Have you tried making Finnish Pulla yet? Are you still petrified of yeast? Well, let’s take a step back in bread baking. Let’s make some classic pizza dough.

This recipe is adapted only slightly from the one we used at baking school. It’s from one of our textbooks, so when using this recipe, imagine that you’re wearing an ill-fitted chef’s jacket, black checkered pants, long apron, and a hat that makes you look ridiculous. Everything you’re wearing is too big. This is because during your uniform fitting, you were told you’d put on weight at baking school – an average of 10 pounds – and they insisted that you leave ample growing room. So, when you lose 15 pounds in the first month (due to freaking out), the costume is 25 pounds too big for the remainder of the year.

Here’s the thing with culinary school textbooks: they give no procedure – nothing very helpful anyway. Because it is assumed that culinary students are freakin’ geniuses and have been paying attention in theory class. Seems risky, if you ask me, but I guess that’s why I don’t write textbooks. So, I’ve added notes for you. Some tips to help you along the way. Also, Italian seasoning. Because it’s awesome. Know that this recipe is very easy to make, and if you’ve been fearing the Yeast Beast, this is a great way to get your feet wet.

This is a classic pizza dough – not a thin crust. It will get poofy and soft as it bakes, and if you allow the bottom and edges to brown properly, you’ll get a little crunch with your bite. I think you’ll enjoy the crust as much as your chosen toppings. A crust should shine, am I right?

You can make two smallish pizzas (10 inches each) with this recipe, or one large pizza. Heck, you could make a bunch of mini pizzas if you like. If you have a pizza stone, bake your pizza pie on that. Or use whatever baking sheets you have. If your baking sheets are dark (rather than shiny silver), the bottom of the crust will brown a little better, so if you’ve got a choice, I’d go with the darker.

This recipe, for the most part, is given in weights. So yes, you’ll need that kitchen scale now, and a liquid measuring cup. When scaling your ingredients, don’t switch back and forth between metric and imperial, okay? It won’t work. I think metric is easier, so I listed those measurements first. Either way, pick one, and scale all of your ingredients accordingly. That’s, like, lesson one at baking school. That, and: don’t get sucked into that big piece of machinery.

During the first round of testing, when I asked 2.0 to describe this crust for you, he mumbled the word beautiful, and then refused to speak as he scarfed down another slice. Need I say more?

. . .

Classic Pizza Dough

recipe: adapted from On Baking, A Textbook of Baking & Pastry Fundamentals

print and make

Yields roughly 2 smallish (10-inch) pizzas, or one large pizza.

• 420 grams (14 oz.) bread flour
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 12 grams (0.4 oz.) active dry yeast
• 60 ml. (2 fl. oz.) water, hot (32°C/90°F)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 30 ml (1 fl. oz.) olive oil
• 20 grams (0.75 oz.) honey
• 180 ml. (6 fl. oz.) water, cool

Mise en place – start by getting organized. Read through the entire recipe before beginning. Measure out all of your ingredients. When scaling your ingredients, do all in metric (grams, ml.) or all imperial (oz) – don’t switch back and forth. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can make this recipe entirely by hand. Pizzas can be baked on pizza stones or regular baking sheets. Dark baking sheets will brown the bottom of the pizza more quickly and effectively than silver sheets, so if you have a choice, I’d opt for the darker.

Line two pizza pans with parchment paper – one if making a large pizza.

Whisk together the bread flour and Italian seasoning. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the bread hook, sprinkle the dry active yeast over the 60 ml. water and whisk to dissolve. The temperature of water should be 90°F/32°C – be sure to take the temperature once the water is in your bowl in case it lowers the temp of the water.

Add the flour mixture – no need to mix. Then add the salt, olive oil and honey and cool water. Mix on low speed until somewhat smooth and elastic, and the dough cleans the sides of the bowl – 2-3 minutes. It will be raggedy at first, but will come together form a sticky dough.

Remove the dough from the mixer and knead by hand for a few minutes on a lightly floured surface until smooth and silky. The dough will feel soft and elastic, and no longer be sticky.

Shape into a roundish ball, and place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and then turn/flip the dough to ensure the top of the dough ball is also lightly greased. Cover tightly with saran wrap and a clean dish towel. Allow the dough to proof in a warm spot until approximately doubled in size – about 30 minutes or more.

Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C.

Punch down the dough and divide into two equal portions (if making two pizzas). Roll out the portions of dough on a lightly floured surface, shaping each into a 10 inch circle (about 1/4 inch thick), and place on the parchment lined baking sheets. Reshape with fingers if necessary, spreading and pressing the dough to desired shape and even thickness.

Top as desired, leaving about 1/2 to 3/4 inch space at the edges so the toppings don’t overflow during baking.

Bake for about 9-13 minutes, until the top of the crust is golden brown and poofed up. Use a spatula to gently lift a portion of the pizza from the pan – the bottom should be lightly browned.

If your oven is small, and you’re making two pizzas, your pizzas might not fit on the same rack. In order to ensure both the top and bottom of the pizza get browned, you can:

• bake one at a time (i.e. prep one of the pizzas and while it’s baking, prep the second pizza), or
• bake at the same time, rotating pizzas from rack to rack at least once so each pizza is exposed to both the top and bottom elements of the oven

We’re going to make Finnish Pulla! Though I’m not Finnish, so I should probably call it Finnish-ish Pulla so the people of Finland won’t complain that I’m doing something inauthentic. And yes, I’m assuming I have a fan-base in Finland.

Mr. Kallio told me about this bread. Actually, he hosted a wild holiday party for us (there were at least four of us raising the roof) and let me taste the pulla his grandmother makes for him. That should be an indication of the sort of party we’re talking about here. WE ATE TOAST. Anyhoo, Mr. Kallio’s grammie is Finnish. And it was one of the best breads I’ve ever tasted. I knew right then and there that we needed to make it together. Just you and me.

Some might argue that I haven’t chosen the easiest bread for our first recipe, but I believe the reward should make it worth taking up the challenge. Believe me, this sweet and aromatic bread is a prize. Also, it’s super melko (that’s Finnish for pretty), and doesn’t require a loaf pan! The recipe itself isn’t particularly tricky, but it takes a few hours to make due to proofing. If you plan to spend part of the day doing laundry or watching Netflix, it’s perfect.

Finnish Pulla is sweet and gently flavoured with cardamom. It’s soft and light – like a brioche or challah. It is delightful when toasted and slathered with butter, and perfect when paired with a hot mug of whatever-the-heck-you-like. I’m also assuming it would make the best French toast ever. We could call it Frinnish Toast!

This recipe is measured in cups and teaspoons, as some of you might not have kitchen scales yet. And though this makes me INCREDIBLY SAD, I’m going to go ahead and forgive you. That said, a kitchen scale will help you portion the dough into evenly sized loaves which are well-braided. This is important if you’d like the loaves to bake at the same rate and/or prevent family arguments over who gets the bigger, prettier loaf. Kitchen scales keep families together, friends.

I’ve made a lot of this bread lately, as I wanted to make sure it was juuuuuust right. It’s a recipe I found on allrecipes, but the original proportions almost destroyed my KitchenAid. I’ve scaled the recipe in half, and it still makes two satisfying loaves. The original recipe seemed a bit vague for those of you who might not have any experience baking bread, so I’ve done my best to explain things in my recipe notes (it’s the wordiest recipe of ALL TIME). I also shot a video of the process for you, which should give you an idea of how the dough comes together in the mixer.

In case you are unfamiliar with some techniques:

Click here for a video on how to scald milk (scalded milk helps make yeast breads lighter).

Click here for some tips on kneading, which you will notice that I ignore because I’m a pro ridiculously lazy.

Click here for a sweet video on braiding. Another technique I ignore completely because I’m a pro I couldn’t remember how to braid. (whaaaat?) This is probably a sign of early onset senior dementia.

And finally, the little video I made just for you, which I hope will be helpful:

Alright. It’s time. Bake yourself some bread!

. . .

Finnish Pulla

recipe: adapted from allrecipes.com, with adjustments to the notes and method

print and bake

Yields 2 loaves.

• 1 cup homogenized (whole) milk
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup water, 110°F
• 1/2 package dry active yeast (about 4 grams or 3/4 teaspoon)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 egg, beaten well (for egg wash) – prep this just before using
• about 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (for garnish)

Mise en place – begin by getting organized. Read through the entire recipe before beginning. Measure out all of your ingredients. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. This recipe takes a few hours to make – be sure you’ve allowed enough time. Useful tools: kitchen scale, digital thermometer, stand mixer with paddle and hook attachments.

Warm (scald) the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Let cool until lukewarm. (This is a great time to double check that your ingredients are ready, and that your butter is melted and cooled so that it is still liquid, but only warm to the touch.)

Whisk together the sugar, cardamom and salt, and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and then whisk gently until dissolved. (The water should be 110°F – if your bowl is cold, be sure to warm your water slightly more, as it will cool when it hits the bowl. It’s always best to take the temperature of the water once it’s in the bowl, before adding the yeast.)

Add 1 cup of the all-purpose flour, the sugar mixture, lukewarm milk, and the 2 beaten eggs. Mix until combined – about 30 seconds – you will have a soupy batter.

Switch to the dough hook attachment. Add about 1.5 cups more flour and mix on medium speed until the dough is well combined – about 1 minute – the dough will be very sticky and loose.

Add the melted butter and mix well on medium-low speed until the butter is incorporated – about 1 minute. The dough will slap around the bowl a little and then become glossy, sticky, and seem slightly wet/loose.

Add the remaining flour and mix on medium-low until well-combined and you have a stiff-ish dough which is pulling away from the bowl of the mixer. (Another 1-2 minutes.) At first the dough will be raggedy, but it will come together and start cleaning the sides of your mixing bowl while becoming smooth.

Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a lightly floured surface, invert the mixing bowl and use it to cover the dough. Let rest for 15 minutes.

Knead the dough by hand until smooth and satiny. This will take a few minutes. Gently press your finger into the dough to test for doneness – it should spring back. Shape into a rounded ball/mound. This doesn’t need to be perfect.

Place in a lightly greased mixing bowl, then turn/flip the dough to grease the top. Cover with plastic wrap pulled tightly over the top and a clean dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour or more. If your dough isn’t rising, it could be that your kitchen is too cool and dry. See my notes on faking a proofer if this is the case.

Punch down the dough – just a couple of light punches straight down into the dough – gently re-shape in the bowl, and let rise again until almost doubled. This will generally take less time (about 30 minutes).

Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface, give it just a couple of kneads, and then divide into two equal parts. A scale will ensure even division. Divide each half into 3 equal pieces (you will now have six equal portions of dough). Roll each piece into a 10-12 inch strip. Braid 3 of the strips into a loaf, pinching the ends well and tucking under just a little. Repeat with the remaining 3 strips.

Place the 2 braided loaves onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave room between the loaves and at the edges of the pan, as they expand when baking. Let rest for 15-20 minutes, covered with a clean dish towel. Preheat your oven to 350°F during this time.

Brush each loaf lightly with egg wash (beat an egg very well, no strings of egg white should be visible), being sure to brush the sides of the loaf as well, and then sprinkle generously with sugar.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Rotate pan midway through baking. Bread should be a deep golden brown on top, and register at about 200°F (or just under) on your thermometer. Test the internal temperature of your bread by inserting the thermometer in the centre of the loaf, being sure that the tip isn’t touching the hot pan.

Remove loaves from baking sheet at allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

When I decided to go baking school, I knew nothing about bread, and wasn’t particularly passionate about it. (I mean, it’s not cake.) Still, I enrolled in a baking program with a heavy focus on bread, and spent the better part of 10 months baking thousands of loaves. Why? Because the science and technique behind making bread will make you a better person baker.

Let’s talk about some bread baking tools. This is not a complete list by any means, and I’m not suggesting that you need to run out and buy these things tomorrow. Take a look, see what you’ve got, put the other stuff on your wish list.

Tools I can’t live without when baking bread:

Scale. A scale will help with measuring ingredients accurately, scaling/portioning the dough, and is handy when adjusting recipe quantities. (Ever tried measuring 5/8 of a tablespoon? Cripes! Grams are way easier.) When baking multiple loaves, those that are equally portioned will finish baking at the same time and prevent fights over who gets the bigger loaf. Digital scales are the easiest to use, and need not cost a lot of money. Pair this purchase with some small baggies, and you’ll be in the market for making new friends.

Thermometer. Thermometers are invaluable when checking the temperature of liquids for yeast (generally 110°F), and checking your bread for doneness (baked bread will need to be 195-210°F, depending on type). Digital thermometers are easy to read and very accurate. Checking the internal temperature of bread is the easiest way to ensure your bread is fully cooked. A deeply browned loaf can sometimes be deceiving – bread that looks fully baked can still be undercooked on the inside. Under-baked bread will taste doughy, and tends to collapse on itself. Over-baked bread will be tough and dry. Neither will win you a ribbon at the county fair.

Stand mixer. A good stand mixer can’t be beat. Both the paddle and bread hook attachments will get a workout, and a motor with oomph will make your job a lot easier.

Bonus points:

Bowl Scraper. It scrapes bowls. Especially handy when working with sticky doughs.

Bench Scraper/Dough Cutter. Makes portioning dough easy and scrapes gunk off counters. It’s also very handy for smoothing icing on cakes.

Extra credit:

Spice jar with sprinkle lid (probably not the technical name). For sprinkling flour on your countertop or dough. (Also handy for flouring cake pans.) You’ve probably got one in the spice cupboard. Throw out that weird seasoning you haven’t used in 15 years and put that jar to good use. FIY, we didn’t use these at baking school. There is a technique to covering your bench with flour – it involves flinging. I’ll show you sometime.

Spray bottle. I bought my spray bottle at the Dollar Store. Some silky doughs like a little spray of water when rolling. Also handy for spraying oven walls when baking artisan breads. I wouldn’t bother getting one of these unless you’ve got a recipe requests it specifically. Heck, you could just use the bottle you spray the cat with when she’s treating your couch like a giant pincushion.

Lame. These blades make fancy cuts (scores) in breads (artisan and hearth breads, baguettes). Scoring is done right before baking, as you are about to load the oven. Lames are very sharp. Be careful: they care not who they cut. Again, don’t buy one until you need one. A very sharp serrated knife can also be used.

You can also buy proofing baskets/bannetons, baking stones, loaf pans and other fancy pants stuff, but I don’t recommend buying anything like that until you decide if bread baking is for you. These items can be pricy.

Fake it:

Proofer. Your yeast beast will perform at its best in a warm, moist environment. I live in an old house. My kitchen is cold and dry in the winter. Bread won’t proof (rise) if I simply leave it on the counter, so I fake a proofer. A few minutes before my dough is ready for proofing, I turn my oven on for about 60 seconds at 150°F, and then turn it off – that way my dough will have a slightly-above-room-temperature environment to grow in. Don’t overdo it – I can’t stress this enough. When my dough is ready for it’s first proof, I place it in a bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a dish towel, and then place it in the oven. I then fill a metal bowl with boiled water, and set it beside or under the bread, to keep the oven warm and humid. I check the oven during the proofing process and refresh the boiled water if necessary. In warm months, I don’t find this necessary. So if your kitchen is cozy, you can simply cover your dough with a dish towel, and skip the DIY proofer.

I hate to brag, but 2.0 and I are almost entirely ready for the holidays. And by that I mean: I’m totally excited to rub our preparedness in your face. For in December, when a great number of you are freaking out and/or crying, we’ll be watching Netflix in our underwear.

This year, determined to avoid a December Sobfest, I set a strict holiday preparation schedule for November. Each and every holiday task was scheduled. EVERY ONE. As a result, we’ve all but finished our shopping. Gifts have been wrapped and/or shipped. Decorating is almost complete (we’ll do our tree in December). We have been unstoppable. Our mission? Simple:

a) scale back on spending/gifting
b) actually enjoy preparing for the holidays
c) have everything done by November 30th
d) spend December having big fun with family and friends

This December, there will be no trudging around after work trying to find that dumbass gift that was sold out at the first three locations we tried. There will be no weeping over lost parking spots or standing in line behind teenagers who don’t wear their pants properly. There will be no freaking out when one of our stressed-out, over-tired workmates gives us the stomach flu. Nope. Because WE ARE DONE. We were planning to spend most of December in bed anyway. Adding a barf-bucket ain’t no thang.

Now, some of you are probably feeling sad because you aren’t as awesome as we are. But there’s still hope. You, too, could spend December in your underwear, focusing on the important things: crafting stuff out of popsicle sticks, playing in the snow, making cat videos, eating potato chips, and napping. First, get your act together and get a crap-ton of chores checked off this week. There’s still time! Also, make this ridiculously simple banana bread. Everyone knows that banana bread makes you shop better. Or feel better after shopping. Or feel better if you haven’t done a single thing to prepare for the holidays. Whatever.

My friend, Emily, gave me this recipe forever ago. I told you about it in 2010, but I think it bears repeating. It’s easy to throw together, and it’s endlessly adaptable. I’m sharing my favourite version below. If you don’t have whole wheat flour, use all-purpose. Don’t have brown sugar? Use some of the granulated stuff. Or half and half! (Not cream, dummy. Half brown sugar, half white.) Don’t have apple sauce? Double the canola oil. Don’t like walnuts? Well, that’s stupid. But you could use pecans. Or sunflower seeds. Or grow a set of lady parts and start liking walnuts.

Now get out there and finish your holiday preparations. You can do it, tiger!

. . .

Ridiculously Simple Banana Bread

recipe: based on Emily Caruso Parnell‘s almost-famous master recipe

print and bake

Yields one loaf pan (9×5 inches).

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 large, ripe, well-mashed bananas
• 1/4 semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Mise en place – begin by getting organized. Read through the entire recipe before beginning. Measure out all of your ingredients.

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a standard-sized loaf pan.

Whisk together the flour and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside.

In another bowl, mix together the eggs, canola oil, applesauce, brown sugar and mashed bananas.

Stir in the flour mixture.

Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Pour batter into greased loaf pan and bake for approximately 60 minutes (this is just a guideline) or until a cake tester inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean. The top of the loaf will be a deep, golden brown. Allow to cool for several minutes, and then remove loaf from pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

. . .

Postscript

• Don’t forget to enter Ginger 2014!
• You can find future cat videos on my YouTube channel.
• You can find the original post about Emily’s banana bread here.
• I think we should spend more time together. Wanna hang out on Facebook or Instagram?

The other day, I caught 2.0 trying to plug a mouse into a cd drive. Not a real mouse, bozo. Our wireless computer mouse needed a battery recharge, so I suggested that he use an old-school tailed mouse to get by for a few hours. That’s when I caught him trying to use the cd drive as a USB port, which shouldn’t come as a surprise, because when I first started this here blog? There was a lot of confusion.

2.0: (looking at his computer screen) Well, your blog looks exactly the same to me.

movita:  That’s because you’re not on my new blog.

2.0: What? How am I supposed to find it?

movita: Um, click the link that takes you there.

2.0: Oh… (searching for the link) I can’t find the link. There’s no link!

movita: Right here. (clicking on the link)

2.0: Oh my god! This is totally different! (pausing) What’s this? What the…

movita: That’s the post that tells people not to freak out about the new blog format.

2.0: (after reading the post) I can’t find the comments!

movita: They are right there. At the top of the post.

2.0: Are those the ones for this writing? Or the writing below?

movita: This writing.

2.0: It won’t work! It doesn’t work!

movita: Just hover over it and click.

2.0: I am. I AM CLICKING A LOT. It’s not working.

movita: Over the blue number. Click the blue number.

2.0: Got it… Hey! Here are the comments! (pausing to read)

2.0: Wait. I can’t get back. I can’t get back!

movita: Well, you could just hit the “back” button. Or click on “home.” Or “movita beaucoup.”

2.0: It’s okay. I got back. (pausing to read some more)

2.0: Where’s your tutorial list? I can’t find it!

movita: Why don’t you try typing “tutorial” in the search box?

2.0: (typing “tutorial” into the URL address bar) Here?

movita: No. In the box where it says “search.”

2.0: Here? (typing)

movita: No. That’s google. For the love of…

2.0: Found it!

If you’re dealing with a… frustrating situation, you might want to make this blueberry loaf. It’s a lovely pound cake type deal – perfect for breakfast or snacking. It takes a long time to bake, which means you’ll have lots of time to teach someone how to use the interwebs whilst enjoying the smells coming from your oven. It’s very calming. You can use fresh or frozen blueberries in this loaf – don’t defrost the berries before adding them to the batter – that way they’ll streak less. I like to use huge Ironwood Farm blueberries – we stock our freezer at all times. If using frozen berries, your loaf might take longer to bake – mine took almost an hour and a half. Plenty of time to help 2.0 with the computer and vacuum up cat fur.

Also, just so you know, when we bought our iMac, 2.0 asked if we’d still be able to get Google on it. (It’s like he’s not even trying to learn about computers.)

. . .

Blueberry Loaf – adapted in the barest of ways from fine cooking 2001 (carolyn weil) – print and bake

Yields 1 loaf.

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (if using frozen, don’t defrost)

Pre-heat oven to 325°F. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until pale and uniform in texture (3-5 minutes).

With the mixer still running, sprinkle in the sugar a little at a time, and beat until well incorporated, light and fluffy (3-5 minutes). Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until well blended before adding the next, and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl with each incorporation.

Add the flour mixture and vanilla, and mix on low speed until almost incorporated. Use a stiff rubber spatula and mix by hand until the batter is blended and smooth, taking care to scrape the bowl’s bottom and sides. Gently fold in the berries.

Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, about 60 to 65 minutes if using fresh berries, 75 to 90 minutes if using frozen. Let the cake cool for about 15 minutes and then remove from pan to cool completely on a rack before serving.