Quick Bread Blog

Overall, I would say that the quick bread unit was successful and interesting. We learned a lot about how yeast will affect different products. The first quick bread we made was pizza dough. In this recipe we allowed the yeast to bloom in warm water, and “activate”. We then added other ingredients such as flour, salt, and baking powder. After we mixed the dough we put it on a floured surface and kneaded it until it was no longer sticky and had a uniform consistency. The dough was placed in the refrigerator overnight and when we took it out the next day, we found that it had risen substantially. After each rolling out the dough, we brushed a little bit of olive oil on it and put it on the grill. It firmed up and became the perfect base for sauce and cheese. The next quick bread we made was soft pretzels. This process was a little bit more difficult that the pizza, but still fun and interesting. We started off the same way as the pizza dough by letting the yeast bloom/activate in warm water, and then added the other ingredients. But this time, the dough was very sticky and we wound up having to add an extra two cups of flour than what the recipe instructed. We learned that temperature and humidity play a large roll when making quick breads. Also, when making the pretzel dough, instead of using a mixing bowl and wooden spoon, we used an electric mixer, which made it easier to create a uniform consistency. The hardest part about making the pretzels was shaping the dough. We rolled out “worms” of dough, made it into a “U” shape then twisted the top and folded it over. It was a tedious process and hard to get the pretzels to look aesthetically pleasing. We wound up having to put the pretzels into the refrigerator overnight and covered them with saran wrap. They rose so much that we had to re-roll each pretzel the next day. To cook the pretzels we boiled them in water with baking soda. It was crucial to add the baking powder to the boiling water and not pretzel dough. We boiled them for 30 seconds and then put them on a buttered baking sheet. We baked them in the oven for 8 minutes. We finished them off with melted butter, cinnamon and sugar. Even though we had minor issues, the end result was successful and the pretzels turned out very well. Our final quick bread was a “no-knead” sourdough bread. For this recipe we combined all the dry ingredients including yeast and then added water to the dry mixture. We combined the ingredients in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon. Our mixture was too moist so we had to add a couple more cups of flour. On a floured surface, we formed balls of dough by pushing and pulling the pieces of dough using the traction of the wooden table to make them smooth. This was a very difficult process. We then covered the bread with saran wrap again and let the bread sit for another day before baking. The day we were to make the bread, it had been warming on top of the oven and had risen a lot so most of the individual balls stuck together forming a “blob” of bread. We didn’t have time to recreate the balls/rolls, and so we baked them as is in the oven. In the end the bread had a good taste and consistency but did not look aesthetically pleasing. Overall, I enjoyed the quick bread unit and feel that over time, our quick bread skills will continue to improve. Celia G