I just made the mistake of checking the stats for my blog. Based on the number of page views I've had over the past week or so, I'm writing these posts for the pleasure of the ether, but I will persevere. I'm having a masochistic sort of fun with this project, and it means I get to eat yummy bread.
I felt a little less guilty with today's recipe than I did with the Frisian Sugar Bread last time. We actually don't eat a lot of bread, mostly just a piece of toast with breakfast, so English Muffin Bread seemed like a perfect choice for us.
(Oh, dear. I just went back to the table of contents in Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads to see how far along I am. Today's recipe is only #7 out of 300+. I may need to bake more often.)
This recipe was unusual for bread in that it is not kneaded at all. It also uses a bit of baking soda for leavening (in addition to yeast) that's not added until after the first hour's rising. It was supposed to be sticky enough to get bubbly during that first rising, but I think I made a mistake in adding all of the flour before I realized it was supposed to be sticky and able to be stirred rather than stiff like a typical dough. One of these days I'll learn to read all of the directions more carefully before I start.
I was able to stir in the 1/4 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 Tbsp water before putting it in the pans, and decent rising did happen, so perhaps not all is lost.
On a pointless side note, I wanted to know why these yummy creations perfect for making breakfast sandwiches are called English muffins. They do not resemble any other sort of muffin I've ever seen. According to Wikipedia, they did originate in the United Kingdom where they are called breakfast muffins. It still begs the question of "muffin", however. According to Clayton, this recipe came from a bakery on the Oregon coast.
As seems to be usual any more, I did not have exactly what I needed. This recipe was supposed to make two small (7.5 x 3.5") loaves, but I don't own pans that size. I improvised with one what was slightly bigger and two itty bitty ones that are about 5 x 3". Per normal, I decreased the recommended oven temperature by 50 degrees, and baked the larger pan for slightly less time than called for. The little pans only got half the baking time. The loaves all got a nice toasty brown, but they sure were moist where the dough touched the pan. Wet, even.
Oh, my. I sliced into one of the little loaves for the taste test. It has the bubble-filled texture typical of English muffins, but isn't nearly as dense. It's very good.
Now if only I can convince Thane to make eggs Benedict for breakfast tomorrow....
