CIA Homeschool: Bagels

At least 4 or 5 years ago, Nathan printed out a bagel recipe for me and said I should try my hand at making bagels. For 4 or 5 years, the recipe went untouched. It's not that they were daunting... I actually like working with yeast. I can't quite pinpoint why I never made them, but I am sure regretting waiting so long now!

While going through my CIA book and picking out the recipes that I would be making for this challenge, I knew bagels would be among them. It was really about time that I made them!

Believe it or not, the toughest part of making the bagel is shaping them and even that isn't hard. I think the difficult part is gauging what size hole to put in the middle of the bagel. As you can see from my bagels, the hole isn't there too much.

The bagel starts with only 5 ingredients; flour, yeast, salt, water, and malt syrup. After a good kneading by my stand mixer, the dough needed to rest for 10 minutes before shaping. After the shaping, the bagels are then refrigerated for 8 hours (or overnight). This overnight refrigeration allows for you to have fresh bagels first thing in the morning (not to mention the real reason, which is to develop the flavor further and allow for the gluten to rest).

After resting, the bagels have a quick dip in boiling malt syrup/water and are then baked for 10-15 minutes.

The result? The BEST bagels I have ever had! I only made plain and poppy seed, but I am excited to try many, many more flavors. A homemade bagel is definately worth the extra work because the flavor can't be beat!

List of recipes to be made from the CIA book:


Yeast Raised Breads and Rolls

Boule (White Wheat Lean Dough)
Split Loaf (Lean Dough with Pate Fermente)
Batard (Whole Wheat Lean Dough)
Baguette (Lean Dough with Poolish)
Grissini
Bagels
Ciabatta
Stollen
Pannetone
Soft Roll Dough (Knot Rolls & Parker House Rolls)
Brioche a Tete
Craquelin
Challah (6 Braid)
Coffee Cake (Twisted)
Pita Bread
Apple Fritters
Berliners (Jelly Doughnuts)
Yeast Raised Doughnuts

Yeast Doughs (Not listed above)

Prosciutto and Provolone Dough
Tomato Dough
Roasted Potato Dough
Apple and Walnut Sourdough

Quick Breads and Cakes

Ginger Cake
Buttermilk Biscuits
Bran Muffins
Lemon Buttermilk Cake
Polenta Cake
Devil’s Food Cake
Chocolate XS
Carrot Cake
Roulade
Chocolate Souffle Cake
Patterned Jaconde Sponge
Walnut Cheesecake

Cookies

Mudslide Cookies
Sand Cookies
Orange Coconut Macaroons
Fudge Brownies
Pecan Diamonds (Short Dough)
Mirror Cookies (1-2-3 Cookie Dough)
Citrus Crisps
Zedern Brot
Vanilla Kipferl
Checkerboard Cookies
Madeleines
Springerle
Vanilla Pretzels
Ladyfingers
Langues-de-Chat Sandwiches
Frangipane Cake (Made into Petit Fours)

Custards, Creams, Mousses, and Souffles

Crème Brulee
Pots de Crème
Vanilla Pudding
Lemon Curd
Chocolate Mousse
Bavarian Cream
Raspberry Souffle

Frozen Desserts

Chocolate Swirl Ice Cream
Lemon Frozen Yogurt
Orange Sorbet
Vanilla Bean Sherbet
Fresh Ginger Granita
Praline Parfait
Frozen Lemon Savarin

Pies, Tarts, and Fruit Desserts

Blueberry Pie
Warm Apple Charlottes
Lemon Fantasy Tart
Zesty Lime Tart
Cheese Tart
Clafoutis
Cranberry Pecan Tart
Apple Strudel

Filled and Assembled Cakes and Tortes

Bavarian Cream Torte
Charlotte Russe
Black Forest Cake
Opera Torte
Orange Mousseline Torte

Individual Pastries

Lemon Curd Tartlets
Pecan Cranberry Tartlets
Strip Tartlets
Pecan Passions
Classic Napoleons
Chocolate Peanut Butter Bombes
White and Dark Chocolate Mousse in Glasses
Trifles
Chocolate Eclairs
Bear Claws

Plated Desserts

Blueberry and Cream Cheese Crepes
Brown Sugar Roasted Pear
Funnel Cake with Maple Syrup and Summer Fruit Sauces

Chocolates and Confections

Milk Chocolate Truffles
Fujiyamas
Rochers
Candied Orange Peel
Soft Caramels
Hard Candies
Fudge
Nuss Bonbon
Marshmallows

FINAL PROJECT

TBD (Trying to pick a cake with gumpaste, modeling chocolate, and possibly pulled sugar)