As promised, we follow up with a much more labor intensive and technical bread, which is absolutely divine for RoHSF cooking or a Hekatesia ritual. It is made with ingredients that are typically and historically associated with our Goddess, but in the form of a modern recipe.
Fair warning, it can be a challenge to make, but again, labor is a devotional act and parting this sacred bread on a special ocasion's table is definetely worth the wait.
Saffron, honey and sesame brioche bread
You will need:
120 mL warm milk
1 g strands of saffron (to infuse in the milk)
9 g active dry yeast about 9 g
10 mL honey
5 eggs large eggs
1 yolk from a large egg
60 g granulated white sugar 5 tbsp
500 g AP flour 4 cups + 2 tbsp
10 g fine sea salt
250 g unsalted butter very soft, roughly divided into four portions (1 cup + 2 tbsp)
How to:
We will need to infuse the saffron into the milk as the first step.
In a small sauce pot,, heat the saffron by itself gently until aromatic.
Add the milk and heat it until blood temperature, very warm but not quite hot.
Combine the infused milk, honey and yeast in the Stand mixer bowl (you can do this by hand but it will take a lot of elbow grease!)
Set aside for 10 minutes and let the yeast activate.
Add the eggs and yolk to the preparation, whisking gently to combine
With a hook attachment on the stand mixer, start mixing in medium- low speed gently and add the sugar, flour, sea salt . Mix until you get a shaggy dough.
Knead this dough for 5 minutes until it’s a bit smoother.
Add your first portion of butter in increments, making sure each bit is combined into the dough before adding the next.
Repeat this process with the remaining 3 portions of butter, kneading for 5 minutes in between each portion, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to form a cohesive dough.
Once all the butter is incorporated, make sure to scrape the sides of the bown and knead for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. The bread dough will be ready once it can be picked fairly cleanly from the bowl with the dough hook. It should be soft but not sticky.
Once this is achieved, place the dough on a floured surface and gently form it into a ball. Gently place it back into the bowl and cover with beeswax paper (preferably) or plastic wrap and a clean tea towel and let it rise in a warm spot for about one hour until doubled in size.
Carefully, place the dough in a floured surface again and deflate it by gently pressing down on it and form it into a tight ball again, before placing it back in the bowl. Cover it and chill it overnight and up to 24 hours.
Now, here we have a choice.
You can form your bread at this stage, proof it, and bake it or you can let ir develop during the night and up to 24 hrs. If you need it the same day, the one hour proofing will give you a nice bread, perfectly delicious. For better results, the overnight or 24 hr method is the way to go.
Remove the dough from the fridge, she will be much more less temperamental to work with now after a night’s rest.
Place it onto a floured surface and deflate it as you did before.
Butter and flour your preferred tin or mold for this bread
At this point, weight the dough and divide it into two equal portions. Now you have two loaves of brioche dough.
Now it would be time to form your dough.
My favorite way of doing this is to represent the Triad of the Goddess, shaping the dough into a braid.
To do this, divide your portion of dough into 3 equal size smaller portions and form them into rectangles with the help of a rolling pin.
With the palm of your hands, roll the rectangles into long rolls, like a rope of bread dough. Then braid them in a simple 3 way braid, pinching the extremes to make sure they stay put and held together. Tuck both extremes of the loaf to get a nice rounded bread.
Place into the desired mold or baking pan or tin and let it proof for another two hours until they get nice and plump. Preheat your oven to 160 degrees Cel.
Once they are proofed, apply a small egg wash made with one egg and a tablespoon of water, carefully and gently with a pastry brush.
Sprinkle with loads of sesame seeds and bake until golden brown at the top for about 35 to 45 minutes, but keep an eye on them because their high amount of sugar and butter can make them tanned very quicky!
Photo from this year's RoHFS in the Sanctuary of Hekate Propylaia - Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Recipe originally shared for Noumenia News, September 2023
I hope this is a nice addition to your Deipnons and Hekatean feasts
Enjoy!
Gio
Cool! thanks for sharing.
Wow thank you for the recipe, I will try that🤗
Muito bom 😊