Cranberry Walnut Christmas Bread

Cranberry Walnut Christmas Bread.

This may well be the recipe 

that put me over the edge.

And it has nothing to do with the recipe.

Although I was fooled

thinking it would be a lovely, simple tea bread,

like banana, zucchini, etc.

It is not a typical tea bread.

It is a full fledged 

yeast bread.   

And a very nice one at that.

One that calls for biga

slumbering away in the frig for three full days.

Fine by me.

I forget a lot of things these days

so being instructed to purposely 

ignore ingredients was a reprieve

in the midst of holiday must do lists.

I could swear this recipe called for candied orange rind.

It's always a good sign to pull the bowl

out of the refrigerator and find bubbles.

Snipped biga in cranberry water

As the name suggests, there are cranberries in this bread,

dried not fresh, plumped in hot water.

The strained water is used to flavor and tint the dough.

Mixed together with the usual cast of bread characters:

regular and whole wheat flour, yeast, salt 

and the main characters, cranberries and walnuts,

it turned into a dense dough.

After a few warm risings,

it quickly transformed into a lovely mound.

The magic of yeast, like Drosselmeyer

waving his cape and the Nutcracker comes to life.

It is a fun dough to press and fold and slash into shape.

The aroma started to fill the cold, wintery house

with cozy warmth.

This bread surprised me.

I didn't think I would like it.

It is delicious.

I still have no idea what recipe I read

that made me think it called for 

candied orange rind and zest

to soak with the cranberries.

Which makes me wonder if

I've taken to having baking hallucinations?

Sounds good though.

~

The Baking Bible

by

Rose Levy Beranbaum