Transitional German-Style Many Seed Bread

We had our first snow last week.

It was cold.

I am so not ready for the cold and the snow.

Though it does make for pretty pictures...

Santa Lucia Buns

 
In keeping with the "I want to be a better bread baker," I made another WW bread from Peter Reinhart's book.

Flipping through the book, I was attracted to this recipe because of the photo. The bread has this interesting spiral shape. It looks really good.

Peter Reinhart wrote that Santa Lucia day is a girl who was prosecuted for refusal to renounce her faith. Her day is celebrated every year on December 13th, mostly in Sweden. Though according to Wikipedia, it is also celebrated in Norway and other European countries. Wikipedia has a long article about Saint Lucy's history and it is a sad one so I don't feel like elaborating it here.

There are many different versions of this bread, depending on the country. Peter Reinhart's version is the Swedish one because it uses raisin, instead of currants.

The recipe itself is pretty similar to the other WW bread that I've made, except it uses oil, 1 egg, and more honey.

Peter Reinhart's Whole Wheat Bread

Now that I have finished baking through Rose's Heavenly Cakes, my next goal is to be a better bread baker. I've tried Whole Wheat Bread several times in the past but they never turn out the way they're supposed to be. Shape-wise, they always seem to spread sideways and are pretty flat. And they were dense and taste-wise, a bit dry.

I know whole wheat bread will never rise/expand as big as breads made with white flour, but it shouldn't be very dense either.