Stud Muffin

No, this isn't about my husband. And no, this isn't about any of the Olympic athletes either.

I just had to share about a bread I made.

We have a book called The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. It's a great book all about all kinds of breads. It goes into great detail about different equipment, food brands (Pillsbury, King Arthur, etc.). It even gives different methods (stand mixer, food processor), and measurements (lbs & oz vs cups vs grams). It can be a little confusing, but the recipes are really wonderful.

Now apparently I am still having a little trouble with one of my new years' resolutions. It's the one I made about thoroughly reading the instructions before starting a recipe.

My husband was recently thumbing through the bread book and came upon pictures of the Stud Muffin. One of the reasons it's called that is because it is "studded" with bits of cheese on the top.

It looked really good in the book and the ingredients included three kinds of cheese: parmesan, romano, and gruyere. So I went to the store and bought the cheeses and the flour recommended (since I usually buy cheaper store brand flour). I got home and started making the bread.

Oops. First off it says "unbleached" flour. I got the brand name, but it was bleached. I thought it can't make that much difference so I continued.

You start with a "sponge" which has to sit for 1 - 4 hours. It was already too late in the evening so I let it sit overnight. That was Day One.

The next day you make the dough. You eventually have to put it in the fridge for 8 hours or up to two days. That was Day Two.

Then you take it out and get ready to bake it. First it has to rise to triple it's size. It was supposed to take about 4 hours but after 5 1/2 hours I said it's risen enough. Into the oven it went. When it was done it was a thing of beauty. That was Day Three.

Talk about a cheese bread! If you like cheese you will love this bread. We ate it with some bbq'd brisket my husband had made earlier. It was delicious.

I would have to say it would not have been as complicated as it seemed originally if I had just read the recipe through completely from the start to begin with. In retrospect it really was quite simple and worth the price of the book. Maybe it should have been named "Three Day Stud Muffin". Or maybe I really need to read things through first.

You want the recipe? You'll have to buy the book!