The Italian, the Buttery and the Healthy
That basically sums up the bread offerings this week of Pane Siciliano, Petit Brioche a Tete and Ginger Pear Bran Muffins.
The Pane Siciliano is by far one of the prettiest breads I make, with its ruddy textured crust in a gentle S-curve (and not the kind that is a danger to motorists). It takes 3 days to make and that’s not just work for work’s sake. There are not many ingredients to Pane Siciliano (well, more than in a baguette but more subtle ingredients than say, the Cranberry Walnut Loaf from last week). The extra time and care that goes into making the Pane Siciliano is to coax out every last ounce of flavor from the flour, both white and semolina, and yeast. You can make it in 2 days, but the flavor that comes forth when letting is rise in the refrigerator an extra night is remarkable. The semolina flour (almost 50% of the flour used in the Pane) brings out a sweetness to the bread and adds the distinctive yellowish hue to the crumb.
The Petit Brioche a Tetes (translated literally as Little Heads of Brioche) is a decadent buttery bread best enjoyed in moderation. Brioche can be shaped in multiple ways, as pan loafs, as just Brioche a Tete (1-2 pound tetes) and as these miniature muffin-sized nuggets of yumminess. They also can be made with varying the amount of butter included in the recipe; the recipes are arrayed on a spectrum from Rich Man’s Brioche to Poor Man’s Brioche. The selection this week would best be characterized as Middle Class Brioche, so you don’t need to run to the gym after eating it but you should probably get there after eating four of them.
The last selection is Ginger Pear Bran Muffins. These are one of my first attempts at healthy muffins, due to demand from subscribers. In general, I am of the opinion that one can indulge in something delicious even if it is not very good for you, as long as it is done in moderation. However, the challenge this week was to make a good healthy muffin that you could eat as many as you like without feeling guilty. This recipe calls for the pleasant pairing of pear and ginger, a delightful combination that I liked playing around with so much this week that I’m planning on canning these pears for spring when pears from this hemisphere are no where to be seen. So, instead of putting in overripe pears, as the recipe calls for I decided to heighten the ginger and pear flavors by poaching the pears in a ginger simple syrup before incorporating them into the dough. The rest of the recipe is fairly straightforward with the majority of the dough being composed of wheat and oat bran. No refined flour is used in this recipe, only 100% whole wheat flour. Yogurt is used in place of butter to lend softness, and honey is used in place of sugar for sweetness. I’d love to hear how people think this first real foray into healthy muffins went.
Just got this picture in from a subscriber of her son enjoying the Ginger Pair Bran Muffin. What a cutie!
