Gilchesters Miche and Borodinsky Bread
Gilchesters Miche and Borodinsky Bread
I made these loaves at home in my new SMEG oven at the end of August.
I have a new job, starting very soon, back on the “Lecturing Circuit”…the best of news! Even better, the work is exciting, challenging and specific to my specialist area of baking. The pay is improved too, and the terms of service. The down side? It means I have to travel even further…to Leeds, a good 100 miles away, and 2.5 hours on the train! This means staying in Leeds through the middle part of the week…ho hum!
Still, I will be at home in Northumberland at the weekends, indeed, 5 nights of the week. I hope to have the wood-fired oven working better very soon, so there should be plenty for me to post on moving forward.
In the meantime, a re-visit to 2 of the breads I am most pleased with producing in the months gone by.
- 1. Gilchesters Miche
Material | Formula [% of flour] | Recipe [grams] |
1. Refreshed Leaven |
|
|
Total Flour [Carrs Special CC] | 27 | 480 |
Total Water | 16 | 286 |
TOTAL | 43 | 768 |
|
|
|
2. Final Dough |
|
|
Leaven | 43 [27 flour, 16, water] | 768 |
Gilchesters Organic Farmhouse Flour | 73 | 1320 |
Salt | 1.78 | 32 |
Water | 62 | 1116 |
TOTAL | 179.78 | 3236 |
% pre-fermented flour | 27 | - |
% overall hydration | 78 | - |
FACTOR | 18 | - |
Method:
- I began with 40g of levain from stock, which was given 3 refreshments the day before use to end up with 800g mature culture. I retained 32g for stock and used the remaining 768g in the final dough.
- Firstly, autolyse the Gilchester flour 1320g] with the water [1116g] required for the final dough, for 1 hour.
- Combine the autolyse, levain and salt [32g] and mix gently to a developed dough over 20 minutes.
- Rest covered for a bulk proof of 3 hours. One S&F after 1¾ hours.
- Scale and divide into 2 x 1.6kg pieces. Mould round and set upside down in prepared bannetons.
- Final proof for 3 hours.
- Bake profile as follows: Pre-heat the oven for 1¼ hours; take up to 280°C, then allow to sit at 250°C until 15 minutes before baking commences. Take back up to 280°C. Tip the proofed dough piece onto a pre-heated baking sheet dusted with semolina, and cut the top. Use boiling water in a pan filled with stones as a steam source and set the tray and bread onto the pre-heated baking stone. Turn the heat setting to 250°C, and bake for 15 minutes with the fan turned off. Mist the loaf after 8 minutes, and top up the boiling water in the pan of stones to keep the steam supply going. Turn the heat to 235°C. Then drop the loaf directly onto the baking brick, remove the steam source, and switch over to convection baking. Bake a further 25 minutes. Turn the heat down to 200°C and bake for another 10 – 15 minutes. Turn off the oven, but leave the loaf inside, with the oven door ajar for 10 more minutes. Cool on wires.
- 2. Borodinsky
Material | Formula [% of flour] | Recipe [grams] |
1. Rye Sour Refreshment One |
|
|
From Stock |
| 63 [23 flour, 40 water] |
Bacheldre Organic Dark Rye Flour |
| 90 |
Water |
| 150 |
TOTAL |
| 303 |
|
|
|
2. Full Sour |
|
|
Rye Sour from above |
| 303 |
Bacheldre Organic Dark Rye Flour |
| 210 |
Water |
| 350 |
TOTAL |
| 863 [63 retained as stock] |
TOTAL used | 80 [30 flour, 50 water] | 800 [300 flour, 500 water] |
|
|
|
3. “Scald” |
|
|
Bacheldre Organic Dark Rye Flour | 20 | 200 |
Red Malt | 5 | 50 |
Organic Blackstrap Molasses | 6 | 60 |
Coriander, freshly ground | 1 | 10 |
Salt | 1 | 10 |
Boiling Water | 35 | 350 |
TOTAL | 68 | 680 |
|
|
|
4. “Sponge” | 23:30, Friday 08.07.2011 |
|
Rye Sourdough [from 2] | 80 [30 flour, 50 water] | 800 [300 flour, 500 water] |
Scald [from 3] | 68 | 680 |
TOTAL | 148 | 1480 |
|
|
|
5. Final Paste |
|
|
Sponge [from 4] | 148 | 1480 |
Bacheldre Organic Dark Rye Flour | 30 | 300 |
Carrs Special CC Flour | 20 | 200 |
TOTAL | 198 | 1980 |
% pre-fermented flour | 50 | [30 from sour + 20 from scald to make “sponge”] |
% overall hydration | 85 | - |
FACTOR | 10 |
|
Method:
- Rye sourdough utilised 2 refreshments beginning with 63g stock and ending up with 863g finished culture. 63g retained for stock and 800g used in the final paste.
- Make the scald at the same time as the final refreshment of the sour: weigh the red malt [sift as necessary] and dark rye flour into a bowl, add the salt, and coriander, which should be freshly ground using a mortar and pestle. Weigh the molasses into a pan, and pour boiling water onto this to the specified weight. Bring this to a rolling boil on the cooker hob top. Pour onto the dry ingredients and combine well with a stout plastic or wooden spatula. Add any extra boiling water required first by checking the weight of the contents to allow for any evaporation. Cover and cool.
- Make the sponge by combining the sour and scald. Cover and hold at 28°C for 4½ hours.
- Add the final portion of flours to form the final paste. Cover and bulk prove for one hour.
- Scale and divide; 500g for a small loaf, and the remainder for a Pullman Pan, just short of 1.5kg.
- Final proof of 3 hours.
- Bake with a regular supply of steam in a convection oven at 190°C. The small loaf bakes in 50 minutes, and the Pullman Pan in just over 2hours.
- De-pan and cool on wires.
All good wishes
Andy
Comments
Andy,
So good to hear about your new position. It sounds marvelous despite the commute. At least you have transportation that will deliver you there! Here we are forced to drive everywhere....
Loaves look wonderful - as always.
A question about the red malt. For what purpose do you use it? Crust color or flavor? From whence does it gets it's name as the only malt I see around here is tan in color if it diastatic and a rich brown if it is non-diastatic malt - which is more commonly available here in syrup form.
Thanks for posting and sharing your good news....I had been wondering how that would pan out for you...
Take Care,
Janet
Hi Janet,
Thank you for your kind words.
It's great to have a new job, although it has to be said that the education world in the UK is really not in a good place right now. I hope it gets better, but the Government will either need to change, or else change its philosophy if this is to happen. Until then we all ride a rollercoaster.
Well, we do have trains in the UK, but 30 years of minimal investment from 1960s to 90s means the service is not one to write home about, if truth be told, and it costs a lot to travel too. However, I cannot imagine driving to Leeds on a regular basis; it takes well over 2 hours at the best of times!
For the Red Malt, you need to look here:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/24237/celebrating-rye-breads
Very best wishes
Andy
Andy,
Thanks for the reference. I knew it was around somewhere but just couldn't locate it on my own....so many threads out there.
My latest has been in uncovering the differences between diastatic and non-d. malt and how each is made and how they contribute to the end loaf. Through my research I now know the difference and would classify yours in the category of non-diastatic due to the high temps it was exposed to and therefore conclude that it is used for color and flavor rather than the enzymatic contribution.....I think :-/ In the bread world I am finding there is always another door to walk through so I know not to hang on to my definitions too tightly.....but it does sound good!
take care,
Janet
P.S. I also applaud you for hanging in in the edu. system. I have a sister who is struggling now due to all the politics in her school system.....Edu. everywhere is undergoing change that doesn't offer much for either educator or student....Who knows where it all will end. Change is never what we expect and always harder than imagined especially when dealing with huge bureaucratic systems that have somehow lost touch with the common needs of it's people over the years. The sad part is that edu. has become a business and, hence, is looked at throught the lense of profit and loss.....at least that is the way it has unfolded around here.
on your new position, and as always on your lovely breads. -Varda
Many thanks Varda
Best wishes
Andy
for your new job, Andy.
The breads are lovely as usual, or rather MORE than usual. The miche is simply perfect and the Borodinsky... do I have to say it? even more :-) I like a lot the topping, too. Maybe I should retry to add a tiny touch of coriander, an ingredient that I stopped adding after 2 or 3 bakings. The red malt seems to be doing its job excellently.
Nico
Hi Nico,
Yes, I thought you might like this particular Borodinsky. It truly is DARK!
The coriander is wonderful, though it has to be freshly ground immediately prior to sprinkling on the top of the dough for best flavour. It works well, even in the Pullman Pan with lid applied too.
All good wishes
Andy
good news, Andy, about your new job! I'm really happy for you!
Your loaves are excellent, as always. Can you explain what "FACTOR" means?
Gilchesters flour can be replaced with any brand of whole-wheat flour? What about Special CC? I have some organic flours from France (type T80 (farine demi-complete) and T110) and I have to use them in the next months, before they expire. I intend to make a miche this week, and your miche inspires me. I never get a crust so thick. Is the method of steaming that makes the crust thick like yours, or is the temperature of the oven? And the crumb is my idea of a well-done miche. I must give it a try.
Codruta
Hi Codruta,
The factor is simply the multiplier used with the formula to arrive at the recipe used. For the miche, multiply all ingredients in the formula by 18 for the recipe. The Borodinsky is 10.
Regarding flour, the Carrs Special CC is a white bread flour. It is industrially produced, but of very high quality. The company rightly claim it to be "world class flour". Protein is around 12.8%, but it's the quality that counts, as always, not the quantity. I use this to compensate for how low the gluten quality is in the Gilchesters flour. The protein content is high, but that means very little. Gilchesters Farmhouse flour is what is known commonly as High Extraction flour; it is not wholewheat, the extraction rate is around 85%, I believe. Actually a combination of your T80 and 110 may well make a good substitute for the Gilchesters flour. Always remember, however, that your flour is milled from French wheat, and mine is coming from organic wheat grown in Northumberland....did anyone ever tell you about the weather here in the far North of England???
Make that miche, your flours sound lovely!
As ever, thank you for your very kind words
Very best wishes
Andy
Congratulations on your new job! Very best wishes for your new future.
lumos
Thank you lumos
Best wishes
Andy
Andy, congratulations on your new job. Exciting stuff. Yes, that kind of commuting can be a schlepp but it is a small price to pay for all the other benefits. Most pleased to hear that you find it interesting and challenging. The bread is great as always. I like the big "A" for Andy. (Just thought I would add that for those who might have read The Scarlett Letter or thought it stood for something else). :)
Best as always,
Syd
... Syd, about the A letter. I thought it stands for "Awesome" :)
You are quite right, Codruta! Silly of me not to think of that. :)
Syd
Syd, Codruta,
You are too kind
Thank you
Andy
Add my congratulations to those above Andy! Both loaves are very attractive, but I'm intrigued by the Borodinsky which you've featured before. It just looks so dark and delicious. It also looks daunting, but the more I see of it the closer I get to rolling up my sleeves and giving it a shot.
Thanks for sharing with us!
All the best in the coming year - Larry
Hi Larry,
and thank you for stopping by.
Recent posts on the Borodinsky have seen me adopting a more complex process, considered an essential and authentic element of the bread as defined by the Soviet GOST standards. There has been much debate about this, and I hope you have read it; if not, mail me, and I'll send you reference to the best posts.
I still haven't fully cracked it, but!
You need to make a "Scald"...of rye flour, red malt, molasses [or sugar] and water. The authentic red malt comes from rye [your whiskey friends may be able to help!?], but I've used crystal malt from barley, see:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/24237/celebrating-rye-breads
The question seems to be what temperature to raise the water to before making the scald. I use it on a rolling boil to achieve maximum gelatinisation.
However, once cooled, the scald should be added to the rye sour dough , then this is given a further 4 hours of fermentation. Ideally, the scald really should be treated as a "mash", and held around 60 - 66*C [53 - 59*C for Rye, I believe], in order to create maximum diastatic activity and therefore maximum sugar availability for the final elements of fermentation. I also think I should not be adding salt at this stage either. So, still some work to do! But, I encourage you to have a go; I'm sure you would do a great job. No need for you to be daunted
Very Best wishes
Andy
Larry,
have a go! I was terrified before I tried too, but it sounds harder than it is. You don't actually do much work at all - no kneading, no stretch and folding, no nothing - most of the time the dough just sits there doing its job. What you do need however is to time it very carefully around your day, especially the last sponge-dough-final proof stages. I have allowed mine to overproof on a number of occasions with disastrous results! As I've discovered (and confirmed by Andy and others on another thread) you can't retart a rye dough, the latest stage you can retard at is the sponge.
Also I've still to get to the stage when both my crumb and crust come out well BUT even when I get a brick of a bread, it still tastes delicious! A bit of exercise for the teeth, though ;-)
Great news on the new job - very pleased for you!
Hi Sali,
Good to hear from you, thank you.
You don't seem to have been around so much lately
All good wishes
Andy
100 mile commute, eh? I hope the drive is through pleasant countryside and not on a bumber-to-bumber freeway, at least.
Beautiful breads! I'm going to tackle a Borodinsky one of these days.
David
Hi David,
I'll take the train; I could not imagine driving. The A1 serves more as a car park for Tyneside drivers at that time of day than a realistic means of getting to work without stress. No thanks!
It means staying over 2 nights in Leeds, which is not ideal. But, it means I can be based at home for 4 full days of the week!
As for Larry: make the Borodinsky!
Very best wishes
Andy
Yum! :) That dark crumb sure makes my mouth water! Glad to hear about your new challenges.
Mini
We have loads of ducks and geese here in Powburn, Mini, but they are too far from the house to feed. A few swallows remain, but they are flying south now. The crumb is indeed, DARK!
All good wishes
Andy
and good luck with your new job. Long commutes are tedious, of course, but at least you can read, or write, during a train ride. And a a more challenging, interesting job - with better pay - is (hopefully) worth the extra effort.
Karin
Hi Karin,
Yes, I can work on the train. Sadly the internet is not available with the train company I use, and my dongle is not reliable enough on the train; the signal is weak and inconsistent between mobile phone masts
Many thanks for your good wishes
BW
Andy
Hello Andy,
So glad to hear of your new opportunity in Leeds and wish you all the very best! :^)
Your miche is just beautiful, and I find your baking technique for this bread very interesting...
...your baked result is outstanding! I was curious, as to why you lowered the oven temperature 15 minutes prior to loading the oven? (I'm sure your answer will highlight something interesting regarding oven management! :^) ).
I like the idea of the pre-heated baking sheet too, and the scoring, as codruta says, is "A"wesome!
Karin just posted her beautiful coriander-crusted Lübecker, and how lovely to see your amazing Borodinsky, using coriander too, and that gorgeous red malt.
:^) from breadsong
Hi Breadsong,
For the oven setting, I raise the heat to 280*C on the convection setting. It beeps at me when it has heated to that mark. At that point, I drop the heat to 250*C. Again, it beeps at me when it has stabled out to 250. Then, 15 minutes before I want to bake, I inject more fresh heat by raising the temperature to 280*C once more.
My reasoning is that I think I may be over-stretching the oven were I to leave it at 280 for the full pre-heating period.
The baking sheet allows me to bake without the need for a peel.
We love coriander!
Very best wishes, and thanks for your kind words
Andy
Beautiful Results, Andy.. as usual.. more so due to the new oven! Lovely open crumb on the miche. Your Rye is certainly dark enough to color this miche! Why did you cut the bordonski lengthwise?
As to your new job.. iam excited for you. I hope you'll enjoy it, and learn even more.
Well-spotted Khalid!
Actually, this slice came from the smaller loaf, rather than the big one made in the Pullman Pan, which I was able to freeze whole.
I sliced it that way as the small tin gave quite a low profile to the loaf. It worked well.
I am liking my new oven; let's hope I can get the wood-fired oven up and running very soon?
All good wishes
Andy
Andy, you do!
Karin
These breads well deserve the "A"wesome labels they were given earlier in the thread. I don't understand the formulas (will do my homework in educating myself in reading and understanding them after I make significant progress in my quest for proper levain bread).
I don't have anything to add to the discussion since I know almost nothing about these breads. I comment because of one element of the discussion above, the color of the bread. When I was a teenager I read an article about black russian bread. I remember the author assertiveness when writting about "cheating" to obtain the typical dark color. His recipe didn't contain coffee or cocoa or other darkening ingredients we often find in recipes. I made his recipe and failed. The bread wasn't very good, barely edible.
Several years later, well after that article was forgotten and lost, I ate a russian bread sandwich in Paris and it made me want to try again making that delicious dark colored bread. I looked for recipes and never was able to find one that wasn't "cheating" (I remembered the strong opinion of the author I've read years ago). All recipes I found contained either cocoa or coffee to (I think) induce the dark color. So I "cheated" away big time and settled instead for the Pumpernickel Bread (contains unsweetened chocolate and unsulphured molasses) or the Eastern European Rye (does not contain any darkening ingredient) recipes contributed by baker Lauren Groveman in the book "Baking with Julia".
So here goes my question(s): Does this mean that the authentic russian black bread is lighter in color that those we usually find in specialty shops or restaurants here in Canada or in France, but more of a medium dark reddish brown? I've never seen the real thing, an authentic loaf of such a bread.
And Andy, the blackstrap molasses, does it serve the purpose of darkening the bread in addition to the other benefits of using a sweetener in bread dough?
Thanks.
Hi there,
Russian rye breads (not all of them) are really dark in colour, similar to chocolate or medium-roasted coffee, because of red malt and partly (I think) because of molasses. Andy's formula contains a little too much mollasses to my liking though (no offence Andy!), that's because GOST calls for sugar as well as molasses (Borodinsky is a sweet-ish bread) and Andy doesn't want refined sugars in his bread so he substituted for molasses. I make mine with about 30-35 g molasses (for the same amount of ingredients as Andy's) + tablespoon sugar + 1-2 tablespoons honey.
As to the colour of Borodinsky, many Russian bakeries have in the last couple of years adopted the practice of making a much lighter coloured bread (not only Borodinsky but other dark varieties too). I'm not sure whether they use more wheat flour, or minimise (even skip?) malt, either way it's not the same :(
Also I've recently found some comments that say, in order to get a really dark crust, Russian bakers "toast" the bread by setting the oven to a very high temperature (different sources site between 260 and 290C ) for the first 10 minutes and then lower it in 20-30 degree increments to a final temperature of around 190C. The top looks almost burnt.
That sounds so earthy, almost kind of umami, sweet umami if that's possible.
There's a significant russian community here in the greater Montreal. I hope someone will open a traditional russian bakery. Meanwhile, I'll certainly try my hand at that formula. The bread looks and "reads" delicious.
Thanks Foodfascist.
oh, thanks go to Andy!
I made slight alterations to his recipe though, I use 1/5 to 1/4 less red malt, and as i said I replace 1/3 to 1/2 molasses with a mixture of sugar and honey. I add sugar and honey to the dough, not the scald as they are there for sweet flavour, not to feed the yeast. I also add salt to the dough not the scald. Sorry I can't give you exact amounts as I just use as much as "feels" right. My version tastes almost like the bread from my childhood.
One other thing I may try and change is use very slightly less water as my crumb comes out a bit on the sticky side. Although that could be down to something in my method rather than the recipe.
For my last 2 bakes, I also followed different baking instructions that I found in several other sources. Last night - yip yip hooray!!! - I got a thin crust for the first time! It was really annoying me how thick it used to be (although it gets chewier about 24 hours after baking).
I baked three 350-500 g loaves for an hour to the following scheme (adopted from instructions in suave's blog and a couple other sources):
10 minutes at 240 C (suave says 260 C/500 F), with a generous supply of steam (I poured about half a cupful straight onto the bottom of the oven before putting bread in, as a pan full or water never used to work for me)
after 10 minutes, open the oven door to let out all steam, lower to 210 C (suave says 230C/450 F) and bake for 20 minutes
lastly, lower to 190 C (suave: 210 C/410 F) and bake for 30 minutes.
To soften the crust, some sources suggest that it should be brushed generously with boiling hot water immediately after baking. I found it very hard brushing water on while leaving all those coriander seeds intact, so what I did yesterday is simply pour water onto the loaves from a freshly boiled kettle. It worked. The water evaporates very quickly as the bread is still very hot. When the bread cooled down, the crust was still crunchy (and delicious!) but today it's soft and chewy, just like it should be.
for all the added details and questions answered.
There's a baker's trick I learned about some time ago to soften hard crusts. I tried it for delicate canadian children palates who have difficulty with french bread crisp crust and it worked well for me. May be russian bread has a too hard a crust for that and may be you already know and tried this trick but here we go anyway:
As soon as the bread is out of the oven, cover it with a linen towel (that will touch the surface of the bread without risking lint sticking to it) and then add a thick bath towel folded in two or four on top of the linen towel. The bread should be entirely covered but the fabric can stay loose on it (no need to wrapp tightly). The bread can sit on a cooling rack. Leave the fabrics on it until it has totally cooled. What happens, you guessed it, is the residual humidity of the bread is trapped under the towels instead of vanishing in the air and it softens the crust.
No I didn't know that one, so thanks!
The problem with my crust though was that it was too thick (which in turn made it hard) and that must have been because I was baking for too long at too low a temperature for my size loaf, and also I certainly overproofed my dough on a number of occasions. I'm still learning :-)
Hi Ghobz,
Yes, blackstrap molasses has a colouring affect on the paste, and the baked product.
The roots of a bread termed as "black" are all in peasant traditions. I believe Karin suggested that the use of "black bread" in German baking refers to the use of high proportion of rye [particularlarly high extraction] flours in contrast to what we know today as white bread, bread made using white [ie. refined, or, lower extraction] wheatflour. Obviously, coffee, chocolate, cocoa etc play no part in the peasant traditions for North European and Russian territories. This is a good starting point.
Dark colour is obtained by using certain techniques and processes, in addition to sources of [and my personal preference, unrefined] sugar in the materials formula. Molasses that I use is as unrefined as it gets. Faith has discussed red malt in excellent detail. The use of the soaker aims to create increased sweetness. If this sugar is then available, there is more food for the yeasts to feed on. Additionally, if there is any increase in the resdiual unfermented sugars, then that is available to further caramelise the loaf during the baking process, to produce a darker loaf.
Mini, I am pretty sure, began quite a complex discussion about the way the light reflects off the loaf, and how that changes over time as the starches retrograde, thus leading to the loaf taking a darker and darker appearance. I have been discussing this with a colleague this morning, and we believe the darkening colour in the loaf as it ages is largely to do with the amount of residual sugars within the complex starch network and how that impacts on moisture levels and migration.
Regarding the baking, yes the oven is loaded with bread at a very high temperature. But, I believe that is to encourage a rapid rise in dough temperature so the delicate starch network and weak pentosans can set as soon as possible. Subsequently the oven temperature has to be lowered in order to allow full baking, thus driving off sufficient water to enable starch and protein to fully set and Maillard reactions to complete. Remember these loaves are high in moisture, so a thorough bake profile is essential. Reducing the time in the oven just means the loaf will not be fully baked!
Best wishes
Andy
Sorry Andy,
doesn't malt contribute to the colour as well? I'm sure my loaves weren't as dark without malt...
Yes, of course Faith,
Sorry I should have made that clearer. Malt is a sugar source so increases caramelisation in the oven. The use of malt in the soaker impacts significantly on colouration too.
Best wishes
Andy
Just a note before taking off for week.
I love your baking and style!
Beautiful breads, thanks for sharing.
Sylvia
Hi Sylvia,
Thank you for your generous comment.
Have a lovely week
Best wishes
Andy
Hi Andy,
I just had a browse through suave's Russian blog, he's got lots of recipes for Russian bread (both rye and wheat)
this is what he writes about Broeodinsky before GOST. It looks awesome! I'm sure I've had something like that before, under a different name. It's a 100% rye bread and a 4-stage method. Google translate should work on it, but if there's something you want clarified I'll help.
i'd translate the whole recipe for the folks on here but my hubby's banned me from TFL due to a large hole in our garden that I'd promised to finish digging by September... <sigh>
my word Google translate is desperate! Welding and tea leaves for scald (zavarka)! Wallpaper flour LOL that's very dark rye. I suppose I'll have to translate it after all. Whenever I get the time...
My neighbour is russian and I'm sure she won't mind translating a recipe. We never had a conversation about bread and maybe this would be the occasion for us to start one. Last Easter she offered us a delicious homemade sweet bread studded with raisins and fruits glacés. So I know she bakes. And she's a chemist, that certainly can't be bad regarding bread discussions.
I'll ask her help during the week.
That was Kulich she treated you to (pl. kulichi) - a tall, sweet (but usually not as sweet as your average cupcake), dry-ish bread baked for Easter. It's similar to Pannettone and I'm sure a few other ethnic specialties. Glace cherries isn't the most common ingredient, although I don't see why not. What you have in it varies from cook to cook, it could be raisins, nuts, dried or caramelised fruit (or indeed glace cherries), often a combination of several things, quantities also vary, it could be packed full or just have a few on the top. It's also usually glazed (traditional glazing is whipped egg white + sugar, but these days people often use icing sugar and water, either way it needs to be dried in the oven at low heat - you wouldn't usually get a sticky glazing). Often decorated with Easter-themed patterns.
I love it. Next time I make it, I'll post the recipe here.
Yes, that was probably a Kulich we devoured, still warm, last Easter. She used raisins and a mix of glacé fruits and did decorate with half glacées cherries on top. And you're right, it wasn't sticky, but I don't remember about a glaze. That delicacy disapeared in less than 15 minutes top-chrono. We have 3 teenage sons, we call them "estomacs sur pattes", roughly translated "stomachs on feet". Looking forward your next time making Kulich.
Meanwhile, I tried google translate to have that page translated in french, just in case it would be better. But no luck. It's as bad as for english. I'll have to wait for my neighbour to come back from work and I'll ask her if she minds translating this. I'll keep you posted.
yeah well I may give it a go later tonight if I don't fall asleep putting my little tike to bed! He insists on going to sleep with his arms round my neck and the next thing I know it's 5 am...
I have the question: Andy talking about "red malt flour" where I can buy it in USA or New York??? And where I can find more recipes for Russian breads like Rossisky??? Please, help
Hi there,
there's a discussion on red malt here, scroll down to the very end and read through suave's comments. He's a Russian living in the US and he gets his red malt from homebrew shops. He mentions some brands as well as varieties.
Suave also has a recipe for Rossiysky and dozens other Russian breads (plus some Lithuanian and others) in his Russian-language blog on LiveJournal, here's Rossiyskiy
you could try Google Translate but it's pants with things like recipes
I suppose I'll have to find more time for translating stuff... or else we should ask suave!
Andy actually mentioned he's made Rossiyskiy, maybe he'll give us a recipe
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