Judy's Gross Eats: November 2015

Monday, November 16, 2015

Pesto Parmesan Chrysanthemum for the Babes

So, there was this rat . . . .

No. Wait. This post is about bread, so the rat will have to wait.

Lovely Babe, Lien, was this month's hostess, challenging the rest of the Babes to bake a filled, Russian Chrysanthemum bread. The filling was up to us. Because I didn't want to refrigerate the final bread, I opted for a non-meat filling. I used pesto and grated Parmesan cheese, and it turned out to be delicious. The dough, itself, is very nice and satiny.

My only miscalculation was with the baking dish, which is why my bread doesn't look like the original photo. I started out with a 10-inch pie plate (the size specified in the recipe), but the poor, little petals looked lost in that vast baking dish. So, I went down a size, using a 9-inch pie plate. Too late, I realized that I had forgotten about the 'rise'. The bread was nearly exploding out of the container. Next time around, I will use the larger dish, and hope that, between the final rise and the bake, the flower will fill the pan. Still tastes good, even so.

So, for the recipe, and the round-up, head over to Lien's website, Notitie Van Lien, and see all the perfect chrysanthemums from the other Babes. And, of course, feel free to bake along as a Buddy. Just send your link to Lien by the 29th.

Perhaps I can use the excuse of being distracted by the rat, which showed up in early November, and stayed about 10 days, until it met its demise. I'm still a bit wary of going around corners, and leaving any kind of food out was discouraged for awhile, so I didn't get the bread baked until yesterday. Hopefully, the house will continue to be rat-free.

Thanksgiving wishes to all!

The Babes are: