Armenian bread not by Connie but this time by her husband Peter

Today is a very special day. I finally kept my promise to Connie to bake her a bread. As you all know, Connie is a great and skilled home baker and I am the lucky one to taste everything and having the most wonderful loafs for breakfast, lunch or with a soup for diner.

Because I am grateful for all she bakes for us I promised her to bake the bread I baked a very long time ago. It was the only bread I baked in my life, but it was delicious and I remember the taste of it even today.  At that time I baked it from a recipe I found in a book about herbs and spices. But the book is gone and I only knew the name of one special herb I needed; Common Rue. So first I searched on the WWW and found a very basic recipe. It was so very basic that Connie said you can’t bake bread with this recipe, there is so much missing and unclear. So she was so kind to change it into a good recipe.

But here in Thailand we can't find Common Rue. Two years ago we went to the Netherlands (it’s really on old promise) and I bought the Common Rue. But then it took me too long before I started. When I finally did, the Rue was all moist.

Last April we visited the Netherlands again, and again I bought Common Rue. And yesterday I started baking. The result matched my memory. It was delicious and beautiful and more important Connie was very happy. She was very surprised with the special taste of this bread. I won’t be baking much in the future, I like gardening more, but when I bake again it will be this Armenian Bread.

Connie asked me to send it to Zorra for Bread Baking Day#60. I'm very honored to do so and happy because it's the 6th anniversary. The theme is Glazed Bread. I think my bread is very glazed. Congratulations for all participants.

This is what I used:

Yields  1 delicious bread                  

                                                                            formula

Whole wheat flour, sifted              450 grams               100

Soymilk                                        300 ml                      22

Butter                                           50 grams                  3.5

Soy oil                                          8.3 grams                 2

Instant yeast                                  2.8 grams                 0.5

Brown sugar                                  0.3 teasp.

Water, lukewarm                           200 ml                      44

Salt                                              8 grams                      2

Sesame seeds                                1.5 tablesp.                              

Sunflower kernels                         1.5 tablesp.

For topping:

Egg                                             1

Walnuts, chopped                        1 tablesp.

Black peppercorns, chopped         1 tablesp.

Cumin seeds                                1 tablesp.

Common Rue, chopped                1.5 tablesp.

This is what I did (following Connie’s instructions):

Heat the soymilk with the butter and soy oil. Let it cool down until it is lukewarm.

Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, water and the soy milk mixture in the mixer for about 2 minutes (speed 1) until it’s consistent dough. Cover and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Then add the salt and mix again for about 3 minutes (speed 2). Next add the Sesame Seeds and Sunflower kernels and mix for 1 minute (speed 1).

At the end of all this mixing I asked Connie if it looked good. And it did, so I continued by placing the dough in a slightly oiled container, covered it and let rest for 45 minutes.

And it worked great. I took it out and gently (be gentle said Connie or else it will collapse) shaped it into loaf. Then I put it into a proofing basket for about 15 minutes.

In the meanwhile I preheated the oven to the max we got. I don’t know how much that is but I guess it’s around 230 degrees Celsius.

And I also prepared the topping by mixing everything in a bowl.

When I couldn’t wait any longer I took the proofed dough out of the basket and covered it with the topping and shoved it in the oven.

The first 10 minutes with steam followed by about 30 minutes without steam.

Then you still have to wait until the bread cools down. But finally after all this work and waiting you can enjoy one of the most delicious breads I know.  

Peter

I send this to Susan’s YeastSpotting and to Zorra for Bread Baking Day #60