Beautiful Bagels
Last week in the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge our task was to make classic New York City style bagels. Yes, that’s right- homemade bagels! Yikes. After reading the recipe I thought to myself, “Well at least if they turn out to be hockey pucks, they’ll still look okay!” Relieved that unlike the Artos Greek Celebration bread these bagels had no need for wild yeast starter, I bravely got to work.
After making the first loaf in this challenge by hand, I decided that technology is a wonderful thing and that I would let my mixer have all the pleasure of kneading dough. So far my mixer has taken on this job with no complaint, but the incredibly stiff bagel dough just about broke it’s figurative back. The motor started to smell after about 6 minutes and I quickly turned off the machine while it angrily radiated heat. Fortunately the dough was at “windowpane” stage and ready to be shaped into the bagels.
Making the Bagels
Shaping the bagels was surprisingly easy. I simply rolled the dough into 4.5 oz balls, let them sit for a while, and then rolled each ball into a thick rope. I looped the rope over my hand, sealed the ends, and presto- a bagel! The bagels chilled in the fridge overnight to develop more flavor and then the next morning I took them out and boiled them briefly in water and baking soda.
After the quick boil, Mr. B pressed sesame seeds, asiago cheese, and poppy seeds onto the bagels and into the oven they went. A short fifteen minutes later we had eye-poppingly beautiful bagels. Impatiently we watched the clock for another twenty minutes to let them cool down, and then slathered on cream cheese and took the first bite.
Asiago, Black and White Sesame Garlic, Candied Meyer Lemon Peel Poppy Seed Bagels
I DID IT! They were chewy, salty, yeasty, and oh so good. Frankly I’m still sitting here in shock that I actually made real bagels. In my mind it would be worth buying the Bread Baker’s Apprentice just to have this recipe. They were terrific and I can’t wait to make them again. By the end of this year I just may figure out how to make bread after all…!
Mayberry Magpie said..
Oh.My.God.
You could have posted that you built a rocket and flew it to the moon and I would have been no less impressed. I'm not kidding. I can bake bread but somehow bagels always seemed like rocket science.
I'm tempted to try this . . . sorely tempted.
June 3, 2009 @ 9:46 am
Jeff said..
I really like the meyer lemon topping idea! How did you do that?
I did not wait when the first one came out, it was oven rack hits stove top and my hand was grabbing one to devour. Heck the butter just melted all over it.
Hope your KA is fine!
June 3, 2009 @ 9:46 am
Phoo-D said..
Mayberry- Hee hee. I know, I still have this giddy feeling of elation like I just learned how to do a backflip or something and I want to tell everyone about my new talent. With Mr. Mom's bread baking skills I think the two of you could easily make this recipe! I'd almost go so far as to say it could be life changing…
Jeff- I had leftover candied Meyer lemon peel (recipe here: http://www.phoo-d.com/2009/01/meyer-lemon-heaven.html) that I chopped finely and then mixed with the poppy seeds. We then sprinkled it on top of the boiled bagels and pressed it in a bit. Very tasty.
June 3, 2009 @ 9:58 am
Phoo-D said..
Oh, and my KA survived to mix another day. Thanks for asking!
June 3, 2009 @ 9:59 am
Pete Eatemall said..
I couldn't get over that I made Bagels too. Couldn't sleep the night before..so excited to boil and bake…even in an outdoor kitchen. I have made again since..Yours look so good! Happy baking! Jenn @ Pete Eatemall
June 3, 2009 @ 11:14 am
susies1955 said..
Great looking bagels. You certainly should be proud they are great.
Nice baking along with you,
Susie
June 3, 2009 @ 2:10 pm
TKW said..
Ack! I cannot believe you had the guts to make your own bagels! You renegade, you! The thought of baking something like that terrifies me.
Yours look great, and the meyer lemon version is genius!
June 3, 2009 @ 3:43 pm
plumpestpeach said..
This has inspired me to make bagels. Oh how I want to sink my teeth into one right now! Great to meet you at IFBC!
June 3, 2009 @ 3:52 pm
Liz Owen said..
Looking at these pictures… I can almost smell these.
June 3, 2009 @ 4:33 pm
Susan @ SGCC said..
You made bagels! Hurrah! I'm so impressed. They look gorgeous AND delicious! I may have to try this one myself. We get crummy bagels down here!
June 3, 2009 @ 11:56 pm
Kristin @ Going Country said..
Yay for Phoo-D and her bagels! And yay that the bagels didn't kill your mixer. My MiL used to sometimes make a very burly sort of whole wheat bread she called Viking Bread that has such a heavy dough, she had to call on my brother-in-law to do the kneading.
June 4, 2009 @ 6:33 am
unconfidentialcook said..
Wow, I can't believe you made these!!! I should really try it–there's nothing worse than a bagel in LA (maybe saralee?), at least if you're used to H&H;.
June 4, 2009 @ 11:48 am
Sweet Charity said..
Awww, poor mixer!! Glad to know the bagels didn't kill it
The bagels look fantastic! Like you, I was super impressed with myself after making them…
June 4, 2009 @ 11:50 am
Phoo-D said..
Jenn, Susie, Sweet Charity- Thanks for stopping by! It is a lot of fun to virtually bake with all of you.
.
TKW- Thanks and there is just a fine line between terrifying and fun in my world
PlumpestPeach, Susan- It was terrific to meet both of you at IFBC. Thanks for stopping by!
Liz- The aroma was awesome.
Kristin- Now there's a good idea! Get a big strong man and keep him around for stiff breads…
Catherine- I thought of you as I made these, wondering if they would pass the H&H; test. (I've never been there.) They probably could.
June 4, 2009 @ 2:51 pm
Lovely said..
Very inspirational – wish i could join the Apprentice Bakers Group but am happy following your experiences all the same. i've never considered making these at home but maybe soon….We live in Paris and there is no good bagel here, anywhere.
June 5, 2009 @ 5:26 am
Susan/Wild Yeast said..
Wow, so beautiful! I think most people don't believe they can actually make bagels until they try. Glad you mixer survived!
June 5, 2009 @ 11:39 am
Phoo-D said..
Lovely- It is possible to "bake along" with the group and participate in the Twitter/ Facebook/ blog forums. As wonderful as these bagels are I think I would trade them for a good Paris baguette!
Susan- Thank you for stopping by! Yes they did seem like a mythical bread that was very unapproachable before trying. But then no bread is a mystery to you!
June 6, 2009 @ 8:51 am
Shari said..
What great success on your first Bagel experience. These look amazing. I had fun making them too and will definitely make them again —
Your toppings look great. I went with a simpler approach but this is definitely one to try in the future! Thanks for sharing!!
June 11, 2009 @ 10:23 pm
twospoons said..
It is a pretty awesome book (The Bread Baker's Apprentice). You can check out quite a lot of it on Google books actually, if you want to preview it a little more
June 23, 2009 @ 3:26 am
bonvivant said..
I can sympathize about the overworked Kitchen Aid, but mine stood up to the test….and lived to see another day (phew!). These bagels were absolutely yummy!
July 6, 2009 @ 6:24 pm
Sofya said..
This is absolutely spectacular. I tried my hand at bagels once, and they were not nearly as… bagel-like! My 4-year old keeps asking me to make bagels… I've seen the said cookbook around, just never thought of buying it.
Do you ever make no-knead bread? It might be a bit too low-challenge for your level of adventurousness, but, having made many different interesting breads myself, I settled on making that – it requires very little time/effort, is absolutely flexible in terms of schedule, and I have not bought bread for a very long time now. Which is as well, since homemade is just so much better. If you are not already familiar with it (though I'd be surprised), I have a whole post on making it. Myself and probably a ton of other bloggers.
February 22, 2010 @ 12:23 am