Bren from Green Bay, WI (2017 Week 3: Bread)

Baker

Bren

Location

Green Bay, WI

Baking Challenge

Savory Plaited Centerpiece

Give your bread a name and tell us about your recipe.

Plaited Egg Bread.
This is a traditional recipe that was used by European immigrants when they came to Wisconsin in the late 1800s.

Would you describe yourself as a rogue baker, or do you strictly adhere to the recipe?

When baking with traditional recipes, I have to be a bit of a rogue baker as the instructions are often rather vague. I also have to be a baking detective as some terms that describe processes are not terms we use in baking today.

Tell us about how you added a Wisconsin twist to your bread creation.

My Wisconsin twist is that I used eggs from chickens that live at Heritage Hill State Park in Green Bay. Heritage Hill is a living history museum. I made this bread in the 1905 Belgian Farm House at the park. The methods I used simulated the techniques that would have been used in the early 1900s. Everything was done by hand including the dishes which were washed in a tub with water heated on a wood stove. I also baked the bread using the wood stove which was manufactured in 1891.

How did you do?

Pleasantly satisfied.