the Community Bake has become a lot more interesting! 

Thank you, Debra. 

Ilya Flyamer's picture
Ilya Flyamer

I was just googling chremslechs, and combined with your description, it really seems like what I am used to in our family and the general meaning of this word are somewhat different! What I grew up with was not quite like pancakes... To be honest, I am not entirely sure how they were made, but must have been fried. But they were thick and full of dried fruit, that made them sweet. We had them for dessert, or as a sweet snacks. And always in an interesting shape, like three adjoined circles. Need to get the recipe from my grandma!

Abe's picture
Abe

The chremzels I knew was like thick pancakes and we would sprinkle them with sugar. A thick batter with a base of eggs and matzah meal, allowed to sit and set for a little while then shallow fried. Delicious treat. 

JonJ's picture
JonJ

Are they not matza latkes? How different are they, if at all, if there are no inclusions in the batter but eggs, milk, matza meal and salt/sugar?

Abe's picture
Abe

I've never made them so without consulting a recipe I just included the matzah meal and eggs. Probably has all the ingredients of a pancake but replacing the flour with matzah meal. My father always made them. 

JonJ's picture
JonJ

A rather interesting and weird bread, yes bread, made from matza meal: https://twitter.com/SeamusBlackley/status/1515934042784505857

I tried to repeat it myself, but obviously don't have the same skill set and mine was an abysmal failure.

Abe's picture
Abe

Never thought of that. Thanks for the recommendation. Will need to check it out. 

WatertownNewbie's picture
WatertownNewbie

This is my first attempt at matzah.  Thanks Abe for posting this thread and for the video links.  I followed the recipe (needed a pinch more than 60 g of water -- it is dry these days in the kitchen).  The two sets of four crackers baked at the same time side by side in the oven, but the darker ones were on a heavier weight baking tin.  One set has salt and the other doesn't.  I wanted to make sure they were crispy, so I went to seven minutes for the bake, and they definitely were not done at the four minute mark.

Here is a close up of one.

Here is one set of four.

And here is the other.

My intention is to bake a batch of hot cross buns at some point and then go to the King Arthur site (thanks Debra for that suggestion) and include a bake for my friends who celebrate Ramadan.

Happy baking.

Ted

Abe's picture
Abe

I love a dark bake on matzah. Exactly like the ones in the middle photo. If you prefer them that way you can always return the others to the oven. Got enough to make some matzah brei - French Toast using matzah instead of bread. 

Econprof's picture
Econprof

Breadtopia version: https://breadtopia.com/whole-wheat-tsoureki-greek-easter-bread/

I think I will be making this one. 

Abe's picture
Abe

We're looking forward to your bake. 

WatertownNewbie's picture
WatertownNewbie

We have some friends from Morocco who are Muslim, and I wanted to practice with some bread that I could take to them when Ramadan ends.  I found a very simple recipe that contains only all-purpose flour, semolina flour, water, yeast, and salt.  I told my wife that this bread seems to be Morocco's answer to ciabatta.

Here are the pair of loaves.

Here is the crumb from one of the loaves.

Nice and fluffy and tasty by itself or soaking up anything you want.

Abe's picture
Abe

Very nice bake, Ted. Lovely crumb. Adding some semolina to a bread is a good idea. A perfect bread for eating with a soup imo. 

Thank you for both of your lovely contributions. 

BrianShaw's picture
BrianShaw

BrianShaw's picture
BrianShaw

BrianShaw's picture
BrianShaw

...

Abe's picture
Abe

Those look delicious. Very nicely done indeed! Do I detect wholegrain flour in these? 

Thank you for your lovely contribution, Brian. Which recipe did you follow in case anyone else wishes to have a go at these?

P.s. you might need to email Floyd at floydm@thefreshloaf.com to enable editing. 

Floydm's picture
Floydm

 I just marked you trusted so you have more privileges, but I think the CMS software actually removes the ability to edit once people have replied to you in order to keep conversations honest.

BrianShaw's picture
BrianShaw

Thank you very much!

BrianShaw's picture
BrianShaw

My pleasure to divulge "the secret" :)

This is the best hot cross bun recipe I've used (and I've used a bunch over the years). Two alterations I introduced: soak currants in Calvados insead of water and Crisco shortening instead of butter in the dough. The Calvados adds additional flavor complexity. The shortening makes the crumb even lighter. The glaze needed more like 3 Tbsp milk instead of 2 Tbsp as the recipe indicates. Also, instead of toasting to reheat, a few seconds in the microwayve.

https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a52182/hot-cross-buns-recipe/

Abe's picture
Abe

I've included your recommendation in the description. These are certainly your forte! 

Abe's picture
Abe

I have included Ramadan and a new recipe. Halva is [apparently] a traditional recipe over Ramadan. I'm not too familiar with Ramadan and the foods eaten so any advice and recipes welcome. And while Greek style of halva may not be traditional for many it's still halva so i have posted a famous recipes i've been wishing to try for a long time with an accompanying video. It's basically a semolina pudding cake done on a stove top. 

Enjoy! 

Ilya Flyamer's picture
Ilya Flyamer

My girlfriend (Greek) once made halva. What she stressed was important is that the semolina is as coarse as possible (the coarsest I could find was still a touch too fine for her taste).

It's delicious, anyway!

Abe's picture
Abe

Where coarse semolina is preferred. This recipe has always appealed to me but the sugar and oil content has always held me back. Would be great if I could just have one piece to try. I'm afraid if I make a whole one i'll eat too much of it. 

Benito's picture
Benito

I baked Mazanec and Vanocka at the end of 2022 as Christmas breads as gifts.  My blog post is here.

 

Abe's picture
Abe

Almonds are very nice in these enriched breads. The colour on the Mazanec looks so inviting. I know it doesn't have marzipan but it does remind me of a marzipan cake. 

I've also posted a lovely Greek Halva recipe. If you're interested. 

Sabina's picture
Sabina

IMG_1950

 Okay, I'm a bit embarrassed to show these off, especially since this is already the third time I've made these this Lent, and I have made them the last two Lents as well. I just want everyone to know that they normally look a lot more attractive than this, and even though they look like a mess, they still taste good!!!

I used the Clever Carrot recipe: https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2020/03/sourdough-hot-cross-buns/

However, I made several changes, some of which I had never done before. I used 300g whole wheat flour and the rest all-purpose. I used vegetable shortening instead of butter, and soy milk instead of cow's milk. I added about 30g extra starter by accident. I kneaded these by hand, first letting the whole wheat flour sit in the milk with salt for about an hour, then mixing in the white flour, egg, and starter, then letting that sit for about an hour, and then kneading in the shortening and kneading for about 15 more minutes. The shortening gave the dough a weird light and silky texture that made me unsure how the kneading was actually going. I added the spices and raisins after an overnight rise. The glaze is crabapple jelly instead of apricot jam. 

Ugh, the crosses. After some experimenting in the past, I have something I like to do for the crosses, and that is mix roughly equal parts by weight of icing sugar, flour, sourdough discard, and cream cheese, a pinch of salt, and just enough milk so that it's liquidy enough to pipe onto the buns before baking. It makes crosses that taste somewhat like the cream cheese icing the recipe calls for, but they are baked onto the buns the way I prefer them. This time, I had that cross mixture all mixed up and was ready to put it into a piping bag before I remembered that I was trying to make these dairy-free, and the cream cheese was not going to work. So, I just sort of threw something together. I think it was some flour, shortening, sourdough discard, icing sugar, and 1/2 tsp of baking soda. Instead of piping it, I rolled it into strands and placed it on the buns. It tastes good, but obviously looks terrible. I'm not sure why I thought trying to get the cross dough to rise would be a good idea.

I let the cream cheese cross dough that I didn't use rise in a mini bundt pan overnight, and then baked it in our air fryer. I don't recommend trying to bake in an air fryer.

IMG_1951

Edit: I forgot to add that I added about 10 extra grammes of raisins, because obviously raisins are the whole point of hot cross buns, but after looking at the picture and not seeing ANY raisins in the cut portion of the bun, I want everyone to know that I DID PUT RAISINS in the buns! Cutting them up makes them a bit less visible, I guess, but I will have to put in more next time.

Abe's picture
Abe

Thank you for your recommendation and thoughts. My friend wanted to try baking in an airfryer and was thinking of purchasing on solely for that purpose. 

I've gotta say the interior looks delicious! Absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. That is one lovely crumb. Thank you for your contribution with an explanation of your own method. 

The crosses don't take away from how good the buns themselves look. And, after all, you were improvising at the last second. 

I've posted a very nice Greek Halva you might like to try. Take a look. 

Thank you, Sabina. 

Sabina's picture
Sabina

Oh, sorry, I didn't bake the buns in an air fryer, just the cross mixture which I didn't end up putting on the buns. I'd never tried to bake anything in an air fryer before, and the outside turned brown way before the inside was cooked. With practice, and experience with your own particular fryer, I'm sure baking is possible. I could have, for instance, reduced the heat and covered the pan with foil.

cfraenkel's picture
cfraenkel

It depends on the air fryer...mine has a bake cycle, and a ferment cycle, and convection etc.  It is by far the most loved and used appliance I have. I bake in it all the time.  It's like a mini electric oven that does all the things.  It even has a rotisserie!

Abe's picture
Abe

What make and model number? How does a loaf of bread turn out? 

cfraenkel's picture
cfraenkel

I can fit my cast iron in it. Cosori CO130-AO.

Abe's picture
Abe

Wasn't expecting it to look like a normal oven. All the other ones i've seen are different. This may be a very good option. I need to replace my old oven. 

cfraenkel's picture
cfraenkel

It replaced our air fryer, toaster oven, and gave me a more reliable way to bake than my crappy gas oven. I love it. Happy shopping.

The Roadside Pie King's picture
The Roadside Pi...

Hello, friends.

For the next to last meatless Lenten Friday, I decided I would make something that I could contribute to the community bake.

Riddle me this,

What does the Roadside Pie King make for dinner on a meatless Friday?

What else? riccota & spinich sun pie!

I have made this pie before and it has always tuned out pretty okay. This time I noticed right away, that day had come when I could tell by the look and feel what the short pastry needed. I can remember clearly, what is now a good many years ago, thinking to myself, "What does that even mean? I will never be able to know by looking what to do" I was limited in the early days to following formulas verbatim. 

A little about the pastry. This pastry uses liquid fat (olive oil) with dry white wine to hydrate ( Pino Grigio) The combination when done correctly makes for a very easy dough to handle. In the past, I remember that the dough was kind of dry and a chore to roll out. This time, instead of following the formula and adding all the ingredients upfront and then mixing them all together, I treated the liquid fat (olive oil) as I would have treated butter. I worked the olive oil into the dry flour until virtually all the flour was encapsulated in fat. After adding the hydrating agent (white wine) and a short rest the dough was ultra-pliable and so easy to roll out! While I do pretend to be an expert now and then, I know that I am far from an expert. That being said, the phrase "live and learn" comes to mind. Smile. Happy holidays to all! I wish for a safe and joyous holiday for all of us! 

 One last thing before I stop rambling, I picked the sun pie, to show my thanks to God, for helping me transition to my new home so easily. I am happier than I have been in a very long time. 

Kind regards,

Will Falzon

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Fantastic job on this bake.  Now I wish you stayed in NY so I could come over and taste it :).

Glad you are transitioning to the West and enjoying yourself.

Best,
Ian

The Roadside Pie King's picture
The Roadside Pi...

If you ever find yourself near the East Valley of Az. (there is a lot to do in and around here) you have an open invitation to drop by for a black & Tan and a pizza pie! This invitation goes for any and all of my friends here in the bread club! 

The Roadside Pie King's picture
The Roadside Pi...

If you ever find yourself near the East Valley of Az. (there is a lot to do in and around here) you have an open invitation to drop by for a black & Tan and a pizza pie! This invitation goes for any and all of my friends here in the bread club! 

The Roadside Pie King's picture
The Roadside Pi...

If you ever find yourself near the East Valley of Az. (there is a lot to do in and around here) you have an open invitation to drop by for a black & Tan and a pizza pie! This invitation goes for any and all of my friends here in the bread club! 

Sabina's picture
Sabina

That is the prettiest-looking savoury pie I have ever seen!

Abe's picture
Abe

Very nice indeed. Vegetarian or not it looks delicious. Not too difficult to give up meat for Lent if one is served something as good as this.

Thank you for your contribution. 

Benito's picture
Benito

That is a stunner Will and I bet it tastes as good as it looks.

Benny

gavinc's picture
gavinc

Looks great, Will. Reminds of the Sun King (The Beatles -  Abbey Road).

 

albacore's picture
albacore

That pastry recipe looks interesting, especialy with your enhancements; I've tried to make olive oil pastry a few times, but it always ends up so short it tastes like you're eating a sandbox.

What was the texture of this one like?

Lance

The Roadside Pie King's picture
The Roadside Pi...

The pastry is definitely not the flaky "American" pie pastry we know. I know exactly what you mean about oil-based pastries. I have had them come out sandy and tough. This time, by changing the order of things and using Kenji Lopez's method of bringing short pastries together I was able to achieve a tender pastry with a nice mouthfeel, that still had a distinct bite. Kenji uses gentle folding from top to bottom when incorporating the liquid into the fat-encapsulated flour. Rather than a circular mixing motion. The idea is to add layers to the finished product. 

Best,

Will F.

BrianShaw's picture
BrianShaw

Greek Easter Bread has long been a family favorite. It's  bit of a shame that this gets made only once a year! The recipe I use is from Saveur magazine with the following alterations: add about 1/2 tsp of mastic gum in additionto the mahlepi, no dyed egg (I prefer them on the side), and Swedish sugar instead of black cumin. The recipe makes two huge loafs so I half the recipe and make one huge loaf. Half of the recipe is about  3-1/4 pounds of dough!

 

The Mahlepi gives the bread the most amazing aroma and alluring taste. The Mastic provides a tiny hint of a resiny bitter note.

 After a first rise the dough gets braided and a second rise. Then glazed with egg white and sprinkled with Swedish sugar.

BEHOLD.... the finished loaf!

https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Greek-Easter-Bread/

https://www.saveur.com/article/Travels/8-Easter-Loaves-from-around-the-World/

Abe's picture
Abe

Thank you for the recipe and your take on it. Never used Mahlep and now you've got me interested. Not surprised this loaf is a firm favourite with your family. 

semolina_man's picture
semolina_man

Looks great.  Mastic is interesting, I want to use it in something to get to know it better.

Debra Wink's picture
Debra Wink

For those who don't like traditional hot cross buns (I am one), here's a variation that looks promising:

Chocolate Chunk Hot Cross Buns (homecookingadventure.com)

Happy baking, everyone!

Abe's picture
Abe

Chocolate Chunk Hot Cross Buns. Thank you for the recommendation, Debra. 

albacore's picture
albacore

Made today.

 

Recipe here

Lance

Abe's picture
Abe

Made today, eaten today!

Very nice indeed, Lance. Thank you for your contribution. 

albacore's picture
albacore

Thanks Abe. Just need some Colomba di Pasqua now....

Lance

WatertownNewbie's picture
WatertownNewbie

Lance, those look great.  What recipe did you use?

Ted

albacore's picture
albacore

Thanks Ted; I've edited my original post to provide a recipe link. It's a recipe I've developed over a period of time. Part old English bakers' recipe, part TFL's RossnRoller (especially the great spice mix) and part mine.

Every time I make it I give it a bit of a tweak!

Lance

WatertownNewbie's picture
WatertownNewbie

Here are my hot cross buns from a recipe found on the King Arthur website.  The piping is not my best, but the flavor of the buns is great.

Plenty of nice spices combined with regular and golden raisins.  The piping is confectioners sugar as opposed to the traditional flour paste.  Thanks Abe for getting me involved in this community bake.

Ted

albacore's picture
albacore

Good to see you jumping on board Ted! Was that the "Easy hot cross buns" recipe?

Lance

WatertownNewbie's picture
WatertownNewbie

Yep, Lance, the Easy Hot Cross Buns, and they were pretty easy to make.  Don't overlook my Matzah above as well as Moroccan bread for my Ramadan friends.

Happy baking.

Ted

Econprof's picture
Econprof

Looks like I’m going to have to make a batch of those as well in addition to the tsoureki!

Abe's picture
Abe

Confectioners sugar instead of flour paste sounds a lot nicer. It's done for the cross but you might as well make it tasty! 

Very nice, Ted. Thank you for all your contributions. 

Econprof's picture
Econprof

I originally only planned on the Breadtopia tsoureki. I made the sourdough version. It took a long time to rise but had surprisingly decent oven spring. The mastic and mahlab provide a really nice aroma.

When I saw the beautiful loaf Brian posted, of course I had to try that version too. I was skeptical about using cake flour in a bread but it seemed to turn out all right (although I did run out of cake flour and had to use a portion of Gold Medal all purpose). Clearly my eggs were not colorfast. I would try a different dyeing method next time. I topped the loaf with nigella seeds because I assumed that this was what was meant by “black cumin.” That can also refer to an Indian spice called shah jeera, but I can’t imagine wanting to top a sweet bread with that. The picture in the recipe photo doesn’t really look like nigella seeds, though. Perhaps there is a third spice that goes by the name “black cumin?”

And I was inspired by everyone’s hot cross buns to make those too. I followed Lance’s recipe above (slightly modified based on the flours I have), which I highly recommend. I candied some grapefruit peel for the purpose. Now to figure out what to do with the rest of that.

BrianShaw's picture
BrianShaw

Very nice… yummy!

albacore's picture
albacore

Nice Bakes! I'm glad the hot cross bun recipe worked well for you.

Regarding the black cumin, this spice is easily available in Asian shops in the UK. It is known as kala jeera and looks like a slightly smaller version of ordinary jeera, but does not taste at all like it - none of that lemony flavour. In fact, to me, it doesn't taste and smell of much!

Shah jeera I think is actually caraway seed, so I'm sure you know all about that and we do know some people have mistranslated Kümmel as cumin....

Like you say, I wouldn't put either in a sweet bread.

As a slight aside (but interestingly) Google now lets you select a search region, like it used to (Bing has always let you) and if you select the region as Greece and search for "τσουρέκι", you get all the actual Greek recipes - and also the pictures with image search - and hardly any of them seem to have any black seeds on top.

This one did and it looks like their black seeds are poppy seeds, which would seem to be the best fit.

Lance

Econprof's picture
Econprof

I had completely forgotten about kala jeera, which I believe actually translates as black cumin. But as you said, probably good I didn’t use that either. Anyway, I don’t think I’ll mind the nigella seeds. 

At one point I had a package labeled “shah jeera” that I thought was caraway. I hadn’t come across caraway in a long time so I didn’t know the difference. I used it in a couple caraway-heavy breads, which produced a strong and rather offensive flavor. 

Here is a photo (from someone else) that shows what I had at the top and caraway in the middle: 

https://i.imgur.com/ySTABNB.jpg

Edited to add it looks like some people put black sesame on tsoureki (what I did with one of my whole-wheat braids). I wonder whether someone saw that and thought it was nigella seed.

albacore's picture
albacore

Just for the record, here's a few of my spices:

Left to right: black cumin aka kala jeera, cumin aka jeera, caraway, kalonji.

 

Lance

Econprof's picture
Econprof

Happened to go to the Indian store today and saw both kala jeera and shah jeera labeled “black cumin.” 

JonJ's picture
JonJ

Maybe the influence of the Indian subcontinent is just so large, but when I go to my local spice shop I know to look for whole jeera (for rice, of course), and dhanya (if I want coriander), that sooji is semolina, and also that til (or tal) is sesame, amongst others. And I have no Asian heritage personally, but wish I had had an Indian grandmother. 

Thanks for explaining, didn't know about kala jeera.

Econprof's picture
Econprof

The white tsoureki is nice, but I think it would have been better if I had followed Brian’s suggestion and added mastic. (I meant to do that, but forgot.)

The sourdough white-whole-wheat tsoureki may be non-traditional, but it is absolutely delicious. It’s not sour (to my taste) despite the long rising time.

Lance’s hot cross buns are also delicious. The spice mix is perfect. I’ll have to freeze them quickly to stop myself having too many!

BrianShaw's picture
BrianShaw

I forgot to mention, it seems. In the Tsoureki recipe I linked I think there may be a typo. The use of cake flour is unusual and I have assumed, for so long that I failed to mention, that "cake" may have been intended to be "cups". I use bread flour.

 

I'm enjoying the disucssion on Inidan spices and agree that there may be such a diversity in eitehr language, translation, or regional names that it is confusing. We have many Indain stores but many do not converse easily with non-Indians or the answers are so abbreviated that questions remain. My only "Indian" cookbook is Bengali and that really adds to the confusion. I gave up trying to learn Indian cooking and just eat at their restaurants.

Econprof's picture
Econprof

Gives me permission to use King Arthur AP next time I make it. I didn't particularly enjoy working with a (mostly) cake flour dough.

When I started cooking Indian food I mostly used the internet. Some sites include huge numbers of photos so you can see what you are supposed to be using and how the recipe should look at each stage. I have some Indian cookbooks now but still haven't found one I really love.

My favorite Indian recipe sites:

https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/ (huge archive of vegetarian recipes explained in great detail. This is the site I started with)

https://deliciousmemorieswithalves.wordpress.com/ (authentic Goan recipes. A few ingredients may be regional and not accessible outside Goa.)

https://www.kannammacooks.com/ (mostly South Indian recipes)

 

Ilya Flyamer's picture
Ilya Flyamer

I was surprised to hear about cake flour in tsoureki. From what I understood, it was the opposite - tsoureki are made with very strong flour. In Greece it's called just that - tsoureki flour. And it has 14% protein, from what I remember! The strongest flour available there. So no cake flour, more like bread flour!

Ilya Flyamer's picture
Ilya Flyamer

double

Our Crumb's picture
Our Crumb

Happy Holiday, Easter, Passover & Ramadan bakers,

In recognition of this being the 10th anniversary of the birth of a relished annual tradition chez nous, I’ll break my Community Bake avoidance habit and share this year’s product.  


Our house HCB protocol has evolved since '13 to contain 40% fresh-milled hard white wheat and ~3x the (Co-op) mixed peel + currants called for in the KA recipe from which it originated.  The only pastry we bake that contains CY + baking powder.   A key process detail is to lightly develop the gluten before folding in rum-saturated fruit inclusions to yield light and shreddable buns.

Happy Holiday, Happy Spring and Happy Baking.

Tom

Abe's picture
Abe

Interesting combo. Why both? Is the CY just for the bready ferment and the Baking powder for the added oomph because it's enriched? 

Lovely uniform bake. Thank you, Tom. 

Our Crumb's picture
Our Crumb

Thanks Abe.  No idea why KA calls for both CY and BP.  But far be it from me to second guess the Knights of Norwich.  And life is too short to experiment with omitting one (say, the BP).  Maybe it bullet-proofs the recipe a bit.  With a few forgettable exceptions (e.g., when the pandemic nixed our UK travel to smuggle back Co-op Mixed Peel), it's been a very reliable recipe happily anticipated seasonal treat over the past 10 years. 

Thanks for hosting.

Tom

WatertownNewbie's picture
WatertownNewbie

Our friends in the midst of Ramadan will need some food at the end, and I am practicing with a Moroccan Bread known as Khobz.  This one contains toasted sesame seeds, wheat bran, fennel seeds, and flaxseeds and has a delightfully light crumb with an almost feathery feel to it.  The recipe made three loaves of moderate size, and the entire process from beginning to out of the oven was only a couple of hours.

Here are the three loaves from the top and a closer view of one.

These photos of the crumb do not reveal the presence of the add-ins, which enhance the flavor.

The recipe can be found at the Milk Street website.

Abe's picture
Abe

Been a bit busy these past few days and while I haven't had time to reply to you all personally i've been popping in and admiring all your lovely bakes. Hot cross buns seem to be the most popular but we do have some lovely Tsoureki too and even some interesting North African breads for Ramadan. 

Please accept this as a personal thank you. Turning into a very interesting Community Bake and glad you're all enjoying it. I certainly am! 

Econprof's picture
Econprof

Community bakes are one of my favorite things about this site.

Ilya Flyamer's picture
Ilya Flyamer

Following Akis Petrizikis recipe, used CLAS.

https://fgbc.dk/34g6

Swapped out 50g of honey for 50 g of sugar, plus a couple of extra pinches that I used to help grind down mastic and cardamom in a pestle and mortar.

Very aromatic! Could be a bit sweeter though.

Also, realized I used a wrong flour: I used Italian "manitoba" flour, but I forgot that previously I noticed how that particular brand actually is not as strong as I expected it to be... While for tsoureki you need strong flour, so I think the texture could be more airy and more chewy.

albacore's picture
albacore

Must be very tasty, Ilya - despite the flour.

I've noticed this as well; I got some Granoro manitoba and it seems very weak, with low water absorbtion, too. Whereas some flours, like the Caputo manitoba oro, are good and strong and thirsty.

Lance

Ilya Flyamer's picture
Ilya Flyamer

Oh yeah, forgot to mention about the water - it felt like I made a mistake like forgetting to tare the scales, when weighing out the flour, I had to add so much extra flour to reach the right consistency! It was soupy instead of rather firm. But indeed probably it was the flour just not absorbing nearly as much water as it should.

Abe's picture
Abe

Even though the wrong flour was used which brought its difficulties you still got a nice rise. I'm surprised Manitoba isn't strong enough. It's supposed to be a very strong flour. 

Ilya Flyamer's picture
Ilya Flyamer

Yeah it is supposed to be, but this one clearly isn't... At least water absorption appears to be low, although the dough was quite strong in the end.