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The Braille MonitorJanuary/February

2002

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Recipes

From

the Editor: Through the years a number of people have asked me to share some

of my favorite bread recipes. This seems like a good time to do it. The following

recipes are some of my personal favorites.

Diane

McGeorge's Seven-Grain Bread

by

Diane McGeorge

Diane

McGeorge is the President of the NFB of Colorado and a member of the NFB Board

of Directors. She gave me this recipe last year, and I have been making it once

a week ever since. Actually this may not be exactly the recipe she gave me,

but it's the way I now make it.

Ingredients:

1

package or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1/4

cup (a handful) dry milk powder

2

tablespoons olive oil

2

tablespoons honey

3/4

cup seven-grain cereal (to be cooked, not cold cereal)

1-1/2

teaspoon salt

1-1/2

cup hot water (no more than 115 degrees)

2

cups whole wheat flour

2

cups bread flour

Method:

Combine yeast, powdered milk, oil, honey, seven-grain cereal, and salt. Add

hot water. Stir well to dissolve yeast and cover bowl. Set mixture in a warm

place for about ten minutes to prove. The liquid should be foamy before it is

stirred. If the water has been too hot or the spot too warm, the yeast will

die and you will see and hear no bubbles. If the yeast dies at this point, the

error is easy to fix. Simply add another tablespoon of yeast.

Stir

in all four cups of flour or use a mixer with a bread hook to mix the dough.

If you are doing this by hand, you will eventually want to turn the dough out

onto a floured board and knead it for about ten minutes. Return the dough to

the bowl and cover with a towel. Put in a warm place to rise until doubled in

bulk. This should take forty-five minutes to an hour.

Knead

the dough again to remove all air pockets. Flatten the dough into a rectangle

about nine inches long and six inches wide. Then roll the loaf beginning on

the long side. Place the formed loaf, smooth side up, in a greased nine-by-five-inch

loaf pan. Cover with a towel and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled

in bulk, about a half hour. This loaf will stand about an inch above the top

of the pan when it is ready to bake. Bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for

thirty-five minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on a rack.

Three

Kings Cake

These

traditional loaves are served on Epiphany, January 6. A token is hidden in each

loaf. You can use an almond or a clean coin as the token, but often people use

small symbols such as a baby shoe charm, a tiny wedding bell, or a ring to denote

the kind of luck that the finder will have in the coming year.

Ingredients:

3

packages or 3 tablespoons of active dry yeast

1/2

cup warm water

3/4

cup scalded milk

1/2

cup sugar

1/2

cup unsalted butter

1

teaspoon salt

Grated

peel of one orange and one lemon

1

teaspoon vanilla

3

eggs

5

cups bread flour

1/2

cup raisins, currents, or candied fruit

Cinnamon

sugar for garnish

Method:

Sprinkle the yeast onto the surface of the warm water. Add two tablespoons of

the sugar and stir to dissolve. Allow mixture to prove in a warm place for ten

minutes. The yeast will be very bubbly and may overflow the bowl if it is too

small.

In

a large bowl combine the unsalted butter, the hot scalded milk, and the rest

of the half cup of sugar. Stir in the salt and grated peel. Beat three eggs

and add them to the butter mixture, making sure that it is no longer very hot.

Then add the yeast mixture. Using an electric mixer, beat in the two cups of

flour to make a smooth batter. Then add remaining flour using a bread hook on

the mixer or kneading the flour in as the dough becomes stiff. The dough should

be smooth and elastic when it is ready to rise. This will take about ten minutes

of kneading. Place dough in a greased and floured bowl and cover. Put in a warm

place to rise until doubled in bulk.

Punch

dough down and knead to remove all air pockets. Work in fruit until it is evenly

distributed through the dough. Divide dough in half and shape two circular loaves,

hiding a token in each one. Place loaves in greased and floured nine-inch round

cake pans. Brush tops of loaves with an egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon of

water and sprinkle cinnamon sugar across the surface of each. Cover the loaves

with a towel and allow to rise in a warm place until almost doubled in bulk.

Bake

in a preheated 400-degree oven for ten minutes and at 350 degrees for forty-five

minutes. Remove from pans and cool on racks.

Stollen

This

German Christmas bread is the mainstay of my family's Christmas morning breakfast.

Ingredients:

1/2

cup sugar

1/2

teaspoon salt

2

packages or 2 tablespoons active dry yeast

3/4

cup milk

1/2

cup water

2/3

cup butter or margarine

3

eggs

6

cups flour

1/3

cup golden raisins

1

cup chopped candied cherries

1

cup slivered toasted almonds

Method:

In saucepan combine and heat milk and water and add butter, stirring until butter

melts. Liquid should be just warm. Add sugar, yeast, and salt and pour into

a large mixing bowl. Add two cups flour and beat until smooth in an electric

mixer. Add three eggs and another half cup or so of flour. Beat for two minutes

on high.

Using

a bread hook, continue beating in the remainder of the flour or stir in flour

with a spoon and, when it gets too thick to manage, turn the dough onto a floured

board and knead until dough is smooth and elastic (about ten minutes). Place

dough in a buttered bowl and cover with a towel. Allow dough to rise in a warm

place until double in bulk.

Punch

down dough and knead to remove all air pockets. Work in raisins, cherries, and

almonds until they are evenly spread through the dough. Divide dough into two

pieces to make the two loaves. Working with each piece in turn, divide the loaf

into three pieces and shape three ropes, each about twelve inches in length.

Make a braid using the three strips of dough and pinch the ends together, making

a braided loaf. Place each loaf in a buttered nine-by-five-inch bread pan and

brush tops with melted butter. Cover loaves with a towel and allow to rise in

a warm place until doubled in bulk.

Bake

at 325 degrees for twenty-five to thirty minutes or until loaves sound hollow

when tapped. Tip loaves from pans onto a cooling rack. Before serving, frost

each with a glaze of confectionery sugar and a tablespoon or so of milk. You

may add rum or other extract for flavoring.

Grandma's

Sticky Buns

A

pan of these rolls makes a wonderful gift. The dough can also be used to make

doughnuts.

Starter

Ingredients:

1

cup mashed potatoes

1

cup potato water

1/2

cup sugar

2

packages or 2 tablespoons active dry yeast

Roll

Ingredients:

3/4

cup margarine or shortening

1

cup milk

1

teaspoon salt

3

eggs

1

cup sugar

8

cups bread flour

Butter,

brown sugar, and cinnamon

Topping

Ingredients:

1/2

pound margarine

1

pound plus one handful brown sugar

1/2

cup white corn syrup

1

scant quarter-cup water

Method:

Combine mashed potatoes and potato water, stirring over low heat if they are

cold. They should be slightly warm to make starter. Add sugar and yeast and

allow to stand until mixture is very frothy, about fifteen minutes. Melt margarine

or shortening (or combination of the two) in one cup of milk. Add salt and cool

slightly if too warm for yeast. Add three eggs and beat well with a spoon. Add

one cup sugar and the starter. Then work in eight cups of flour. This can be

done with a spoon or with an electric mixer using a bread hook. In either case

you will eventually have to turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead

well by hand. When the dough is smooth and elastic, set it to rise in a warm

place covered with a towel, about two hours.

Meantime

prepare five layer cake pans by buttering well. Make topping by combining all

topping ingredients in a sauce pan over low heat. Stir constantly and cook a

little longer after sugar has dissolved completely. The topping will be slightly

thickened. Divide the mixture evenly among the pans so that it coats the bottom

of each.

When

dough is doubled, turn it out onto a floured board and knead thoroughly to remove

all air pockets. Divide it into thirds to handle more easily. Roll one piece

of the dough with a rolling pin to make a long narrow rectangle between a quarter

and a third of an inch thick. Spread the surface with butter and sprinkle over

a combination of brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll dough jelly-roll fashion to

make a long roll with sealed ends and edges.

Using

a sharp knife, cut half-inch slices of dough and arrange in the pans. Rolls

should fit snugly together. Repeat with remaining dough. Brush tops of rolls

with butter and cover with a towel. Allow to rise in a warm place until doubled

in bulk.

Bake

in a preheated 325-degree oven for thirty minutes. Reverse racks halfway through

baking. Allow rolls to cool briefly before inverting rolls and removing pans

on cooling racks to cool completely.

Hot

Cross Buns

Hot

cross buns are a traditional Easter favorite. Buns baked on Good Friday are

said to have miraculous powers. The trouble is that, if you bake them on Friday,

they will not be fresh on Easter morning.

Ingredients:

1

cup sugar

1/2

cup melted margarine

4

eggs, separated

2-1/4

cups scalded milk, cooled

1

package or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1/4

cup water

7

to 8 cups bread flour

1-1/2

teaspoon salt

1

teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4

teaspoon ground cloves

1

cup currants

1/2

cup candied fruit, optional

Method:

A day ahead combine sugar and melted margarine and add four well-beaten egg

yolks. Stir in the cooled scalded milk. Dissolve yeast in a quarter-cup water

and add to mixture. Sift together one half of the flour with salt, nutmeg, and

cloves. Beat into the liquid ingredients to form a smooth batter.

In

another bowl beat the egg whites until very frothy or even soft peaks form.

Fold egg whites into flour mixture. Beat in currants and candied fruit, then

work in the remainder of the flour. Do not knead. Dough will be soft. Allow

to rise two to three hours then chill overnight.

Next

day remove dough from refrigerator and allow to stand for one half to one hour.

Knead dough ten minutes on floured board, adding additional flour if necessary

to handle. Divide dough into thirty to thirty-six pieces and form each into

a smooth ball. Arrange on greased cookie sheets and allow to rise in a warm

place until doubled in bulk (about one-and-a-half hours). Bake in a preheated

375-degree oven twenty-five minutes. Frost with confectionery sugar thinned

with a little lemon juice. You may apply frosting in the form of a cross.

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