Bread baking party?

[neotoma]

I went out to lunch with holli, ellen_fremedon, andcoyotegestalt yesterday, and we got to talking about bread baking, and the odd variants of bread recipes, and what the definition of 'spoon bread' is.

But what came out is that we would all be interested in having a bread baking party sometime before it gets too hot to do so -- basically, sometime before June, or possibly late May.

I'm interested in making anadama bread, and probably more pita. But I'm looking for suggestions for other interesting yeast-leavened breads that might be fun to make at a foodie party like that.

Comments

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

I've little to add to that other than cinnamon buns, and 'braiding'.

A question I have, because I neither heat in the same way as my old cooking books (think, recommendations on how close to the ice block things should be kept) nor to the degree modern books expect, What is the minimum temperature for proofing, and how can it be achieved?

[neotoma]

Well, I use dry active yeast, and I proof it by bringing a cup of water to 100F, and then put 2.25 tsp of yeast in with a spoon or two of sugar in and wait 5 to 10 minutes until it smells 'yeasty'.

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

I meant more the rest and rise, though not having a candy thermometer is another issue.

[neotoma]

Oh, for the rise, I generally sit my bowl (metal) on top of my stove and preheat the stove. You can set your stove to 250 and once it's there, turn it off; the residual heat will last long enough to help the bread rise.

[executrix]

The latest Smitten Kitchen post has a whole-grain cinnamon swirl bread that looks like a lot of work but pretty damn good!

I once made a part-barley flour loaf with walnuts that I baked in a Le Creuset dutch oven. I loved it, but nobody else at the party would touch it because it looked too weird.