If you ever wonder if I’m always able to reach success, this is the post to put your mind at ease.  I tried three times for a potato bread worth to send to my lovely Lien for her hosting Zorra’s Bread Baking Day # 17.  Three was not charm for this event, it took me fully four tries before I was anything like happy.  I will say however when I finally did get happy I went over the top really happy.

Just so you really understand, I’ll show you the three breads I tried first.  Now, I would like you to understand, I think any home baked bread is way out in front of anything I’ve gotten in a regular grocery.  These were breads we ate and even enjoyed but they were just good and/or they baked up funny as in oddly shaped not pretty. 

Of the three this was really the best.  Fabulous taste and texture.  The recipe was from this book.  The problem with this bread was not the recipe . . .

The problem with this bread is my easy distraction and I put

the bread into the banneton seam side down which then put it seam side up to bake in the oven.  So now you know what results that can give you.

This was baked when I started out feeding my starter and had that ever glorious what do with the “toss off” question . . . I added it to start another recipe that wasn’t calling for starter.

This tasted great but really was too moist and didn’t show drama.  Not right for Bread Baking Day celebrations.

I don’t know.  I love potato bread.  I used this bread to make the meat balls for the Timpano and served it with the Timpano.  It was good but . . . I wanted to try again.  I wanted the bread to be the focus.

That was when in putting away my copy with my notes of the BBB 5 Grain Bread with Walnuts into my Babe note book my eyes came to rest on a recipe I’d been wanting to bake for just forever.

Potato & Rye Vienna Twist

adapted from

The Bread Bible

by

Beth Hensperger

The Rye Dough

2 teaspoons (6g) instant yeast

1 1/2 cup flat beer warmed in microwave slightly

1 tablespoon barley malt syrup

1 large egg at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons coriander seeds ground fine

1 cup rye flour

1 cup (144g) bread flour

2 cups AP flour (oops didn’t measure the grams)

Mix beer, barley syrup, egg together.

Wisk flours together, hold out 1/2 cup to add while kneading.  Wisk into 3 1/2 cup flours the salt, yeast, ground coriander seeds.  Add the liquids to this and mix well.  Put onto counter and knead in the held out 1/2 cup flours to form a springy, smooth and soft dough.

Form into a dough ball, coat with olive oil return to rising container at room temp allow to double in bulk - took 90 minutes.

The Potato Dough

6 ounce potato chunks

220g warm milk

4 tablespoons butter (1/2 US stick) unsalted

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 large egg at room temperature

1 teaspoon aniseed

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup bread flour

2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups AP flour

Cook the potato chunks till mash tender in about 1/3 cup water.  I microwave mine but stove top works just as well.  Mash potato with 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid.  Allow to cool - be mindful of these little yeasties to be added shortly so that you don’t murder them.

Mix warm (not hot) potato, milk, butter and egg together.

Wisk together bread and AP flours holding out 3/4 cup separate for the last kneading.  Wisk in the yeast, salt, sugar and aniseed to the 3 cups bread & AP flours.

Mix the dry with the liquid till blended and turn out onto counter and knead in the remaining flour to form a springy smooth dough.  Don’t be tempted to add extra flour.

Oil the dough ball lightly and place in covered container to double in bult - took about an hour.

Gently deflate the doughs, divide both in half.  Roll into logs.  Place potato log seam side to rye log seam side and pinch one end together and do the twist . . . pinch the other end together and tuck both ends under. 

One loaf went into my oval banneton

the other into a loaf pan. 

Covered and left to rise about 40 minutes.  Oven heated to 450° with stone.

Mist the risen loaves with water and dusted with flour.

Into the 450° oven and onto the stone.  Immediately as the loaves were in the oven, oven turned down to 400°. 

Baked 35 minutes.

Allow to cool on rack if you can wait.  Cool completely before slicing . . . ah good luck.

Next time I’m skipping the rye in this and just going for the potato.  Heaven I’m telling you, twist and shout, this is bread heaven!

Lien all I can say is thank you so much for a chance to revisit potato in bread.  It is always a grand adventure.  The round up is going to be amazing!

This goes to Susan at WildYeast for her weekly Yeast Spotting.  I’ve come to look at the weekly Yeast Spotting as a delightful trip to a Bakery Wonderland!  If you’re not familiar with Susan and Yeast Spotting, it’s explained here.