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Jan 1, 2015

Countdown to 2015: Ten of my Favorite Breads from 2014

A Round Up of Some of my Favorite Breads from Karen's Kitchen Stories

I'm bread obsessed. I love the process, I love learning new techniques, and I love the rhythm of it. If I'm not baking bread, I'm probably reading a book about bread.

I tried counting the number of loaves I made in 2014, but lost count. Let's just say I made dozens of loaves, rolls, and pizzas.

These 10 breads represent different flavors, techniques, and challenges:
  1. Couronne - This bread involves creating a starter from leftover dough from another bread, and plunging your elbow into the middle of the dough to create the hole in the middle. 
  2. Pretzel Croissants - First you make croissant dough, and then you dip the croissants into a vat of soda water before baking them. 
  3. Rosemary Sourdough Bread - This bread takes a couple of days to make, mostly idle time. When this bread is baking, your house smells amazing, and the resulting loaves will make you very happy.
  4. Stirato - these are Italian baguettes. They are so easy to make, and require no kneading at all. 
  5. Banh Mi Rolls - These are the rolls used to make those amazing Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwiches
  6. Ciabatta with Biga - Biga is a preferment that you make in advance to develop flavor. This dough is totally made by hand and the resulting bread is full of those fabulous holes you strive for in ciabatta. 
  7. Apple and Ham Pizza - This pizza dough can be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake your pie. 
  8. Classic French Bread - I always struggle with baguettes. These turned out pretty well!
  9. Strawberry Danish - These are made with croissant dough. You will want to eat them all.
  10. White Flour Warm Spot Levain - This is called "Warm Spot Levain" because the starter is fed three times in a short period of time, and then allowed to ferment in an 85 degree environment. The resulting bread is super crusty with a soft and moist interior. 
This year, (or should I say last year?) Sarah of Fantastical Sharing of Recipes and Secret Recipe Club is hosting a round up some of the best recipes of 2014. The theme for today is "Pick your Poison," so of course I chose bread! Visit Sarah's blog to see what other bloggers have contributed to this Best of 2014 round up.

Would you like to comment?

  1. What a great idea, to pick the best 10 breads of the year! You are such a talented baker, Karen!

    you've been constantly inspiring me - I finally made a loaf of the warm spot sourdough that pleased me enough to blog about. At some point I'll get there. I don't bake nearly as often as you, but enjoy the process whenever it happens.

    looking forward to another year of your bread beauties!

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    1. Oh thank you Sally! Have you posted it yet? Fortunately, my husband has the metabolism of a hummingbird, and helps finish all of this stuff off.

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  2. What a fantastic lineup! I really like the look of your couronne - it reminds me of the double couronne I made years ago (two rings intertwined). But the bread I made didn't have the fantastic looking crust that yours had. No wonder it's at the top of your list!

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    1. I need to see the intertwined couronne you you made!

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