Cranberry Walnut Celebration Bread

Cranberry Walnut Celebration Bread

 

Week #11 in the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge is  Cranberry Walnut Celebration Bread. I must admit I was so excited to be moving on from last week’s Cornbread!

So that you’re not kept in suspense any longer I DIDN’T like it! I know, I had high hopes with the addition of sugar & who can resist bacon. But alas, nope, didn’t care for it. So most of it went to dear Bella (our dog!). She of course was ever so grateful & I was grateful to dispose of it. The ultimate cornbread (sweet SWEET sweet of course) recipe still eludes me. Sigh! Sorry Peter. It’s not you, it’s me LOL!

Well I’m happy to say that I was excited about this bread. It’s sweet after all (ha ha) & only a 1 day task! Woo hoo! And I really have enjoyed all the other braided breads…Challah which you know is in my top three so far and who can forget Artos. Both of those however were only single braids. This recipe called for a double braid. Yikes! I was in uncharted territory here. The double braid did intimidate me, why I feel like I was just getting the hang of the single braid. But nevertheless, I pushed ahead with the help of Marta (who had been given the week off last week & was raring to get her hook back into things again).

It was fairly painless until I got to the rolling portion. We were to roll out 6 strands, 1 set being larger than the other. I got my scale out, cut & measured my pieces & was ready to roll. Well have you ever tried to roll out dough that was full of dried berries & nuts? NOT SO EASY! Berries & nuts were flying all over my counter. I was trying to push them back in as fast as they were coming out. I lost that battle. I rolled them out as best I could & braided them. Once it was braided I shoved as many of them back in as possible. Whew!

This bread really rose to the occasion. She puffed up all proudly & came out of the oven with a lovely tan! Beautiful bread! Will of course be making French Toast out of this one as well! You know I wouldn’t be able to resist, didn’t you!

Here are the step by steps: (Remember if I can bake bread, you can too!)

Dry Ingriedients: King Arthur Flour, Yeast, Salt & Sugar
Wet Ingredients: Orange Extract, Eggs, Milk & Melted Butter added to Dry Ingredients

Look at Marta whipping up that dough

Adding in the Craisins

Marta whipping them into the dough

All braided (all that braiding of Miss Priss’ hair finally is coming in handy)

Ta da, my first double braid 🙂 Not too shabby if I say so myself.

And fresh of out of the oven with a lovely golden summer tan!

Yes, it was as good as it looks.

Here’s the overhead shot where I almost fell off the chair! You see what I go through for you 🙂 LOL

Sneak peak: Next week’s challenge: English Muffins!