Bagels

As you can see from the picture below I might have been a little too generous with the coating - but boy, did these bagels taste gooood. They deserve an encore for sure.

Here's what I used:

500 g. flour
275 ml. tapid water
12½ g. fresh yeast
1 tbs. honey
10 g. salt
25 g. butter, softened

Caramel water:

300 g. sugar
3 l. water

Mix water, honey and salt and yeast until well integrated. Add butter and flour. Knead for 5 to10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Leave to proof – preferably in the fridge until the next day.

Divide the dough into 7 – 8 pieces and make a hole using both thumbs in each ball forming an O. Leave to proof another 20 minutes.

Prepare a plate of scatered sesame seeds.

Preheat oven at 200 celsius.

Melt sugar in a pot and when caramelized add water – be careful of the hot caramel. Now looking like simmering brown water! you add a bagel at a time; poach each side for about 1 minute.



Leave to dry a little on a baking sheet with parchment paper then depending on how much coating you want on each bagel you either sprinkle a small amount of seeds on top of the bagels or gently press each bagel onto the plate of seeds.

Put all 7 – 8 bagels back on the baking sheet with parchment paper and bake in oven for about 15 minutes.