The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book_ A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking - Laurel Robertson [90]
Knead until the dough is smooth and well-developed. Toward the end of the kneading, after about 15 minutes, smear the butter on the tabletop in the French manner and work it into the dough. Add the fruit and nuts little by little until the dough is uniform, with the bits of fruit and nuts throughout.
Form the dough into a ball and place it smooth side up in the bowl. Cover and keep in a warm, draft-free place. After about an hour and a half, gently poke the center of the dough about ½ inch deep with your wet finger. If the hole doesn’t fill in at all or if the dough sighs, it is ready for the next step. Press flat, form into a smooth round, and let the dough rise once more as before. The second rising will take about half as much time as the first.
Press the dough flat and divide in two. Round it and let it rest until relaxed, then deflate and shape into loaves. Place in greased 8″ 4″ loaf pans or round again to make hearth-style loaves on a baking sheet or in pie tins. Let the loaves rise in a warm, draft-free place until the dough slowly returns a gently made fingerprint. If you did your job on the kneading table, and all has gone well, the loaves will rise exceptionally high. Bake at 325°F for about 50 to 60 minutes.
For special occasions, brush the finished loaves with butter, or a glaze (¼ teaspoon cornstarch plus ¼ cup cold water and ¼ teaspoon honey, simmered five minutes). Glaze the baked loaves and return them to the oven for 1 minute.
The dough makes wonderful rolls. Bake 15 small ones in a 9″ 13″ pan (or 9 large ones in an 8″ 8″ pan), using one loaf’s worth of dough.
Apricot-Sesame Bread
Prepare Whole Wheat Bread, using 3 tablespoons of honey and 3 tablespoons of good, fresh sesame oil per 2 loaves. Knead 1 cup diced apricot pieces into the dough toward the end of the kneading period, or add them when you shape the loaf. Roll the shaped loaves in sesame seeds before putting them in pans. This is a subtle, not-too-sweet loaf, flavorful, light, and chewy.
Deep Dark Date Bread
2 teaspoons active dry yeast (¼ oz or 7 g)
1 cup warm water (235 ml)
5 cups whole wheat flour (750 g)
1 tablespoon salt (16.5 g)
¼ cup carob powder (17.5 g)
2 tablespoons molasses (30 ml)
1 ½ to 2 cups water (475 ml)
¼ cup oil (60 ml)
½ cup chopped dates (90 g)
½ cup chopped walnuts (60 g)
A caky, very sweet-tasting bread even though it has only a little sweetener. No one will guess there is carob in it unless you tell the secret.
When walnuts are three dollars a pound, we make this bread without them, and there have been no complaints. If you put them in, they are at their best if lightly toasted beforehand.
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.
Mix the flour, salt, and carob powder in a big bowl. Mix the molasses, water, and oil together and add them and the dissolved yeast to the flour mixture to make a soft dough.
Knead until very well developed, springy, and elastic, and then add the dates and walnuts and continue to knead until they are evenly distributed in the dough.
Form the dough into a ball and place it smooth side up in the bowl. Cover and keep in a warm, draft-free place. After about an hour and a half, gently poke the center of the dough about ½ inch deep with your wet finger. If the hole doesn’t fill in at all or if the dough sighs, it is ready for the next step. Press flat, form into a smooth round, and let the dough rise once more as before. The second rising will take about half as much time as the first.
Press the dough flat and divide in two. Round it and let it rest until relaxed, then deflate and shape into regular or hearth loaves. Place in greased 8″ 4″ loaf pans or in pie tins or on a baking sheet, and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until the dough slowly returns a gently made fingerprint. Bake in a preheated 325°F oven for about an hour.
Golden Date Bread
1 cup pitted dates (178 g)
1 cup water