Sweet Pineapple Yeast Bread

Tender, sweet and slightly tangy from pineapple juice, these loaves are a real treat any time of day, and are even better with a tropical trail mix kneaded in.

As the days begin to get warmer, I start craving the sun and relaxed atmosphere of the summer. This year it's even more of a craving, since the topical adventure N and I were slated to go on was postponed as a result of the big bad nasty COVID. While I'm disappointed (of course), I am also fully aware that safety and security are paramount - and when I can travel in my kitchen, it isn't too bad of a tradeoff (plus, I can bake in PJs!).

Funny enough, I never really got into eating pineapple (aside from the fruit trays at parties) until I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis on top of my digestion woes. One of my coworkers had a sibling with it as well, and being from the tropics she had started eating large quantities of the fruit for the bromelain it contains (which is supposed to help break down inflammation). Now, this enzyme is only active in the fresh fruit (which explains why you can't put fresh pineapple in Jell-O but canned works) but canned pineapple (and it's juice) are still full of nutrients, especially vitamin C. I'm all for staying as healthy as I can (working in a school is petri dish-esque) so it was a tasty way to get it daily!

That said, I am really not a "juice drinker", so when Dole sent me a large can of it, I knew it would become something culinary. I had seen multiple postings of Hawaiian bread floating around the web back in 2017 when I got their care package, and decided a hefty batch of that would fit the bill. The pineapple juice helps soften the "grittiness" of the whole wheat flour and adds almost a honey note to the dough, playing off the handful of tropical trail mix I added to one of the three loaves on a whim. Keeping with the Hawaiian theme, I also opted for coconut milk and oil for it's richness and flavour. That said, if I was to make this again, I would shy away from the coconut products simply because kneading and shaping bread with gloves on is horrendous (I'm allergic to coconut so must avoid contact).

In the end, these loaves made for perfect toast and when you leave them out overnight to get stale, the best French toast ever! I actually used one loaf to make a version of Disney's Tonga Toast as a special Sunday treat for mom, and think bread pudding would be an excellent foil for this as well.

Even when we're stuck at home, why not escape to the tropics for a while? Dole (who sent me the pineapple juice I used in these loaves back when I made them in 2017!!) claims #SunshineForAll in 2020, and I'm telling you, we have all earned it!

Extra Blueberry Bagels

A dozen blueberry bagels were on the docket today, made with 100% whole wheat and a combination of frozen and dried blueberries. The secret? Using the thawed blueberry juice as part of the liquid to infuse every bite with fresh berry flavour!

It has been far too long since I made a batch of bagels. Truth be told, the Beet Bagels that I posted last week (and made in 2017) were the last round I baked in my kitchen! For me, bagels - while delectably chewy and the perfect snack - just became too much of a process while I was in school and working. So, to celebrate the end of my program (and my ability to add more letters to the end of my name) as well as give N a treat after an April like this, I broke out the pot, honey water and high gluten flour and got to work.

I picked blueberry as the flavour for these guys for one simple reason - N loves the blueberry bagels from his local store, but being a "specialty" item they only put them out one weekend a month - not fair, I say! Since I had a ton of local blueberries in my freezer from last summer as well as a container of the same berries that I had dried, I figured I'd combine the two into an uber-blueberry bagel dough. But that wasn't all! Fate has a funny way of working, and when I went to drain the frozen berries (I thawed them first, not wanting excess liquid or cold in my dough), it struck me: blueberry juice is full of flavour and colour, along with a natural sweetness, so why not use it as part of the liquid? I carefully measured it out and added enough water to make up the difference, and I had triple blueberry bagels on my hands.

The part I always found time consuming was the shaping and boiling, and that hasn't changed to be told. However, as long as your dough is not super high-hydration (I have done that before) the bagels will hold their shape after their bath and get a beautifully glossy exterior after baking as a result. They get puffy in the water too, so bear that in mind when choosing how many to add at once - as well as the fact you need to flip them over!

Even if the boiling has you grumbling, the scent that permeates your kitchen about 5 minutes after the bagels hit the oven will remind you just why you made them in the first place. A combination of fresh baked bread and a high-summer farmer's market with just a hint of doughnut shop from the nutmeg, these would by far be perfect just eaten plain. However, when N got his hands on them, the toast-butter test was first and they passed with flying colours. The next day, I turned one (which had "popped open" in boiling and so wasn't "pretty") into French Toast and even I was amazed at how perfect the interiors were. Dense but with just enough crannies to sop up butter or honey, but with enough moisture that they don't demand it, I definitely see myself making these again.

But that will have to wait till after I finish my English courses.

Cranberry Almond Boule

This Cranberry Almond Boule is made with a sourdough starter boosted with just a touch of yeast for extra lift (and a shorter rising time). Packed with whole wheat, slivered almonds and @oceanspraycanada Craisins, it is a perfect blend of flavours for a lazy breakfast or paired with aged cheese as a snack.

One of the benefits of this "limbo" period I'm in - until May, anyways - is that I get the chance to go through my pantry and really take stock of what I have. There are a few things I use regularly - flour and sugar for instance - but when it comes to "additions" I very rarely dive deep into the stash I have. This is compounded by the fact that I have a wealth of fruit, nuts and seeds in the freezer as well, and like I'm sure most of your freezers, most of the "stuff" goes there to die. However, with a spot of spare time on my hands before class last week, I quickly went through at least the front portion of my freezer, coming up with a tiny handful of slivered almonds from Christmas. A brief glance at my baking shelf saw a giant bag of dried cranberries that had been recently shunted to the front of the line after mom used up the end of the other bag in salad.

Still keeping with the "use up the pantry" theme, I brought out my good ol' sourdough started from the fridge and gave it a hefty feed the night before getting going, and fed it again a few hours before making the dough in earnest. I spotted a single package of active dry yeast (again from mom's baking at Christmas) in the pantry and although it was technically expired by a few weeks I figured I'd toss it in for kicks - if anything it would just dissolve and do nothing, but as luck would have it I was pleasantly surprised that it still had activity, although slightly less robust than usual. However, combined with the bubbly wild yeast, I got a readily rising loaf that, while higher hydration than some of my other whole wheat loaves, still handled like a dream and gave me a lovely, low rising peasant loaf with a subtle tang.

Like all my peasant style loaves, I opted to bake this one on a baking stone to get the bottom nice and crusty. However, if you don't have one, no worries! It will work just as well on a standard baking sheet. I may eventually try this recipe (scaled up) in my 7-qt Staub to create a "cloche" like environment, but I need to play with the ingredient amounts first as this recipe doesn't make enough dough to warrant the huge pot I have. At any rate, this is a keeper - and with luck I'll be able to try it out with other "found things" as well, since we need the freezer room for, you guessed it - more bread!

Yeasted Multigrain Beer Bread

This Yeasted Multigrain Beer Bread is lent a delicate hoppy taste from a can of Amber Ale and a gorgeous colour from egg yolks. It rises so high it looks like a half globe on the baking sheet! Sliced and spread with butter or topped with sharp Cheddar it is a hearty and healthy snack or side!

Back to the bread after a few days of rest this weekend! I don't know about you, but I am really starting to wonder what I'm going to be doing with myself soon - even though I start a new batch of courses in May, not having a real "routine" outside of my few hours of teaching is very... odd. That said, there will always be a need for bread in this household, and these loaves remind me that summer is right around the corner.

How does bread equate to summer? Well, the dough gets a huge boost of flavour from an amber ale that makes it's appearance at backyard BBQs and patio parties every summer here, and while I don't drink the smell of it brings me right back to summers spent camping and boating with my family. The rest of the dough is pretty standard, although packed with a variety of grains and seeds, and is rich with 8 egg yolks which keep the loaves soft for days even after slicing. The resulting bread is hearty and has almost a sourdough tang to it, which Mom enjoyed topped with aged Cheddar and a drizzle of honey. I imagine it would also make for a great side for soup or stew as well, or part of a ploughman's lunch.

Honeyed Quinoa Loaf

This hearty, 100% whole grain loaf is high rising, honey sweetened and studded with crunchy bites of red quinoa. Soy creamer makes for an impossibly high rising, soft crumb as well. The hardest part is waiting for it to cool!

I'll let you in on a little secret - I can't stand quinoa. Boiled, re-fried, steamed... the taste and texture is just off for me. I will deem it passable in flour or puffed form (I do like puffed quinoa and rice cakes, for example). However, mom takes the cake - er, bread - when it comes to embracing grains of all kinds, and when I had the last of a bag of quinoa sitting around in the pantry after making pilaf she suggested I use it as "bits" in bread. As fate would have it, that morning I stumbled across a loaf with quinoa on Mel's Kitchen Cafe and after taking stock of the pantry and fridge situation I decided to try it with a few tweaks.

First, and probably most obviously at this point, I made the whole recipe 100% whole grain. Mom and I are huge fans of the nutty flavour and increased nutrition of using whole grains in bread - and every time I make a batch I'm reminded of the "good old days" when I could eat it, so I know it's still a winner. I also only had red quinoa on hand so I used it instead of white, and with a glut of soy "dairy" in the fridge I made those the main liquids. For a little extra flavour I tossed in a bit of toasted sesame oil as well - you can never go wrong with that when "nutty" is the goal!

These loaves rose high, and rose quickly due to the warmth in my kitchen (between mom and I we had stove and oven on quite a bit that day) so the bread did flatten a bit in the oven (and spilled over the sides a bit). Next time I will keep a better eye on it, but appearances aside these loaves were everything we hoped for - soft, tender with a delicate crunch and full of sweet and nutty flavour.  They fit perfectly in the toaster and made excellent BLTs too from what I heard!

 

What are your favourite grains to bake with? Any I should try? Let me know in the comments!