Tag: baking

written 2/18/2024, updated 9/25/2024

What

Sweet bread with dried fruit and nuts, made vegan, without eggs or cow’s milk

Ingredients

Main (amounts also in instructions)

Supplies: Electric Stand Mixture, Measuring Cups, Spatula, Plastic Wrap, Non-Stick Spray, Loaf Pan/Baking Sheet/other Bread Pans, Cooling Rack, Bread Bags

Optional: Honey, Nuts, Seeds, Cinnamon, Red Bean Paste, Fruit, Corn Syrup

Time

Prep (1.5 hours total) + Resting (2 hours total) + Baking (40 minutes) = ~4.1 hours Total

Serving Size

2 bread loaves

Making

• Remove vegan butter from refrigerator to warm to room temperature

Yeast (~15 minutes)

• Heat Milk (1½ Cup) to about 105-115F
• Pour into stand mixer bowl
• Dissolve Sugar (2 tsp) and optionally, Honey
• Add Active Dry Yeast (2¼ tsp or 1 envelope)
• Lightly stir
• Cover and let bloom for about 5-10 minutes (until it foams and smells like yeast)

Flour Paste (aka Tangzhong method) – adds a creamy texture

• In a mixing bowl, combine Flour (½ Cup) and Cornstarch (1Tbsp) with Boiling Water (add ~½ Cup first then more if needed. I used between 2/3 Cup and 3/4)
• Whip vigorously until smooth. It will be sticky (I tried a whisk first but it was either too small or I didn’t add enough water and it got all stuck inside. Switched to a spoon for better results)

Optional: Fruits and Nuts *see Notes section

• Soak dried fruit in warm water
• Toast walnuts

Dough (~15 minutes)

• By now the Yeast should have bloomed quite well
• Add the Flour Paste and dissolve with a paddle attachment at Stir speed
• Dissolve Sugar (½ Cup for sweet bread, less for less sweet)
• Add Salt (1Tbsp)
• Incrementally add Flour (~4 Cups total) until it starts turning into dough
• Switch to the dough hook, increase speed to level 2, and finish adding the flour (scrape down the sides every so often)
• When it is well combined, but still sticky cover and let rest for about 10 minutes (good time to wash dishes)

Dough Part 2 (5-10 minutes)

• Cut Vegan Butter (¼ Cup) into little cubes
• Add to mixing bowl
• Run at speed level 2 until well-mixed
• Dough should come nicely off the sides of the bowl. Add small amounts of flour as needed
• When it is smooth and tacky, cover

Rise #1 (1 hour)

• Cover and place in a warm place for an hour until it has doubled or tripled in size
• If using fruits and/or nuts, drain the fruits and prep nuts/seeds if you haven’t
• Prepare any other fillings or additives

Dough Part 3

• Either turn stand mixer on to speed level 2 (for 2 minutes) to remove air, or simply punch it down
• Prepare loaf pans by placing parchment paper
• Lightly flour working surface
• Turn out dough and decide how you want divide
• If adding fruits/nuts/paste, flatten the dough and add, then fold together, and roll. When satisfied, place seam side down onto pans
• If no additions, shape and roll into proper shape for pans, remembering that bread will rise again and expand when baking

Rest #2 (1 hour)

• Spray the top of the dough with cooking spray to prevent plastic wrap from sticking to the dough later
• Cover and place in a warm location until doubled in size

Bake Prep (5 minutes)

• Your preference of wash (Optional)
• Can be Syrup Wash (1:1 Corn Syrup to Water) or any combination or ratio of the syrup to water. Can add honey to the ratio
• I used 2:1 Corn Syrup to Honey, and added a dash of water
• If adding toppings to bread, add it
• Cut vent lines in the top of the loaves
• Here, I messed up because I didn’t grease the plastic or the dough, so I had to re-shape the loaves and let them rise a little again

Bake (40 minutes)

• Preheat oven to 350 F
• Uncover dough and brush tops with Wash
• Bake for about 40 minutes until golden
• Brush with Wash again after removing from oven
• Let cool before slicing!
• Important: Make sure to remove any parchment paper from under the bread! Otherwise, the bottom will remain wet while the rest cools

Notes

• Dried fruit: (like raisins, cranberries, blueberries, etc.) can be folded into the dough, but can soak up moisture. To counteract that, soak them in hot water
• Nuts: can be chopped and folded in raw but can also be toasted to improve flavor. Harder nuts should be soaked in warm water otherwise they can be too hard after baking
• Seeds: If topping with seeds, do not toast beforehand as they will burn during baking
• Paste: Same gameplan as the other add-ins. Prepare to your taste, then spread it like you’re buttering toast, then roll, spread, roll, etc until you’re happy

9/22/24: Made both Sweet Red Bean Paste and Dried Fruit bread. Red bean paste from a can. Did filled buns, 1 twist, and 1 loaf of that. Just 1 loaf of dried fruit bread, using dried apricots, cherries, and cranberries. Should have cut the apricots even smaller (did quarters). For the loaf, added some orange extract to the red bean. Might have added too much, but it does give it an interesting taste. Did not use a glaze and they’re a tad overdone.