Bread Machines For Dummies (10 page)

If your American ancestors were farmers, chances are pretty certain that your great-great-grandmother used buttermilk in her breads and other baking. Buttermilk, though it has no fat in it, originally came about as the by-product of churning cream into butter. Because our foremothers wasted nothing, they used the butter-flecked liquid in their recipes. The baked goods were so light and fluffy that buttermilk became a treasured ingredient.

Today, buttermilk, sour cream, and yogurt are each made with bacterial cultures, incubating until the desired level of lactose is turned into lactic acid. Buttermilk begins as skim milk; sour cream as cream; yogurt as skim milk, milk, and/or cream. The presence of lactic acid gives a more tender curd to the milk products; thus they produce a tender crumb in breads. Usually baking soda is added to the recipe to balance the acidity when buttermilk, sour cream or yogurt are used.

Although there is no true substitute for fresh buttermilk, adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup of milk is an acceptable pinch-hitter.

Because buttermilk is not a popular beverage, it may be helpful for you to know that it can be frozen. If it has separated when thawed, just give it a good shake, and it will go back together.

SACO Cultured Buttermilk Blend is a dry buttermilk powder that is handy to have on your pantry shelf when your recipe calls for buttermilk. It is packaged in a moisture-proof canister that has an easy-open pull top and a convenient, resealable plastic lid, and is sold in either the baking supply aisle or where other dry milk products are sold. There is a simple conversion table on the package; for 1 cup of buttermilk, use 4 tablespoons of dry buttermilk and 1 cup of water. To use in a bread recipe, you do not need to reconstitute the buttermilk. Simply measure the amount of water equal to the amount of fluid buttermilk stated in the recipe and pour into your bread pan. Then add the appropriate amount of dry buttermilk with the other dry ingredients.

You won't have “egg on your face” or feel like you're “walking on egg shells” if you add an egg or two to your favorite bread recipe. Eggs can transform a ho-hum dinner roll into a fine, rich, delicate treat. Eggs add protein and make bread rise higher. A large egg should contain 1/4-cup of liquid. Lately, however, we think the chickens are becoming stingy, because large eggs often measure less. If you encounter the same, then use extra-large. When you are feeling creative and want to add an egg to a recipe that doesn't call for one, be sure to deduct 1/4-cup of some other liquid.

If you can't eat eggs, you can use liquid egg substitutes. Or, you can eliminate the eggs altogether and replace the liquid amount with water (1/4-cup water for each egg). Of course, the texture will not be as the same, but the bread will still be very good.

The egg is one of nature's most nutritious, economical, and versatile foods. With proper care and handling, it poses no greater food safety risk than any other perishable food. Follow these important guidelines:

For those of you who color outside the lines, use your creative nature, or think thoughts like, “Hmm, wonder how that would taste,” we say, “Go for it. It will make for interesting eating, or at least, interesting conversation.” Here's some information that will prevent unnecessary frustration.

If you decide to use vegetable waters to replace another liquid, ask yourself, “Is there salt in this vegetable water?” While it is true vegetable water, potato water for example, enhances flavor; the salt in the water will unbalance the recipe formula. The best solution: Don't salt the vegetables before boiling or steaming. Besides, it's better for the nutrient content of the vegetables, as salt pulls vitamins and minerals out of the vegetables and into the water.

Likewise, vegetable juices usually have salt added. This doesn't mean you have to give up and not add vegetable juices. It does mean, however, that you'll have to reduce the amount of salt given in the recipe. How much? You'll probably have to guess. Start by reducing the salt in the recipe by 1/2 teaspoon. For example, if the recipe uses 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and you want to replace the water with a canned vegetable juice, use only 1 teaspoon salt. If the texture is coarse, or the top is flat or concave, there wasn't enough salt. If the loaf is short with a dense texture, there is still too much salt.

Fruit juices add sugar to the bread. Sometimes the amount of sugar isn't enough to make any significant difference, but if the loaf turns out short and dense, make a note to yourself. Next time reduce the sugar the recipe calls for by a tablespoon.

A recent trend is to replace the fat in a bread recipe with unsweetened fruit purees. Although we don't think this is necessary, it can be done. Here's how: Replace the fat with an equal amount of puree, and decrease the liquid in the recipe by the same amount. For example, say a recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of oil. You could omit the oil and use 3 tablespoons of unsweetened applesauce. You would also have to reduce the liquid amount by 3 tablespoons. Therefore, if the recipe has 1 1/2 cups water, you would measure 1 1/2 cups water. Then, with your measuring tablespoon you would remove 3 tablespoons of the water. Depending on what your tastes are, you can use this method to eliminate fat. We have not included any recipes calling for a puree in place of fat because we're not really satisfied with these breads. But some people think they're great, and you can use the above method with any of the bread recipes in this book.

One more optional liquid some people use is beer. Beer makes a smooth- textured bread and adds flavor. The added sugars and starch provided by the beer give the yeast a little something extra to feed on and cause the bread to rise a little higher. You won't get a buzz from the beer in bread; the alcohol evaporates as the bread bakes.