Mar 10, 2006
Oh, man. I had a WORLD of problems with these. I feel obligated to tell you they were all MY fault, so take this review as a warning not to do what I did. Now, I've got a lot going on this weekend, so I was not giving this anywhere close to the attention I should have been, and that's what caused the most trouble. I dropped the measuring spoon into the bowl of water, sugar, and yeast. If you've ever done the same, you know that the yeast clumps to EVERYTHING, fingers included. I *think* I was able to make up for what came out with my hand and the spoon, but who really knows? Then, I went to beat the egg whites, and in a fit of laziness, I didn't wash the beaters after mixing the yeast water with the first portion of flour. Big mistake, as after 10 minutes on high, they never even made soft peaks. I added them anyway, for lack of eggs to replace them with. At which point I read the next step and, oops. Bread flour? So, I did a little research and learned that all purpose flour could be substitued, but the end result wouldn't have the extra chewy goodness. Figuring everything else that I screwed up already, I used what I had. But I didn't use anywhere near 7 cups. After about 5.5 it just wouldn't take anymore flour. I'm baking it anyway; its on its first rising now, and I'm sure it will be edible. That said, even screwed up, it was a lot of work! I'd love to see the end results of the actual recipe, but I just don't see myself putting in that kind of time and effort.
—Julia
