Ruth from Oshkosh, WI (2018 Week 2: Bread)

Baker

Ruth

Location

Oshkosh, WI

Baking Challenge

24 Bagels

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

Door County Cherry and Three cheese n’ chive – I found several recipes on line. The first one I tried was, I twisted the recipe to include cherry juice and dried door county cherries. In adjusting the recipe to include the fruit and extra juice, the recipe did not work. The second try was a firmer close texture dough that I included parmesan, white cheddar, and gouda with some back yard chives. Both of the bagels taste really good but the cheese and chive have a puffy/full look that the cherry ones do not.

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

Both. This challenge is a perfect example of this. When I approached the first bagel recipe, my first thought was…"how hard could bagels be?"…and then I found out. I didn’t understand the idea behind the dough being such a firm dough. In the second recipe (cheese and chive), I had learned that I do need a very firm dough to start with. In following the recipe and understanding the reasons for each step, there is more comfort in tweaking here and there.

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

The sweet recipe had Door County Cherries and cherry juice (instead of water). The savory had chives from my back yard and cheese from Renards and Master Haus.

How did you do?

Pleasantly satisfied.