Cardamom bread
OK, so i intended to blog the other great weddings i went to in August, but that's too far past now. So, in summary, i finally got to try a chocolate fountain at Emily's wedding, it was fun! AND we had a awesome weekend in San Fran for Chris and Lisa'a wedding, with some of the most amazing food and wine ever served at a reception (at Greens, a must see for anyone visiting San Fran. amazing location and food.)
But now, i have perfected a recipe and i must share.
Christa's cardamom bread:
Yields two loafs of deliciousness.
1) Mix in large bowl:
2 cups boiling water
2/4 cup instant dried milk
(vegan option, 1 cup water, 1 cup soy or rice milk)
2 Tblsp butter or margarine
2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
Stir until butter melts, let sit 20 minutes to cool
2) With 10 minutes left in milk cooling, mix in small bowl:
1/4 cup warm water
1 Tblsp yeast
pinch of sugar
Let sit to proof yeast for 10 minutes
3) After cooling/proofing, combine small bowl into large bowl and add:
5 cardamom pods, ground fresh or 1.5 teaspoons ground cardamom
Beat liquid mixture with a wisk for two minutes, to oxygenate the liquid
4) Add 4 cups of flour, once combined add additional flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough is no longer sticky (around 5 cups total)
5) Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes
6) In a very large, lightly greased bowl (olive or canola oil is ok) place the dough, turning the loaf to coat in oil. Cover in saran wrap and let rise about an hour (i like to heat the oven at 200, turn it off and put the dough in the warm oven)
7) Turn dough out onto a floured surface, punch it down and split into two loaves. Roll out the loaves well to get out the big bubbles. Form into loaves as follows: work dough into a squarish shape where the longest diagonal is 1-2 inches shorter than your pan. Place in front of you as a diamond shape and roll dough from the bottom point, so the diagonal defines the width of the finished roll.
8) place loaves into greased pans and allow to rise at least 2 hours (slower=tastier) until loaf is at least 1 inch over the top of the pan.
9) Mix an egg yolk with 2 Tablsp milk and brush over loaves (this wash is mostly cosmetic, consider it optional), slash a few times with sharp knife or razor blade
10) bake 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.
Yumm!
posted by Christa @ 5:10 PM
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