Potato Bread -- The Challenge

Well, it's that time of the month again -- Challenge Time! (What else?) November's experience was Tender Potato Bread, brought to us (the Daring Bakers) by the talented Tanna at My Kitchen In Half Cups. The recipe may be found on her blog site.

Now, making and baking bread is a comfortable thing for me, since I've been doing this, like, forever. The challenge part was 1) the sticky factor and 2) the kneading process, meaning it all had to be done by hand. This is usually not a problem, but with the amount of dough and the stickiness, I really, really wanted to plop it all in my mixer and be done with it. I was a good girl, though, and didn't give in. I did end up using all 8 cups of flour and my biggest bowl, which is too big to fit anywhere but on the open counter. At least it got used.

The dough rose nicely. Just as I began deflating it, I remembered the camera, so this is partially degassed dough.

For benching, I formed three loaves.

At this point, the dough could be shaped however we wished. So, I chose a Couronne for one.

Snipped the top of the second one.

And made a variety of rolls from the third one.

The texture was fine, not a lot of open spaces, but I think that's the nature of this particular bread. I will try this again, probably using the Silver Sage as an experiment (and to avoid wrestling with the sticky dough). Be sure and check out the results from all the other Daring Bakers, and tune in again in late December for the next exciting challenge!