PrintYeast raised gingerbread
Okay, I've got a little wriggling idea that won't leave me alone, and I had to ask if anyone's seen this done well.
I was reading recipes (what else do I do, really?) and found a recipe for, get this, Black Sticky Gingerbread, from 101cookbooks. It sounded so good that I felt it deserves capital letters. And I was thinking yeast leavened instead of soda.
What do you guys think? It might be defeating the purpose, making dense chewy gingerbread something it's not supposed to be (texturally light). You probably couldn't taste the yeast, right? Caveats aside, something tells me it it could turn out kind of amazing.
Weird food gushings aside, does anyone know if honey inhibit yeast action? It's antimicrobial, right?
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10 Comments:
a) I love the idea of yeast raised gingerbread. I take it this is a loaf and not cutouts in the shapes of people?? I'd try it if that means anything.
b) I do not believe honey impedes yeast development - rather feeds it with its sugar content. Any chemists out there, correct me if I'm wrong. I consider things like honey whole wheat bread and assume it's safe to use with yeast.
therealchiffonade at 2:20PM on 03/21/09
The sugar will feed the yeast, but depending on how sweet the dough is, the sugar could also slow the yeast, in the same way that salt does; sugar and salt are hygroscopic, so they suck up water and slow the growth of all microscopic creatures. I don't do sweet doughs very much myself, but I seem to recall this being mentioned on an episode of Good Eats.
Nicholas H at 3:25PM on 03/21/09
Some honeys will kill yeast. Best thing to do is proof a sample with your honey and see if it comes to life or not.
dbcurrie at 3:49PM on 03/21/09
Recipes in the baking world are formulas which should be followed as precisely as possible to assure good results. If your recipe is calling for baking soda as a leaven, then the amount of other ingredients in the recipe are dependent on the baking soda for the leavening to occur. Baking soda is an alkali, and it needs to react with an acidic ingredient in order for the leavening to take place. Some common acids in baked goods are fruit and fruit juices, cultured dairy products, vinegar and cream of tartar. Substituting yeast for the soda is going to be a trial and error project unless you get lucky...may not be worth wasting your ingredients if it's a recipe you enjoy. But if you feel like experimenting, give it a go and report back with your results. Honey is usually used as a sweetener, but honey is rather acidic with a pH of 3.5-4.5,so it would be one of the ingredients that acts with the baking soda in your recipe. Sugar is also a sweetener, but sugar added to batter and doughs also adds air to the mixture which aids in leavening. Only dry sugars, not syrups, aid in the leavening process. Low levels of sugardo feed yeast and aid in fermentation, but high amounts of sugar act as preservatives,preventing the growth of microorganisms. A special yeast called "fermipan" is available to use in recipes calling for overly sweetened doughs.
dmcavanagh at 4:37PM on 03/21/09
@Aynsl156- I checked that recipe out at 101 cookbooks just out of curiosity, and I think it would lose it's character as a yeasted bread, just my opionion.
dmcavanagh at 5:59PM on 03/21/09
I've never tried to make gingerbread with yeast; but I do know from experience that chopped crystallized ginger is a wonderful addition to whole-grain yeast breads. You could start from there. How about a black bread with ginger and a little extra molasses in it?
gentlyferal at 4:32AM on 03/22/09
I'm trying to figure out how sugar (dry) would aid in leavening, and can only come up with either it's roll on the creaming process, or the steam production from melted sugar in the product. Seems kind of irrelevant since even dry sugar is considered a wet ingredient in baking. This recipe calls for honey AND molasses? The molasses will be providing some of that acid for your leavening reaction, too.
MaresyDotes at 4:12PM on 03/23/09
@maresyDotes hmmm...i went to pastry school and i was never taught to measure dry sugar as a wet ingredient, can you explain? i don't see anyone saying that the sugar aids in leavening, either.
dmarina at 2:39AM on 03/24/09
I would start with a sweet dough (maybe a cross between an Anadama bread with the molasses and a basic sweet dough) and add gingerbread spices, rather than trying to leaven a cake (which is what gingerbread is, mostly) with yeast.
Here's a recipe that might get you started: http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/GingerbreadCinnamonRolls.htm
http://www.savour-fare.com
Savour at 10:26PM on 03/24/09
What about like a gingery, molasses-y challah? That actually sounds frickin' delicious to me.
BangieB at 10:59PM on 03/24/09