Who's up for a Solstice Challenge?

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nmygarden on 20 May 2018 at 13:11

It has been a while since our last challenge - if you'll recall it was a 'Don't Need No Stinking Rules Challenge', and it was loads of fun. I'm thinking we should pose a 'Celebrate the Sun' Solstice 2018 Challenge, to honor the coming solstice on June 21st - Summer, for those in the Northern Hemisphere, and Winter for those in the Southern Hemisphere.

We don't need a bunch of rules, but entries can represent the hemisphere from where they are posted? And tell us a bit about where you're from, what you've made, and why it was your choice.

Reply to this post, so we can keep the thread together. And may the best entry be delicious!

Cathy

PHOTOGRAPH BY OGNEN TEOFILVOVSKI, REUTERS

Well, thank you!

The filling that the original recipe called for was ricotta cheese based, with spinach. This is the filling I used. The pastry was a typical pie pastry with olive oil as the fat component.

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Danni3ll3 on 20 May 2018 at 16:18

I am in! Now.... what am I going to make???? ?

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dabrownman on 20 May 2018 at 18:11

Lucy will tell me what to bake!  I hate stinking rules!

With connotations of light, St Lucy is apparently commemorated on December 13 in Scandinavian countries, which is the Julian calendar's equivalent to the winter Solstice; maybe a timely switch in hemispheres will be to best advantage! 

no idea what to make - we are heading into winter ☹️ at least we have time to ponder!!!

Leslie

...with Tangzhong/porridge of polenta and whole rye flour. Flours included BF (50%), WW (20%), and whole rye (30%).  Added during stretch and folds were toasted walnuts, dried apricots and fresh jalapeno. Since I had the weekend to play, I left the dough on the counter for bulk and final rises. The smell, as it baked, hinted at each, the apricots and jalapenos - fairly enticing.

 

And it tastes good - small surprises from the add-ins, and surprising,y, they complement each other well.

This one is from the northern hemisphere, and from Southern California, where we are fortunate to enjoy fresh produce year-round. I love Summer, and am always glad for its arrival!

Happy Solstice, and Happy Bread Challenge!

love the bits of apricot (?little burst of sun? ) and the scoring!.  still thinking about a Solstice bake...  

happy baking

Leslie

Yes, apricots remind me of the sun, I really wanted to include them. The bread turned out pretty tasty, too. The add-ins didn't get distributed as evenly as I would have preferred, and I really needed one more jalapeno, but you get a little zap of heat when you find a piece, followed by sweetness of the apricot. I like it toasted, with a bit of cream cheese.

Thanks, everyone who participates - it's tough to make time when it falls during the week. But the entries are great!

Cathy

Well, I did manage to make and bake a Solstice bread, in the middle of all the other baking over the last couple of days - only a day late! The best laid plans didn't quite work out though. I had thoughts of some fancy scoring or doing a loaf with a wrapped outer 'skin', with cuts opening up like the rays of the sun. I ended up just shaping it into a round on the bench and baking it seam side up (in a cast iron pot), hoping the natural burst would be sort of sun-like. It is, sort of. :)

I didn't have time to refresh my starter for a sourdough, so I made a 1-2-3 bread with 100 grams of durum poolish (100% hydration) for the starter. For ingredients I wanted a lovely sunny yellow, so settled on a hefty percentage of both whole durum flour and coarse cornmeal, along with add-ins like grated carrot, chopped dried mango (at least I think it's mango; found a small bag in the pantry) and, of course, sunflower seeds. Also a bit of powdered ginger, just because I thought it would fit. The colour is indeed pretty, and yellow. Texture is fairly close and very moist, though that's partly my fault for not waiting long enough to cut it and see the crumb. :) Haven't tasted it yet but it smells very nice, with the cornmeal coming through strongly. I suspect the amount of cornmeal was the other reason for the dense moist crumb.

Happy Sun-day! Sadly, the days get shorter now (at least in this hemisphere), but summer is here to stay for a while in our little bit of paradise here on Vancouver Island.

Wow, Lucy poured on the pressure, but look what you've made! It's a gorgeous, rustic sun, reminiscent of the stone henge stones. Awesome!

Please give a belly rub to Ms. Lucy for me, too.

Cathy

and the colour looks like being chipped out of wood with that amazing oven spring! I bet Lucy did find it difficult not to get her teeth into it and wanting to gnaw on it....ha, Ha....Kat

not so easy trying to post pictures.  More info about the bread on the other post but the pics are tiny. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/56475/slap-and-fold-and-save#comment-409860

Crumb:  maybe instead of a corn rye bread, it should be a ryely corn bread.  :). It's mostly corn 60% + sweet corn kernels.  I don't taste rye.  It also doesn't keep long and should be eaten within 3 days.

Finally managed to make my entry, it is a bit late too.

 I took two different yeasted recipes - Sweet orange rolls & chocolate rolls and made ropes of each, twisting together to be the summer solstice or the winter solstice as we have here in Southern hemisphere. 

Pre bake - not sure how this will turn out.  3 versions of twists! they aren't the prettiest I must admit, lol as I haven't made many like this and the 2 doughs were quite different to handle.

Fresh out of the oven

Afternoon tea - yum!  Chocolate fairly dominant and next time would try to increase the orange flavour. This is one of the Challah type twists.

Happy Solstice everyone

Leslie

ti was a risk with the two doughs but I was lucky I thought the orange part would over proof, but it turned out well in the end.

Leslie

Leslie, Oh, does this look tasty! You did a good job of working with two doughs - surprising how tricky it can be to work with doughs that have different textures and pliabilities. The twists show the best of both. Might be fun as individual rolls, too.

Enjoy!

Cathy

 

making buns with both doughs! maybe thin ropes twisted, cut then rounded? mmmmm...

thanks Cathy - a great challenge

Leslie

Those look so yummy, Leslie! I love the way the contrast shows up so strongly where the strands cross, with the golden orange dough glowing in the cracks as it were. Like cooling lava, or the surface of the sun. :)

Chocolate being dominant would not be a problem for me. What did you use for orange flavouring?

orange juice and orange zest.  Our oranges are about a month away from being sweet enough to eat so this may have affected the flavour a little, the juice was a little tart still ?

I love both orange and chocolate, my problem was finding a recipe for the chocolate part. This one needed minimum of 8 hours refrigeration so needed quite a bit of warming up to use.  I will try this again for sure.

thanks Lazy Loafer

Leslie

the zest of course adds a lot of flavour too so I could add a bit more plus concentrate the juice....

you know I was always scared of yeast baking, I grew up just using mostly baking powder so I am loving finding out how delicious sweet yeasted baking can be....  I am having to absolutely restrain myself from doing some more baking, there are other things around the place that need doing ☹️

thanks Wendy, happy baking

Leslie

ps what would adding orange licquer concentrate do to the flavour?

You two just gave me some ideas...  what about frozen juice concentrates, you know, the ones you add water to to make juice drinks?  Open and keep stored in the freezer while you spoon out to flavour the dough.  Not only orange, but lime, lemon and my favourite grape comes to mind.  Looking for a 3rd colour and flavour for a braid?

so sounds as if you put your hand up Wendy, lol. or mini? I am keen to see your interpretations.....    :) :)  while I think of combinations.

Leslie