Converting a recipe for a bread machine

[Pierogi]

Thanks to the wonder that is the "interwebs" I have found a copy cat recipe for an old Southern California delicacy that used to be sold by Van de Kamp's bakery "franchises" for want of a better term. For those of you who didn't grow up in California in the 50's & 60's, Van de Kamp's had what I think were independent franchises in the major grocery chains of the day, where they sold their own branded products. In their heyday, they had "hostess" dressed in bright blue dresses with pristine white, starched, lacy pinafores over them, and white buckram "Dutch Girl" hats. The full name was "Van de Kamp's Holland Dutch Bakeries" so the Dutch getups made sense. As with most wonderful things of one's childhood, Van de Kamp's has gone the way of penny candy and double features.

But I digress. They sold a coffee cake that was sublime. It was called a Dutch Twist, and it was a yeasted cake, braided much like a challah bread loaf, and sprinkled with an absolute TON of coarse sugar before baking, so the crust became marvelously carmelized. It was amazing.

My dearest friend in the entire world has recently been expressing a longing for the Dutch Twist, and lamenting about how much she misses it and how good it was. I found what is supposedly the recipe, and would love to make it for her, but its written for an automatic bread machine, which I don't have, and don't want.

Does anyone have any tips for converting the recipe (its the mixing and initial rise portion that takes place in the machine) to be done either manually, or in a Kitchen Aid stand mixer.

Thanks so much in advance. *I* would love to taste this delight again as well.....

[jackal10]

Converting a bread machine recipe is easy.

CHeck the manual for the bread machine - such as http://www.usersmanualguide.com/panasonic/..._maker/sd-yd250

Typically they mix, bulk ferment (1 hour), then bake 40 min for the rapid program. The longer program may mix, rest 30 min, add yeast etc, mix again, prove, bake.

[purplechick]

My dearest friend in the entire world has recently been expressing a longing for the Dutch Twist, and lamenting about how much she misses it and how good it was.  I found what is supposedly the recipe, and would love to make it for her, but its written for an automatic bread machine, which I don't have, and don't want.

Does anyone have any tips for converting the recipe (its the mixing and initial rise portion that takes place in the machine) to be done either manually, or in a Kitchen Aid stand mixer.

Thanks so much in advance.  *I* would love to taste this delight again as well.....

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I've converted manual recipes for use in a bread machine, but I haven't done the opposite. I also haven't baked much in the way of sweet breads which I would imagine could be different in baking time due to chemistry. That said, here are some ideas:

You may not have to change anything in terms of ingredients. The machine just does the work for you. However, different machines have different kneading capabilities. Depending on how old the recipe is it may have been made for an earlier generation of machine. If so, it may have too much yeast for doing by hand. Compare it to some other manual recipes you have and see if the proportion of flour to yeast seems the same. Or, if you like, maybe you could post the recipe here and we can look at the proportions.

I don't know how much bread baking you've done, if the steps below aren't clear enough let me know and I'll add more info. This is based on a plain white bread recipe. If others have more experience with sweet breads and any differences in preparation please chime in.

Combine the ingredients the normal way that you would to make bread i.e., dissolve the yeast in the liquid, add other "wet" ingredients like eggs, honey, or butter, then add the flour (but hold back about a cup to add at the beginning of kneading) and other dry ingredients.

Next comes the kneading. It is usually recommended to knead for about a minute adding the last of the recipe's required flour a couple of tablespoons at a time. When the last of the flour is incorporated let the dough rest for about 10 minutes, this will make the rest of the kneading easier. After the resting, knead for another 6-8 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. If there are any hard ingredients like nuts or dried fruit knead them in at this point.

Let the dough rise once in a greased, covered bowl in a warm place. It takes about 1-2 hours for the dough to double in size.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and punch it down and knead for about a minute to remove air and get it back to the original size

Usually next you would transfer it to the pan and let it rise a second time, again until double in bulk. However, since this is a braided bread maybe you would braid it at this point and then put it on a baking sheet sprinkled with some flour or cornmeal and let it rise a second time perhaps covered with a tea towel? That part I'm not sure of, you might look at some other braided yeast bread recipes (like Challah) and see what they have you do.

Once the second rise is done, put your coarse sugar on it and bake. I don't know if you just sprinkle the sugar or if you should paint the bread with an egg wash or something to help the sugar stick. Maybe someone else here knows?

An average time for baking bread is 30 minutes in a 350F oven. But since this is a sweet bread it might be different so take a look at other similar recipes to try and guess a good time/temperature for this bread. And since you're experimenting, check on it regularly as it bakes.

Good luck, I hope it turns out just like the bread you remember. I'd love to see pictures.

[purplechick]

Oh, and speaking of yeast, check to see which kind of yeast the bread machine recipe is recommending. Machine recipes often use Instant Yeast and a lot of manual recipes are written for dry active yeast. So if you are using some other manual recipes to help you decide what the proportions of yeast and flour should be, make sure they are all talking about the same kind of yeast.

[baroness]

Please DO POST the recipe!

I've had a bread machine for about 2 months, and find it a great addition to my baking tools. Panettone, bread sticks, ciabatta, savory and sweeter breads....I haven't bought a loaf since the Zo's arrival. The far-less-mess factor has me baking far more bread and other yeasted items than I used to, when it was all 'by hand'.

[Pierogi]

Please DO POST the recipe!

I will when I have a nano-second or 2 to type it up, and find the source, so I can give credit...

Thanks all for the advice.