Monday Mix 9/26/22

Vermont is for (Bread) Lovers

Just got back last night from my Enriched Breads class at King Arthur in Norwich, VT. It was only the third in-person class I’ve taught since COVID, and the first time I’d been back up to Norwich in more than two years. And it was—thanks to the great staff at King Arthur and the excellent group of students that came up—a success.

This was a new class, so it wasn’t without a few kinks along the way (like the brioche dough that overproofed in the fridge overnight, tipping the tub of potato bread dough that sat above it onto the floor lol), but none were fatal, and (I think) everyone had fun and learned a lot. (I know I did.)

The focus of the class was on “enriched” breads, which normally means those containing fat, eggs, and/or dairy. But I used a broad definition of the term, including in it things like tangzhong, porridges, and mashed potato, all of which work as similar bread “enhancers” to give them a plush, rich texture and improve their shelf life. We made a sourdough anadama bread (with a cornmeal porridge), mashed potato bread and buns, tangzhong brioche loaves and buns, apple crimble and peach kolaches, and Swedish pumpkin-spice buns (on which I forgot to put the pearl sugar, d’oh).

All of these are recipes I’ve shared here in one form or another, though I realized just now that two of them—the sourdough anadama bread and the brioche—are ones I haven’t spelled out on the newsletter in full, so expect versions of them soon.

I also had a chance to test out the peach preserves in kolaches, and found I was able to get eight of them out of a half-pint jar, though maybe the amount of filling was a little skimpy, so I think I need to do one more test. We didn’t add the crumble to the peach ones, though one certainly could (pearl sugar would be nice too).

I didn’t manage to get pictures of the potato breads because I was distracted and because my dough was all kinds of messed up (even before the tub of dough tipped over in the fridge—I think I scaled the potato water wrong), but you can see a few of the students’ loaves above, and I know they came out beautifully in the end.

Minor hiccups aside, this class was loads of fun, and I plan to teach it again in 2023 (along with a few others), and I hope you can join me up there next time around.

—Andrew

Ps. If you were in the class this weekend, be sure to email me for the revised recipes!