Farmhouse Bread with Cardamom By Picky's mama, Kathleen

Kate's been asking me to post, so here is one of my favorite breads.  I almost always braid it as shown in BAKING BREAD Old and New Traditions by Beth Hensperger and my kids have grown to expect it that way.  Our Jewish friends know it as their Christian friend's challah as I have made it for them on Jewish holidays and other occasions.

As I was making it this week, I substituted a couple cups of whole wheat flour (a bit healthier) and then forgot to add the cup of sugar (almost a healthy carb But a mistake).  I have stopped measuring the flour that I add and go by feel of the dough so the bread turned out beautifully.  However, it is very hard to hide the changes that I made to "picky" children.  On the first bite, possibly even the smell alerted Kate that this was not the same bread.  It was still good - just very different.  We ate one loaf with the Spaghetti and Meatballs that Kate blogged about earlier this week.  We made french toast with the left overs, plan to make bread pudding with what's left of the second loaf and 2 loaves are in the freezer. Next round I will cut the sugar but not eliminate it.

Yield: Four 9‐by‐5‐inch loaves

4 cups boiling water 

1 2/3 cups instant nonfat dried milk (I always use real milk - 4 cups scalded)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter (add to hot milk to melt)

1 tablespoon salt 

1 cup sugar 

2 tablespoons (2 packages) active dry yeast 

Pinch sugar  (I use honey)

1/2 cup warm water (105o to 115o) 

10 dried cardamom pods (I buy seeds so a tbls. and crush them and add to warm milk) **

About 12 cups unbleached all‐purpose or bread flour 

Rich Egg Glaze (1 egg and splash of milk or cream)

1. In a very large bowl, combine the hot water, dried milk, butter, salt and sugar with a whisk. Stir until the butter melts and let stand at room temperature until lukewarm, about 20 minutes.

2. In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast and pinch of sugar over the warm water. Stir to dissolve and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods and crush with a rolling pin on a piece of waxed paper. Set aside.

3. Add 4 cups of the flour, cardamom seeds, and yeast mixture to the milk and butter mixture. Beat hard with a whisk for 2 minutes, or until smooth and creamy. Switch to a wooden spoon and add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time to form a soft, shaggy dough that clears the sides of the bowl.

4. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until the dough is smooth and resilient to the touch but not dry, 5 to 8 minutes, adding the flour 1 tablespoon at a time as necessary to prevent sticking. Place the dough in a greased deep container, turn once to coat the top, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1‐1/2 hours.

5. Turn the dough out onto the work surface and divide into 4 equal portions. Shape into rectangular loaves and place in 4 greased 9‐by‐5‐inch loaf pans. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise again at room temperature until 1 inch above the rim of the pans, about 40 minutes. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350o.

6. With a serrated knife, score the tops decoratively not more than 1/4 inch deep and brush with egg glaze. Bake in the center of the preheated oven until browned and hollow sounding when tapped, about 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from the pans immediately to cool on racks.

** I once bought Black cardamom pods-it is not the same.  I have made this probably 20 times with seeds my mother-in-law purchased 15 years ago for me.  I ran out and first made the mistake of buying Black which tasted completely different. I then bought a small quantity from the spice guy at Findley Market who sold me .04 lbs (likely 4 batches of the above recipe) @ $242.69/lb.  So the spice per loaf of bread cost 61 cents or $2.40 per batch.  If you are just trying this you may want to buy a TBLS or so.  I will likely find a less expense vendor to buy a larger quantity as it keeps well.  I have never bought the ground variety at the supermarket so I can't comment on it.