Toad Bread: Attempt 2

Click here for some context and to see Attempt 1

The GF and I decided to re-attempt Nikk Alcaraz's toad bread recipe -- this time following the ingredients and instructions from his newly-posted YouTube video.

We made only slight ingredient adjustments based on what we had on hand.  Here is what we used:

Ingredients

Dough:

100 g  whole milk

100 g water 

14 g granulated sugar 

9 g active dry yeast 

400 g bread flour 

9 g salt 

28 g unsalted butter (softened)

10 g apple cider vinegar 

1 large egg

Egg Wash:

1 egg yolk 

1 tsp water 

~1/2 tsp garlic salt

After proofing the yeast in the warm water & milk, we mixed all the dough ingredients into a ball, then kneaded it for 10 minutes.  Then we let it rise for about an hour and a half, punched it down, and pressed out the air bubbles.  

Then we got to shaping! Starting with a tight egg shape.

(Woah, hand reveal!)

Then, we covered him in plastic wrap for one more 30-minute rise, and he plumped right up:

Then came the egg wash...

And finally, we baked him at 350° for 28 minutes.

Just look at our beautiful boy!

Some excellent photography from my Ghoulfriend

He's quite a bit handsomer than our first loaf, and he tastes SOOOOO much better.  This loaf is fluffier, chewier, and more flavorful.  The garlic salt in the egg wash added a nice subtle hint of umami.  

This recipe was really very easy, too.  Definitely give it a shot if you've thought about making your own.  

Follow-along with Practical Peculiarities' YouTube video or purchase the cookbook: Peculiar Baking.

Happy baking!

A little collage by the gf :)

Toad Bread: Attempt 1

Two weeks ago, The Ghoulfriend and I were inspired by a video posted last year which has been resurfacing again this season. In it, Nikk Alcaraz (@practicalpeculiarities on Instagram) promotes his Halloween-themed cookbook, Peculiar Baking, by showing a sneak peak of one of his recipes: Toad Bread!

This is what we were attempting to recreate:

Click above image for Instagram video

We both knew that we had to attempt something similar, but Alcaraz hadn't published his recipe online anywhere, and since we didn't have his cookbook, we decided to do some internet research and try our own hand at it.  Eventually, we found this recipe for Frog Bread from The Fresh Loaf!  

The Fresh Loaf's beautiful frog bread.

It's your average basic dense bread recipe. They shaped it into a frog, but we wanted to use the same recipe and make it more toad-like as Alcaraz does in his video.

We followed the recipe instructions pretty closely, but perhaps not close enough... *dramatic foreshadowing*

The Fresh Loaf's recipe instructed us to let the dough rise for 90 minutes, then shape it into a frog and cover loosely with a towel, letting it rise for one more hour.  Here is where we messed up. We lost track of time during the second, post-shaping rise.  

Meaning our toad went from this:

To THIS:

 

A rather plump fellow!  We would have been happy with our unexpectedly big-boned toad, but by over-proofing the dough, all the gluten had begun to lose its strength!  As soon as I began shifting it into the oven, our poor boy began to deflate.

After applying an egg wash and baking him one rack-height too high, we had our own "Toad" Bread!

The air bubbles did make some fun warts though!

Despite bearing a closer resemblance to Lepidobatrachus laevis than Bufo bufo (though the former is nicknamed "Freddy Kreuger frog" so at least it's still Halloween-y!) our bread was delicious!  I have no doubt The Fresh Loaf's recipe would have worked fine without our proofing mistakes.  

But the most ironic part? On the very same evening, Nikk Alcaraz actually posted his full original Toad Bread recipe on YouTube!  After a year of it being exclusive to his cookbook, he posts it for free mere hours after we tried to emulate it.  So now, of course, we'll be attempting it again!

Ain't that just the way...

Still tasty, though!

Stay tuned for Attempt 2!