Bagels

We got hooked on Great British Bakeoff - and on the second episode they had to make bagels. I've never done them before, but decided now is the time to learn. And I have to say they were pretty good, just to right chewy consistency and good taste. But a bit troublesome, you have do a lot of kneading and rising. The recipes used in the show were a bit easier (they only had 4 hours or so), but I was using a very thorough recipe from a bread book I got from the fleamarket. 

I was a bit worried about the process of actually baking them, but it turned out quite easy. First you make round balls of dough, and then just stick your finger through and try and form a nice donut shape. 

Then you put each bagel in boiling water for about 30 seconds, to cook the outside and stop the rising process. And supposedly it helps to create the right kind of surface. Then you did them in poppy seeds (or the topping of your choice).

And then you stick them in the oven. Now, you should use egg wash to create the shine, but as we can't use it, we have to settle for this ugly non-shiny surface. But like I said, the taste was good!