did i mention the cookies?

Tomorrow is the beginning of my second term of pastry classes. This term I will be bringing you tastes of creams, mousses, meringues and sauces, along with a venture into the world of culinary art. A mix of sweet and savory - what could be better? And I'll learn how to keep clean while doing it all in my safety and sanitation class on Friday evenings. Perhaps there will be a lesson on how to use sharp utensils and not lose any appendages as well...

Before I get all sauced up in the new term, however, I wanted to share another bread baking experience that I had during the holidays. As you all know, in exactly seven months from today, I will be marrying my wonderful fiancé Greg. Over the holidays, I was able to spend a few days in Raleigh, NC, visiting my future in-laws and eating lots of delicious food and cookies. We're talking serious amounts of cookies here, people. A never-ending plate of over ten varieties of cookies. How I did not gain twenty pounds is beyond me.

In between bites of cookies, I learned how to make the infamous "Easter bread" with Greg's mom. I had never made a cinnamon raisin swirl bread before, so I was excited to see how it was done. (Plus, now I won't have to pay $4.00 for the Pepperidge Farm version at the grocery store.) This bread is made in a similar way to Stollen, although the end product is obviously quite different. We started out by melting ingredients and adding in potatoes. Tasty tip: instant potatoes work just fine for potato bread sponges. Spend the extra time eating more cookies.

Next, we moved things to the mixer - a Kitchen Aid mixer this time.

Being a pastry chef in training, I was eager to finish the mixing by kneading the dough on the counter, even though it's not really necessary because of the Kitchen Aid mixer's skills. I kneaded the dough for several minutes and didn't use all of the flour that the recipe called for. Greg's mom wasn't so sure this was a great idea, but I assured her that we didn't need it. Here's the leftover flour as evidence.

Lucky for me, the bread rose nicely during fermentation. So instead of eating my words, I ate more cookies.

After splitting the dough in half, we rolled it out on the floured countertop...

sprinkled it with tons of cinnamon and sugar...

ate a few more cookies...

oops, I mean - and then rolled it up before sticking it in a loaf pan.

Looks like a tiny loaf of bread, huh? That's why Step Nine is an important step in the baking process.

An hour later and these babies are buttered and ready to go into the oven. When smells of cinnamon raisin bread filled the house, my only thought was "How am I going to get these back to Indianapolis?"

While I managed to get them back home, they weren't in exactly the same shape as when they entered my suitcase. But I love bread so much that a semi-smashed loaf isn't enough to kill my yeast. Slice it, toast it, butter it up and I'm one happy gal. Plus, I had a great time baking with my future mom-in-law.

I'll leave you with some tasty trivia: does anyone recall what Step Nine is in the bread baking process? (Hint: I listed them in one of my first posts.) The first person with the correct answer gets a shipment of  leftover Christmas cookies.