Beer Bread

The 16th of October has been declared as ?World Bread Day? by the International Union Of Bakers And Bakers-Confectioners (UIB). On that occasion Zorra, at ?Kochtopf?, is organizing an event in order to celebrate bread and the art of bread making around the world.  I participated last year as well and although I was planning to prepare something for the event it skipped my mind and I remembered about it when Cinzia posted it on My Recipes & Events and I only saw it yesterday morning.

I have never drank or used black beer before and when I needed some for another event, my husband bought three beers.  As I had no idea where to use them, I google searched to find recipes and I found this recipe as well as another some other recipes using black beer which I bookmarked.

I have heard of “beer yeast” before but I had no idea if “beer” and “yeast” would react the same, so I was really curious to see how the bread would turn out.

The bread was easy to make and delicious.  It’s texture was dense like a cake and I liked the sweetness of the bread, which would make it perfect for breakfast.  I will definitely experiment more with beer bread.

The amount of flour mentioned in the recipe was not enough or at least I am not sure if instead of having a dough it should be a batter like a cake.   When I finished with the ingredients it was very sticky and I kept adding and adding flour until it resembled like a dough and even then it was still sticky.  I mixed the ingredients by hand and did not beat the mixture as it said in the recipe.  I used bread flour and all purpose flour and I added some black sesame seeds both in the bread and on top.  I did not make a lot of changes to the recipe but the ones I have made are in brackets.

Beer Bread
Preparation Time: 25 (15 minutes)


Cooking Time: 30 (about 45 minutes)

Makes: 1 loaf

Ingredients:

2-1/2 cups flour ( I added more flour: 1 ½ bread flour and 2 cups all purpose flour)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package active dry yeast (9 gr)
1 cup beer (black)
1 tablespoon butter (margarine)
1 tablespoon honey
1 egg
(2 tsp black sesame seeds)

Preparation:

Grease and flour a 9×5 (30 x 11 x 7 cm) inch loaf pan and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, caraway, salt, and yeast and mix to blend.
In small saucepan, combine beer, butter and honey and heat to very warm (lukewarm).
Pour into flour mixture along with egg.
Mix to blend, then beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. (Just mix, not necessary to beat).
Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
Stir down dough and mix 1 tsp of sesame seeds and pour into prepared pan and sprinkle the remaining sesame seeds on top.
Cover and let rise for 15 minutes (did not), then bake in a preheated 375 degrees F (180 C) oven for 30-35 (45) minutes until bread is deep golden brown.
Remove from pan and cool until warm before slicing.

This bread is my contribution to the World Bread Baking Day, 2009 that Zorra is hosting.

There was some leftover beer so in order not to waste it, I thought of making a thick batter, to coat some fruit and deep fry them but then I changed my mind and decided to make something similar to pancakes or  crepes. I added some flour, an egg, which was the only one left in the refrigerator and whipped some beer pancakes, which we ate with some honey.    They were great.  As soon as I put the batter in the frying pan they became very airy and fluffy.  Pity the batter was enough only for three.

Pancakes with beer batter

Makes:  3 pancakes

Ingredients:

About 1 cup dark beer
3 tablespoons brown cane sugar
1 cup self raining flour
1 tablespoon honey


1 egg
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon margarine
½ tsp baking powder
3 tablespoons olive oil
Extra honey for serving

Directions:

In a bowl add the beer, sugar, honey and egg and mix.
In a separate bowl sift the flour and mix with the salt and baking powder. Add to the beer and mix till batter has the right consistency.
Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a non stick frying pan and add the batter. Shake the frying pan above the heat until the batter sets.
Turn the pancake on the other side and cook for 1 minute.
Serve while hot, with honey.

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