NORWICH, VT. – For a bread baker, Irish or not, there may be no better place to be with St. Patrick's Day approaching than the King Arthur Flour Baking Education Center, in the heart of the Green Mountains, and a class on Irish bread.
I'd always been curious about how a famous flour company — the Temple of Gluten — came to be located in northern New England, far from any wheat fields.
Despite its fame — and because billboards are banned along Vermont highways — the King Arthur headquarters is a not-easily-spotted cluster of contemporary, low-rise buildings, a few miles north of White River Junction, Vt. The floury campus includes a large gift shop, a superb cafeteria-style restaurant, a spectator-friendly commercial kitchen and the main attraction, the Baking Education Center.
Evening sun streamed through windows into the classroom — part kitchen, part lecture hall — as 12 of us sidled into our places. The class included two women from Texas, two from Connecticut — one whose mother had grown up in County Tyrone, in Northern Ireland — and one other man, with his daughter, who'd just returned from living in Ireland. We were to make a brown bread, a soda bread and a clever little treat called Oatmeal Brûlée, all in three hours.
I probably doubled my baking knowledge in the short time with instructor Karen Ogrinc, a former speech pathologist turned professional baker. I learned how to measure flour accurately ("Fluff! Sprinkle! Sweep!"), how to keep track of what dry ingredients I'd included (spoon them down the side of the bowl on top of the flour before mixing, so you can see them), and how to mix soda bread dough so it's not too dry and crumbly (scrape/pull it up the side of the bowl, letting the excess flour fall to the bottom).
I also learned that I should probably toss out that baking powder I bought when I moved into my house 17 years ago. (Six months is about the limit.)
The walk-in ovens, which Ogrinc called the "Hansel and Gretel ovens," were fully heated as class began. That was because the first bread we made, a brown bread made almost entirely with whole wheat flour, was actually a batter bread that required no kneading. It rose and was ready to bake in about an hour.
Brown bread, an Irish classic, is a product of World War II rationing, when white flour wasn't readily available. I'd encountered it on a trip to Ireland about 15 years ago, and recalled it as a coarse and heavy loaf, more dutiful than flavorful, and probably, I'd thought, the product of several kneadings and an overnight rise.
But ours, sweetened with molasses, emerged with a smooth, firm crust and a silky texture. Cooled, this bread was more an Irish alto than tenor, and fabulous with fruit preserves and cheeses. At home, it elevated my peanut butter and made melt-in-the-mouth toast.
Next we tackled bannock, which I took for soda bread — bright with buttermilk and sweet with currants. The next day, I found it spectacular with mascarpone.
The showstopper, though, was the Oatmeal Brûlée. Working in pairs in class, we steamed steel-cut oats, spooned them into ramekins, added raisins, dried cherries, candied ginger and nuts, topped that with more oatmeal, and finally with coarse demerara sugar.
Ogrinc then produced a large blowtorch, which we each used to blast our items until the sugar topping bubbled and browned. Some students achieved a nice, golden crust, which eluded me. I also found that by the next morning the moisture in the oatmeal had mostly liquefied the sugar topping. But this little gift-like menu item — peasant food dressed with panache — begs to be perfected. It would be great as a dessert, or as part of a breakfast before a bike ride.
These recipes were developed for the King Arthur Baking Education Center classes and may differ from recipes the company provides online. They are reprinted here with permission of the King Arthur Baking Education Center.
Bill McAuliffe is a former Star Tribune reporter.
Brown Bread
Makes 1 loaf (12 slices).
Note: From King Arthur Flour Baking Education Center.
• 3 1/2 c. (14 oz.) whole wheat flour
• 1/4 c. (1 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. instant yeast
• 2 tbsp. molasses or black treacle
• 1 1/2 c. (12 oz.) warm water
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In bowl of stand mixer, stir together the flours, salt and yeast, using the paddle attachment. Stir in the molasses and water. Blend to make a thick, sticky dough. Turn the mixer up to medium and beat for about 2 minutes. (The mixing can also be done by hand, with a very heavy spoon.)
Turn batter into a well-greased 8½- by 4½-inch loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the dough nearly reaches the top of the loaf pan.
Bake loaf in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 425 degrees and bake 35 to 40 minutes more, or until the top is richly browned and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
Turn out onto a rack and let cool completely before slicing.
Nutrition information per slice:
Calories133Fat1 gSodium395 mg
Carbohydrates29 gSaturated fat0 gCalcium20 mg
Protein5 gCholesterol0 mgDietary fiber4 g
Diabetic exchanges per serving: 2 bread/starch.
Traditional Irish Bannock (Soda Bread)
Makes 1 loaf (10 slices).
Note: From King Arthur Flour Baking Education Center.
• 1/2 c. dried currants
• 2 c. (8 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled and cut into dice-size pieces
• About 1 c. (8 oz.) buttermilk
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Soak currants in water for 30 minutes; drain them.
Combine the flour, sugar, soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
Cut the butter into the flour mixture until it is the size of small peas. Stir in the currants.
Add the buttermilk slowly until dough is soft and cohesive; you may not need it all.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently with floured hands until smooth.
Press dough into a 7-inch round on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Score the top with a cross about ½ inch deep. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Nutrition information per slice:
Calories143Fat3 gSodium250 mg
Carbohydrates26 gSaturated fat2 gCalcium52 mg
Protein3 gCholesterol7 mgDietary fiber1 g
Diabetic exchanges per serving: ½ fruit, 1 bread/starch, ½ fat.
Irish Oatmeal Brûlée With Dried Fruit
Serves 2.
Note: From King Arthur Flour Baking Education Center.
• 1/2 c. (3 oz.) Irish oatmeal (steel-cut oats)
• 1 1/2 c. (12 oz.) plus 2 tbsp. water
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. dried apricots, chopped
• 2 tbsp. dried cherries
• 2 tbsp. dried figs, raisins, prunes or dates, chopped
• 1 tbsp. pecans, toasted and chopped
• Demerara sugar
• Maple syrup, if desired
Directions
The night before: Place the oats in a bowl and cover with water 2 inches higher than the oats. Cover.
The day of serving: Drain the soaked oats and place in a saucepan with 1½ cups plus 2 tablespoons water. Simmer over medium heat until tender, but not mushy, about 15 minutes. Stir in the salt.
Divide half the oatmeal between 2 shallow ramekins and layer with the fruit and nuts. Cover with the remaining oatmeal.
Sprinkle the demerara sugar over each and cook the topping with a blowtorch to caramelize.
Serve immediately with maple syrup if desired.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories260Fat3 gSodium3 mg
Carbohydrates29 gSaturated fat0 gCalcium2 mg
Protein6 gCholesterol0 mgDietary fiber4 g
Diabetic exchanges per serving: 1 fruit, 1 bread/starch, ½ fat.
