Estonian Kringel

Pre-baking

I saw this beautiful masterpiece online and thought that I had to attempt making it. I didn't have all the ingredients, but I'm up for experimenting. I cannot take credit for this recipe. I adapted it from http://www.justlovecookin.com/2011/11/estonian-kringel.html which has a great and beautiful photo tutorial on how to braid the kringel. The directions are in Estonian and English, and I wonder if in the English version directions were left out. So I wrote my version of her directions with my alterations and insight about baking from books and working in the bakery in Chicago (Check out Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food).

Dough:
300 g flour (2 cups)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup lukewarm water (+2 tbsps water)*

1/4 cup plain yogurt
.25 oz active dry yeast
30 g melted butter (1/8 cup)
1 egg yolk
1/2 tbsp + 1/2 tbsp divided

Filling:
50 g melted butter (1/4 cup) + 1 tbsp divided
5 tbsp sugar
3 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg (this was a little too much, I suggest 1/2 tsp)

Directions:

Finished product. I need to work on the baking and braiding technique.

• Mix the yeast and 1/2 tbsp sugar with the lukewarm water and let it sit a few minutes while the yeast bubbles and foams up, about 5 minutes.
• Add the yogurt, egg yolk, and the melted butter to the yeast mixture and stir well.
• Mix together the flour and the salt, to the wet ingredients. (I had to add about 2 tbsp extra water at this time because it wasn't picking up all of the flour)* then knead the dough for about 5 minutes. 
• Shape it into a ball, and place the dough in a large, greased bowl. Cover and place in a warm space and let rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F**. Dust your work surface with flour, and roll the dough into a long rectangle to about the thickness of 1cm.
• The original recipe said to "Spread the melted butter across all of the dough, then sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture." Make sure to leave enough of the sugar mixture to sprinkle on top. By looking at the photos though it looks like she might have made a paste out of just softened butter, sugar and cinnamon. The next time I do it, I'd like to try to do it this way to see what happens. 
• Roll up the dough and using a knife, cut the log in half length-wise. I started with a serrated knife because I didn't want to mash the dough, but I changed to a sharp paring knife and took long cuts into the dough.
• Twist the two halves together, keeping the open layers exposed Check out this great photo tutorial (http://www.justlovecookin.com/2011/11/estonian-kringel.html). After braiding it put in a round and tuck in the edges. Transfer the prepared dough to a baking tray (buttered or covered with cookie sheet).
• Top the kringel with the remaining 1 tbsp butter and sprinkle some of the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg mixture on top. Bake for 10 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 350˚F for another 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is golden brown.
• I didn't do this, but you can "Top with icing sugar mixed with water if you want, just sprinkle some sugar, or eat it like this, because it’s delicious, i’m telling you ! :)"
• Eat warm and Enjoy!

**I did the sugar test to see if my oven ran hot or cold so this temp had to be changed for my oven since it runs about 25 degrees hot. To test your oven's temperature, heat your oven to 350˚ and put in about 1 tbsp sugar in an oven safe bowl or foil. Check the sugar in 15 minutes (even an hour) it should still be powdered. It might turn slightly brown but it's still a powder and shouldn't melt. If it does melt then it's calibrated too hot.  Next turn up you oven to 375˚ and place about 1 tbsp sugar in the oven again. In 15 minutes or so the sugar should melt. If it doesn't it's calibrated too cool.  Sugar melts at 367˚ and looks like glass. So it can give you a rough estimate of how your oven is calibrated. You can now change the oven temperature depending on your oven. An oven thermometer works as well, but I don't have one.

Sourdough Bread

I shadowed this wonderful women at Blackberry Farm about a month ago, and she let me take home some of their 10 year old starter. I brought the starter up to Cincinnati and baked some delicious bread with it!!! I didn't have a baking stone or a proofer. So instead we put it in the bathroom and made a hot bath that made the room hot and steamy. Perfect large proofer. We made two loaves and they worked out great! It's quite easy to make too!

It's based on a baker's Percentage. I made two 1 kg loaves which is the gram measurement. um um good!

Ingredient Percent Gram
Flour 100 940g
warm Water 70 658g
Salt 2.54 24g
Yeast .1 2g
stiff 40 376g
total 212.64 2Kg

Feeding: 25% starter
50% water
100% flour
*I've found that for me equal parts of everything works better

to make liquid start : equal parts flour and water
- feed couple times between converting from liquid to stiff and visa versa
- feed about every 8-12 hour outside and 1/per week in fridge

I realized I forgot to say how to actually make the bread...
Mix together dry ingredients. Then add stiff and gradually add water. Sometimes you'll use less water so just work with it. It'll take practice. Start kneeding bread for about 10 minutes until everything is worked together and the dough is very elastic and cohesive. Place dough into a greased bowl and cover loosely. Place in an area that is preferably 80 degrees F. Let rise for about 2 hours. Take out dough onto a table that is lightly floured. With fingers punch down bread. Form into a tight ball (for shaping you should read some books or articles about it). sprinkle flour on top and Let rise again for about an hour loosely covered with syran wrap and flat on the table. Then punch down again and mold into whatever shape you want boule, baguette, loaf, etc. Let rise another 45 minutes covered in a humid place. About 20 mins in start to preheat oven and place a metal pan in broiler and baking stone in the oven. Cut slits on top of bread with seratted knife and place on baking stone in preheated oven. Also put three icecubes in the pan so that it'll moisten the oven and set the bread crust. After about 35 minutes check the bread. It should be golden and the bottom should sound hollow when you tap it. Let it cool, and enjoy.