Bake It Yourself
Newcastle Herald
Wednesday March 13, 2002
BREAD has been one of the most important staples of the human diet since the Stone Age.
Farmers made the first bread by spreading a rough porridge over hot stones near the fire, thus forming a soft, pancake-like flat bread. And during the Bronze Age, humans discovered that inverting a pot over the hot stones formed a primitive but effective oven for bread making.
The principle of yeast fermentation was then discovered by the ancient Egyptians, who found that if they left a dough out in the open for a few hours, it would often bubble and smell a little sour.
If this sour dough was then baked, the resulting bread had a lighter texture and a pleasant yeasty flavour.
The downside, of course, was that this discovery relied on airborne yeast particles and was totally unreliable. To overcome this, the Egyptians would simply retain a piece of the fermented dough and mix it into the new batch. Thus the forerunners of today's modern breads were born.
The art of making bread, once considered a chore, has become a popular pastime, allowing us to have fresh hot bread straight from the oven, using only the ingredients we choose to put in.
I personally find making bread to be one of the most satisfying aspects of cooking and so here are some recipes that I hope you enjoy whipping up as much as I do.
Brioche Flour, 1000g, Eggs whole 500ml, Salt 20g, Milk 100ml, Sugar 150g, Unsalted butter 450g, Dried yeast 20g. Mix the flour, salt, sugar, milk and eggs together on slow speed until the dough comes together. Then mix on medium speed for five minutes.
Let the dough rest for 15 minutes. Then add the yeast (if using dry yeast add some water to it to make it like fresh yeast).
Cut the butter into small cubes and then add them one at a time. Keep the dough mixing until it clears of lumps and looks smooth. Then mix on medium speed for eight minutes.
Then you can wrap the dough in cling wrap and put it in the fridge, or let it rest for 10 minutes and roll into tins.
Then cover with a damp cloth, sit in a warm place and let the dough double in size. Brush the top of the dough with egg wash and place into the oven at 200? until baked.
Sweet fruit bread Flour 1000g, Water 450/475ml, Mixed spice 1tsp, Sugar 150g, Sultanas 150g, Butter 80g, Raisins 50g, Salt 7g, Currants 50g, Dried yeast 25g. Place all ingredients except fruit into the mixing bowl. Mix on slow speed until the dough comes together, then mix on medium speed for eight minutes.
Then add the fruit and mix until the fruit is evenly dispersed throughout.
Then cover the dough with a cloth and leave to rise.
When the dough has doubled in size, knock the dough back by pushing the air out of it. Roll the dough into the desired sizes and shapes and cover creations with a damp cloth, sit in a warm place and let the dough double in size. Put into the oven at 200? and bake until golden brown.
Foccacia Flour 1350g, Sugar 12g, Fresh yeast 45g, Olive oil 150ml, Salt 10g, Milk 750ml. Place all the dried ingredients into the mixing bowl and start mixing, then slowly add the liquids once the dough has come together.
Mix on medium speed for 12 minutes. Cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes, then roll and mould into shapes and sizes. Cover with a damp cloth and let the dough rise to double size. Place into oven set at 230? and bake until golden brown.
Tuscan Bread Flour 1000g, Rye flour 100g, Liquid malt 50g, Dried yeast 20g, Salt 15g, Water 600/650ml, Gluten 10g, Olive oil 50ml. Place all dried ingredients into the mixing bowl and slowly add the liquid ingredients. When the dough comes together mix on medium speed for 10 minutes.
Let the dough rest for 15 minutes then knock the dough back by pushing the air out of it and roll into desired sizes and shapes. Cover the creations with a cloth and let double in size. Place into the oven at 220? and bake until golden brown.
Peasant bread Plain flour 500g, Yeast dried 15g, Rye flour 500g, Water 900ml, Salt 30g, 250g dough from previous batch fermented for four hours. Place the dried ingredients into a mixing bowl and slowly add the water.
Mix on a slow speed for four minutes and then on a medium speed for five minutes. Two minutes before the dough has finished mixing add the previous dough.
To achieve a loaf with a thick crust, the first rising needs to be left as long as 50 to 70 minutes.
Scale and shape the dough as desired, cover with a cloth and sit in a warm place to allow the dough to rise until double in size.
Preheat the oven to 240?, then when you place the bread into the oven reduce heat to 220?and bake until golden brown.
Traditional bread Flour 1250g, Yeast dried 20g, Salt 25g, Water 800ml, Dough from previous batch fermented for four hours, 400g. Place all of the dried ingredients into a mixing bowl and slowly add the liquid ingredients while mixing on a slow speed for five minutes, then on a medium speed for eight minutes.
Add the dough from the previous mixture two minutes before the end of mixing.
Cover the dough and leave to rise for one hour, then knock back by pushing the air out of the dough and allow to rise again for one hour then scale and shape as desired.
Cover, allow to rise to double size and then bake at 220? until golden brown.
© 2002 Newcastle Herald