The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book_ A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking - Laurel Robertson [92]
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.
Round the dough in a loaf-sized piece or pieces, and let rest until soft. The recipe makes enough dough for two high 8″ 4″ pan loaves, or you can make one large ring. For the ring, round the whole dough and let it rest until it relaxes, then press from one side to the other to deflate. Use your thumb to make a hole in the center. Gently enlarge the hole to about 5 inches without tearing the dough. Place in a greased angel food cake pan, tucking the outside edges under if necessary, to make the top smooth and nicely rounded. If you are deft and can shape the loaf just right before putting it in the pan, dust the pan with poppy seeds. Or, dust cinnamon on top of the crust after forming the ring. This shape also works beautifully on a big cookie sheet, without the angel food cake pan, though the bread is flatter. Don’t skip the hole in the middle, or the big loaf won’t bake through.
You can also make smaller rounds with or without the hole. Bake them on pie tins, or two or more rounds per cookie sheet. Or make big, pretty muffins, 12 to one loaf’s worth (half the recipe).
Let the shaped dough rise once more, until it slowly returns the indentation made with your wet finger. Place in preheated 350°F oven. The baking time will vary with the size and thickness of the dough: in the tube pan it will take almost an hour; the muffin-sized breads, about 25 minutes.
1 cup currants (140 g)
2 cups apple juice (475 ml)
⅓ cup miller’s bran (17 g)
1 teaspoon allspice
2 teaspoons active dry yeast (¼ oz or 7 g)
½ cup warm water (120 ml)
¼ cup oil (60 ml)
2 tablespoons molasses (30 ml)
5 ½ cups whole wheat flour (830 g)
2 ½ teaspoons salt (14 g)
more juice or water if required
Applesauce Walnut Bread
1 cup applesauce (235 ml)
3 tablespoons oil (45 ml)
1 cup buttermilk (235 ml)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast (¼ oz or 7 g)
1 cup warm water (235 ml)
5 ½ cups whole wheat flour (830 g)
2 ½ teaspoons salt (14 g)
⅔ cup walnuts (80 g), toasted and chopped
A moist and long-keeping bread, just sweet enough for good eating, but not too sweet for any kind of sandwich. The flavor of the walnuts comes forth and the apple plays a quiet supporting role.
Heat the applesauce until it is quite warm. Slowly stir in the oil and the cold buttermilk.
Dissolve the yeast in the water.
Blend the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in them and add the liquids. Stir from the center to mix, folding in the rest of the flour and combining to make a medium-soft dough. Add more water or flour if required. Knead very well; toward the end of the kneading, work in the walnuts.
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 and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until the dough slowly returns a gently made fingerprint. Bake about an hour at 350°F, though if the bread rises as well as it can, the loaves may take less time in the oven.
Wheat-Nut Anise Bread