Tuesday, May 5, 2015

TWD - Baking with Julia: Ka'kat


I took a bit of a hiatus from TWD for reasons unknown even to me.  It just got away from me, I guess.  And I missed some recipes that looked to be quite good, so I'll have to make them up at some point!  This week, though, was Ka'kat.  Are you thinking, "what the heck?"  I was too.  I would say that bagel+pretzel=ka'kat.  Technically,  this bread is supposed to be covered with sesame seeds (I was out) and flavored with something called mahleb.  I didn't even look for mahleb as I remembered this week's recipe on MONDAY and it was due to be posted on Tuesday.  However, it turns out that Penzey's actually carries mahleb - it is the pit of a dried sour cherry.  Now I know!  At least I know it is fairly easily accessible!  

So, my ka'kat are sesame-less and mahleb-less, but still quite good!  They have the texture of a soft pretzel (which I love) but more of the flavor of a roll or bagel.  I thought it could use more salt, but that could be because my brain was thinking PRETZEL.  Best of all, this little guy was easy to make with only a short rise time.  In fact my handy mixer stayed in it's cabinet the entire day, as all I needed for this bread was a bowl and a spoon!

I am anxious to hear what other bakers thought of the ka'kat and whether anyone used the mahleb.  Is this a spice that I need to acquire??  Click here to find out who else tried this recipe and what they thought!


5 comments:

  1. I did get the mahleb and loved it. It's not a very distinctive flavor, but it does add a nice aroma. Yours are adorable!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This looks great! Do you eat this plain or with some sort of spread?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yours look really good, mine are rising now.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I enjoyed these.
    I had mahlab in the house, so I was glad to have another use for it; but I am guessing these were delicious with or without it.
    They look delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  5. They look fantastic! I saw another post where they were sprinkled with coarse salt in pretzel-like spirit. I found the mahlab, and am now wondering what to do with the rest of the package. :)

    ReplyDelete

Due to some bizarre spam comments I have recently received, I am moderating the comments for a while. I hope this spam craziness stops so this becomes unnecessary!