I love cooking, but successful bread making has always eluded me. My loaves were very hit-and-miss affairs — too yeasty, not risen enough, dense and heavy as bricks. My soda bread was fine, but any other type was a disaster. Some of you kindly sent me your own tried-and-tested methods in response to this plea. I carefully followed the instructions for a white loaf and a wholemeal loaf, but still no luck.
I'm not one to give up easily, so yesterday I had another go, having found this piece in the Guardian. Success! Dan Lepard's recipe for wholemeal bread is simply brilliant. It's unusual in that you add half a crushed vitamin C tablet and melted butter to the mix. Also the dough requires hardly any kneading. The result is a pleasantly light loaf with a soft open crumb. You can find the recipe at the end of the Guardian article. (One tip: keep the dough nice and soft, on the wet side rather than too floury.)
Looks delicious! You are a man of many talents.
ReplyDeleteBut a master of none, George!
ReplyDeleteIt looks to me like you've mastered bread making. :)
ReplyDeleteThough I say it myself, Rubye, that loaf does taste delicious! Just made another with cheese in it. No stopping me now...
ReplyDeleteLooks magnificent! Last night I had some really tasty focaccia-style bread made by Kate's brother. "The magic ingredient," I was told, "is the salt."
ReplyDeleteIt IS magnificent! Tonight I will try making it with olive oil instead of butter, will let you know how that turns out.
ReplyDeleteThanks a TON. I think you finally cracked this mystery!
Salt's important, Goat — not too little, not too much. (Whereas I'm nor sure that sugar is really necessary, though quite a few recipes include it.) I love focaccia! But I love bread per se. Give me some really good bread and cheese, and a glass of wine, and perhaps a few olives, and I'm very happy.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Reb! I now think that bread making is up there on the list of most satisfying human activities ever.