Bagels with Poppy and Sesame Seeds

Are we all still doing okay? Don't worry, this is not an existential question, I'm just wondering whether you're all still keeping your cool in these days of food frenzy! I'm quite alright myself, even though I have to bake 4 cakes, loads of bread and cook a three course dinner. I'm planning ahead and freezing whatever I can. I've already baked a carrot cake, banana bread and of course these bagels! 

Bagels are perfect for a Christmas brunch, topped with cream cheese or avocado they're absolutely scrummy. I've used Great British Bake Off runner-up James Morton's recipe from his awesome book Brilliant Bread which I bought recently. If you've never baked bread, James' book is perfect because it explains the science of bread, such as why we knead or proof a bread and what causes a bread to fail. For the more experienced baker there are still enough recipes to get excited. I especially enjoyed the part on sourdough bread, it really guides you through the principles and you can't go wrong with it. Lots of sourdough recipes to bake your way through!   

Anyway: the bagels! What I love about this recipe is that you don't need malt extract for it. While it might be widely available in Britain and the U.S. (actually, I'm just assuming that), it's pretty hard to get a hold of over here. Instead of using malt extract to poach the bagels in, this recipe uses bicarbonate of soda, as you would with pretzels. It makes for a really lovely and chewy texture. I've made bagels before, and failed miserably with the shaping. I guess I thought pricking a hole in a bun shape and just flapping it about would do the trick but they always made for unattractive bagels. I now prefer rolling them out to a sausage shape and go from there! 

Bagel Recipe (James Morton)

500   gr strong white bread flour
7       gr fast-action yeast
10     gr salt
15     gr honey
250   gr (cold) water
bicarbonate of soda for boiling
poppy/sesame seeds

1. Weigh out the flour into a large bowl. Add the yeast on one side, salt on the other. Blend so that yeast and salt are distributed over the flour.

2. Add the honey and water, combine into a dry dough.

3. Knead dough for at least 10-15 minutes. The dough should be stretchy and holding itself. Cover and proof in the fridge for 8-12 hours, or an hour if proving at room temperature.

4. Once the dough has proved, turn it out onto a very lightly floured surface. Roll it into a long sausage shape. Divide this shape into four, and each remaining piece into three, ending up with 12 pieces of dough (each ca. 62gr for those who like to weigh). Shape each lump of dough into a sausage shape, with the ends being thinner than the middle. Form each long shape into a ring by crossing the two ends over eachother. Put your index, middle and ring finger through the ring, with the seam underneath them. Roll backwards and forwards to seal the seam. 

5. Transfer each bagel onto a greased piece of baking paper to proof for about 30-40 minutes. While proving, preheat your oven to 240C/460F. 

6. Once the bagels are nearly proved, fill a large pan with boiling water and add 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda per liter water. Bring water back to the boil. Sprinkle your seeds, if using, on a plate. 

7. Boil each bagel for 1 minute, turning halfway through. Once boiled, dunk one side of each bagel into the seeds, then place them (seed-side down!) onto a prepared baking tray. 

8. Bake bagels for 15-20 minutes on the baking tray.