Breads & Spreads

I took the Breads & Spreads seminar for my new experience because I've always loved cooking and baking, but I'd never worked with yeasted bread before this class. It's quite different from other types of cooking or baking because the yeast is a living organism - you have to feed it and make sure it rises properly. A lot of breadmaking is waiting for the dough to rise and understanding how to shift the recipe so that the dough is the right texture.

Each week was:
Week 1: Intro to Breadmaking
Week 2: Whole Wheat Bread & Jam (I made mango jam)
Week 3: Pita & Hummus
Week 4: Conchas & Mexican Hot Chocolate
Week 5: Focaccia & Tomato Sauce
Week 6: Babka
Week 7: Anadama Bread & Butter
Week 8: Choose your own (I made cinnamon rolls)

Each week we met and tried everyone's version of the bread that week. I made all my bread on Tuesday mornings right before the seminar (so it was fresh when I brought it in) - waking up at 5 or 6 AM so I had enough time to bake it from start to finish. It was a lot of work, but I really liked doing it and sharing my bread with all my friends. The cinnamon rolls were my favorite, but the conchas and babka were great sweet breads and the focaccia and pita were my favorite savory breads (the tomato sauce was the best spread by far!). Fresh bread is much better than store bought, and I'll definitely be making more breads in the future now that I've learned how!