100% Whole Wheat Bread

I have always been wanting to make a 100% whole wheat bread. All the recipes I have made till now included some part of 'All purpose flour' or 'maida'. Now, I have always wanted to make a bread with only 'whole wheat flour' or 'atta'. Every time I tried to increase the proportion of whole wheat flour, the bread would either be too dense or would not rise enough. This time, after researching using ebooks from Tanima and going over some recipes online, I decided to go with this particular recipe.

Actually, we used the recipe only for the feel. The conclusion we came to while making this bread was that making bread is actually a 'feel' thing. With experience you get the feel for the dough (which is by far the most important aspect of bread making).

Ingredients (to make 1 loaf in a 10"x4.5" tin)

• 3 Cups of warm water (the original recipe asked for 1 1/2 cups but the dough was not hydrated enough)
• 1/6 cup Olive Oil
• 1/6 cup Honey / Molasses (The recipe asked for molasses, I had it so i used it, if not you can use honey).
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 Cups Whole wheat flour (we used Ashirwad atta; why I mention this is because, we have come to the conclusion that every atta / flour has different capacity to absorb water)
• 1 tbsp active dried yeast

Method

• Proof 1 tablespoons of Dry Active Yeast in 1 cup of warm water with a tsp of sugar / honey.
• Then mix the first four ingredients in the bowl (2 cups of warm water, olive oil, honey / molasses, salt)
• Add: 1 Cups Whole Wheat Flour, add the yeast after it has been activated,
• Mix well till the consistency is somewhat even. 
• Then continue to slowly add rest of the flour, 1/2 Cup at a time until the dough quits sticking to the sides of the bowl. It should be tacky to the touch. The trick is to have enough consistency to stand up with the least amount of flour so the bread will be fluffy. Don't over mix or the bread will be tough.
• When your dough is finished, Cover the bowl and let it rise for about 30-45 minutes in a drought free place. The dough will be larger but it doesn't need to double.
• Mix again just enough to knock it down at least close to the original size.
•  Drop the dough on a floured surface so you can work the dough and shape it. Roll it in the flour and shape it in your hands to make a nice ball getting enough flour on it so it isn't sticky. Shape the loaf by turning the dough under it's self over and over. When the dough is shaped right the sides and ends will be sealed and all you will see is a nice oblong shaped loaf with smooth sides and top.
• Grease the bread tin. Drop the loaves in your bread pan and let them rise until almost doubled. You can top it with some oats,sesame seeds or other whole grains that you like. I had also used flax seeds.
• Pre-heat the oven to 200deg C. Then bake the bread for 35-40 min at 180 deg C.
• To get a nice crust, I keep a shallow tin in the oven and either put 3-4 ice cubes  or 1/4 cup boiling water to steam up the oven (twice during the baking cycle, ensuring that the door is open for least time). 
• When done turn the bread out of the pan to a rack to cool. To check if the bread is done, take it out and tap the top of the bread, it should sound hollow.

This is a work in progress guys... we look forward to improving this recipe, will keep updating, until then, happy baking

Eggless Chocolate Cup Cakes

It was Rakhi's farewell get together and a pot luck. I decided to make cup cakes. Now Rakhi being a pure veg... the sort of vegetarian who does not eat cakes if it has eggs. I am not too fond of making cakes without eggs, as they have normally come out dense and not as fluffy and airy as the ones with eggs. But then the pot of luck was for Rakhi and I decided to risk an egg-less cake!! And wonder of wonders, it turned out great. So here goes -

My platter of cup cakes

Ingredients (for the Cake) Makes 16 cup cakes

• 1 Tsp instant coffee
• 70 g sugar
• 200 ml fresh milk
• 80 g semi-sweet chocolate
• 80 g butter
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 100 ml fresh curd
• 150 g flour (maida)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Method
Heat up the milk, add the sugar and instant coffee till it dissolves. Take off the flame and before it cools completely add semi sweet chocolate and butter.
 Sift the flour a couple of times, as it gives a good air to the cake.
Once it cools entirely, add beaten curd, vanilla essence and the sifted flour (add the flour in 2-3 stages) along with the baking powder and baking soda. I use my hand held mixer for mixing.

Pre-heat your oven to 180 deg C.
Pour the dough into the cup cake moulds.
Bake at 180 deg C for 12 minutes (till the tops are just springy to touch). Leave in the hot oven (switched off) for another couple of minutes before taking them out and de-moulding them. Enjoy as they are or with icing.

For icing, cool the cakes on a rack before you start.

This is a generic icing which can be used anytime. It is a choco lovers delight. I sourced it from Nigella Lawsons Devils food cake recipe.

Ingredients (for icing)

• 125 ml water
• 30 gms brown sugar
• 175 gms unsalted butter (i used regular amul butter, and it wasnt bad)
• 300 gms  dark chocolate (finely chopped) 

Method

Put the water,  sugar and butter in a pan over a low heat to melt.
When this mixture begins to bubble, take the pan off the heat and add the chopped chocolate, swirling the pan so that all the chocolate is hit with heat, then leave for a minute to melt before whisking till smooth and glossy. At this point the mixture will seem very runny but rest assured, it will thicken as it cools.
Leave for about 1 hour, whisking now and again.
Use this icing to top off the cup cakes. 

with candied flowers

Top up with sprinkles (if you have some)
Enjoy....