Anadama Bread

The Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge: No 1. Anadama Bread

Nicole over at Pinch My Salt came up with a fun idea. She decided to make every recipe in Peter Reinhart’s wonderful book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread. Well, a few people asked to join her and soon Nicole had a tribe of over 200 bakers ready to take up the challenge. I am one of them. :)

Nicole says, The goal is to push our boundaries, learn new techniques, and introduce ourselves to breads we might otherwise never have a chance to taste. It will be fun, it will be challenging, it will be frustrating, but ultimately it will be rewarding!

I couldn't have said it better myself. I'm looking forward to challenging myself with recipes like rye bread, brioche and bagels. Every week (or so), I will be attempting a new recipe from the book and posting my results. I won't be posting the actual recipes, so if you want to follow along, please get a copy of the book. It is a real treasure and should be in every foodie's library. Also, check out the progress of the other participants. Show them some love and encouragement.

The first recipe I tried was Anadama bread. Anadama is a traditional New England bread made with flour, corn meal and molasses. The molasses gives this bread a wonderful, subtle sweetness. The outer crust is thin and not too hard and the inside is soft and sweet. Perfect!

The hardest part of making this bread was the kneading. I kneaded the bread for a good 12 minutes before the dough was perfect. I twittered that I was going to have arms like Michelle Obama by the time I finished all the recipes in the book. Heather from Flour Girl, replied that I should rename the bread "Michelle Obama Anadama". I think that has a nice ring to it.

The second hardest part of making this bread was waiting for it to be cool enough to slice into. Really hard! I loved the smell of this bread as it baked. It filled my kitchen with a warm sweet scent. I'd wear it like perfume if I could bottle it. The recipe gave me 3 loaves of bread. Each loaf was golden brown on the outside and soft on the inside. I'd say my first challenge was a success. I can't wait to start the next one. Come back and see how I did next week.


24 comments:

Heather Lalley said...

Yeah! Beautiful bread. And thanks for sharing my corny joke!

Happy baking,
Heather/Flour Girl

Priya Suresh said...

Beautiful and prefectly baked bread!

Donna-FFW said...

The bread you made is simply gorgeous! Absolute perfection!

Sara said...

Mmmm, your bread looks really delicious! Yum. :)

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

What a gorgeous loaf!

Cheers,

Rosa

Maria said...

Your bread looks perfect! Nice job. I love that book!

Laurie Ashton Farook said...

Bread looks great!

Theoretically, I'm getting to mine sometime in the next couple of days...

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous loaf of bread! Delicious!

Zita said...

Wow..that's one big beautiful loaf :)

Debbie said...

The bread looks delicious. I wish I could make a bread like that!

Heather S-G said...

I've been eyeing this book for years...your bread is gorgeous!

Pearl said...

oh my gosh - that bread loaf looks perfect!

Hyperion said...

Dreaming of the wonderful sandwich I could make.

Anonymous said...

YOur loaf looks fantastic. The BBA Challenge has been so much fun and it has just begun! Can't wait to see what you do with the Greek Celebration Bread.

Juliana said...

Great looking bread. Looks very soft and has a great consistency. Love the pictures...by the way, thank you for visiting my site.

Hayley said...

Your bread came out beautifully, and that crust looks amazing. Nice work!

Lo said...

Fantastic looking bread, my dear!
I've been eyeing up that book for years, but haven't caved yet. Will my well-worn copy of "Bread Alone" mind if I cheat on it for a while?

Amanda said...

This made me smile. The bread looks gorgeous.

BTW, do you tweet?

Jeanine - The Baking Beauties said...

Oh wow! I wish there was a gluten-free version of this challenge. :) Maybe I should start one, eh?
your loaf looks fantastic! I can't wait to see all the other breads you create through this journey!

ATigerInTheKitchen said...

This looks just perfect. Kudos!

(Is it too late to join this challenge?)

Madam Chow said...

I'm so glad you're doing BBA, too! Your loaf looks wonderful. If you likes how this one smelled, wait til you bake the Artos!

NKP said...

It looks absolutely perfect! Mine flat-topped, I am not sure if it was because I only used whole grains, but it still tasted good. Can't wait to see your artos.

whall said...

I've always wanted to see Battlestar Galactica bread.

Susie said...

That is one big beautiful terrific loaf. :)
Great job,
Susie

 
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