Ancient Grains for Modern Meals - Maria Speck [45]
TO LIGHTEN IT UP: Not possible.
Floating Sesame Loaf
If you are you intimidated by yeast dough, try this surprising technique, which turns bread making into a game and puts an impressive loaf of bread on your table—effortlessly. The method takes all the guesswork out of yeast breads: no need to fuss with rising times, rising volumes, and temperatures. Best of all, kneading is minimal. In 1½ hours or less, you will pull a soft and chewy 100 percent whole wheat loaf out of the oven. This dough is amazingly forgiving, and a bit silly to boot: it is left to rise in a stockpot filled with cold water. Yes, you read correctly, water. Your kids will love it—so get them involved! Everyone will be waiting around the pot for the dough ball to float to the surface, a signal that it is ready to be shaped and baked. In Germany, we call this kinderleicht, easy enough for a kid to do once you get the hang of it.
For the most appealing crust, use a baking stone if you have one. Preheat the stone right from the start, in step 1. If you own a pizza peel, sprinkle it with cornmeal and set the bread directly on it without using parchment paper, in step 6. MAKES 1 ROUND (1¼‑POUND) LOAF
2½ cups regular whole wheat or white whole wheat flour (10¾ ounces), plus 3–7 tablespoons as needed
5 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
2 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1¼ cups lukewarm water (90°F to 100°F)
Medium or coarse cornmeal, for sprinkling
SEE MEASURING WHOLE GRAIN FLOUR
1 Fill a stockpot or a 4-quart saucepan (about 5 inches high) with cold tap water to 1 inch below the rim.
2 Whisk together the whole wheat flour, 3 tablespoons of the sesame seeds, and the yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the water. Using a wooden spoon or a dough whisk, and starting from the center, gradually stir in the flour until a pretty moist dough forms and all the flour has been incorporated.
3 Scrape the sticky mass onto a well-floured work surface. Sprinkle with 1 scant tablespoon of flour. Knead the dough with floured hands, incorporating additional flour by the ½ tablespoonful just until the dough is supple and smooth with a slight tackiness, about 2 minutes. Depending on the flour you use and the humidity, you should need only 2 to 5 tablespoons (the dough will continue to absorb more flour at the expense of lightness, but don’t add more!). Quickly form a round ball, folding any loose ends into the bottom, and gently deposit the dough into the water in the stockpot.
4 Meanwhile, position a rack in the bottom third of the oven and place a large baking sheet (or a 10-inch cast-iron skillet) on it. Preheat oven to 425°F. While you wait for the dough to rise, which typically takes 7 to 15 minutes (up to 30 minutes), sprinkle a 12 by 16-inch piece of parchment paper with cornmeal. Generously flour your work surface.
5 Once the dough rises to the surface of the water (it will slowly puff like a balloon before popping up), remove it with both hands, letting excess water drain between your fingers. Transfer the dough—it will feel like wet clay—to the work surface. Dry and then flour your hands, and dust the wet surface of the dough with 1 scant tablespoon flour. Working briskly, give the dough not more than a few gentle turns, adding flour by the ½ tablespoonful, and then gently stretch the “skin” or surface of the dough from the top to the bottom all around to form a ball with a few loose ends at the bottom. (This stretching is a handy little step—otherwise your loaf might crack around the sides. However, cracks are no more than an optical flaw, which, in my opinion, is also the beauty of handmade.) Kneading and shaping should