Christmas Bake sale part 1 of 2

It is baking day in the Saint Mary’s parish center!  We put out multiple communications asking for volunteers and boy did they show up!  We’re all here to have a lot of fun, bake some bread, and most importantly, have community with one another!





The master dough recipe is a sweet rich yeast dough, full of eggs, sugar, and fat. This is a sturdy dough, necessary to hold thick fillings and cheese.   I’ve placed it here in case your parish would like to use it.

DOUGH RECIPE
SCALD & COOL:
3 c Milk
2 c Margarine
1 c Sugar
1 tbsp Salt
1/3 c Instant Yeast
1 tbsp Sugar
1 c Warm H2O
DISSOLVE TOGETHER:
WHIP:
8 Eggs When liquid is luke warm & yeast has risen, add yeast to liquid, stir, add eggs, stir.
18 c Flour
ADD:
Knead, let rise 30 minutes. Measure out 3/4 # balls, let rise 5 minutes. Roll out to about 14" square and 1/8" thick. Spread two level coffee cups of filling onto dough. Roll up and seal ends. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until done. Baste with melted oleo when removed from oven. Let cool completely before packing. Makes approximately 12-16 nut, poppy or apricot rolls.



The dough is mixed in our big mixer and undergoes its first proof inside a warm parish kitchen. Then, it’s scaled off into 1 lb. sections and covered with tea towels until it can be used. These 1 pound dough balls are rolled into rectangles and filled with nut, poppyseed or apricot filling. This is also the base for the braided cheese bread and cheese buns.



We set-up the Saturday baking session as an assembly line. Volunteers are grouped based on what bread they are rolling and filling. We also need bread packagers, dishwashers and  parish center beautifiers! Most of the workers are outside the kitchen and placed at long tables to fill and roll. We’ve utilized several tools to make sure all the breads are a uniform size and shape. Each roller is given a tape measure to measure the sides of their rectangle and a pre-filled bowl of filling to ensure uniformity.



The cheese buns are baked in batches of nine buns; these pie tins fit them perfectly! There is something so satisfying about peaking into the oven and seeing bread risen and browning. 

After the bread comes out of the oven, the loaves are brushed with melted butter and set aside to cool.




This is hard work! Time for lunch! 



Thank you everyone for your help in making this baking day a success!


In Christ,

St. Mary’s Women’s Club

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