Baker in the Making

Here's one of my more recent attempts

I have a confession to make. I was never a very good baker (except for sponge cakes). In the early days of my cooking career I managed to make sweet bread (pulla in Finnish) so hard that my alsatian dog Pippin could not chew them. "Pulla" is very much like your basic yeast bread, except more sugar, butter and sometimes cream or jam on it. Or you can slice it up, add marsipan or jam and whipped cream in the middle. That'd be the Finnish delicacy for Shrove Tuesday. Or roll out the dough on the table add cinnamon, sugar and butter, roll it up, cut to wedges, bake and call them "cuff on the ear" (or more commonly, cinnamon roll). The one in the picture was rolled out on the table and filled with dried figs, marzipan chunks and dark choc pieces. Then rolled into one long log, sprinkled with coarse sugar and almond flakes. Bit sweet, eh. Note to self: next time be very sparing with the choc!

Basic "pulla"

5 dl milk
50 gr yeast
1-2 eggs
2 dl sugar
~1,5 L wheat flour
1 tsp salt
200 gr butter, margarine or 1,5 dl oil rape-seed oil

1 egg + coarse sugar for garnish
Directions for how to bake "pulla" are below with bread roll instructions.

Even making bread rolls proved difficult. All I got was yeast-smelling, thick lumps that would stick to your teeth. Until quite lately, I discovered how the trick is done. It's in the working of the dough. You really need to work the dough diligently and thoroughly. I love oat bread, so these are my current favorite rolls. Be careful not to add more oatmeal flour, as it makes the bread too dry. I find 3 dl oatmeal is ok, but beyond that it gets very dry. You can subsititute some (or all of it) with other types of flour, or flour and seeds. I found the tips at Murmeli's blog (in Finnish). Thanks, much appreciated!

Minna's bread rolls

Breakfast roll

5 dl water
25 gr yeast
1 tsp salt
1-2 tbps sugar
2-3 dl oatmeal flour
3 dl wholegrain wheat flour
4+ dl dark wheat flour
2 tbsp butter or oil

1. Take everything to room temperature 1 hr before baking. It's also handy to have everything measured beforehand, as finding flour bags from cupboard with your hands in dough is, well, quite messy. Measure all flour in a separate bowl.
2. Heat liquid (water, milk) in a kettle to body temperature. Be careful, it warms quickly!
3. Crumble yeast in a big bowl, pour liquid over and mix. Then add salt and sugar. I use whisk because it adds air to the dough and thus makes the bread more fluffy. (Add eggs here if youre making sweet bread)
4. Grab the flour and whisk it slowly to the liquid mixture. When the dough is like loose porridge, get rid of the whisk and put your (clean) hand in the dough.
5. Squeeze, knead and press the dough while adding more flour. Be careful not to add too much in one go.  If the dough feels too loose, add some more flour. When the dough starts to de-attach from your hand, add the melted/soft butter or oil. Do some more squeezing, and add a little bit more flour. Dough is ready when it starts to loosen from the bowl and hand. For bread rolls, you can leave the dough quite loose. I often find 10-11 dl flour is enough bread rolls (plus some more on the table for making the rolls). Kneading usually takes 10-15 minutes.
6. Cover the dough and let it rise (30 mins) in a warm place. It's ready when it's double size.
7. Knead air bubbles out of the dough
8. Sprinkle flour (generously) on your table and put the dough over it. Roll (pat and squeeze) it to a long, thin rectangle. For bread rolls, make 12 small buns and put them on oven tin. Pat them into 1,5 cm thick oval lumps. If youre making sweet bread, make small buns and put them on the tin.
9. Cover, let rise. Set your oven to 225 C.
10. Bread rolls you can just bake in the middle upper part of the oven when they have risen. Depending on your oven 10-12 mins. Sweetbread: wipe the buns with beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for 8-12 minutes depending on size. The rolls and buns should aquire a nice golden-brown colour. When ready, knock their bottom side to hear a hollow sound (it means its well baked). If not, put them back in the oven for a short while.
11. Put the bread rolls on a grill and let them cool. Sweet buns are best to be kept under a kitchen towel until cooled. This kind of bread wont keep very well in room temperature, so I suggest freezing for later use.

These ones happen to be made into milk but usually it's just water