The Wait Is Over, The Sourdough Has Baked...And So Have The Bagels and Pretzels!

In some ways today was a little anti-climatic. We finally got to use a little bit of our "babies" to make sourdough and it was such a quick and easy recipe that was over so quick that I kind of found myself asking, 'all that feeding just for this?' Now, I know that the proof is probably in the puddin'...err, bread, but honestly, I have yet to taste the loaf I made. I'm in such a state of carb-overload that I just didn't want to cut into the loaf today. Also, for those who are aghast that I haven't tasted the bread yet, when we bake loaves that have to proof for some time before being baked, it takes a long time for the whole process to occur, especially when we only have four hours of class. Since we made the dough, let it proof and did other things, shaped it, let it proof again, and then we baked it, by the time it was done, we were dressed in our street clothes and leaving school. To have sliced into the bread, fresh out of the oven would ruin the loaf because all the moisture in the bread would escape and dry your beautiful loaf out. So the bottom line is, my sourdough looks like a dream and we will have to wait and see how it tastes. Also, since my partner made a rye sourdough starter, she made a pumpernickel bread and we shared our loaves -- no, I haven't tasted that one either but it is in the pictures below. She made the starter and I shaped the loaf; it is a very communal process this bread baking thing.


Our sourdough and rye sourdough breads -- mine is the lighter one

What we did today that was really fun was we made bagels and pretzels. Both were very easy, very quick proofing doughs and both were very fun. The process is simple: make the dough, let it proof for about 15 minutes, divide the dough into pieces that weigh the same, shape the dough into bagels or pretzels (I'm not going to try and tell you how without providing pictures because it will be verra, verra confusing), boil them for 15 minutes, top them with whatever topping you prefer and bake them. Honestly, it might sound like a lot of work but I was shocked by how easy it was to make bagels. Honestly shocked. I've never been a pretzel kind of girl so the pretzels didn't excite me too much but the bagels were both exciting and something that I could see myself over and over again. Stay tuned my faithful followers because I know that Collin Murray is going to freak out with how good the bagels are and I am sure that I will be making them at home and blogging about the process with pictures and a recipe quite soon.


Home-made pretzels don't look perfect but they were still tasty -- I liked the cinnamon sugar the best but I thought this one, the salt one, photographed the best


My bagels. It is going to take me a few times to work on the shaping so if you can tell, mine need to be shaped a little better but you get the gist, right?

If I thought that the bagels were fun, I think I might freak out with delight tomorrow because we are making doughnuts and brioche. Brioche is a sweet egg-y bread that I have been look forward to baking for a very long time so I am really excited. Stay tuned for tomorrow!