Day Thirty: Strawberry Bread
Since I’m visiting someone who adores strawberries later today, I thought I’d give this bread a shot. And the top is quite nice. It’s caramelized, and has a nice, streusel-like crunch to it. The interior kind of tastes like I baked strawberry jam into it, which make sense; if you’ve ever made your own strawberry jam, you’ll know that it’s all strawberries and sugar, cooked. Which is essentially what this bread is as well, only with some butter added in.
Unfortunately, strawberry jam looks much more inviting than this bread does. I had a bit of apprehension about doing this bread, because I worried that the berries wouldn’t take to this as well as blueberries or other smaller berries do. I should also mention here that the berries I used were frozen, but I defrosted and drained them first, so I didn’t expect that this would present an additional problem. I’ve used frozen strawberries in other applications previously with good end results.
And this bread isn’t bad; in fact, the house will smell AMAZING as you bake it. It might possibly be the best-smelling bread I’ve made so far, and that’s saying a lot; most of the breads I’ve made have caused the house to smell delicious. But it’s not a terribly attractive bread, and since we do, in part, eat with our eyes, you may want to reconsider this one. It’s also not for you if you know you don’t like cooked fruit. We don’t have a problem with cooked fruit here, and homemade strawberry jam is unbelievable…but I think in the future, we’ll give this bread a pass. It might work better if the strawberries were mashed up, like you do with bananas when you make banana bread. I am betting this would improve the texture and appearance immeasurably. Sliced strawberries are gorgeous, but sliced cooked strawberries look, as Joe put it, like something out of a horror movie. Which isn’t necessarily what you want out of your bread unless it’s intentional. Like this thoracic cake1, which still blows me away every time I look at it because it was a well-executed intentionally-horrific baking project. 
Ah, well. There’s always tomorrow…or in my case, as I’m posting this, later today. Another day, another bread.
- warning: not safe for the squeamish [↩]
Day Twenty-Nine: Molasses Multi-Seed Bread
As you may have guessed from the title, this particular recipe is a bit seedy. The seeds make it delicious, however…and the sweetness of the molasses makes it finger-lickingly so. I halved it, and then divided the half-recipe I was making in half again so that I could bake it in two mini-loaf tins. It didn’t rise as much as the recipe was suggesting that it would; indeed, it’s quite dense, but very flavorful. I think this recipe makes up for the distinct lack of molasses flavor in the simit, as it’s quite strong here; something that’s either a positive or a negative for you, depending on your personal feelings about molasses. As for me, I love the stuff, so I’m quite happy with it. 
I think that this bread would have been a bit too much, given its density, if I hadn’t baked it in the mini-loaf tins. As it is, it’s a nice mildly sweet, nutty treat, with a good crunch provided by the seeds strewn throughout the dough. I imagine it will go well at the bottom of a bowl of homemade chicken soup for dinner this evening. I’ll let you know later how it does in that role.
It’s probably also really good toasted; I imagine that will only enhance its nuttiness, and with the molasses flavor, you probably wouldn’t even need to put anything else on it. I’ll also let you know about that. It wouldn’t make good sandwiches, though—I have the feeling it might have a similar problem to the oatmeal bread I made a few weeks ago. Too delicate for sandwiches, but that’s OK. There are plenty of other needs a bread like this can fulfill. Like soup. Mmm, soup. :9
Day Twenty-Eight: Honey Graham Crackers
You can’t speak of flatbreads without speaking of crackers. I know a lot of people probably don’t think of them as being breads, but they are; they’re even slightly leavened. They’re certainly not cookies, or biscuits; indeed, they’re very much their own thing. And they’re terribly easy to make; much moreso than a lot of other breads. All you need to make most crackers is your ingredients, a preheated oven, a rolling pin, and a little imagination. Have you ever been sad that your favorite animal wasn’t in your box of animal crackers? It’s within your reach to remedy that sad situation and make yourself a pan of ocelot and wombat crackers, if you really want to. Use a knife. Use toothpicks. Use cookie cutters if you must. Use very clean clay sculpting tools. Use whatever you like and make as many crackers as you ever dreamt of! It’s all up to you. Who says they have to be square? They only have to be if you want them to be.
That being said, on to honey grahams. I feel like graham crackers are unnecessarily maligned at times. They’re seen as being boring and staid, so much so that it’s acceptable (and maybe even expected) to buy a pre-made graham cracker crust from the store to make various pies and things rather than expending the 5 minutes it would take to crush up some grahams (even ones out of a box), mix with some butter and sugar, and press them into a tin to make your own. I don’t argue with the convenience; I argue with the fact that the pre-made crusts in the store are, comparatively speaking, tasteless. No wonder grahams get such a bad rep!
We’re going to change all that, you and me. Let’s start a honey graham cracker revolution RIGHT NOW.
Honey Graham Crackers
INGREDIENTS
- 3 c. whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 6 tbsp butter, melted
- 1/2 c. honey
- 1 egg
- Water as needed if dough is too dry
PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 375F. After you’ve melted the butter, add the honey to it so that it gets warm. Mix all dry ingredients together, then add butter/honey mixture. Mix in egg. By this time, the dough should be starting to come together; you’ll need to use your hands. If dough is too dry, add a little bit of water at a time until it reaches a pasta dough-like consistency.
Roll out on lightly floured surface with lightly floured rolling pin. The goal is to roll these out rather thinly, anything 1/4 of an inch or below will be your best bet. Cut into desired shapes with knives, cutters, or anything else you deem appropriate. If you don’t want them to puff up a lot, prick them several times over with a fork. If you don’t mind their puffing (they’ll be a little softer, which can be nice with a honey graham), don’t prick them at all.
Bake on parchment paper-lined or well-greased sheet for 10 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool completely.
Yield: depends on what size you make your crackers. They won’t last very long, in any case.
In fact, you should still probably buy a box of grahams at the store if you’re planning on making a pie. I highly doubt these will last long enough for you to crumble them up and make pie crust, otherwise.
Now, what was I saying about making them in fun shapes? Ah, yes. Because you’re the one in control of what your crackers look like, you can make them look like anything. Your beloved pet. The birthday girl or boy. A family member. Your whole family, if you think it would be fun to eat miniature versions of yourselves.
You could even make a Graham cracker:
Or a graham CRACKER.
The point is, it’s completely up to you. Go wild. Go crazy. And eat well when you’re done. 
Janaki
