Bake Yourself Around The World With These 7 Breads

If you’re looking for another way to make your taste buds travel and are stock-piled on flour, look no further! Here are some bread variations to bake yourself around the world.

Bake Yourself Around The World With These 7 Breads

1. Azores, Portugal – Bolo Lêvedo

What you need:

10g (0.35oz) dried active yeast

4 tablespoons warm water

200g (7oz) sugar

3 eggs (or vegan egg replacer)

¼ teaspoon salt

750g (1.6 lb) plain flour

275ml (10 fl oz) milk (vegan or cow’s milk)

50g (2 oz) melted butter or margarine

Preparation:

Fill the warm water in a glass or cup and add a pinch of sugar and the yeast. Set aside until foamy (around 10 minutes), then melt the butter or margarine and set aside to cool down. In a large bowl add together the yeast mixture, sugar, eggs, salt, flour and milk until it forms smooth dough. Add butter or margarine and knead for 10 more minutes (with hands or a kneading mixer). You can add some more flour if the dough is to sticky. Use a cloth to cover the dough and let it rest for 45 minutes. It should roughly double in size. Place a clean tea towel on your working surface and dust it with flour. Cut the dough into about 16 pieces and form them into flat round circles that are around 1cm/1/2 inch thick. Place the discs on the tea towel, but leave space for them to grow and let them rest for another 1.5 hours. Turn an ungreased pan on low heat and fry the circles until they are golden, then turn them around and do the same. This will take a while but don’t worry, the result will be worth it. It’s also delicious when still warm.

Bom apetite! Have fun when you bake yourself around the world!

2. France – Baguette

What you need:

500g (18 oz) plain flour

350ml (12 fl oz) water

5g (0.18 oz) fresh yeast

½ teaspoon salt

Preparation:

Mix 150g (5.3 oz) of flour with 150ml (5 fl oz) of water and 1g (0.035 oz) of yeast and let it rest overnight. The next day, in a large bowl, mix the rest of the flour and the salt together. In another bowl, mix the rest of the yeast and the rest of the water. Next, mix the water mix with the dough from yesterday before mixing in the flour mixture. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes under a tea towel. Knead (by hand or with a kneading mixer) for 10 minutes. Let the dough rest for an hour under a tea towel. Divide dough into three pieces and form each into a baguette. Let them rest for another 45 minutes. Cut lines at the top of about 1cm (1/2 inch) depth. Bake at 250°C (482°F) for 20 minutes until golden.

Bon appetite!

3. Germany – Brötchen

What you need:

500g (18 oz) plain flour

300ml (10 fl oz) warm water

20g (0.75oz) fresh yeast

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

Preparation:

In a large bowl, mix the fresh yeast with the sugar and the warm water. Then add the flour and salt and mix together. Knead until smooth (by hand or with a blending mixer) and add flour if the dough is too sticky. Divide the dough into eight pieces and form them into balls/bread rolls and place them on a baking tray lined with baking sheet, leave some space for them to grow. Cut a line down the center of each roll about 1cm(1/2 inch) deep and let the rolls rest for 30 minutes. Next, preheat the oven at 200°C (or 400°F). Spray or brush the rolls with some water and place them into the oven for 30 minutes until they are golden. Enjoy with some sweet or savoury bread spreads.

Guten Appetit!

4. Mediterranean – Mediterranean Bread

What you need:

3 tablespoons ground flax seeds

120ml (4 fl oz) water

200g (7 oz) plain flour

100g (3.5 oz) whole wheat flour

2.5 tablespoons baking powder

¼ tablespoon salt

½ teaspoon dried basil

235ml (8 fl oz) milk (vegan or cow’s milk)

60ml (2.7 fl oz) olive oil

50g (1.75 oz) chopped walnuts

30g (1 oz) chopped pitted olives (optional)

30g (1 oz chopped sundried tomatoes)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven at 180°C (or 350°F) and grease a rectangular cake or bread pan. Blend the water and flax seed together until creamy. In a large bowl, mix all (except walnuts, olives and tomatoes) the dry ingredients together. In another bowl, mix the flax seed mix with milk and olive oil. Add the dry and wet mixes and mix until a dough forms. Then add the walnuts, olives and tomatoes and mix together. Finally add the dough to the pan and bake for 40 minutes. Let it cool before taking out of the pan, else it will break…believe me.

…there’s too many languages…the recipe is likely Greek or Italian. Either way it is fun to bake yourself around the world.

5. Ireland – Irish Soda Bread

What you need:
470ml (16 fl oz) milk (vegan or cow’s milk)

2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

500g (18oz) plain flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

55g (2 oz) butter or margarine

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F). You can use a lightly greased cake form, or just use a baking tray with a baking sheet underneath. Melt the butter or margarine and let it cool. Mix the milk and vinegar and let it sit for 10 minutes. In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients together. Add the milk/vinegar mix and the melted butter or margarine and knead until you have a sticky dough. Knead dough (by hand or with kneading mixer) for 5 minutes and add more flour if the dough is too sticky. Place the dough in the cake form or in a slightly flattened ball on a baking tray. Bake for around 40 minutes.

Bain taitneamh as do bhéile! (Is this a valid translation? Bake yourself around the world!)

6. USA – New York Style Bagels

What you need:

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

5 teaspoons sugar

300ml (10 fl oz) warm water

500g plain flour (or high gluten if you have)

½ teaspoon salt

Preparation:

Add half the warm water, yeast and sugar together and let it sit for five minutes before stirring until everything dissolves. In a large bowl, mix flour and salt and pour in the yeast mix. Mix until you have firm moist dough adding more of the water as needed. Knead the dough (by hand or with a kneading mixer) for 10 minutes and add more flour if the dough is too sticky. Make the dough into a ball and let it rest in its bowl, covered in a tea towel for 1 hour. During this time it should roughly double in size. Then you can punch and knead it before letting it rest for another 10 minutes. Cut the dough into 8 pieces and make each piece into a ball. Use your fingers (coated with flour) to make a hole in the dough ball to form a bagel and stretch it out a bit, then place it on a baking sheet. Cover all bagels with a tea towel and let them rest for 10 minutes while you preheat the oven at 220°C (425°F). Let water simmer in a large pot. Using a ladle with holes or whatever tools available to you to lower the bagels into the water (as many at a time as you like). Once they float at the top, wait a minute before flipping them over. After another minute, take the bagel out and placing it wherever it can drain easily (watch out, they’re sticky now). Now transfer them on an anti stick baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes until golden.

Enjoy! (How does English not have a proper saying for this? After being so busy to bake yourself around the world!)

7. USA – Banana Bread

What you need:

2 cups of mashed, well-ripened bananas

4 eggs

2/3 cup oil (Canola or other oil without strong taste)

2 cups plain flour

2 cups sugar (add more, if you have an extra sweet tooth)

1 small box of vanilla pudding mix (or banana pudding mix, if you want it extra banana-y)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1.5 teaspoons salt (add more, if you like it salty)

1 stick of butter

1 bar of chocolate (preferably dark or semisweet) or 1.5 cups of chocolate chips

Preparation:

Mash all the wet ingredients together and then fold in the dry ones. Bake for an hour at 160°C (325°F) or until firm. Slice and serve with butter. So simple and so yum!
Enjoy!

If you’d like to add your own bread recipes to bake yourself around the world, add them as a comment to share with others.