Monday, November 26, 2007

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!

19 comments:

Jen said...

Very nice!!!

breadchick said...

Great job on your challenge. I love the shapes you made and the crumb on this bread is tight. Looking forward to baking with you over the next challenges!

Wendy said...

Your photos are fantastic. They look so great. Your knowledge of bread is impressive. I would love to know the names to different bread shapes. Did you use more or less potatoes in your bread? Wendy

Peabody said...

I love the second loaf, the one that got sniped.

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Your breads look great! Good job!

Cheers,

Rosa

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Judy I love the snipped top on your second loaf! I really want to do that one. Thanks for not giving into the mixer! ;) I seem to go through times when I put all the bread in the mixer and like now do them all by hand.
Thanks for baking with us. Glad you stuck with it.

Deborah said...

I love the shapes you've done. Beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Your rolls came out great! I love the name of your blog :)

Esther said...

they all look great. I love the different shapes people have tired. We call bread snipped like that hedgehog bread here.

slush said...

Your loaves are just lovely, and the rolls look perfect. I admit, with my 2nd batch, I did break out the KA. Shh, its our secret.

Great job!

Jen Yu said...

My word, you bake some awfully beautiful bread! The shapes are lovely.

-jen at use real butter

Judy said...

Thank you all for your comments. Bread is one of the things I really enjoy making. I plan to make this bread again, experimenting with shapes and flavors -- inspiration from the other Daring Bakers.

(I recall using about 11 oz of potato for the first batch.)

Helene said...

Well done! The shapes of your different breads came out really nice! I have enjoyed reading about your classes on bread baking too.

Christine said...

Wonderful! Everything looks great and the texture of your dough looks wonderful.

Christina ~ She Runs, She Eats

Anonymous said...

Nice job ... I especially love the crown. I want to try that shape next time I make bread!

Julie said...

It all looks delicious! I've never seen a Couronne. I want to try making one now!

sher said...

This was a nice post. I really enjoyed seeing how you shaped the dough. Great job!

Sheltie Girl said...

You did a fabulous job on your bread. I particularly like the Couronne and the snipped loaf.

Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go

Dolores said...

Wow... I love the shapes, especially the snipped one. I clearly need to go back and read about your baking classes!