Eggless Greek Simiti - Eggless Baking Challenge

This month, the Baking Eggless Group celebrated the 2 year anniversary of their eggless baking adventures ! Wishing all the members a very happy anniversary ! This month, the challenge set before the  bakers was the Greek Simiti bread which is a kind of a sesame encrusted yeasted bread rings. These are apparently sold plentifully by Greek street vendors as well as in the bakeries. These Simiti or Koulouri are a popular local breakfast item. This recipe was suggested by Priya Suresh of Priya's Versatile Recipes.

I have realized that I like baking - breads , muffins , cakes, cookies are all enjoyable, not only for the end results, but also for the entire process. So I was looking forward to baking this beautiful bread earlier in the month. But Man Proposes and God Disposes, after all. Sniffling little noses, cranky toddlers and cold weather all contrived to push my baking attempt to the very end of the month. But bake them I did and was really glad.

There was a single egg to be replaced, so that wasnt a hardship at all.
The original recipe is beautifully explained with detailed pictures at My Little Expat Kitchen.

Ingredients:

Dough:
1 packet instant yeast
1/2 C warm water
1 Tbsp sugar
1½ C white whole wheat flour
1½ C unbleached all purpose flour
1 Tbsp oil
½ tsp salt
¼ C warm milk
¼ C yogurt 

Coating:
¾ C toasted sesame seeds
3 Tbsp honey diluted with 2 Tbsp water

Method:
1. Mix the yeast with the warm water and then add the sugar, yogurt, milk, oil , the flour and the salt into the yeast mixture.
2. Add only about 2 C of the flour initially and then add more if and when required. The dough should be slightly moist, not sticky.
3. Knead the dough for about 8 - 10 minutes, until you get a smooth, soft dough.
4. Coat a large bowl with oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turn it once so that all sides are coated with the oil. Cover loosely and place in a warm spot for about 45 minutes, until dough doubles in volume.
5. I usually keep my yeast dough in the oven with the light on.
6. Prepare a large baking sheet by placing a parchment paper over it.
7. Preheat your oven to 390 degree F.
8.Once the dough has had enough time to prove, remove it from the bowl, deflate it slightly.
9.Divide the dough into 6 equal parts.
10. Roll each piece into a long, even rope. Twist the rope at the top and then braid it down its length. Bring the end of the twisted braid together to form a ring. Use water to seal the ends, if required.

 
11. Dip the rings on all sides in the honey water combination. The original recipe used grape molasses, which would probably give a wonderful, subtly exotic sweetness to these rolls. I wasnt able to find the molasses in my local health food store. I could probably have found it in stores that stocked Mediterranean products.
12. Coat the honeyed rings with the toasted sesame seeds and place them on the baking sheet.

 
13. Ensure that there is enough space between the rolls.
14. Bake these rolls for about 20 minutes, until they are golden brown all around.

 
15. Remove from the oven when cooked through and serve warm !

Notes:
1. I was probably wool gathering when I mixed up my dough, because first I forgot to add the oil and then I added slightly more flour than was probably required. The original recipe was written with metric measurements and I not only converted the recipe into the Standard US form but also halved it. I should have added flour gradually, but the dough was still forgiving.
2. Toast the sesame seeds on a medium flame and keep stirring so that the seeds are toasted evenly and do not burn.
3. The bread rolls were delicious - nutty flavored from the abundant sesame seeds, the slight sweetness from the honey and the crustiness beneath it all.
4. I got about 6 medium sized rolls from this recipe.

Eggless Slovak Paska Bread - Baking Eggless Challenge

November's challenge for the Baking Eggless group was to bake a bread - a Slovak Paska bread - a decorative bread baked in the Eastern European regions. It is generally baked for Easter and is a yeast bread made with eggs , butter and milk.
Now, although I have baked with yeast a few times before and am not scared of working with it, I still consider myself a novice when it comes to baking bread. I do enjoy working with the dough and was quite looking forward to baking this bread. But, I procrastinated and didnt bake the bread until just yesterday.
Although the dough turned out beautifully, I underestimated the amount of dough I would need for the decorations. As it is, I am not very creative and had I reserved some time for the baking and researched some decorative methods, the bread would probably have looked a lot better !
But the bread itself was very good and I think I will probably try my hand at this again, if only to make it look prettier. Do take a look here to see the beautiful efforts of my fellow bakers.




Ingredients:
⅔ C milk
2 Tbs sugar
2/3 tsp salt
1 stick butter
1 package active dry yeast
⅓ Tbs sugar
⅓ C warm water
¼ C yogurt (this was my egg replacer)
2½ C - 3⅓ C unbleached all purpose flour
milk to brush on the tops

If the quantities seem a little odd, its because I made one third of the original recipe ! If you want to make more, then just multiply by 3.

Method:
1. Dissolve the ⅓ T of sugar in the warm water and then sprinkle the active dry yeast on top of the water. Keep aside for about 5 minutes, until the yeast blooms and becomes frothy.
2. In an small pan, add the milk, the butter , the remaining sugar and the salt and heat over low to medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the butter melts. Cool until lukewarm.
3. Once cooled, add the yeast mixture, the butter mixture and the yogurt in a large bowl and mix well.
4. Add 2 C of the flour and mix in thoroughly. I mixed everything by hand, but if you have a stand mixer, you could do this step easily in the mixer.
5. Add in more flour, a little at a time until the dough is easily kneadable, but is still a little sticky. I needed about a little more than 3 C.
6. Knead this dough for about 5 - 6 minutes until smooth and elastic.
7. Place the dough in a greased bowl - you could use the same bowl in which you mixed the dough in(if its clean enough).
8. Cover with a clean tea towel and keep in a warm place for about 2 hours until doubled in size.
9. Once the dough doubles, punch down gently to deflate the dough. Knead for a few more minutes.
10. Reserve a little dough and shape the remaining into a round loaf.
11. Prepare a 7 or 8 inch round loaf pan by covering with foil or parchment paper on the bottom and sides, so that the bread has some support while it rises.
12. Place the round loaf in the pan. Use the remaining dough to create decorations.



13. I tried to make a braid and a cross for the middle. I fell short of dough :(  Let the bread loaf rise again for about 1 - 2 hours, until it doubles in size again.
14. Brush the tops of the loaf with milk. This helps give the bread a nice golden brown color.
15. Preheat the oven to 350 &deg(350);
16. Bake for about 45 minutes.
17. Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and then finish cooling on a wire rack.
18. If you want, you can brush the top of the hot bread with melted butter to get a tender crust.
19. Cool completely before slicing and eating with gusto !!



Notes: 
1. Although I was understandably disappointed with my lack of decorative ability, the taste of the bread more than made up for it. The crust was brown and slightly crunchy and the crumb was very soft and buttery.
2. It toasted well and made for a very nice snack with some jam.
3. Other than the two risings, there is very little hands on time that is required, although the more elaborate the decorations, the more time it will take.
4. My husband and kids really like the bread and consumed more than half of it within 3 hours.
5. If there is any leftover bread, you could wrap it up in parchment paper and keep it on the counter top.
It is best if its consumed within a day or so.