Tuesday, November 27, 2007

I'm a Daring Baker: Tender Potato Bread



I am late with this month's Daring Baker project, but that's not because I haven't been daring. I've spent quite a lot of time being daring in a kitchen last weekend, which wasn't mine (I'll tell you more one day), and I simply couldn't muster up enough energy to bake tender potato bread before the deadline. Today I stayed home, relaxed, and finally completed the challenge.

This month, Tanna of the My Kitchen in Half Cups blog decided we should have something baked and savoury, for a change. Since joining the ranks of Daring Bakers earlier this year I've made Jewish Purist's Bagels, a fancy Strawberry Mirror Cake, a delicious Milk Chocolate & Caramel Tart a la Eric Kayser, very comforting Sticky Buns & Cinnamon Buns, and elegant Bostini Cream Pies. This month we baked bread. And not any bread, but tender potato bread. The recipe is from Home Baking: Sweet and Savory Traditions from Around the World, a book by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, and can also be found here on Tanna's blog.

And so this afternoon I peeled some potatoes, boiled them until tender, drained and pressed through a fine sieve. Then mixed and stirred and kneaded and waited and folded and formed, and finally enjoyed some lovely moist potato bread with a beautifully chewy-soft texture:



I made a large focaccia and some small potato buns (sprinkled with caraway seeds). K. and I enjoyed the bread alongside a bowl of hot borscht (same recipe, just cabbage-less), and were feeling very happy indeed.

Thank you, Tanna, for a lovely challenge - and sorry for completing it a bit late..

34 comments:

Judy said...

Nice shape on the buns. Are those caraway seeds (maybe fennel?)? The texture looks great, too.

Miss Ifi said...

-here from Daring Bakers-
wow... your bread looks beautiful and it is good that you finally had time to do it after hectic weekends!.. I just can't get over it, your bread looks perfect!
Oh by the way, I need to tray your recipe for matcha cookies SOON!

Meeta K. Wolff said...

I was waiting and waiting - finally here are your creations. Great job - even after all that bread yesterday I still can't get enough of it LOL!

KayKat said...

That roll looks delectable - if only I could stick my arm into your post and grab it ... Mmmmm :)

steph- whisk/spoon said...

nice crust on that focaccia!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Pille you may think I'd have had enough but when I look at the lovely open crumb on that focaccia of yours . . . I'm ready for more!
Who said you were late, just set the clock back an hour and bring on a loaf! Happy it was enjoyed!

Mandy said...

I think our potato buns look very much alike. Long lost sisters they must be. :D

Eva said...

Your bread looks wonderful! Too bad that my boyfriend hates caraway seeds, otherwise I'd like to add some, too!

Anonymous said...

Pille,

As usual your results are gorgeous! Lovely bread!

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

As always, it's such fun to read your spin on the monthly Daring Bakers challenge.

Anonymous said...

I've read a lot of this month's Daring Bakers I could almost taste potato bread in mouth!

Anonymous said...

Glad you were able to have a relaxing day to do this :) And wow does it look good Pille...the crumb is just perfect!

Gretchen Noelle said...

How nice to do this in a relaxed manner. The breads look fantastic!

Anonymous said...

These look so, so good, Pille.

How have I missed out on this Daring Bakers endeavors?

zorra said...

I can imagine the "caraway buns" go well with the borscht. Real comfort food.

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Nice breads! Well done!

Cheers,

Rosa

Inne said...

great you managed to complete the challenge with your busy schedule Pille. The buns and focaccia both look amazing.

April said...

oh yum!! It looks wonderful!

Anonymous said...

late or not, your bread looks scrumptious! And I´m glad you waited until you had time to sit down and enjoy it, that´s what making bread is all about.

Annemarie said...

There you are - it was certainly worth the wait to see/read about it, and hope the eating it was just as rewarding. You do look like you've turned out some perfect rolls and focaccia, and I love the idea of the caraway on top.

Andrea said...

The texture on your focaccia looks wonderful! Now you've made me want to make the bread again. :-)

Helene said...

Glad you made it because I know you would make a great end product...that focaccia looks wonderful! I agree, this is a great bred for soups.

Canadian Baker said...

I ate my potato bread with chili. I agree, the texture is chewy, but pleasantly so. :)

Christine said...

I love your crumb! And your are correct, this is great with soup.

Christina ~ She Runs, She Eats

kellypea said...

I hope you have some "down" time...Your foccacia and rolls turned out beautifully! I'm imagining the tast of the caraway seeds....YUM!

Barbara said...

Better late than never Pille. NIce looking crumb.

Deborah said...

I'm so glad you had the time to complete this challenge. It looks wonderful!

Julie said...

Such lovely, spongey, beautifully smooshy bread! I can just imagine it, sucking up borscht, which I've never had but would love to try making. Congratulations on your recent addition to your DB badges! =D

eatme_delicious said...

Your bread looks perfect!

Aoife said...

I'm glad you made it! Ricing the potatoes seems to have had better results, and your pictures are proof.

Anonymous said...

Awesome!

Paz

Dolores said...

Another month, another fabulous contribution to the DB effort. Each month I look forward to reading how you approach the challenge put before us.

Anonymous said...

The bread looks beautiful! I am cooking focaccia tonight, so very interested to see yours as mine completes its rising...

VegeYum

Pille said...

Judy – thank you! I sprinkled some caraway seeds on the top – one of my favourite spices ever!

Miss Ifi – thank you for your kind words about my bread – and I hope you’ll get to try the Matcha cookies soon!

Meeta – you’re too sweet!!

Tanna – oh no, I was so late that setting the clock back an hour wouldn’t have helped. But thanks for accepting my late entry! And another thank you for setting this great task – I really enjoyed the flavour of the bread!

Mandy – long lost sister buns? Who knows :)

Eva – try toasting the caraway seeds slightly first – maybe he won’t recognise them this way?

Gretchen Noelle – indeed! Some things simply cannot be rushed – like baking bread, for instance!

Zorra – I throw some caraway seeds into my borscht often, too, so caraway buns are a great accompaniment!

Canadian Baker – the bread was very tender and mellow-tasting, so I can see the chilli would work great!

Julie – I’ve got a great borscht recipe on my blog (you can also add cooked ham or fresh sauerkraut to the soup) – do try it!

Aoife – I haven’t got a potato ricer, but I simply pressed the potatoes through a fine sieve after cooking – this yielded a wonderful smooth result!

KayKat, Steph, Ivonne, Lydia, A Scientist in the kitchen, Joey, Shauna, Rosa’s Yummy Yums, Inne, April, Marce, Annemarie, Andrea, Tartelette, Christina, Kellypea, Barbara, Deborah, Eatne Delicious, Paz, Dolores, VegeYum – thank you!