cup (250ml) strong black coffee
½ ounce (15g) dry active yeast
1 cup (250ml) lukewarm milk or potato water
2 tablespoons (30ml) walnut oil or vegetable oil
5 cups (625g) bread flour (more or less)
1½ teaspoons minced garlic
1½ tablespoons salt
4 tablespoons (50g) toasted sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons (5g) fresh summer savory leaves, or 1½ tablespoons dry thyme leaves
Cook the beans in 1½ cups (375ml) water until tender. Then puree the beans with the cooking liquid. Put this in a deep work bowl. Grate the chocolate, then dissolve it in the hot coffee. Add this to the bean puree. Proof the yeast in lukewarm milk or potato water. Once the yeast is actively foaming, add it to the bean mixture. Whisk to create a smooth batter, add the oil, then sift in 3 cups (375g) of flour. Cover with a damp cloth and let the sponge rise until double in bulk.
Once risen and developing bubbles on top, stir down and add the garlic, salt, sunflower seeds, savory and about 2 cups (250g) of flour – only enough so that when kneaded, the dough no longer adheres to the hands. It is important to keep the dough as soft and pliant as possible. Knead for about 5 minutes, dusting the hands with flour, then cover and let the dough rise again until about double in bulk.
Knock down, form into loaves and lay them in greased bread pans measuring 4 by 11 inches (10 by 28 cm). Cover again. Once the dough has recovered and risen to within 1 inch (2.5cm) of the top of the loaf pans, set the bread in the middle of the oven, preheated to 450F (230C) Bake 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 400F (200C). Bake another 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350F (180C) and continue to bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the bread taps done. Brush with ice water as soon as the bread comes from the oven. Cool on racks.
Butter Semmels
Budder Semmle
There is no precise English word for Semmel. The German word derives from Latin similia which originally meant the finest grade of wheat flour. Today Semmel applies mostly to fine dinner rolls or to dainty breads made from the best sort of wheat. Those rolls are the equivalent to what the medieval English called manchets; the inner crumbs of these rolls are still prized as something superior to common bread crumbs. The crumbs are even sold commercially in Germany under the name Semmelmehl. However, dinner rolls in Pennsylvania Dutch are called Weck, so there is no ambiguity as to what is meant by Butter Semmels: they are miniature envelopes designed to hold a host of fillings and thus closely resemble Jewish Hamantaschen made at Purim. The two are probably related through a common medieval ancestor.
In her narrative cookbook Mary at the Farm (1916), author Edith Thomas was meticulous in including a recipe for Butter Semmels, knowing as she did how important they were in Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine. She obtained her working recipe from her Quaker friend Mary Lippincott, whose husband was part owner of an iron foundry in Lehigh County. This little bit of recipe sleuthing revealed two important points about Butter Semmels: they were definitely a feature of upper class Pennsylvania Dutch entertaining and they were especially popular among the Moravians as one of several foods served during the holiday season, when they threw open their homes to display Putz, elaborately constructed scenes depicting the Christmas story.
We shall pass over the Butter Semmels filled with duck liver or minced smoked pheasant and concentrate on the species made for dessert. They can be filled with little scoops of ground nuts and sugar, almond paste, dried fruit or jam. I have left them plain, although Quince Honey (see opposite page) or raspberry jam flavored with rosewater can turn these happy pastries into true food memories.
Yield: 5 to 6 dozen
½ ounce (15g) dry active yeast
1 cup (250ml) lukewarm potato water (98F/37C)
¾ cup (185g) unsalted butter and lard (half and half), or all butter
2 cups (400g) warm mashed potatoes
1 cup (175g) light brown sugar
1 tablespoon (15g) salt
2 large eggs
7 cups (875g) organic bread flour
Melted unsalted butter
Superfine sugar
Proof the yeast in the potato water. While the yeast is proofing, whip the butter and lard into the warm mashed potatoes. Then add the sugar and salt. Once the potatoes are tepid, beat the eggs until lemon-color and frothy, and fold them into the potato mixture. Add the proofed yeast, then sift in 2 cups (250g) of flour.
Butter Semmels
Work this into soft dough, cover and let it double in bulk (about 5 hours). Then gradually sift in the remaining flour, only enough to make the dough stiff so that it does not stick to the hands. Knead well until it becomes soft and tacky.
Flour your work surface and rolling pin, then roll out pieces of dough into sheets ½ inch (1.25cm) thick. Cut the dough into 2-inch (5cm) squares. Take the corners of each square and fold them toward the center, envelope fashion. Pinch the tips together tightly – otherwise, they will pop open when during baking. Dot the pinch with butter and pinch again. Set the Semmels on greased baking sheets to recover.
Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Once the dough has risen, bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes – 18 minutes seems to be a reliable average. Remove from the oven, and while still hot, brush the Semmels with melted butter and then dust them with superfine sugar (caster sugar) or a mix of sugar and cinnamon.
Note: This same dough can be used for making Fastnachts (page 69), decorative New Year’s Pretzels (page 22), and New Year’s Boys (page 21). Butter Semmels were also made for Valentine’s parties, but instead of a fruit or jam filling, motto papers were placed inside. Motto papers are like the little sayings placed inside Chinese fortune cookies, except that the theme of the mottos always dealt with love or romance.
Quince Honey
Quiddehunnich
Anyone who undertakes
