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I started making our own bread a few years ago. I have perfected as I went, but until I had the opportunity to check out Orwashers Artisan Bread: 100 Years of Techniques and Recipes
I never realized how much there was still to learn!
A little background on Orwasher Bakery:
Orwasher’s Bakers, located in New York, is one of the last vestiges of the thriving German, Czech and Hungarian immigrant population that lived in that area around the start of the 20th century. Established in 1916 under the name A. Orwasher Handmade Bread Inc,. Orwasher’s was purchased in 2007 by Keith Cohen and is considered one of the top ten bakeries in America.
In 2009, Cohen collaborated with Channing Daughters Vineyard in Long Island to create a line of Artisan Wine Breads called Oven Artisans. Using wine grape starters and a baking technique that dates back to Ancient Egypt, the special flavor of these breads is created when natural yeast from fermenting grapes permeates the air and lends itself to the leavening process. Cohen Premiered his beer bread in 2010-a chewy, dark-hued creation with a nutty, robust flavor that is created by mixing Sixpoint Craft Ale’s Otis Stout into the dough.
The Orwashers Artisan Bread features techniques used to make wine and beer breads, as well as recipes for Orwasher’s most famous breads since everyone isn’t able to visit this amazing bakery! Inside this book you will discover
- Insider tricks to making artisan bread from one of New York’s best bakeries
- Cherished recipes from Orwasher’s famous bakery, adapted specifically to facilitate home baking
- Techniques for making bread from artisan starters
Here is one of many delicious recipes featured in this book:
Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Our cinnamon raisin breads have sweetened weekend breakfasts for nearly one hundred
years, and are the ultimate Sunday morning ritual. Bursting with cinnamon and sugar, it
brings French toast to a new level.
Makes 4 loaves.
2.52 lbs/1.14 kg bread flour
1.49 lbs/675.9 g water
.08 lb/36.29 g vegetable oil
.I lb/45.46 g sugar
.05 lb/22.68 g salt
.03 lb/13.61 g instant yeast
.7 lb/31.75 g raisins
Cinnamon Sugar Mix:
.01 lb/4.55 g cinnamon
.05 lb/22.68 g sugar
.05 lb/22.68 g vegetable shortening
.7 lb/31.75 g walnut halves or pieces, not crushed (optional)
1. Set up stand mixer with a dough hook.
2. Place flour, water, oil, sugar, salt, and yeast in mixing bowl.
3. Mix on medium-low for 4 minutes. Then mix on medium-high for 6 minutes.
4. Add raisins and mix on low for 1 minute.
5. Dough temperature should be between 76°F and 78°F/24°C and 26°C.
6. Dough should appear shiny and pull away from the mixing bowl.
7. Do the dough test (below).
8. Transfer to a lightly oiled airtight container.
9. Let dough rest on countertop for approximately 30 minutes. Dough should double in size.
10. Roll dough out of container onto a lightly floured work surface (marble or butcher block is ideal).
11. Cut dough with a scraper into 4 even squares/rectangles, approximately 1.25 lbs/567 g each.
12. Flatten out dough into a rectangle shape by gently pushing it down with your fingertips. Then evenly and generously spread approximately one quarter of your cinnamon sugar mix on top of the dough (similar to the way you spread peanut butter on a slice of bread). Fold dough in half.
13. Shape into a boule or a Pullman loaf (see below). Place in loaf pans. (At the bakery we shape the cinnamon raisin in a boule and the cinnamon raisin with walnuts into a pan loaf. If using walnuts, sprinkle a few additional nuts in the bottom of your pan loaf before adding the dough.)
14. Let dough rest 4 hours after shaping. (This bread is not scored.)
15. Preheat oven to 400°F/205°C.
16. Bake for 13 minutes and adjust oven temperature to 380°F/190°C.
17. Bake an additional 4 minutes until bread is golden.
The Windowpane Dough Test:
Perform this test to see if the dough has been mixed or kneaded enough.
1. Cut off a small amount of dough, roughly the size of an egg.
2. Hold it between your thumb and first two fingers with both hands.
3. Spread your fingers and thumbs apart, stretching the dough.
4. You should be able to see translucency in the middle part of the dough, similar to a windowpane.
5. I f the dough is not translucent, mix for an additional two minutes and try again.
Boule
The term boule is French for “ball.” As you may have guessed, a boule is the traditional shape for French bread— aside from the long, narrow baguette, of course. When shaping a boule, the goal is to give the dough enough surface tension so that the shape will keep through the baking process rather than flatten out.
1. Take an individual piece of dough and place it on a lightly floured work surface.
2. Starting at the top, pinch and pull a piece of the dough from the outside into the middle. Continue this method all the way around the outside of the dough, about five or six times. It helps to think of this process as gathering all the points of a star into the middle.
Remember: the goal is to create a surface area with enough tension that it will keep its shape during baking.
3. With the gathering point on the bottom, roll the dough between both hands to make it a solid spherical shape.
Pullmans
The Pullman loaf is often referred to as sandwich bread because its long, square-like shape is perfect for sandwiches. Pullman pans have lids to help create this uniformly shaped loaf. Traditionally these loaves are made from white flour, but you can substitute whole-wheat or grain, or do a combination of the two.
1. Take an individual piece of dough and place it on a lightly floured work surface.
2. Fold the top and bottom of the dough halfway toward each other. They should almost touch in the middle.
3. Follow the same process for the sides. Fold both sides toward the middle where they should almost touch.
4. Starting at the top, fold the dough into itself about one-third of the way down. Repeat this folding method while rolling the dough into a cylindrical shape; make sure to keep tension in the dough’s surface area.
5. Roll the dough a few times on the work surface to make sure the seam is sealed.
6. Place the dough seam-side down into a lightly oiled Pullman pan.
By using “unusual” ingredients to create new flavors and textures, Artisan Bread is the perfect baking adventure for foodies and cooking enthusiasts a like.
While this is an amazing book filled with delicious recipes I’m not sure how a beginner would do. However, if you are an adventurous baker and always ready for a fun challenge like I am, then this is a book I would highly recommend!
Orwashers Artisan Bread is currently available on Amazon for $19.50 for Hardcover and $14.99 for Kindle.
