It’s been awhile since I’ve popped up a beautiful ol’ loaf of bread on the blog. Things have been busy and good bread takes time, love, and patience. Lots of it. But I was overdue to share some Panera love again and I figured, why not focus on the bread this go round? Because anyone who’s ever been to Panera knows that one of the best parts about the tasting experience is their fresh baked bread. Am I right? Panera passed me a few links to read regarding their bread making process and in perusing the site I was surprised to learn that all their loaves are made on location each night and every loaf uses unbleached flour. You had me at fresh and unbleached. I can only imagine the passion those bakers must have for the bread they create.
One of the links Panera shared with me was to their Baker’s Table website. I watched the video regarding fresh ingredients and decided that I needed to attempt my own loaf of fresh deliciousness utilizing the tips and tricks given by Tom Gumpel, Panera’s head baker. Some of the tips he gave included a trick for testing the dough to ensure complete fermentation, transferring your bread to a hot stone, and spraying the bread with water which creates steam and in turn creates a higher quality crust. Yep, I’d never utilized any of those tricks before when baking bread. It was time to take Tom’s advice to heart. After all, if you were offered the secrets to creating a loaf of bread as beautiful and delicious as Panera’s, wouldn’t you take them?
The loaf I decided to make was a basic yeast bread with a little orange essence and some dried cherries added in. I wasn’t going for a sweet bread, just a beautiful simple yeast loaf with a hint of fruit flavor to tickle the palate.
Start out with the basic bread ingredients; water, yeast, flour, and a pinch of salt.
Throw in some orange zest, a bit of juice and a cupful of dried cherries.
Knead that beautiful ball of dough and enjoy the feel of fresh bread in your hands.
Once you’ve finished kneading and you’ve formed your dough into a tight ball, another great “how to” tip I learned from the video, it needs to be set somewhere warm to rise.
While your bread is resting you should do the same. Have a cup of tea, surf around the The Baker’s Table website, and then come back and see how busy your bread has been.
Punch it back down and shape it once more into a tight ball. Score it on the top and set it aside, covered, to rise a second time.
Once it’s risen and ready to cook, spritz the loaf and the inside of the oven with water and then place it in to bake.
And tell me that isn’t a beautiful loaf of bread right there.
Even though no sugar was added, the orange and cherries gave it a subtle sweet taste. Served up with honey butter, it was absolute bread and butter heaven. I credit Tom Gumpel for all the fabulous tips he provided on achieving the perfect loaf of bread.
Now let’s wrap this up and have a slice of warm fresh bread, shall we?
Cherry Orange Bread
Total Time: 2 Hours 30 min
Ingredients:
11/2 Cups Lukewarm Water
1 Packet Yeast (21/4 tsp)
3 Cups Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Orange, Zested
1/2 Orange, Juiced
1 Cup Dried Cherries
Directions:
Mix together the water and yeast. Allow it to rest for about 10 minutes.
Add in the salt and the flour, one cup at a time. Combine to form a rough dough ball.
Now add in the zest, juice, and cherries.
Combine the ingredients and bring your dough ball out to a well floured surface. Dough will be moist.
Knead the dough for 5 to 7 minutes and add in additional flour as necessary. I probably ended up adding an additional 1/4 to 1/2 cup while kneading.
Let the dough rest covered, in a warm dry place for at least one hour or until doubled in size.
Punch the dough back down, reform a tight ball and score bread. Let rise a second time.
Once bread is ready to be baked, spritz with water and transfer to oven.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.
Note: I am currently working on an ongoing project with Panera Bread. As a result, I have been compensated for my time and expenses, however my thoughts and opinions are completely my own.
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Delicious bread aside, your blog is looking great. Did you have someone design it for you, or are you a tech whiz yourself? This is totally dorky, but I’m really loving the font. 🙂
And the bread – beautiful! I’m really loving citrus-y breads lately.
It’s so nice to see a yeast bread instead of a quick bread with all those goodies inside. Looks delicious.
Beautiful loaf! I love that combination of orange and cherries. I’d love a slice of this toasted with a nice cup of creamy coffee.
I just love all the stuffed breads. it is like when you open a present. It looks like a bread and you eat it and all these beautiful fruits flow inside your mouth. Delicious!
YUM! We love the orange cherry combo…so delicious!
Wow Julie, I love the new look of your blog.. stunning. You did a great job as usual. Everything looks just great and perefect. The bread looks so delicious. I’ve never had cherry orange bread before but I am going to now after seeing those beauitful picutres.
This looks amazing! It has been awhile since I baked bread and you have inspired me to get back out the yeast. I am also really excited about checking out The Baker’s Table thanks for sharing!
This bread looks great! Again, the site looks amazing!!! 🙂 So excited for you!
oh, looks super yummy and I have I told you before that I love your new look!! anne
Felicidades on your new design!! I love it, the color and details are very NICE!
The cherry orange loaf looks yummy 🙂
Craving Panera and bread now! Looks so good!
Oh my gosh what an awesome combination of flavors, sounds outstanding!
The bread looks amazing. I haven’t made a yeast bread in ages…but I’ve added this recipe to my “to make” list.
Your new site design looks really fresh and clean. Great choices!
List of ingredients doesn’t have cherries listed.
Julie replied: — February 24th, 2011 @ 6:45 am
Thanks so much for the heads up Anne. It should be fixed now.
Now that’s what I call flavoursome Julie 🙂 It looks incredible, bet it tasted a treat too. Thanks for sharing this bread, its always nice to have lots of yummy ideas 🙂
Love your no sugar bread. Have baked a similar loaf sometime ago – orange loaf and posted on my site. I too like no sugar and citrus in my breads.
i’m glad to see a twist from the tired ol’ orange-cranberry combination–lovely loaf!
i love the sound of this bread and LOVE that is not a quick bread. I’m such a yeast sucker :))
fresh from the oven, still warm, butter, oh my, i feel an inch added to my waist line
thanks for sharing Julie
I just love the look of that bread. Must be very delicious. I love homemade bread.
This looks incredible. I usually stick to quick breads, but I must give this a try.
As always I am worshiping my baking god! You are awesome and this one looks amazing!
That sure is a gorgeous loaf of bread! And with honey butter??? Oh kill me now!!! Great job babe!!!
I love to make bread and this recipe is a keeper! Thanks,
Rita
Oh heavens! It looks divine!
Looks gorgeous! I love bread but I just can’t seem to bake it right!
This cherry bread looks amazing! Your photos are so professional too!
It just came out. It looks and smells gorgeous. I had pounds of dried cherries and a lot of oranges. Found your recipe and I cant wait to have a slice!
Julie replied: — September 16th, 2015 @ 3:10 pm
Yay! Glad it turned out well. Hope it tasted as good as it smelled!