100% Whole Wheat Stollen with Almond Paste

The traditional German Christmas bread just got a little healthier! This version is made with 100% whole wheat flour, studded with plump fruit, and stuffed with almond paste. It’s perfect for breakfast or with a cup of tea or coffee.

Dutch Honey Cake (Honingkoek)

This delicious loaf is also known as breakfast cake. It’s suitable for dairy-free individuals. The texture is somewhat closer to bread than a cake, and is typically enjoyed with lashings of butter. It’s easy to make, chewy, lightly spiced, low in fat, and the flavor only gets better with time.

It was J (not surprisingly) who introduced me to this cake. It’s easily available in Europe (again, not surprisingly), and there are many variants in the shops, including one with stem ginger. We loved them all!

Whole Wheat Soda Farls - Vegan

There are the stupidest things that I miss from the UK… the availability of soda farls being one of them. Although the ones we used to buy were factory made, I knew no better. I wasn't into baking/making bread then. They used to be a treat for us in the weekend - I'd often grill them with REAL Cheddar cheese (made in Cheddar).

Since working with allrecipes.com, I thought it was in my best interest to try out some of the UK/Ireland recipes. The farls were quick and easy to make and tasted wonderful!

100% Whole Wheat Challah

Challah (pronounced “haa-laa”) is a traditional Jewish bread, made with eggs, flour, yeast and water.

I’ve never been particularly fond of challah. I guess it’s because I have images of those rock-hard challah loaves that are sold in supermarkets (grocery stores), which have a shelf life of 1+ months … eek! We’ve even bought freshly baked (from scratch) challah from a bakery in West Seattle, but again I wasn’t overly impressed.

The only reason I chose a challah recipe this week, was because it looked pretty. There, I said it!

100% Whole-Wheat Walnut Bread

I wasn't expecting much when I made this bread. When I sliced into it, it was another thing. The loaf had a nice crumb, sliced well and was immensely soft and fluffy inside. I had to do a double-take on the recipe to make sure it was 100% whole-wheat and it was! It’s delicious on its own, with mature cheese or butter.

As you probably know, I’m working my way through Bernard Clayton’s complete book of breads – it’s an awesome book. I’ve still to find a recipe we don’t like!

Wheat Germ Bread

WARNING: When baking this bread, it will make you salivate at the delicious aromas emanating from your oven. The wonderful depth of the black treacle (molasses) paired up with the buttery undertones, is reminiscent of either gingerbread or a parkin loaf baking.

When the loaf is finally done, you really have to wait about 10-15 minutes at least for it to cool slightly before cutting into it. I find this absolute torture – to me, it’s like forbidden fruit that you’re not supposed to eat. You should wait about 45-60 minutes, but after 10-15 minutes, it was fine.

High Fiber Bran-Nut Bread

This bread is full of fiber! I’d love to call this bread, “make-you-go-bread” - but it doesn’t sound very appealing, does it?

This bread calls for baking powder as opposed to yeast, so in essence it’s a “quick” bread. The bread is best if you make it a day before serving. This will allow the flavors to develop and make slicing easier.

Whole-Wheat Pita Bread

There’s a wonderful hole-in-the-wall-restaurant, near Paphos in Cyprus called Feta’s corner. If you ever happen to be there, make sure you go and try their meze for dinner. The cook there sure knows how to cook, she was no gourmet chef, but man, she could _REALLY_ cook! She even transformed a piece of liver into what tasted like a mouth-watering steak (and I dislike liver). The meze is a great way of trying almost sampling everything on the menu. As the small dishes came and went, the waitress kept our bread basket topped up with whole-wheat pita bread – mmmm!

Roquefort Bread

Roquefort is not high on my list of favorite cheeses, but J loves it! To be honest, I’m not a blue cheese fan. It’s not that I cringe at the blue-green veined mold growth, but the flavor of the cheese is enough to make me hurl. Let’s just say blue cheese is an acquired taste.

I've been informed that Roquefort is like no other blue cheese - it’s creamier and richer than other blue cheeses, such as Stilton. I guess that I’ll just have to believe it, because I can't see myself sitting through a blue cheese tasting session – ugh!

100% Whole-Wheat Sultana Bread

With the success of the 100% whole-wheat bread recipe, I wanted to create a whole-wheat sultana loaf that was tender, soft and speckled with sultanas and spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg.

I wasn’t overly impressed with the dough mix not rising much after I waited over 1 hour for the first prove, but I persevered. On the second prove, I was still unimpressed. After waiting 2 hours, I gave up, spritzed it with water, sprinkled on some sugar and bunged it in the oven. Every time I peeked at the loaf baking in the oven, I didn’t see any vertical movement. When I took the bread out of the oven I thought I had created a cannon-ball bread, rock hard with no air bubbles.

100% Whole-Wheat Bread

Unfortunately, most 100 % whole-wheat breads are solid-as-a-brick.I never thought it was possible to create a 100 % whole-wheat bread that was deliciously light, soft and airy. I was so dubious that I didn’t believe it until I tasted the end product!

The recipe may seem a little long winded, but it really is worth it.