Pan d’Epi or Épis de Blé Wreath (Wheat Stalk Bread/ Ears of Wheat) With Caramelized Onions #BreadBakers

   Epi is the French word used to describe the flower of a wheat stalk. So the Pan d’Epi or Épis de Blé is the name given to bread that looks like a wheat stalk or the ears of wheat. 

     The Pan d’Epi is a classic and commonly made French artisan bread. When made for special holidays and celebrations, this bread is often made more decorative by shaping it into a wreath.

    The Pan d’Epi is easy enough to make and really just one step up from the French baguette. It is made the same way but then cut to resemble a wheat stalk. It is eaten just a baguette and can be served with soup, or used to make sandwiches. 

     This bread is best eaten fresh, the day it is made. It is best stores wrapped in paper until it is used. If the bread starts to go stale, revive it by sprinkling it with water and briefly baking it. Otherwise, use it to make croutons or breadcrumbs.    

    A Pan d’Epi is a plain bread but I decided to add some caramelized onions to mine just to add some flavour. You may omit this if you want to stay authentic with the bread. I also chose to make a round Pan d’Epi wreath because my baking sheet and oven would hold this shape better.

For this month's Bread Bakers Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm of choose to make  International Breads . I made this french bread......

Requirements  :

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp oil

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 1/2  tsp instant yeast

1 tbsp oil

3/4 to 1 cup warm water

Method:

        Heat the oil and add the chopped onions to it. Sauté over medium heat till they turn a nice deep brown. Take it off the heat and let it cool.

      Put the remaining ingredients, except the water, in a bowl (or processor bowl) and mix well. Add enough warm water and knead until you have a soft and elastic dough, almost sticky dough.

      Add the caramelized onions and knead it into the dough till distributed uniformly. Shape into a smooth ball and place it in an oiled bowl, turning it to coat it well with oil. 

      Cover loosely and let it rise for about an hour to an hour and a half till it has doubled in volume. 

      Dust your working surface lightly with flour. If you’re going to shape it as a long wheat stalk (or two if your oven or baking sheets aren’t large enough to take one long one), then press out the dough into a rough rectangle. 

     Fold the long edge away from you towards the center. Fold the long edge near you towards the centre. Now fold over in half, like a letter fold and pinch the seam together neatly and tightly. See this tutorial for a better idea on shaping a baguette. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmu1rg4CPgk )

      Sprinkle flour generously over the baguette. Starting with one end of the baguette, make equidistant cuts in the dough (about three inches apart) holding a pair of scissors so they are parallel to the bread, and then tilting them so they are at a 45-degree angle. 

       Make the cuts in the dough almost as if you were going to snip that bit off but it will still be attached, then take that piece and move it to the left. Make another snip about 3 inches down from the bottom of the last one and move that piece to the right. Keep on doing this until you reach the end of the bread. See this video for a better understanding of this process. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN5QL_kaowQ )

        If you want to make a wreath like I did, then take a look at this tutorial (http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/2008/12/08/holiday-wreath-bread ) first. Place the risen dough on a floured surface. 

       Gently poke a hole through the dough in the centre with your fingers and stretch out the dough into a round ring. Place this on the parchment lined baking sheet and then generously dust the top of the dough with flour. 

       As described above for the baguette, make cuts about 2 inches apart and move each portion outward forming a wreath. Once the Epi has been shaped, loosely cover the dough and let it rise again for about 15 minutes. 

       In the meanwhile, preheat your oven to 240*C (470*F) with a baking tray upside down on the rack and an empty pan at the bottom of the oven.  

      When ready place the Epi in the oven and pour a cup of water into the pan at the bottom to create steam.I didn't use steam .

      Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes till the Pan d’Epi is done and golden brown in colour. Let it cool completely before cutting.

  Enjoy the onion flavoured Pan d'Epi..........

We Knead To Bake #42

Apfelpfannkuchen (Apple Pancake)from A Day in the Life on the Farm 

Auvergne Crown from Karen's Kitchen Stories 

Bauerbrot from All That's Left Are The Crumbs

Bialys from Spill the Spices 

Boule from Bread Therapy 

Chilli and Coriander Scones from Sizzling Tastebuds 

Dallas Pulla from The Schizo Chef 

Dutch Tiger Bread (Tijgerbrood)from Baking Sense 

Eggless brioche bread from I camp in my Kitchen 

Epi di Pan from Sara's Tasty Buds 

Franzbrotchen from Gayathri's Cook Spot 

German Soft Pretzels (Laugenbrezel) from Hostess At Heart 

German Soft Pretzels from Herbivore Cucina 

Kardemummabullar from Ambrosia 

Pita Bread from Sneha's Recipe

Pletzel from Cook's Hideout 

Pretzel bites from  My Cooking Journey 

Savoury Kugelhopf from The Mad Scientist's Kitchen 

Slovak Bread Rolls(Rozky) from Mayuri's Jikoni 

Whole wheat Pitta bread from Sonlicious 

Yemeni Kubaneh from Food Lust People Love

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

Bee Hive Buns / Honeycomb Buns / Khaliat Nahal - Eggless #BreadBakers

  For  this month’s bread bakers gave us the theme to bake sweetened yeast bread for Christmas or Holiday season.

  This Bee Hive buns was the bread which was chosen  for another bread baking group We Knead to Bake in which I was a member. I didn’t bake this bread during that time. But this bread was in my to do list for a long time.

  When this month’s theme was announced I immediately decided to make this bee hive bread.

This bread is easy enough to make and what is unusual is that it is filled and then covered with a sugar syrup/ glaze ,which is typical of Middle Eastern confectionery.

Khaliat al Nahal (also known as Khaliat Nahal) translates as Bee’s Hive in Arabic. This is because the buns are baked close to each other in a round pan where they form a honeycomb like pattern. They’re traditionally made sweet and glazed with honey flavoured syrup, though savoury versions are also made.

This recipe makes 15 small buns, and if you want fewer you can halve the recipe to make about 9 or 10 buns. For half the recipe, use a 6” or 7” round cake tin to bake the Honeycomb Bread. 

   You can also bake them individually in muffin tins if you prefer, except they would not have their characteristic “honeycomb” pattern.

Traditionally, the filling used in this bread is a small piece of plain cream cheese but here choice of filling is entirely up to you. You can make it sweet or savoury. I used sweet coconut filling. I used fresh grated coconut , you can use dessicated coconut if it is not available.

Here’s a good video to watch in case you think you need it. http://xawaash.com/?p=6593#sthash.WYkAg0DL.dpbs

Khaliat Nahal (Honeycomb Buns or Bee’s Hive Buns)

For the dough:

Ingredients:

1 cup lukewarm milk

1 1/2 tsp instant yeast

1 tsp sugar

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

40gm butter, melted

2 tbsp milk for brushing the dough

2 tbsp white sesame seeds for sprinkling on top (optional only for savoury bread)

For the filling:

1 cup Grated coconut

1 tbs clarified Butter

10 cashew

10 Raisins

¼ tsp Cardamom powder

¼ cup sugar

Other options for filling :

Savoury - cream cheese OR crumbled feta cheese OR crumbled paneer/ cottage cheese, flavoured according to your choice. You can also use any other savoury filling that you want. I used a combination of crumbled paneer, herbs, chilli flakes, a little garlic and chopped spring onion.

Sweet - cream cheese (traditional filling), or any other filing of your choice like chocolate, dried fruit like dates, raisins, chopped nuts, chopped fruit , sweetened coconut filling, etc.

Sugar Syrup/ Glaze:

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

A pinch of saffron

1 tbsp honey

1 tsp lime/ lemon juice

Method:

Make sure your melted butter has cooled down a bit before using it. Put 2 cups of the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a bowl and mix well.

Combine the milk, sugar and melted butter  and add this to the dough mixture and knead until you have a smooth and elastic dough which is not sticky.

      Add as much of the remaining 1/2 cup of flour as you need to get this consistency of bread dough. I used all of 2 1/2 cups of flour for mine.

Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl, turning it to coat completely with the oil. Cover and let it rise till double in volume, for about an hour.

Turn the dough out onto your work counter. You won’t really need to flour it as the dough is quite manageable as it is. Cut it into 2 halves. With your palms, roll out each half a “rope” about 9” long. Cut each rope into 1” pieces so you have a total of 18 pieces.


Coconut Filling :

Add the butter to a sauce pan and melt . To this add chopped cashew along with raisins  and fry.
Add  the grated coconut and saute for a minute and take off flame.
To the above add the cardamom powder and sugar , mix well. 
Let the mixture cool.

Shaping the Buns :

Take each piece and flatten it out a little and place half a teaspoon of filling in the centre. Pull up the sides and wrap the dough around the filling, pinching it closed at the top. Smoothen it into a round ball. Place this in a well-greased round 9” cake tin. Repeat with the remaining 17 pieces and the filling.

Arrange the filled balls of dough in concentric circles, filling the base of the cake tin.

Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rise for about 30 to 40 minutes. Brush the tops with milk and sprinkle the sesame seeds over this. Don’t use the sesame seeds for sweet bread, only for the savoury Filling .

Bake the buns at 180*C (350*F) for about 25 – 30 minutes, until they’re done and a nice golden brown on top.

Let them cool in the tin for about 5 minutes and then on a wire rack.

Sugar Glaze :

If you’re making the sweet version, make the sugar syrup/ glaze during the first rise of the dough. For this put the sugar, water and saffron in a small pan and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and let it simmer for a few minutes until it starts thickening a bit. Take it off the heat and add the honey and the lime/ lemon juice. Mix well and let it cool. Keep aside till needed.

When the sweet buns come out of the oven, pour the syrup all over the top of the “Honeycomb”.  The bread should be hot and the syrup/ glaze should be cool. 

If you want your Honeycomb Buns to be less sweet, just brush the syrup/ glaze over the top.I brushed the syrup as the filling was so sweet.

Let it sit for a while for the syrup/ glaze to set a bit. Serve them warm with tea/ coffee.

American-Style Panettone from Passion Kneaded

Apple Cinnamon Rolls from Sizzling Tastebuds

Beehive Bread from Sara's Tasty Buds

Candied Fruit Sweet Rolls from Cindy's Recipes and Writings

Chestnut Roll Wreath from Food Above Gold

Chocolate Cherry Brioche Buns from Baking Sense

Chocolate Swirl Babka from Cook's Hideout

Cranberry Orange Breakfast Braid from Kylee Cooks

Cranberry Sweet Rolls from Food Lust People Love

Cranberry, Pistachio, and White Chocolate Panettone from A Baker's House

Estonian Kringle from I Camp in my Kitchen

Finnish Nissua Bread from Gayathri's Cook Spot

Fruit & Nut Sourdough from What Smells So Good?

Ginger Orange Stollen from Spiceroots

Holiday Wreath with Sweet Nut Filling from Hostess At Heart

Indian Inspired Holiday Wreath from Herbivore Cucina

Julekake from A Shaggy Dough Story

Kugelhopffrom Ambrosia

Marzipan Stollen from Palatable Pastime

St. Lucia Buns from Karen's Kitchen Stories

Stollen Bread from Sneha's Recipe

Sweet Milk Dinner Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Farm

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.