Kelly the Culinarian: Cooking with Kelly: Lingonberry bread

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Cooking with Kelly: Lingonberry bread

I love IKEA. It's a marvel to cheap furniture, the occasional great buy and awesome marketing. They've laid out the store in such a way that it pretty much forces you to walk through the entire place. Plus, it's the only place I've found that combines my love of food with my passion for shopping. They're so serious about bringing the two together that there's a restaurant inside the store that serves delicious $.99 breakfasts and lunches. You just can't beat that.

If the food this place doles out is good, I wonder what their food products are like, I thought on my last trip before I left for DC. They have a section of frozen food, non-perishable items and beverages in every store, but I've never picked any up. Usually, I'm so exhausted and overloaded with stuff I just want to get out of the place, not peruse the food offerings. But my last trip was different -- I went on a weekday when there were less crowds and I didn't buy a ton, so I took advantage of this rare trip.

I decided to pick up some lingonberry bread mix because I've never had such a combination. Plus, since my bread machine went on strike and making the soft pretzels by hand was so arduous, I thought this might be a little easier and yield better results.

I was correct on all accounts. This simple mix has two packets of yeast attached and all you have to do is follow the directions to get two dense, tasty loaves of fresh bread that resemble a hearty dark-grained variety.

Again, there's a slideshow that cycles through the steps.



(1) Mix the contents of the bag and yeast packet together with 20 ounces of 105-degree water,
(2) Knead for 10 minutes until a ball forms and it's no longer sticky.
(3) Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a damp towel. Let sit for 30 minutes.
(4) Take the dough out and knead it again for a few minutes to work out excess air. Form into two loaves, cover with the towel again and let it sit for another 30 minutes.
(5) Brush the top with water and make diagonal slits with a sharp knife. Place in a 450-degree oven for 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.
(6) Slice and serve!

I didn't use a sharp enough knife so my slices were not as well defined. Also, I wasn't satisfied with the outside coloring and would suggest brushing with butter or an egg and water mixture to get a better coloring. Otherwise, this was a delicious bread for just being from a mix. And for $4 for two huge loaves, it was a bargain, too.

6 comments:

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

Guess I haven't been to IKEA in a while, because I surely don't remember seeing this bread mix! I will have to try it -- such an interesting notion, lingonberries in bread.

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

we love Ikea too, although we skip the non-vegan food. Jared and I have spent a few hours there before.
the bread does look good. I'll have to read the label of ingredients next time and see if we can eat it.

Steph said...

I know how it feels to be a starving student! Check out m bog if you get the chance. http://thestudentstomach.blogspot.com

Sylvia said...

I love Ikea too,when I travel from others countries that had this store I always take a visit.
The bread looks good ,but what is lingonberry? I supose a berry ....
I really like the slide show

Fruity said...

I love IKEA with those reasonably-priced furniture. That bread looks good even though I have never tried it before..
Fruity

Lynda said...

How funny! I also wrote about these magical packets of bread from Ikea - on the whole I can't stand going into the store - but here in Sydney Australia you can pick up the food items just outside the checkouts... worth the trip to stock up on the delicious jams and these bread mixes... they work a treat in a pinch and impress the guests! LOL...I think my post is under Chorizo & Lentil soup.