Bake Off with the Bake Off 2015 - Week 3 - Bread!

The much anticipated Bread Week! I had a lot to live up to this time around after last year's Red Pesto Tear and Share bread with baked Camembert. Was I up to the challenge?

Week 3 - Bread Week!
The Challenge
Show Stopper! 3 different types of bread to make a 3D bread sculpture.

I think I can go on record here to say that I was terrified of this challenge, excited, don't get me wrong, but also terrified. I had less than a week to plan and then bake this mammoth of a task. I had to choose something to base this sculpture on and I needed to explain my choice. This was going to be a difficult week.

Here goes:

The Idea
A Ferris Wheel

I needed to ensure that I selected 3 types of bread that not only could be manipulated into the shapes that I wanted, but also they had to be strong enough to hold it all up. I chose to make a Rosemary and Thyme White Braided Bread for the Wheel. Baguettes for the Structure and a take on Chelsea Buns for the Carriages.

The Ingredients
Rosemary and Thyme White Braided Bread
750g Strong White Flour
1 and 1/2 tsp Fast Active Dried Yeast
3 tsp Salt
15oz Water
1 and 1/2 tsp Rosemary
1 and 1/2 tsp Thyme

My Take on Chelsea Buns
500g Strong White Flour
1 tsp Salt
7g  Fast Active Dried Yeast
300ml Milk
40g Unsalted Butter
1 Egg
Vegetable Oil
For the Filling
25g Unsalted Butter
3oz Soft Brown Sugar
2 tsp Cinnamon
150g Chopped Chocolate
For the Glaze
2 tbsp Milk
2 tbsp Caster Sugar

Baguettes
750g Strong White Bread Flour
15g Salt
15g Fast Action Dried Yeast
6 tbsp Olive Oil
540ml Cool Water

I had a lot to do and only a Saturday in which to do it! I will write up each bread at a time, but for a challenge like this, I was kneading whist another bread was proving, I was baking whilst another bread was cooling, I was mixing whilst another bread was on it's second prove. This challenge was all about time management!

I started off with the Braided Wheel. I weighed out the flour in a big bowl and added the salt to one side and yeast to the other. I then added the Rosemary and Thyme and poured in the water a bit at a time and kept mixing

Once it was incorporated, I turned out the dough onto a floured surface and kneaded for 5 minutes

I then left it to prove for an hour in the bowl with cling film over the top

I knocked it back and separated a small amount of dough that I needed for the middle spokes, I then split the remaining dough into 4 and rolled them out into long strands ready to braid

I had to be careful not to tangle the ends during the braiding process, so I took it at a slow and steady pace, I really wanted to keep a nice neat pattern all the way around to mirror the metal framework of a Ferris Wheel

Finally I was finished braiding! I snipped off the ends placed the edges together to form the ring

I then added the spokes and the middle circle for structure and to illustrate the wheel. I then left it to prove for a further 45 minutes

I then baked it 180C for 30 minutes

Part 1 of 3 thankfully complete, on with the next

I decided to do the Baguettes next, reading through the recipe they would take the longest to prove, so I planned to be doing things in between the gaps

Due to this mixture being fairly wet, I used my food mixer with the dough hook for this one. I added the Flour, Salt, Yeast (keeping them far away from each other) and Olive Oil into the mixer, along with part of the water. I then kept adding the water gradually whilst mixing on a slow speed. I turned up the speed to medium and let it knead for 10 minutes until the dough was a little elastic. I then placed the dough into a plastic container and left to prove for 2 hours

Once the 2 hours were up, I knocked the dough back and began working on the shaping

The dough still seemed a little wet at this stage, but I had come to far now, so I carried on. I shaped two triangles and left them to prove for another hour. I then cut slits into each side and dusted with flour

I preheated the oven to just over 200C, along with a baking tray. I placed the two triangles into the oven, along with some water for the hot baking tray to create a steam to allow the bread to crisp nicely and provide the strength needed for the base of the wheel. They baked for 30 minutes, then the temperature was reduced to 180C for the last 10 minutes.

Relieved that another bread was down and I had just 1 more to go, I was starting to feel the tiredness creeping in at this point. I had a challenge to do and I would finish it, Part 2 of 3 done, so on with the next!

Finally I made My Take on Chelsea Buns. I have to point out here that I could have made Chelsea Buns in the usual way, but neither Gav or myself like dried fruit in bread (or cakes or scones for that matter, we just feel that they have no place there), so I substituted the dried fruit for Chocolate.

In a large bowl, I sifted the flour and salt and added the yeast to one side. I warmed the milk and the butter, until it had melted and slowly added it, along with the egg, to the dried ingredients. This formed a soft dough. I then kneaded the dough on a well floured work surface until the dough lost it's stickiness and became smooth.

I placed it back into the bowl and covered for an hour to prove. Once it had doubled in size, I knocked it back and rolled out into a long rectangle. Here I actually split the dough in two in order to create smaller buns. 

I melted the butter and brushed it over the dough, I then sprinkled the brown flour over the top and added the cinnamon. The chocolate was chopped up into small chunks and scattered over the top. I then rolled up the dough lengthways, keeping it nice and tight.

I cut off the ends and cut the long roll into small buns. I then covered them with a tea towel and left them to prove for another 30 minutes.

They were then baked at 190C for 20 minutes. Shortly before they were ready, I prepared the glaze by heating the milk and the caster sugar in a saucepan, brought it to the boil and simmered for 2 minutes. When the buns were ready, I immediately brushed them with the glaze and left them to cool.

Once everything was cooled, I then pinned together my Ferris Wheel using cocktail sticks

Some of you will be able to guess my inspiration behind the Ferris Wheel, for those of you who cannot, it was based on the London Eye, where Gav proposed at the very top, just last year. Ferris Wheels will always be very close to our hearts.

Although I was happy with the results, it did not quite stand up by itself, it just was not strong enough in the middle to hold it. The baguettes kind of turned out a little like Ciabatta instead, but they were still sturdy enough, the weakness was the centre of the wheel - which in hindsight perhaps should have been a solid circle with braiding on the top, but then perhaps it would have lost a little something in the way it looked doing it that way. The breads were tasty, the Chelsea Buns went down a storm in particular! I managed to bag myself 4 out of 5 for this monstrosity of a challenge.