Who wouldn’t want to make breads with names like Ontbijtkoek or Kruidkoek? While watching Starwars. Or Lord of the Rings. I feel like these are words which better suit Orks, rather than Christmas ginger breads, but then again, I am not Dutch. To be honest, they were a little dry for my liking, which could be improved with, say, butter. But this is a Daring Bakers Challenge, and one of my most successful projects to be sure.
Dutch sweet bread, or Ontbijtkoek
Ala Daring Bakers Challenge
1 large egg
1 tablespoon cane sugar syrup
1 cup less 2 tablespoons lukewarm water
1 tablespoon ground gingerbread spices*
1¼ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1¾ teaspoons baking powder
*Gingerbread spice blend:
6 tablespoons (40 gm) cinnamon
2 teaspoons (10 gm) nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground anise
1 teaspoon ground mace
Preheat oven to moderate 350°F and line a 12“x5“ baking tin with parchment paper.
Put the egg, syrup, water, spices and brown sugar in a bowl. Whisk until everything is dissolved.
Add the whole-wheat flour and the baking powder into the bowl and mix all the ingredients with a wooden spoon until the flour is wet. It doesn’t matter if there are some lumps left.
Pour into the baking tin and bake in a preheated moderate 350°F oven for 70 minutes.
To check if the sweet bread is done, stick a wooden skewer or toothpick into the middle. If it comes out clean the sweet bread is ready.
Take the cake out of the oven, allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes
After the 5 minutes take the cake out of the pan and let the cake cool down to room temperature before serving.
Kruidkoek
4 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
2½ cups brown sugar, firmly packed
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 cups milk
Directions:
Preheat oven to moderate 350°F and line a 12“x5“ baking tin with parchment paper.
Whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl
Put the milk in a small saucepan and warm until it almost comes to a boil. Remove from the heat. Add the sugar and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.
Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients whisk (by hand or using a machine) until the batter is totally smooth.
Pour into the baking tin and bake in a preheated moderate 350°F oven for 90 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean
Take the cake out of the oven, allow it to cool in the pan for 5 minutes
After the 5 minutes take the cake out of the pan and let the cake cool down to room temperature before serving.
Oh my gosh, those both sounds divine (minus the dryness 🙂 )! Enjoy the baking and movie combo, heavenly!
I found that slightly toasting the breads and applying butter took care of the slightly dry problem. I loved the spicy sweetness in these. Glad to meet you on Daring bakers.