Among the homemade yeasted breads I’ve made thus far, I think the pull-apart bread is quickly making its way to the top of my heart. Fortunately, all the recipes I have tried for this particular type of bread have been nothing short of stellar. While my favourite remains to be Flo Braker’s heavenly Lemon-Scented Pull-Apart Coffee Cake, this version is no less scrumptious. This is basically the same bread recipe as Flo Braker’s, but instead of the sweet and tangy lemon filling, we switch it up in favour of the savory. Each bite is a warm explosion of garlic and herbs, intensified by the slight salty punch from the cheese.…
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Stormy day blues and bread
Today is probably one of the worst days my city has encountered in recent years. The rain has not stopped falling for two weeks straight, and the rains these past two days have not only been continuous, but also heavy. Lightning fills the sky in frightening shocks, followed by the crashing thunder. It is a miracle we have electricity, and more shockingly WiFi. Outside there is floodwater as far as the eye can see. The flood has reached proportions I have never ever encountered in my life. And here I had thought I had tasted the worst of it when I had to wade through waist-deep water to get to…
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Herbed Dinner Rolls for any meal of the day
If someone ever asked me to list down what I thought were the best things in life, I reckon ‘baking bread from scratch’ would be in my top ten. If I could, I would bake a different kind of yeast bread every single day. There’s just something about it that I find so soothing. Maybe it has to do with how every moment of kneading is like a quiet moment of careful unraveling, until finally I find myself a small moment of relaxation, of peace; or how the inhibitions and tensions in my mind and body seem to leave me as I concentrate on working my dough. For a no-nonsense…
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A sprinkle of rosemary for Eri: Act I
Months ago, I asked my friends for suggestions as to what they would like me to bake next. My friend Eri immediately requested something with rosemary. Being that I have never made anything with rosemary, let alone know much about this particular herb, I immediately took it as a challenge. I was fairly excited to follow through with this, but when I began looking around for recipes, I couldn’t find anything that I really really wanted to make for Eri. It’s funny that I’m so concerned, since it’s not as if I’m making these for her for any special occasion. But because I’m sentimental, I still wanted to do it…
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Soft Garlic Knots and the joy of knotting
When I first saw this recipe, I was immediately drawn to how intricate the breads looked. Now usually, intricate would mean hard work, but if there’s anything I learned in the world of baking it’s that there is so much more than meets the eye: a simple recipe could produce something marvelous that looks like it took forever to make; or a simple-looking dessert or pastry could have required a difficult technique that only the most experienced of chefs can execute. I happen to think this one falls into the former category.
