Peachy Keen!

This week's bread was inspired by the local fruit now in season...peaches! I love peaches and since they are only around for a short time each summer I wanted to feature them in a bread. I was able to get some small, sweet peaches at the Beaverton Farmer's Market last Saturday so on Monday they were ripe and ready to use in the bread pictured above.

Since I had a lot of luck making the classic whole wheat Tassajara bread I decided to try the egg variation. I followed the basic recipe but I added a bit of whole wheat flour and whole milk to it. This bread braid turned out to be so pretty and so delicious that even my son Adam who usually doesn't each much bread has been eating "peach bread" all week! 'Below is the recipe and my notes and photos of the process.

Whole Wheat Egg Bread- Peach Braid & Loaf:

Makes: 1 large peach braid loaf and 1 regular loaf of sandwich/toasting bread

I. Sponge:

2 1/2 cups whole milk
3 tablespoons yeast
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs beaten
2 cups unbleached white flour (I used a whole wheat white flour)
2 cups whole wheat flour

II: Bread:

4 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup softened butter
2 cups unbleached white flour
1-2 cups whole wheat flour

For the Peach Braid:

2 cups peeled and sliced peaches
1/2 cup brown sugar
1-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon


Directions:

1. Put milk into a glass measure. Microwave for about 1 minute to warm it up. Pour this mixture into a large bowl and dissolve the yeast in it. Stir in the brown sugar. Then, stir in the beaten eggs.

2. Then, stir in the unbleached white flour and the whole wheat flour. This will make a very thick batter. Stir the mixture with a spoon about 100 strokes.

3. Let the sponge rise about 45 minutes. Then, fold in the salt and butter. Do this very gently and carefully. Fold in the additional 3 cups of flour. Add in up to 1 cup more of flour during the kneading process.

4. Knead on a lightly floured board, use more flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the board. Knead for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth.

5. Let the dough rise about 1 hour or until doubled in bulk then punch it down.

6. Let the dough rise again for another hour.

7. Divide the dough in half. Shape the dough into1 loaf and place it into a small oiled loaf pan.

8. Take the other half of the dough and make a large rectangle as shown in the picture below. Take a bench scraper or butter knife and score the dough into 3 sections.

9. In the middle third of the dough place the peach sections. Then, sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon over the peaches.


10. On either side of the middle third make diagonal cuts in the dough about every 2 inches or so.

11. Fold the strips over the peaches alternating sides. Pinch the ends to seal. Slide the braid onto a baking sheet covered in cornmeal.

12. Let the loaves and peach braid rise for another 25 minutes while you are heating up the oven to 350F.

13. Slash the loaf with a sharp knife and then brush both the peach braid and loaf with an egg wash made from 1 egg and 1-2 tablespoons of water mixed thoroughly.

14. Place the peach braid on the bottom rack of the oven with a drip pan underneath to catch any fruit juices that leak out. Bake the loaf of bread on the top rack. Bake the loaf and peach braid in a 350F oven for 1 hour, or until golden brown.

15. Remove from pans and let cool. Below is a close up of the yummy peaches in the bread:


Enjoy!!