yeasted bread – Page 2

Everyone bakes for a reason. For some people it’s to literally put bread on the table. For some it’s a fun way to spend a few hours. For me, however, it’s about expressing my creativity in a form that is hopefully enjoyable and sometimes unexpected. Take this week’s bake, for example. I started out with just a few spare hours and ended up with something I had never baked or seen before.

Most of the time, before baking, I like to research a loaf and learn what others have done to achieve a successful bake. Be it extended fermentation in the refrigerator or spritzing the loaf with water before baking, there’s always something to be learned from others. That’s why I surprised even myself when I decided to just “wing it” with this bake.

Since my starter hadn’t been refreshed yet, I decided to make a nice loaf with a tad of black pepper for a little extra ‘oomph’. After baking and tasting it, I thought “wow, that’s not too bad! I bet others have tried this too.” After going online and looking it up, I did see a few variations (which look amazing, and even better!) of a sourdough loaf with thyme and black pepper. I might have to try those next time but for now, this is how this loaf came together.

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This is a loaf that can be put together and ready to serve in less than 4 hours – I call this a ‘relatively quick’ bread and will file it under ‘easy’.

Ingredients:

500g ap flour
300g water
50g apple juice
1 tbs black pepper
1.5 tsp sugar
1 tsp active dry yeast
t tsp salt

Procedure:

Combine the flour, water, juice, sugar and the yeast and mix until incorporated. Let sit for 5 minutes and mix in the salt & pepper.
Place the dough in a bowl and cover until the dough roughly doubles in size, about an hour-ish.
Remove the dough and place it on a lightly floured surface and pre-shape the dough. Let it rest for 5 minutes to allow the dough to relax a bit.
Turn on your oven and pre-heat to 425˚F
Shape you dough and place it in your proofing basked and let the dough proof for another 45 minutes or so.
When your dough and the oven are ready, turn the dough on to a floured peel, score, and load the bread in the oven.
Turn the bread after about 20 minutes and let it finish baking, another 15-20 minutes.
Let cool and enjoy!

Malted Barley and Rye. Things that make me think of beer or a good bourbon! This is a quick boule that can be made in a pinch and turns out to be a nice crowd pleaser. Use it as part of a cheese plate or as a centerpiece, you can’t go wrong! It has a slight punchy flavor that complements this soft crumb and crusty bread.

That particular recipe makes an 8.3% rye loaf and yield roughly a 1.5kg miche. Can be easily split in to two 750g loaves, either boules or batards.

Ingredients

600g of unbleached AP flour
50g rye flour
5g of rapid rise yeast
10g salt
450g lukewarm water
1 teaspoon malted barley

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Procedure

In roughly 50ml of warm water, mix in your yeast and let it activate for about 5 minutes
In a food processor, mix the dry ingredients and pulse a few times to combine
Add the remainder of the water and mix until you have a moist mass that cleans the side of the mixer bowl
Add the malted barley and mix until incorporated
Turn out the dough on to an oiled bowl and let it rise until doubled in size, roughly an hour.
After an hour, turn out the dough on to a lightly floured surface and degas.
Preshape the miche divide the loaf and preshape them at this time
Shape the final loaf and transfer to your proofing baskets for another hour
Preheat oven to 425F with your Cloche or other steam aiding devices
Put the loaf in your Cloche and cook for 15 minutes with the lid, and for 25 minutes without
Remove from the oven once the loaf (or loaves) are nicely browned and sound hollow when you tap the bottom
Cool, cut, and enjoy!

Black Pepper Yeasted Loaf

Malted Barley and Rye Bread Miche