This is the most exciting bread I've baked so far!
It looked magnificent when it came from the oven, dark and burnished, with ceremonial lumps and bumps, the loaf had doubled in size. I had to keep going in the kitchen to look at it, all the while I was waiting for it too cool down!
The video is excellent for showing techniques. I learned the following:
- this is a very wet mixture (I used the full quantity of water suggested in the recipe), I need to buy a dough scraper to help manage such a loose dough!
- a new kneading technique, using the ball of the hand to push the dough away from you (stretching it as you do) and then folding the dough back over itself. This helps the gluten to form long chains or layers.
- using the gluten window to assess whether your dough has been kneaded enough. To do this, take a small piece of dough and stretch it. When the dough is ready, enough gluten chains will have formed so that you can stretch the dough until it is almost see-through (the "window").
- the art of braiding the dough to get the height of the loaf.
- creating the strands of dough for braiding. This is done almost lovingly in the video! It's quite a gentle (although fast) process which is designed to encourage the chains of gluten to form lengthways along the grain of the strand.
This bread smells delicious while it is baking, quite light and sweet, very different to a wholemeal loaf (which smells very wholesome and full of wheaty goodness) or a chilli and cheese loaf (a brute)!
The texture is light and airy, far more and much larger air pockets than brioche, for example, another enriched loaf. It's very moist and can be eaten just as it is (or with butter, of course, if necessary :)). It can easily be torn into pieces for eating with soup and stews or sliced neatly for sandwiches and toast.
I was pleased with my first attempt, but this would be a great bread to use for a challah boot camp - I'm sure after a few days practice the braiding would be perfect!
The burnishing isn't quite as dark as it shows here :) it has a very rich taste, almost like chocolate. I was so surprised at the way the loaf doubled in size, my heart lifted! It was a very hot oven, about 220 degrees centigrade for about twenty minutes, on the top shelf, on a lined baking tray (not in a cast iron dutch oven).
I made two small rolls with some of the dough - shaping it into a long strand and then tieing in a simple knot. They look very effective and I was pleased when I tore into one that the texture was just like in the video. One of the advantages of rolls is that they cool much quicker than the larger loaf, so you can get to taste them so much sooner.
This is a great bread for tearing and sharing, it would be lovely to have on the table for a family feast and everyone could help themselves.
Here's a close up of one of the torn strands. You can see how the gluten chains have formed along the length of the strand. I used Marriage's strong white bread flour.
In case anyone is worried about my potatoes from last week, which ended up in the garage wrapped up against the low temperatures (potatoes like it about 60 degrees fahrenheit and above):
I did manage to sort out the front porch and moved the pots into the light and warmth:
I've started putting them outside during the day and the little shoots are just starting to break through the first layer of compost. When they get to about two inches high, I'll add another layer of compost. That encourages tubers to form at multiple layers along the stem, rather than just at the layer at the top of the compost.
#sublimesunday hosted by
#breadbakers hosted by 
