Seeded Corn and Onion Bubble Loaf - National Festival of Breads

     "And the winner is...." After a full day of baking, tasting, hearing baking presentations, viewing exhibits, and other activities that made the National Festival of Breads a spectacular event, it was time to announce the winner at the awards dinner. We all held our breath, which would be the winning entry? They all seemed exceptionally good this year. When the bread box was opened, it was Ronna Farley's Seeded Corn and Onion Bubble Loaf.

     Ronna was a second time finalist at the contest. Her entry then was Crunchy-Topped Coconut Almond Bread. Ronna is from Rockville, Maryland and besides baking, she also works as a cashier at a grocery store. Here she gets inspiration for recipes by seeing what people are buying and thinking of how to include it in her baking. Her family's love of corn pudding sparked the idea for this recipe.(http://nationalfestivalofbreads.com/recipes/crunchy-topped-coconut-almond-bread).

    The Kansas Corn Commission was a new sponsor for the National Festival of Breads this year and several recipes rose to that challenge with a corn ingredient in their entry. I've made the 3 recipes of the contest which include corn and it adds a good flavor and texture to the breads.
 

SEEDED CORN AND ONION BUBBLE LOAF  (25 servings)   

Ronna's just baked entry

Ingredients:

¼ cup milk    

1 (1 ¼ oz) package Red Star Platinum Superior Baking yeast

½ cup unsalted butter

¾ cup finely diced yellow onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup cream0style sweet corn

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs, divided

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, divided

1 tablespoon black sesame seeds, divided

2 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour, plus extra for kneading

2 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour

¾ cup frozen sweet corn kernels, thawed

1 tablespoon water

Directions:

1.     Heat milk until it reaches 110°-115° F. Stir in yeast and wait 5-10 minutes for mixture to foam (proof).

2.     Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir 2 minutes.

3.     In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle, combine skillet mixture, cream-style sweet corn, sugar, 2 eggs, salt, black pepper, 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, and 2 teaspoons black sesame seeds. Exchange paddle for dough hook. Stir in white whole wheat flour, bread flour, and yeast mixture, mix on low speed to blend ingredients.

4.     Knead dough until smooth and elastic, 8 minutes. If needed, add in additional white whole wheat flour, if dough is very sticky. Stir in thawed corn; mix on low speed 1-2 mintus or until incorporated in dough.

5.     Place dough in greased bowl. Cover; let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Generously grease a 12-cup (10-inch) Bundt pan.

6.     Deflate dough. Cut into 25 even pieces. Using lightly floured hands, shape dough into uniform rolls, layer in pan rounded sides up. Cover, let rise until doubled, 40-50 minutes.

My dough balls weren't as even. Ronna scaled (weighed)
each of hers to be sure they were the same size. 

7.     Near the end of the rise, preheat oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, beat remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush on dough, sprinkle with remaining seeds.

8.     Bake 40-50 minutes or until golden brown. Tent the bread with foil after 25 minutes. The bread is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted registers about 200°F. Cool in pan on rack 10 minutes; loosen edges of bread with knife and transfer to rack to cool.

Out of the oven - it has a lovely brown color. 

And it came out of the pan intact!

          Notes from my baking experience with this recipe: This is a soft and slightly sticky dough. But that is what makes a nice moist product. I couldn't get to the stage where the dough would form a ball around the dough hook and clean the sides of the bowl without adding a lot of flour. So I took the dough out and did the final kneading by hand, adding just a bit more flour. It is a wet dough to shape. 
          Our family enjoyed the Bubble Loaf with an early 4th of July lunch at my son's house. The menu of beef kabobs, pasta salad, and corn on the cob went well with this bread. We sliced the bread like a cake, the dough balls bake together making a solid loaf, not a bubble bread like the K-State Crown. 

Besides kabobs, veggies, corn and salad we also had stuffed mushrooms
as an appetizer. Little hands (and big ones too) can hardly wait
to start eating! 

The chef does beef well. 

Fruit pizza - a slice of watermelon spread with cream cheese/brown sugar
and topped with sliced strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, chocolate
chips and toasted shredded coconut. Just right. 

4th of July Ice Cream

Nothing means summer like homemade ice cream. In our family it doesn't even have to be summer to get out the freezer. Homemade ice cream is a tradition from my husband's childhood. We have upgraded to an electric freezer however, and he can keep his stories of hand cranking the second freezer full while his brothers enjoyed the first freezer's goodness.
Another change we've made is an important one for food safety. Cook the eggs! Because of the risk of salmonella, eggs should not be consumed raw in any food - ice cream, cookie dough, eggnog, or anything else. Salmonella can be very serious, and even life threatening to to infants, older people, pregnant women, and people with a weakened immune system. Definitely not worth the risk! Eggs have an important role in ice cream, making it creamier and richer. So, just cook the ice cream mixture.
Fat is also important, even when we're trying to cut back on calories and fat. Fat freezes differently than water and helps the ice cream from becoming ice-cube-hard. So don't try skimping and using skim milk. Our favorite ice cream shop is the K-State Call Hall Dairy Department. Besides cones and dishes and malts, you can also by half-gallons of ice cream there. That ice cream has such a high butterfat content that you can take it right out of the freezer and scoop up a serving. Reduce your calories and fat intake by eating smaller portions.
Here's a good recipe for an easy to prepare, and tasty, ice cream for your 4th of July.

4th of July Ice Cream


4 cups whole milk


2 cups sugar


6 eggs


3 Tablespoons flour


dash of salt


2-3 teaspoons vanilla extract


1/2 teaspoon lemon extract


4 cups half and half

Heat the milk and sugar over medium heat. Beat the eggs in a medium size bowl until thick. Slowly add the warm milk mixture to the eggs, add enough milk so the bowl feels warm to the touch. Return the rest of the milk mixture to the heat. Add 3 tablespoons flour, dash of salt. Whisk in the eggs, whisking and heating until the mixture is thick (I put a thermometer into the liquid until it reaches 160 degrees.) When the mixture is thickened, remove from heat. Cool. Add 2-3 teaspoons of vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract. Refrigerate until cold, or overnight. Add 4 cups half and half. Stir. Pour into the ice cream maker and follow the manufacturers instructions for freezing. For a creamier ice cream use whole cream instead of half and half. 

From Karen Blakeslee

K-State Extension Food, Nutrition, Dietetics and Health

Happy Independence Day from our family