Ever since our trip to the US, I've noticed a real hole in our aussie market for bagels. Why don't we sell them here in our bakeries or cafes? They are the perfect brekkie or snack or lunch. Delish with some cream cheese, freshly toasted but chewy on the inside. Yum!
So it has been quite the challenge but I finally managed to knead, boil and bake my own. It does take a whole day but mostly because you have to wait for the yeast to do it things and prove your dough so you get nice, fat and plump bagels. I was very picky with the recipe too because I didn't want to open a packet of yeast and use a bit of it...Picky aren't i? So this is my perfect recipe!
The first time was a disaster because I didn't push all the air out after the first proof and boy they were hideous! Won't even dare to show you pics of those.
But the second time with a new recipe too was great and I tried 2 ways of making the rings. First by sticking my finger in a round ball of dough and second by making a long rope and sticking the ends together. Conclusion? I preferred the rope method because that way the bagel edges and surface can be rolled smoothly and you get a nice clean bagel where as once you stick your finger into the ball, it's really hard to roll the bagel smooth and it looks a lot uglier. Aesthetics aside...they tasted good.
My bagels never sink when i boil them intially. I don't think my dough is as dense as others claim but that hasn't impacted on the end result either.
Here's the recipe adapted from
the Passionate Pair. I haven't quite mastered the photograph as I cook thing yet! So very spartan on the photos I'm afraid. I will get better but if you are in doubt, refer to the links I got the inspiration from in the first place for guidance.
INGREDIENTS
- 8g of instant dry yeast (1 packet)
- 1 1/2 T sugar
- 1 cup warm water (if you can keep your finger in it and it's warm it's good!)
- 2 1/2 cups unbleached wheat all purpose flour (I substituted 1/2 cup with wholewheat flour)
- 1 tsp salt
- olive oil spray
- 1.5 tsp brown sugar
- optional toppings: egg yolk, sesame seeds, sea salt, poppy seeds, minced garlic or onion
- optional mix: raisins, cinnamon, craisins
Step 1:
Put all the dry ingredients except for 1 cup of flour into your mixer and combine.
Step 2:
With the dough hook on, add the water gradually so the dough comes together from the edge. I did this on my kitchenaid mixer at speed 1.
Step 3:
Turn the speed up to 2 and slow add the remaining flour until the dough comes away from the edge of the bowl. Add more flour if needed so the dough is not sticky to touch. It should be a nice ball of dough that you can handle without coating your hands! Experience I'm afraid is the best way to learn what that dough should feel like.
Step 4:
Oil the inside of a clean bowl and place the dough inside, cover with a tea towel and let sit in a warm place for 1 hour or til doubled in size. I turn the oven on to 50 degree before I start then turn it off and put the dough inside to prove. The ideal temperature for the yeast is apparently 30 degree celcius.
Step 5:
When the dough is doubled, put it onto a floured surface and push the air out. If you are adding in cinnamon and dried fruit, you can gently knead these ingredients in now but don't over handle the dough. Just knead until the ingredients are spread through evenly. I made half the dough with savoury toppings using japanese seaweed sprinkles and the other I kneaded through cinnamon and craisins (note: should have added heaps more cinnamon!)
Step 6:
Divide the dough into 6 even balls (notice mine were not even at all! Some people weight each ball). Leave them under the cover of a damp tea towel on your baking tray while you work on each one.
Step 7:
This is my preferred method for making the rings courtesy of
sum.ptuo.us. Essentially, press down on the ball of dough with your palm til it's flat. Then fold in the top and bottom thirds towards the middle so that it's long and tube like. Turn this over so the smooth bottom side is face up and roll this out longer (see! nice and smooth). Keep open the little seam on the ends. Pry one open and envelope the other end of the log inside like a mouth swallowing it up! Seal the end and you have a lovely little ring that won't unfurl.
Step 8:
Repeat with all the dough balls and then rest these rings on your greased or baking mat lined tray covered with a tea towel for 30 minutes to prove a 2nd time (they'll puff up some more. you can also just cover these with plastic wrap and keep them overnight to prove)
Step 9:
Preheat fan forced oven to 200 degrees celcius. Prepare a 1.5L pot of boiling water and dissolve the brown sugar to make your malt syrup. Boil 3 bagels at a time and for 30 seconds on each side only. Take them out with a slotted spoon onto a drying rack placed over another tray to catch spills. Blot the bases with paper towel so they don't stick to the tray.
Step 10:
At this point you have options: A) you can sprinkle on topping while the dough is tacky from being boiled. B) You can pat them dry and they brush them with beaten egg yolk and then sprinkle on the topping. This will give them a more shiny surface but I don't think it's worth wasting an egg for and I didn't notice a difference. Another good tip is adding the minced garlic to the egg yolk and brushing that on but you commit all the bagels to garlic that way!
Step 11:
Place the bagels on the lined baking tray and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden and toasted on the surface. You can splash a bit of water on the sides or bottom of the oven and quickly shut the oven door to create an authentic 'humid' cooking environment for your bagels. No idea if this helped or not!
Step 12:
Remove bagels from oven and let cool on rack. But they are so delicious when just fresh from the oven smothered with cream cheese.
They freeze really really well too.
Enjoy!
kay
