Whether you are reading this stuck inside during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, or just perusing for activities to do with your kids, you have come to the right place!
One of our favorite activities in our after school programs can easily be adapted for your family: bread sculptures and butter dance! This recipe has a relatively fast first rise, after which you can sculpt pillowy dough to your heart’s content. During the second rise and baking, you can fill the time making HOMEMADE BUTTER in a mason jar, but with a twist: musical chairs style!
BREAD SCULPTURES
Ingredients:
– 1 cup warm water (100-110 degrees F)
– 1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
– 2 Tablespoons sugar
– 3 Tablespoons softened butter
– 3 cups bread flour
– 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Materials:
– Large bowl
– Parchment/Baking paper
– Baking sheet or cookie sheet
Instructions:
1. In a large bowl, gently stir yeast and warm water and let sit for 10 minutes, or until mixture has bubbles on the surface
**This step is to make sure your yeast is still alive and happy. If at the end of 10 minutes, there are no bubbles, the water might have been to hot and killed the yeast or the yeast is old.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until it comes together in a shaggy ball.
3. Turn dough onto clean, lightly floured surface and knead until it becomes a smooth ball (about 5 minutes)
** If it’s too dry add water 1 TBS at a time
4. Grease a large bowl with oil or butter
5. Place the dough in the bowl and let rise for 1 hour at room temperature, or until doubled in size
6. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
7. Once the dough is done rising, turn it onto a clean lightly floured surface, and shape dough into whatever shape you please. Place creations on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Let it rise for 15 minutes.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. While baking, make your butter…
BUTTER DANCE GAME
Have you ever made butter from scratch? It’s so easy! All you need is some heavy cream and a ball jar. Salt is optional. (FYI, My sister says that the butter churns faster if there is a clean marble in the jar with the cream, but we have yet to try it.)
To play the game, fill a ball jar half way with heavy cream and seal tightly. Choose your favorite dance music. Select one person (usually a grownup) to be DJ. Gather your players in a circle and start playing the music. Players shake the jar vigorously until they pass the jar to the next person after 5 seconds. The DJ can decide when to shut off the music, and whoever has the jar when the music turns off gets to bust a dance move when the music resumes.
Play until the solids separate from the whey and form a small ball of butter in the middle of the jar. Note that there may be a period during shaking where the cream seems solid, but you have actually only made it to the whipped cream stage…keep going until you get butter! Once you do, strain out the butter and serve with your bread sculptures, possibly along with sea salt, honey, or jam 🙂
REMEMBER! Share your wins! Record your experience with Taste Quest and/or post a pic on social media with #tastequest.