The experiment begins...

Next time:

Add some salt
Add less bark (used a 4:1 ratio instead of a 10:1 as recommended)
Maybe add a little sugar (Wintergreen flavor doesn't go very well with plain bready flavor).
Follow instructions and make many small breads instead of trying to make one large loaf - the center of which remains doughy if you take it out in time so the outer crust doesn't get too hard.

The bread turned out with a *distinct* Wintergreen flavor. "Wintergreen" and "Bread" are not two compatible flavors to me - thus the experimental addition of salt and sugar next time to see if it works better, and the drastic reduction of the amount of bark to the recommended 10:1 ratio. I had thought, "How can I call this bark bread with such a small ratio?" But I have a feeling that the flavor will come through loud and clear nonetheless.

rialian liked it quite a bit.

Found a home for Take 1

I got four large pieces of the birch bark bread out of the baking dish intact and put them in saran wrap in the freezer. Someone who said she would appreciate some analgesic food, and who likes wintergreen in all its formats (even wintergreen bread) is going to take it. The rest was stuck fast to the baking dish, so I dug it out and put it in a small bag and sprinkled it around the yard while calling on the spirit of birch for protection and new beginnings. I'm sure the birds and insects will enjoy it, (and it will help with their headaches if they have one).

Take 2 is baking now. This time I added some honey to the yeast mix, and added a little sea salt to the flour mix. Also, I added two packages of yeast instead of only one, even though I cut the original recipe, which called for 2 packages, in half. Hopefully this time it will rise just a little more. Also, this time I remembered to grease the baking surface. I'm using a ceramic disk that rialian bought long time ago instead of the circular dish I used before (also one of rialian's ceramic kitchen things). This batch has about 1/3 of the bark that the other one had. I may have put *too little* in this time. If so (and if the other changes work out), then I'll just add a little more bark - I have enough yeast and flour for one more try...