{"id":5742,"date":"2014-02-27T08:06:24","date_gmt":"2014-02-27T14:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hottie-biscotti.com\/blog\/?p=5742"},"modified":"2014-02-27T08:06:24","modified_gmt":"2014-02-27T14:06:24","slug":"daring-bakers-star-breads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hottie-biscotti.com\/blog\/2014\/02\/27\/daring-bakers-star-breads\/","title":{"rendered":"Daring Bakers: Star Breads"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beauty surrounded the Daring Bakers this month as our host, Sawsan, of chef in disguise, challenged us to make beautiful, filled breads. Who knew breads could look as great as they taste?<\/p>\n

\"pestobread2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When I saw this challenge I felt a little intimidated. \u00a0I don’t feel 100% comfortable with bread, always fearing I will make a mistake somewhere along the way and the dough won’t rise or the end product will be dry and inedible. \u00a0But I wound up with two wonderful loaves of beautiful bread that even my kids loved. \u00a0It was referred to as the “special bread” by my son.<\/p>\n

This challenge gave Daring Bakers the freedom to choose what they used to fill their bread and also what design they would create. \u00a0Being the non-creative type I just used the suggested methods for twisting my loaves of bread. \u00a0And if any part of you thinks, “I can’t do that.” trust me, you can. \u00a0It’s easier than it seems. For fillings I made a savory bread and a sweet bread. \u00a0I used the same dough recipe for each.<\/p>\n

For the savory loaf I chose basil pesto and mozzarella cheese. \u00a0My only regret is not adding just a little more cheese to the layers. \u00a0But it was delicious and something I would definitely go through the trouble to make again. \u00a0It would be a lovely and impressive bread to bring to a dinner party or pot luck.<\/p>\n

\"pestobread1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For the sweet loaf I went with classic cinnamon sugar. \u00a0We ate this bread for breakfast over the course of 3 days and Carson was sad when it was gone. \u00a0Again, this is something I’d make again without hesitation. \u00a0The method I used in twisting the dough was a little more complicated and tedious than the pesto bread, but baked up beautifully.<\/p>\n

\"cinnamonbread3\"<\/a> \"cinnamonbread2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I drizzled this bread with a simple milk and powdered sugar glaze before serving. \u00a0Almost like eating a cinnamon roll, possibly better.\"cinnamonbread1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are a few pictures of the process, none of the actual twisting of the bread since I am my own photographer and could not manage to get any action shots.<\/p>\n

\"dough1\"<\/a> \"dough2\"<\/a> \"dough3\"<\/a> \"dough4\"<\/a> \"dough5\"<\/a> \"dough6\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The instructions I am going to try to write for how to shape your bread will probably fail in perfectly communicating how to do it. \u00a0So here are a few links that will help you.<\/p>\n

This one<\/a> has a good video on the entire process. \u00a0This is not the twisting method I used, but I think it looks beautiful and wish I’d found it before I made my bread!<\/p>\n

And this one<\/a> is what I used. \u00a0I found the pictures and instructions to be very helpful.<\/p>\n

Pesto Star Bread<\/h3>\n

Ingredients<\/em><\/p>\n

Dough<\/p>\n