Raisin Pecan Bread
Feb 13, 2006 | From the kitchen of Rose
ADAM QUESTION
Feedback: What am I doing wrong? I have attempted to make your raisin pecan bread at least 4 times. Each time the bread appears to process correctly except the final product does not rise enough making a very heavy bread.
ROSE REPLY
when you say it doesn't rise enough do you mean that it doesn't reach the height of 3 inches listed on the recipe? this is a dense bread but tender due to the ground pecans replacing some of the flour. coincidentall, i just made this bread today. it's one of my favorites. i now add 75 grams of old starter and 1/16th teaspoon more salt and make the dough a day ahead which gives extra flavor. i also bake it on a cushionair baking sheet (you can also use two baking sheets one-on-top of the other--the keep the dough and raisins that rise to the surface from over-browning.
if a bread isn't pictured, it is very hard to imagine the texture which is why i gave the finished height. and this is why i'm so thrilled that my next book will have the cakes photographed so everyone can see exactly what they're supposed to look like!
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
11/08/2008 10:07 AM
i thought i posted it on the blog so do a search but if not it is in my book "the bread bible" and would be worth having for that bread alone!
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lee ann
11/08/2008 06:04 AM
Rosa, where do I find the recipe for your raisin pecan bread? I have been looking for a recipe that will yield a very dense bread. Thank you, Lee Ann
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sherry
08/15/2008 10:16 AM
Rose,
Thanks for your quick response. I made this bread yesterday with the currants, and it turned out awesome! It is great toasted with butter...yum! I will definitely want to make it again.
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
08/14/2008 12:13 PM
yes!
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sherry
08/14/2008 12:09 PM
I'm wondering if I can replace the raisins in the Raisin Pecan Bread with the same amount of currants.
Thanks.
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Matthew
07/08/2008 11:35 AM
Bette--the recipe is in the Bread Bible--you can also find the Cranberry-Walnut version here by searching the blog.
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Bette Neiman
07/07/2008 11:01 PM
May I please have the recipe for the rasin pecan bread?????
Thank you
Bette
My email address is johnsbikerchic@aol.com
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Matthew
06/06/2008 06:32 PM
I think you're probably looking at Rose's technique of using old sourdough starter (the part you normally would discard when feeding) as an additional ingredient. It doesn't function to raise the bread like active starter, but extends the shelf life, improves flavor, and increases extensibility of a conventional yeast bread. You can read more about it by doing a search.
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amy
06/06/2008 03:36 PM
Matthew - i just read your posting on Raisin-Pecan bread. From the various posts it seems Rose had posted a Raisin-Pecan sourdough bread recipe, but I couldnt find it.
Can you point me in the right direction please? and have you tried that recipe?
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sharon
01/27/2008 10:47 AM
I would really like someone to teach me how to make a raisan walnut bread with a sour dough starter? Any thoughts in the nY metro area?
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
03/08/2007 07:42 PM
thanks matthew for redressing the balance! a funny coincidence--i'm making the cranberry walnut version of this bread right now to have as chicken sandwiches for the flight to utah this sunday. isn't it funny that the food on airplanes was never worth eating and now they actually have the nerve to charge for it!
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Matthew
03/08/2007 02:03 PM
Since this thread seems a little heavy on posts for problems with the pecan raisin bread, I just wanted to add that I got perfect results following your recipe in the bread bible. The loaf is "heavy" in the sense that it is chock full of raisins and pecans, but the texture of the bread itself is not that dense. I baked it in La Cloche and enjoyed the nice crust with an interior that remained moist. This is one of those breads that is hard to stop eating! I made too many trips back to the cutting board! It definitely stays on your mind--I can understand why you say it is your husband's favorite!
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Gail
02/01/2007 08:37 AM
Thanks, Rose, for such a speedy reply. I did weigh the flour. Now I am thinking that my gas convection oven temps may be off so maybe I baked it too long? I used my La Cloche. Or maybe my rise times were off?
I will try again but as I mentioned with half the raisins and nuts.
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
01/31/2007 09:09 PM
i suspect you added too much flour. i haven't mentioned whether you weighed the ingredients so i can't know for sure. it's dense but never like a brick.
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Gail
01/31/2007 04:37 PM
Over the weekend I made Raisin Pecan Bread. It did not turn out as spectacularly as I hoped. It was very dense and became like a brick the next day. I loved the flavor of the dough; however, I think I would like a slightly less dense crumb.
I am going to try again and this time I want to use 1/2 the amount of raisins and pecans as they seemed to overwhelm my dough. Should I make any adjustment to the recipe for the reduction of these two ingredients?
Thanks!
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
12/18/2006 09:01 PM
i would use old sour dough starter in addition to the yeast. you'll get the best texture and flavor. i wrote about this on the challah posting so if you do a search on this blog you'll find the amount i recommend.
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Rebecca
12/18/2006 08:46 PM
Question:
I want to make the raisin pecan bread from The Bread Bible and use my lovely sourdough starter to deepen the flavors. Will the sourdough starter raise a heavy dough like the raisin pecan bread? You do give some pointers for using sourdough starter in place of commercial yeast in recipes, but I'm still confused. Do I add the starter to the liquid in what would normally be the pre-ferment phase, or do I mix the dough first without the yeast and then add the sourdough starter?
Thanks!
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
08/04/2006 10:02 AM
yes ken, it's fine to ask questions. i will answer when time allows. but--very important--first do a search in the search box to the left because your question may already have been answered.
thanks very much for your kind consideration.
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
08/04/2006 10:01 AM
laura, it's the right flour only if that's what the recipe calls for.
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kenneth rammell
08/03/2006 02:30 PM
hi again thank you for the very good advise please could i ask you more questions in the future because you have a lot of knowledge on baking bye for now ken
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laura davies
08/03/2006 02:28 PM
hello agaain we use self raising flour is that the right thing
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
08/03/2006 11:57 AM
laura, it sounds like something is very wrong with your oven. beyond that, you say you are using all the right ingredients but to make sure we're on the same page, exactly what kind of flour are you using--this is crictical.
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
08/03/2006 11:56 AM
yes kenneth-i have a huge book with lots of recipes called "the bread bible."
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laura davies
08/03/2006 10:58 AM
every time i attempt to make a cake i add the right ingredinents but it always sinks in the middle but stays brown even burnt although it dosent cook what am i doing wrong
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kenneth rammell
08/03/2006 10:55 AM
thanks for the advise but could you give me a recipe for making light bread if you could do you have an email address
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
08/03/2006 07:47 AM
either it's the recipe that's not good or you're adding too much flour (measuring with a heavy hand)
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kenneth rammell
08/03/2006 07:41 AM
hi i have recently bought a breadmaker but the thing is im following the ingredinents right but it seems to be to heavy when i eat it what am i doing wrong. please reply
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
02/24/2006 07:35 AM
PS it would be fine to add a quarter of a cup of gluten flour instead of the vital wheat gluten.
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
02/24/2006 07:34 AM
please read about potato flour on page 557. Essentially, I explain that potato flour plus water equals a potato and what the advantages are of using the dry potato flour instead of the potato itself. I tested the recipe side by side and you cannot tell the difference in potato flavor. On the following page, 558, I list how to substitute if you should prefer to use mashed potatoes instead of the potato flour. If you add more potato to this recipe I think there'll be too much potato in texture and flavor but you have all the information on how to do it on that page.if you add potato that has been mashed to the bread dough, you'll need to add more flour not less. you also need to add more salt since you'll now have more flour and more liquid.
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Kate
02/23/2006 03:43 PM
I'm making your Potato Buttermilk Bread from The Bread Bible (a book that I absolutely love)and notice that the recipe contains no potato, just 1/3 cup of potato flour. The recipe intro says it contains the equivalent of twice the 1/2 cup of mashed potato that is in your Potato Sandwich loaf.
I would like to include some real potato as well as the potato flour, and figure I should reduce both water and wheat flour accordingly. Any thoughts?
Also wondering if I could get away with using some portion (1/4 cup?) of gluten flour as part of the bread flour to make up for not having the 1/2 Tbspn of vital wheat gluten called for.
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
02/22/2006 10:13 PM
you are correct! Bleached flour has less protein and will therefore absorb less water. This dough has a huge amount of water so you'll really see the difference when using bleached flour rather than unbleached.
Please search the blog for this recipe as there have been several comments. This is a very tricky.
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Alison
02/21/2006 10:47 PM
I just attempted to make your rosemary foccacia, but I was unsccessful. I let the mixture knead on #4 of my KA for about 30 minutes, though it never progressed past the "soupy" stage. I even added probably an additional 2/3 cup flour without any results. I didn't realize until re-reading the recipe much later that I had used bleached flour instead of unbleached. Will this difference in flour account for the soupiness never progressing into the shiny ball I was looking for?
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