ALLEGEDLY Marie Antoinette is said to have retorted, “Well, let them eat cake {brioche}!” when told that the people of France could not afford bread. {Studies show she probably DID NOT say anything like this}. The Phrase Finder reminds us that the victors write history and the French people didn’t really care for Marie very much!!
Personally, I would rather eat BREAD!!!
Which is way I (and many many others) decided to bake my way through Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. Well, that journery is almost done and over the last two weeks Nancy, Kayte, and I have made THREE variations of Reinhart’s white bread.
While all three of my breads LOOKED exactly alike – I made rolls with all three recipes – they all tasted differently.
Bread #1 uses powdered milk and water.
Bread #2 uses buttermilk (or whole milk).
Bread #3 uses whole milk and utilizes a sponge.
ALL three were very good white bread rolls. We used them for sandwiches, hamburgers, and plain with butter just out of the oven. But of the three the rolls made with BUTTER MILK (#2) were the best. They had a richer sweeter flavor than the other two. As I was putting MEP together I realized I had no bread flour. I took a chance (after talking to Kayte and used AP flour instead. It worked out beautifully. If you want to try the buttermilk version you can find the recipe on Brown-Eyed Baker’s blog
Version #1 with powdered milk and water is on bouillie written by Celeste.
I looked all over the net for Version #3 made with whole milk and a sponge and could not find it. The BBA group isn’t publishing the recipes. The recipes are on pages 265 – 269.>
February 11, 2012 at 11:06 AM
I’m impressed that you made all three versions! I recall really liking these as well. I’m thinking about making PR’s English muffins this weekend.
February 11, 2012 at 4:54 PM
I like the buttermilk version the best, too. Love the comparison post!
February 11, 2012 at 8:08 PM
I posted my first two and I need to get my third variation up, maybe tomorrow when I return from Bloomington as Matt came home this weekend, so all my time is being spent with him and not getting my proper blogging posts up…oh, well. Thanks for baking all these with me, it was so much more fun baking with you than alone…we are doing great getting these all tried out. I loved all three versions…but especially the ones I made rolls with as it makes a very good roll/bun. Love your photos, really nice.
February 11, 2012 at 9:09 PM
I still need to try one of the versions, but right now I can’t remember if it’s two or three. =) Maybe I just need to make them both. Fun to see your comparison of all three in one place.
February 12, 2012 at 2:36 AM
These all look perfect to me, but how fun that you all were able to make them together!
February 12, 2012 at 3:52 PM
I love that you make all 3 variations – for me, I have to make all versions of something at once to really notice the differences. I’d be happy to help you eat any of your rolls, they’re gorgeous!
March 11, 2012 at 12:06 AM
Ever since we made the White Loaves I have been wanting to make more bread, but haven’t. Seeing your beautiful rolls has inspired me.