When Dianna Wara’s best friend and competitive cooking buddy challenged her to enter the first-ever National Festival of Breads baking competition, the game was on.
But the Washington woman never expected to win the grand prize.
More than 500 bakers from around the country entered the contest, which took place in Wichita, Kan.
Eight finalists’ recipes were taste-tested, and Wara’s tomato, basil and garlic pane bianco was chosen by a panel of three judges as the winner.
“It is a huge accomplishment for me to have won a national competition,” Wara said. “And I now have bragging rights over my friend.”
Wara received a $2,500 cash award and an all-expenses-paid trip to a baking class of her choice at the King Arthur Baking Education Center in Norwich, Vt.
Wara, who is a full-time special education aid at Lincoln Grade school, has been baking and cooking competitively for more 17 years. She said she spends about eight to 12 hours a week on her hobby, creating and trying out new recipes and making sure every detail is written down.
“I learned from my mother early on,” she said. “She took me under her wing and taught me everything I needed to know, and I took it from there.”
Wara had been perfecting her winning recipe for more than two years, she said.
“It started out being a sweeter Italian bread, but evolved through practicing to what the bread became, which is a savory bread with phenomenal flavor,” she said. “Pane bianco means ‘plain bread,’ and all its flavor comes from the filling.”
Wara creates her own recipes, but she looks through cooking publications for inspiration, she said.
“I do read cooking magazines, but it is only to keep up on the latest trends and flavor combinations,” she said. “Then I come up with my own recipes.”
Wara said she prefers baking over cooking, although she has entered contests for both. She has won competitions at the Heart of Illinois Fair, the State Fair, a Pillsbury bake-off and a tail-gating food cook-off at the last Superbowl.
“I really like baking,” she said. “It takes more time, and there is more skill involved in baking than in cooking. It takes more foresight, and there is a science to baking that is not quite the same as it is in cooking.”
Wara said she has chosen to attend the artisan bread baking class as her prize.
“These are breads that are baked at a high temperature for a short period of time, to get the crispy crust on the outside but still have the beautiful light bread on the inside,” she said. “And the shaping is really different in these breads also. I really want to understand the science behind making this kind of bread.”
Wara said she is still surprised by winning the national competition.
“I had always hoped, and of course you just never know,” she said. “There were amazing breads there. It really could have been anyone of us, but afterwards, one of the judges came up to me and just praised the bread. It was amazing.”
The winning recipe: Tomato, basil, and garlic pane bianco
Ingredients
1/2 cup warm water (100-110 degrees)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons Fleischmann’s Active Dry Yeast
1 cup warm low-fat milk (100°- 110°F)
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons salt
5-5 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
1 (8.5-ounce) jar oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, well-drained
3/4 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
1 1/2 cups shredded Italian blended cheese, divided
2/3 cup chopped fresh basil
Directions
1. In a small bowl, add warm water, sugar and yeast. Stir and let sit 10 minutes. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add milk, oil, yeast mixture, eggs and salt. Mix until well combined, about two minutes.
2. Stir in enough of the flour to make a soft dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface or with a dough hook six to eight minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place dough in a greased bowl, turn to grease top. Cover, let rise in a warm place until double, about 45 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, thoroughly drain sun dried tomatoes; lay on paper towel to absorb moisture. Using kitchen shears, finely chop tomatoes. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Punch down dough, divide in half. Roll one piece into a 22 x 8 1/2-inch rectangle. Sprinkle on half of the garlic, cheese, basil and tomatoes. Starting with 22-inch side, roll up (jelly-roll fashion) tightly. Pinch edges to seal. Place roll seam-side-down on baking sheet. With scissors, cut lengthwise down center of roll, about one-inch deep to within a half inch of the ends. Keeping cut-side up, form an “S” shape. Tuck both ends under center of “S” to form a figure eight.
5. Pinch ends to seal.
6. Cover; let rise in a warm place until double, 45 to 60 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough.
7. Bake the first loaf for 35 to 40 minutes in an oven preheated to 350 degrees. Tent loaf with foil after 15 to 20 minutes to prevent over-browning. Bake remaining loaf.
8. Remove from pan; cool on wire rack. Makes two loaves, 20 slices each.
Nutrition information per serving:
One slice provides about 106 calories; 4 g protein; 14 g carbohydrate; 1 g dietary fiber; 4 g fat (1 g saturated); 14 mg cholesterol; 31 mcg folate; 1 mg iron and 175 mg sodium.
Washington, Ill. —
