Slow Dough: Real Bread: Bakers' secrets for making amazing long-rise loaves at home - Chris Young (2016)
Pre-Ferment
Biga, sponge and dough, poolish; the list of members of the pre-ferment family just goes on.
A pre-ferment is made from flour, water and yeast left to ferment for a number of hours, perhaps overnight. It is then added to the bulk of the dough’s other ingredients.
There are several reasons Real Bread bakers may choose to do this. One is that it allows less or weaker strains of yeast to be used. Another is that it can help build gluten strength and stretchiness; particularly useful when working with softer, weaker flours.
Key considerations also include that a pre-ferment helps to develop compounds that will boost the flavour and aroma of the finished loaf.
The yeast in a pre-ferment can be from a sourdough starter but for the purposes of this book, the recipes in this chapter are mainly made using baker’s yeast.
Brown Bread MARK WOODS
A supermarket “brown bread” label doesn’t tell you much, other than it ain’t wholemeal/wholewheat, but it ain’t white either. The bran and wheat germ content could be minimal and it might be coloured with caramel to give it a more pleasing or apparently wholesome appearance. Mark’s recipe brings back brown Real Bread as an honest loaf that can be part of a healthier diet, and is also a stepping stone to wholemeal/wholewheat for some kids.
MAKES: 1 large or 2 small loaves
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 12-16 hours, or overnight plus 4-5 hours
BAKING TIME: 45 minutes
FOR THE PRE-FERMENT:
250g/9oz/1¾ cups white bread flour
350g/12oz/1½ cups warm water
2g/scant ½ tsp fresh yeast
FOR THE DOUGH:
100g/3½oz/¾ cup minus ½ tbsp white bread flour
150g/5½oz/1 cup wholemeal/ wholewheat bread flour
5g/1 tsp fresh yeast
5g/1 tsp fine/table salt
butter or oil, for greasing (optional)
1. Mix the pre-ferment ingredients together thoroughly until you have a sloppy batter. Cover and leave in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours or overnight.
2. Add the dough ingredients to the pre-ferment and mix until there are no dry patches of flour, then knead the dough until smooth and stretchy. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for about 2 hours, giving the dough a fold after the first 20, 40 and 60 minutes.
3. Grease a 1kg/2lb loaf tin (or two 500g/1lb tins for small loaves) or dust a large proving basket with flour. Shape the dough to fit and place it seam-side down in the tin or seam-side up in the basket. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for a further 2 hours. Heat the oven to 240°C/220°C fan/475°F/gas 8-9 with a baking stone or baking sheet in place if you are letting the dough rise in a basket.
4. Either place the loaf tin in the oven, or carefully turn the dough out of the proving basket onto a well-floured peel and slide it onto the baking stone. Bake for about 45 minutes.
Mark Woods is a psychiatric nurse by day. In his free time, he runs the Slow Loaf microbakery and baking school in the West Midlands town of Walsall. He says, “We are losing so much in our fast-paced world. I am passionate about passing on my bread skills to anyone that will listen, teaching as many classes as possible throughout the year.”
White Bread with Old Dough SHEILA TUSKAN SAGER
Old dough is the British version of what the French call pâte fermentée. The fermentation it has undergone means it helps to boost flavour, and it was once common for bakers to use it in what were called “short process” breads, to help them develop truly great character and texture.
MAKES: 1 large loaf
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: overnight plus 2-3 hours
BAKING TIME: 30 minutes
3g/¾ tsp fresh yeast
500g/1lb 2oz/3½ cups white bread flour
320g/11¼oz/1⅓ cups water
8g/1½ tsp fine/table salt
200g/7oz old dough
1. Rub the yeast into the flour, then mix in most of the water. Knead the dough until the ingredients come together and no dry patches remain, adding more water if the dough seems too stiff or any floury patches remain. It’s better to err on the side of what might seem too wet at this stage.
2. Cover the dough and leave it to relax for 15 minutes. Sprinkle the salt over the dough and knead for a minute or two until it is evenly mixed in.
3. Break the old dough into small pieces, scatter them over the fresh dough and knead until they are full incorporated. Depending on how vigorous a kneader you are, it could take anything from 8-15 minutes.
4. Put the dough into a bowl, cover and leave in the refrigerator overnight, taking it out about 2 hours before you plan to bake. If you plan to make this recipe again in a few days, cut off 200g/7oz of the dough and keep it in a container in the refrigerator, to use as the old dough next time. Shape the loaf as desired, cover it and leave it to rise at room temperature for about 2 hours.
5. Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas 6, with a baking stone or baking sheet in place. Using a floured peel, transfer the dough onto the baking stone and bake for about 30 minutes.
Baker’s Tip: The old dough can be a bit left over from any type of bread, kept in the fridge in a sealed container for up to four days.
Sheila Tuskan Sager began baking Real Bread in 1997. Having given up a career as a construction manager to relocate to the UK, Sheila decided to spend her new-found free time learning the science behind bread. By keeping ingredients to the basics of flour, water, salt and a tiny amount of baker’s yeast, she quickly discovered that the longer the bread was fermented, the better the flavour. This fact inspired the bread that she and her team made at the Shrewsbury Bakehouse.
Buckwheat and Chia Bread CHRIS STAFFERTON
Chia seed and psyllium husk help provide structure for this wheat-and gluten-free Real Bread dough. The mucilage in each of these natural ingredients works with the starches to trap fermentation gases, and enable the dough to rise.
MAKES: 1 loaf
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 12-13 hours, or overnight plus 4-5 hours
BAKING TIME: 35-40 minutes
FOR THE PRE-FERMENT:
150g/5½oz/1¼ cups buckwheat flour
150g/5½oz/scant ⅔ cup water
2g/scant ½ tsp fresh yeast
FOR THE DOUGH:
200g/7oz/1⅔ cups buckwheat flour
15g/½oz/1 tbsp ground chia seeds/ chia meal
15g/½oz/1 tbsp psyllium husks
4g/¾ tsp salt
200g/7oz/¾ cup plus 1 tbsp water
1. Mix the pre-ferment ingredients together, cover and leave at room temperature for about 8 hours, or in the refrigerator overnight.
2. Gently mix all of the dry dough ingredients into the pre-ferment, using a whisk to ensure there are no lumps, then gradually work in as much of the water as you need to produce a stiff but shapeable dough. Cover the dough and leave to rise at room temperature for 2 hours.
3. Dust a round proving basket well with buckwheat flour. Shape the dough into a ball (unlike wheat dough, the absence of gluten means it won’t stretch in the way you are used to) and place this in the basket. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for a further 2 hours.
4. Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas 7, with a baking stone or baking sheet in place. Turn the dough out onto a floured peel and slash the top, to control the way the dough expands and to avoid unusual bursts in the crust. Slide the dough onto the baking stone and bake for 35-40 minutes.
Chris Stafferton started baking bread occasionally in the late 1970s. Nearly 30 years later his doctor told him to learn to live without gluten. Finding the available gluten-free bread terrible, he set out to develop naturally gluten-free Real Bread. Through his website he sells gluten-free recipes and online tuition around the world.
Robert Swift is a fifth-generation baker at Swifts Bakery, started over 150 years ago by his great-great-great-aunt in Wheaton Aston, Staffordshire. He says, “We pride ourselves on doing things properly, no matter what we are producing.” In addition to running six shops and a wholesale business, he and his brother offer baking courses that promote how Real Bread should be made.
Stromboli ROBERT SWIFT
Perhaps it’s the molten cheese spilling like lava from the slashes in the top of the loaf that prompted someone to name this filled, Italian-style dough after the island with an active volcano north of Sicily. Then again, maybe it’s named after the 1950s Ingrid Bergman film of the same name. What seems certain is that it springs from Italian-American cuisine, rather than from Italy itself.
MAKES: 1 filled loaf
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 11 hours
BAKING TIME: 30-40 minutes
FOR THE BIGA (PRE-FERMENT):
150g/5½oz/1 cup plus 2 tbsp tipo 00 bread flour
150g/5½oz/scant ⅔ cup cold water
1g/¼ tsp fresh yeast
FOR THE DOUGH:
100g/3½oz/¾ cup tipo 00 bread flour
50g/1¾oz/¼ cup durum wheat semolina (or 50g/1¾oz/6 tbsp more tipo 00 flour)
70g/2½oz/scant ⅓ cup warm water
2.5g/½ tsp fine/table salt
1g/¼ tsp fresh yeast
15g/1 tbsp olive oil
FOR THE FILLING:
1 garlic clove, crushed
30g/1oz Parma ham (or other prosciutto crudo)
150g/5½oz/about 1½ cups mozzarella, sliced very thinly
40g/1½oz/⅔ cup sundried tomatoes
1 handful fresh basil leaves
a little olive oil, for brushing
freshly ground black pepper
1. Mix the biga ingredients together, cover and leave at room temperature for 4 hours.
2. Add all the dough ingredients except the olive oil to the biga and mix together until you have an almost uniform consistency, then work in the oil until fully incorporated. Knead the dough until smooth and stretchy. It’ll be sticky at first but resist the temptation to add any more flour; it’s meant to be a loose dough, so just keep going until it gets silky.
3. Cover the dough and leave to rest for 5 minutes. Give the dough a double fold, cover and leave at room temperature to prove for 3 hours.
4. Give the dough another double fold to de-gas it thoroughly, cover and leave to prove for another 2½ hours.
5. Turn the dough out onto a work surface lightly dusted with flour, semolina or fine ground rice, and gently press it out into a rectangle about 20x30cm/8x12in. Smear the garlic across the dough, then lay the slices of ham side by side on top, followed by the mozzarella, tomatoes and basil.
6. Wet one short edge of the dough, then starting from the opposite edge, roll it up quite tightly like a Swiss/jelly roll, taking care that the filling stays evenly spread. Place seam-side down on a baking sheet dusted with flour, cover and leave to rise for 1 hour.
7. Heat the oven to 230°C/210°C fan/450°F/gas 8. Brush the top of the dough with olive oil, sprinkle with pepper and slash in several places through to the first layer of filling. Place in the oven on the baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes. Turn the heat down to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas 7 and bake for a further 10-15 minutes.
The Stirchley Loaf TOM BAKER
After attending “The Rise of Real Bread” conference in 2009, Tom resolved to quit his old job and match his profession to his surname. He created this loaf to celebrate helping to launch the Stirchley Community Market in 2010. Adding grated raw potato gives the bread a moister crumb, which together with the sponge and dough method prolongs its shelf life. Artificial-additive-addicted industrial loaf manufacturers take note!
MAKES: 1 large or 2 small loaves
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: overnight plus 4-6 hours
BAKING TIME: 35-45 minutes
FOR THE SPONGE:
150g/5½oz/1 cup plus 1 tbsp white bread flour
150g/5½oz/scant ⅔ cup water
3g/¾ tsp fresh yeast
FOR THE DOUGH:
215g/7½oz/1 cup minus 2 tbsp water
280g/10oz/2 cups wholemeal/ wholewheat bread flour
130g/4½oz/1 cup minus 1 tbsp white bread flour
65g/2¼oz/½ cup grated potato
10g/2 tsp fine/table salt
butter or oil, for greasing
1. Mix the sponge ingredients together in a bowl large enough for making 1kg/2lb 4oz of dough, cover and leave at room temperature for 8-24 hours (typically overnight) until actively bubbling.
2. For the dough, add the water to the sponge and start mixing before adding the rest of the ingredients. Continue mixing until the dough has a uniform texture, then knead the dough until it is smooth and stretchy (this will take about 10-12 minutes of active kneading, or up to 1 hour with the “fold and rest” process). Cover and leave to prove for about 3 hours until approximately doubled in volume.
3. Grease a baking sheet, shape the dough to make either 1 large loaf or 2 smaller loaves and place seam-side down on the sheet. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for anywhere between 1 hour (summer) and 2 hours (winter).
4. Heat the oven to 230°C/210°C fan/450°F/gas 8. When the dough is fully risen, dust generously with wholemeal/wholewheat flour and slash the top with a long cut straight down the centre, or slash a pattern into the surface. Put the baking sheet with the dough on it into the oven immediately and bake for 35-45 minutes until the loaf is browned nicely and cooked through.
Tom Baker built his cob oven in 2009 and soon after founded Loaf Community Bakery and Cookery School. Inspired by meeting Dan and Johanna from The Handmade Bakery (Britain’s first Community Supported Bakery), he adopted their model to sell sourdough Real Bread to neighbours. The operation moved to Stirchley town centre in 2012 with the help of a bread bond scheme. The bakery, shop and cookery school are thriving and bringing life to a down-at-heel local high street.
Carole Roberts founded LoveBread in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, in 2013. Set up as a Community Supported Bakery with a bread subscription scheme, the social enterprise also runs a volunteering scheme for people to learn new skills, and classes for local schoolchildren and community groups. Carole’s bakers always use organic flour, much of it from the local Yorkshire Organic Millers, to make Real Bread by the classic British sponge and dough method.
Cheese-Topped Chilli and Onion Boule CAROLE ROBERTS
Carole told me that this bread is their signature loaf and that it is usually the first to sell out at a market, even though they make twice as much of it as any other. The recipe originally came about by accident due to someone “chucking a whole tub of chilli flakes” into her cheese and onion dough.
MAKES: 2 small loaves
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 8-9 hours, or overnight plus 4-5 hours
BAKING TIME: 30 minutes
FOR THE SPONGE:
50g/1¾oz/heaping ⅓ cup white bread flour
50g/1¾oz/3½ tbsp water
a pinch of fresh yeast
FOR THE DOUGH:
1 onion, chopped finely
1 tsp dried chilli/hot pepper flakes (more or less, according to taste)
25g/2 tbsp olive oil
500g/1lb 2oz/3½ cups white bread flour
50g/1¾oz/¼ cup semolina
5g/1 tsp fresh yeast
5g/1 tsp fine/table salt
325g/11½oz/1⅓ cup water
150g/5½oz/1⅔ cups grated Cheddar cheese
1. Mix the sponge ingredients together, cover and leave in the refrigerator overnight, or at room temperature for at least 4 hours.
2. Fry the onion and dried chilli/hot pepper flakes in the oil until translucent, then leave to cool before adding the sponge and the remaining dough ingredients except the cheese. Mix until you have a smooth but loose (i.e. wet and sticky) dough; don’t throw in more flour. Put the dough into a bowl, cover and leave to rise for 2 hours.
3. Lightly wet the work surface, tip the dough out onto it and gently stretch it out into a 30x40cm/12x16in rectangle. You may find this easier to do in two stages, with a 10-minute rest in between.
4. Scatter half the cheese over the dough, pressing it in very lightly so it just sticks, taking care not to deflate the dough. Slightly lift the dough by its left-hand edge, folding the left-hand third to cover the middle third, then fold the right-hand third over, to cover the dough you’ve just folded. Turn the dough by 90 degrees and repeat this folding, then leave to rest for about 10 minutes.
5. Divide the dough into 2 equal-size pieces and shape into boules, then put into well-floured proving baskets. Cover and leave to rise for 1 hour, or until fully risen. Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/ gas 7 with a large baking stone or baking sheet in place.
6. Scatter some semolina onto a peel, turn the first loaf onto it and carefully but quickly slash the top. Sprinkle on half of the remaining cheese and slide the loaf onto the baking stone. Repeat for the second loaf, using up the last of the cheese. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas 6 and continue to bake for another 20 minutes.
Trub Trencher CHRIS YOUNG
This unusual loaf is made using trub, the yeasty sediment (or lees) found at the bottom of beer-fermenting vessels. So it’s for the home brewer, or readers who know a tame brewer who will give them some trub for their starter. Try cutting the top off the trencher and using each half as a plate, or maybe just tear off chunks and enjoy with good butter, a hunk of proper cheese and a glass of the real ale it was made with.
MAKES: 2 small loaves
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 8-13 hours
BAKING TIME: 15-20 minutes
250g/9oz/generous 1 cup trub starter
225g/8oz/scant 1 cup dark, malty beer
300g/10½oz/2 cups plus 2 tbsp wholemeal/wholewheat bread flour
200g/7oz/1½ cups minus 1 tbsp white bread flour
8g/1½ tsp fine/table salt
1. Several days before you want to bake, make the trub starter by first adding 50g/1¾oz/heaping ⅓ cup flour and 50g/1¾oz/3½ tbsp water to 50g/1¾oz/3½ tbsp of trub, and then proceeding in the same way as for the sourdough starter on page 14 until you have at least 250g/9oz/ generous 1 cup to work with.
2. When you are ready to bake, heat the beer gently in a saucepan and simmer it for a few minutes to reduce the alcohol content. If you have a suitable thermometer, check to see that it is at 80°C/175°F or higher. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
3. Thoroughly mix the trub starter and cooled beer with the other ingredients. Cover and leave to rest for 10 minutes, then knead the dough until smooth and stretchy. Cover and leave at room temperature until doubled in size and the dough doesn’t spring back instantly when gently pressed: this could take 6-10 hours. During this time, give it a single fold after the first 30, 60 and 90 minutes.
4. Divide the dough into 2 equal-size pieces and shape into balls. Cover and leave to prove until the dough doesn’t spring back instantly when pressed. This may take 1-2 hours.
5. Heat the oven to 250°C/230°C fan/480°F/gas 9+, or as high as it will go, with a large baking stone or baking sheet in place. The dough should have spread during proving, making loaves that are about 25cm/10in in diameter and 3cm/1¼in high. If they aren’t, you might want to gently stretch them out before baking. Using a well-floured peel, transfer the loaves onto the baking stone and turn the temperature down to 230°C/210°C fan/450°F/gas 8. Bake for 15-20 minutes until they sound hollow when tapped on the base.
Sippet: Medieval bread trenchers were typically stale pieces sliced from coarse, dense loaves. This meant they were solid enough to use as tableware and not disintegrate even soaked in gravy or sauces. Still tough after the meal, used trenchers might be given to animals or the poor, as surely only a real trencherman would eat his own...
Pain de Campagne ANDREW WHITLEY
Bread recipes probably evolve over time, which may be due to lard being replaced by vegetable fat, barm by baker’s yeast or locally grown wheat by imported flour. It may result from salt being reduced, or simply the baker tweaking things. Since Andrew Whitley wrote Bread Matters in 2006, he’s been modifying some recipes, and so this is the 2016 remix of his pain de campagne, or French-style country bread, which appeared in that book.
MAKES: 1 large or 2 small loaves
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 9-17 hours, or overnight plus 5 hours
BAKING TIME: 50-70 minutes
FOR THE PRE-FERMENT:
100g/3½oz/generous ⅓ cup wheat or rye sourdough starter
60g/2oz/½ cup wholemeal/ wholewheat bread flour
65g/2¼oz/½ cup white bread flour
75g/2½oz/scant ⅓ cup water, at 35°C/95°F
FOR THE DOUGH:
200g/7oz/1½ cups minus 1 tbsp wholemeal bread flour
200g/7oz/1½ cups minus 1 tbsp white bread flour
300g/10½oz/1¼ cups water, at 35°C/95°F
8g/1½ tsp fine/table salt
rice flour or semolina for dusting
1. Mix the pre-ferment ingredients together thoroughly, cover and leave in a warm place for 4 hours or in a cool place for 12 hours (typically overnight), until actively bubbling.
2. Mix the pre-ferment with the dough ingredients, then knead the dough until it is smooth and stretchy.
3. Dust a 1kg/2lb proving basket (or two 500g/1lb ones) well with rice flour or semolina. Shape the dough to fit and dip it in the rice flour, then place it seam-side up in the basket. Cover and leave to prove in a warm place for up to 5 hours until the dough has about doubled in size.
4. Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas 7, with a baking stone or baking sheet in place.
5. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured peel and slash the top of the dough to make the pattern of your choice. Slide the dough carefully onto the baking stone and bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas 6 and continue to bake for another 40-60 minutes until you have the crust colour that you prefer.
Andrew Whitley created the wood-fired, organic Village Bakery Melmerby in 1976. A visit to Russia in the early 1990s led to him becoming an advocate of genuine sourdough bread. Andrew moved on in 2002 to found Bread Matters, publishing the award-winning book of the same name in 2006. In 2008 he joined forces with the charity Sustain to launch the Real Bread Campaign and more recently published the book Do: Sourdough.
Baguettes PAUL MERRY
This is the Real Baguette deal, made using a pre-ferment called a poolish: equal weights of flour and water mixed with a tiny amount of yeast. Paul says, “These light and airy baguettes have so much flavour and aroma. The crisp and delicate crust contains a creamy crumb, with large, random air bubbles.” For this Real Bread you need both a white bread flour with 13-14% protein and a French T55 flour (see page 28) with more like 10% protein.
MAKES: 10 small or 5 large loaves
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: overnight plus 5-6 hours
BAKING TIME: 35 minutes per batch
FOR THE POOLISH (PRE-FERMENT):
250g/9oz/1¾ cups white bread flour
250g/9oz/1 cup plus 1 tbsp water
0.5g/⅛ tsp fresh yeast, i.e. a piece barely the size of a chickpea
FOR THE DOUGH:
750g/1lb 10oz/5⅓ cups T55 flour
400-450g/14oz-1lb/1 ⅔-1¾ cups, plus 2 tbsp water, at 20-25°C/ 68-77°F
16g/½oz/3 tsp fine/table salt
7g/1½ tsp fresh yeast
1. Mix the poolish ingredients together, cover and leave at room temperature for 12-15 hours, typically overnight. It will be ready when it has doubled in size, with a myriad of bubbles on the surface (in hot weather, use 1g/¼ tsp yeast and leave to ferment in the refrigerator).
2. Add the dough ingredients to the poolish and mix thoroughly. Knead well, cover and leave to rise for about 3 hours, giving the dough a single fold halfway through that time, when it has swelled by about a third and the surface is blistered with tiny bubbles.
3. When the dough has doubled in size, divide it into 165-170g/6oz pieces for small loaves or 330-340g/11½-12oz for large ones. Shape into balls, put on a floured surface, cover and leave for 20 minutes.
4. One piece at a time, stretch the dough out gently into a rectangle, then roll it toward you as tightly as possible to make a cylinder. To build up tension on the outer surface, use the heels of your hands to push the dough away from you, as your fingers roll it toward you (fig. 1).
5. Roll the dough back and forth, moving both hands smoothly from the middle towards the ends, spreading your fingers as you go: you are aiming for a baton of even thickness with round or pointed ends (fig. 2).
6. Place this seam-side down on a floured tray or in a rucked-up couche cloth, then repeat with the remaining pieces. Cover and leave at room temperature for 45-60 minutes until the dough doesn’t spring back when pressed gently. Heat the oven to 230°C/210°C fan/450°F/ gas 8, with a baking stone or baking sheet in place.
7. Slash the top of one piece of dough several times diagonally (fig. 3), holding the blade at a shallow angle to the surface, then slide it onto the baking stone using a well-floured peel. Repeat with as many pieces of dough as the stone can hold, and bake for about 35 minutes until golden, baking any remaining loaves as a second batch.
Baker’s Tip: To get the classic robust, glossy crust, using steam is essential (see page 22).
Fougasse CHRIS YOUNG
Like focaccia, and other flatbreads found across southern and eastern Europe, this loaf - often associated with Provence - takes its name from the Latin word for “hearth”, where it would once have been baked. I’ve kept mine plain, but you can throw in a handful of chopped pitted olives, ham, cheese or herbs, in whatever combination you fancy. You can also drizzle yours with plain or herb-infused olive oil just before and/or after they are baked.
MAKES: 2 or 3 loaves
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: overnight plus 5½-6½ hours
BAKING TIME: 10-15 minutes
FOR THE PRE-FERMENT:
300g/10½oz/2 cups plus 2 tbsp white bread flour
275g/9¾oz/1 cup plus 2 tbsp water
5g/1 tsp fresh yeast
FOR THE DOUGH:
350g/12oz/2½ cups white bread flour
250g/9oz/1 cup plus 1 tbsp water
2g/scant ½ tsp fresh yeast
50g/1¾oz/3½ tbsp olive oil
5g/1 tsp fine/table salt
1. Mix the pre-ferment ingredients together, cover and leave at room temperature for 12 hours overnight, or until bubbling vigorously.
2. Add the dough ingredients to the pre-ferment and knead (“work to an even consistency” is probably a better term, as it’s so sloppy) until you have a smooth, silky, stretchy dough that is very soft but no longer sticky. You may find that this dough is easier to make using a stand mixer with a dough hook.
3. Cover the dough and give it a series of single folds after 30, 60 and 90 minutes, then leave to rise for a further 2½-3½ hours, or until it’s puffed up and has huge bubbles coming to the surface.
4. Dust the work surface well with flour and using an oiled dough scraper, turn the dough out carefully, trying not to knock out too many of the bubbles you have (well, the yeast has) worked hard to make. Divide the dough into 2 or 3 equal-size pieces, gently rounding each piece into a ball (but don’t go for the full shaping process described on page 21), then roll one piece out to an oval about 1.5cm/⅝in thick.
5. Using your dough scraper, cut 3 or 4 angled slots either side of the middle of the dough to make a leaf-like pattern (see photo) and open these out slightly. Repeat the rolling and cutting with the remaining dough. Cover and leave to prove for 1 hour. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 250°C/230°C fan/480°F/gas 9+, or as high as it will go, with baking stones or baking sheets in place.
6. Using a well-floured peel, slide each fougasse onto a baking stone, then immediately turn the oven down to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/ gas 7. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden.
Kalapao CHRIS YOUNG
I have happy, diesel-scented memories of eating kalapao for pre-sunrise breakfasts at truck stops in Laos, while waiting for a songthaew bus-truck to fill up with enough people to ferry me and my backpack to the next dusty town. This type of steamed bun seems to have originated in the wheat-growing regions of northern China before spreading far and wide under various names. Here’s my stripped-down, back-to-basics version.
MAKES: 8 buns
FROM MIXING TO COOKING: 2 days plus 2 hours
COOKING TIME: 20-25 minutes
FOR THE SPONGE:
60g/2¼oz/scant ½ cup plain/ all-purpose flour
5g/1 tsp fresh yeast
40g/1½oz/3 tbsp water
FOR THE DOUGH:
10g/2 tsp fresh yeast
170g/6oz/scant ¾ cup milk
300g/10½oz/2¼ cups plain/ all-purpose flour
25g/1oz/2 tbsp caster/superfine sugar
3g/½ tsp fine/table salt
FOR THE FILLING:
5g/1 tsp vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
½ white onion, finely diced
100g/3½oz/scant ½ cup minced/ ground pork
1 sweet Chinese sausage, cut into 8 pieces
4 cloud-ear mushrooms, chopped
2 spring onions/scallions, chopped
2 eggs, hard boiled and chopped into quarters
5g/1 tsp nam pla (Thai fish sauce) or soy sauce
a pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1. Mix the sponge ingredients together, cover and leave in the refrigerator overnight.
2. To make the dough, dissolve the yeast in the milk. Add the sponge and the other dough ingredients and knead until you have a smooth, stretchy ball. Cover and leave in the refrigerator overnight again.
3. Cut the dough into 8 equal-size pieces. Shape into balls, cover and leave for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion until translucent, then add the minced/ground pork and stir until barely cooked without taking on any brown colour. Add the remaining filling ingredients, cover and cook over a low heat for 3-5 minutes.
4. Grease a baking sheet. Press the dough balls out into circles about 8-10cm/3¼-4in wide. Spoon the filling equally onto the middle of each piece, bring the edges of the dough together around the filling and seal each piece well, rolling it into a ball. Place on the baking sheet 5cm/2in apart. Cover and leave at room temperature for 40 minutes.
5. Line the layers of a metal or bamboo steamer with lightly oiled baking parchment pierced with holes, or use steamer papers. Arrange the buns at least 1cm/½in apart and put the steamer, with the lid on, over a pan filled with boiling water. Steam the buns over enough heat to keep the water bubbling for 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave to stand for 5 minutes. If using a metal steamer, open the lid a little to let some excess steam escape. For once, this is one to eat warm.
Sippet: Pao is a corruption of the Portuguese word for bread and has relatives across Asia, including pav in India, bao in Taiwan and pan in Japan.
Milk Bread PAUL MERRY
Paul says, “Milk loaves, once among the British craft baker’s standard list of products, have their own distinct texture and flavour, with a fine pile to the crumb, and are always at home on the teatime table.” A satisfactory result can be obtained by diluting the milk with water, but using milk more generously will make the loaf richer. The sponge-and-dough process, with a cool dough at the finish, gives a fine-textured bread that keeps well.
MAKES: 2 small loaves
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 5-7 hours
BAKING TIME: 30-35 minutes
FOR THE PRE-FERMENT:
170g/6oz/scant 1¼ cups white bread flour
120g/4¼oz/½ cup warm water
10g/2 tsp fresh yeast
3g/½ tsp fine/table salt
FOR THE DOUGH:
400g/14oz/scant 3 cups white bread flour
170g/6oz/scant ¾ cup milk
35g/1¼oz/scant ¼ cup caster/ superfine sugar (optional)
6g/1 tsp fine/table salt
35g/1¼oz/heaping 2 tbsp butter, diced, plus extra for greasing
1 egg, beaten, to glaze
1. Mix the pre-ferment ingredients together thoroughly. Cover and leave at room temperature for about 1 hour, or until the surface is broken by large bubbles.
2. Add the dough ingredients, except the butter, to the pre-ferment and mix well. Knead until you have a smooth dough, then work in the butter until fully combined and the dough is once again smooth, silky and soft but not sticky. Cover and leave at room temperature for 2-3 hours until the dough has doubled in size and the surface shows fine gas bubbles and has the appearance of being pock-marked.
3. Divide the dough into 2 equal-size pieces, shape into balls, cover and leave to rest for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, grease two 500g/1lb loaf tins or a flat baking sheet.
4. Reshape the dough to fit the tins, or to bake as freestanding loaves, and place in the tins or on the sheet. Cover and leave to rise for 1-2 hours, until doubled in size and the dough doesn’t spring back instantly when gently pressed.
5. Heat the oven to 180-190°C/160-170°C fan/350-375°F/gas 4-5, or 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas 6 if you didn’t use sugar. Brush the top of the loaves with beaten egg and bake for 20 minutes, turning them round after 10 minutes if they are not baking evenly. Cover the tops of the loaves with kitchen foil if they are browning too quickly, then continue to bake for a further 10-15 minutes.
Baker’s Tip: Milk bread was often sold in fancy shapes or with decorative slashes. Have a look at old baking manuals - or on the internet - for ideas.
Paul Merry has been involved with Real Bread baking and masonry ovens for over 40 years. After baking in London in the 1970s, he returned to his native Australia and built his first bakery outside Melbourne. Eleven years later, he was back in the UK, working and teaching at The Village Bakery Melmerby, before setting up his own Panary baking and wood-fired oven school and consultancy in Dorset.
Orchard Loaf TONY WETHERALL
This recipe is best made in the autumn. Tony says that he created this loaf “to showcase the freshly pressed apple juice from our own organic orchards. We add just enough to increase the complexity of flavour without making the loaf sweet.” If you’re lucky enough to have a local farmers’ market, try there for a flavoursome natural juice, in season.
MAKES: 1 large loaf
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: overnight plus 6-7 hours
BAKING TIME: 35 minutes
FOR THE PRE-FERMENT:
150g/5½oz/about 1 cup wholemeal/ wholewheat bread flour
5g/1 tsp fresh yeast
160g/5¾oz/⅔ cup water
FOR THE DOUGH:
10g/2 tsp fresh yeast
190g/6¾oz/¾ cup plus 2 tsp warm water
300g/10½oz/2 cups plus 2 tbsp white bread flour
50g/1¾oz/3½ tbsp freshly pressed apple juice
50g/1¾oz/heaping ⅓ cup wholemeal/ wholewheat bread flour
50g/1¾oz/heaping ⅓ cup wholemeal/ wholegrain (dark) rye flour
15g/2 tbsp sunflower seeds
10g/1 tbsp linseeds/flaxseeds
8g/1½ tsp fine/table salt
butter or oil, for greasing
1. Mix the pre-ferment ingredients together in a large bowl, cover and leave at room temperature overnight.
2. To make the dough, crumble the yeast into the water and stir until dissolved. Add to the pre-ferment, stir again, then add the remaining dough ingredients except for the salt. Mix together thoroughly, then cover and leave to rest at room temperature for 10-15 minutes.
3. Add the salt and knead until it is fully incorporated and the dough is smooth. Cover and leave to prove in the refrigerator for at least
4 hours, taking the dough out around 2 hours before you plan to bake.
4. Give the dough a single fold, return it to the bowl, cover and leave at room temperature for 90 minutes.
5. Heat the oven to 250°C/230°C fan/480°F/gas 9+, or as high as it will go. Grease a 1kg/2lb loaf tin, shape the dough, place it in the tin, cover and leave to rise at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
6. Slash the top of the loaf, place it in the oven and immediately turn the oven down to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas 7. Check after 10 minutes and reduce the temperature by a further 10-20°C/20-35°F if the loaf is browning too quickly, which can happen because of the sugar in the apple juice, and bake for a further 25 minutes.
Tony Wetherall changed career in 2010 to start the Roots Bakehouse, in the shop on Will and Meg Edmonds’ family farm in Worcestershire. An area was converted into a microbakery with a window onto the shop allowing customers to see the baking in action. He bakes Real Bread on Thursday and Friday and uses a wood-fired oven to run Friday-evening pizza nights.
Dineke van den Bogerd was born in Friesland and set up the Crumbs of Capel microbakery in Surrey in late 2009. At present she bakes in her small home kitchen, which limits her to making about 45 loaves a day, but she’s hoping to convert a garage so she can bake more Real Bread for local people.
Fryske Sûkerbôle DINEKE VAN DEN BOGERD
Sugar, spice and all things nice? Traditionally, this loaf from the northern Netherlands would be a gift to the mother of a newborn baby girl. Because of the amount of sugar, it is a sweet, sticky, chewy occasional treat, rather than an everyday staple, especially if served as Dineke suggests, with a generous layer of butter. She says, “With all the sugar, this bread should keep for a few days, but somehow we have never been able to put that to the test.”
MAKES: 2 small loaves
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 7-8 hours, or overnight plus 4-5 hours
BAKING TIME: 30-40 minutes
FOR THE PRE-FERMENT:
450g/1lb/2 cups minus 2 tbsp milk
45g/1½oz/3 tbsp ginger syrup (from the stem/preserved ginger jar)
10g/2 tsp fresh yeast
350g/12oz/2½ cups white bread flour
FOR THE DOUGH:
1 egg
350g/12oz/2½ cups white bread flour
50g/1¾oz/⅓ cup stem/preserved ginger, diced
5g/1 tsp ground cinnamon
8g/1½ tsp fine/table salt
butter, for greasing
450g/1lb/2¼ cups pearl (nibbed) sugar, or sugar cubes each roughly crushed into about 8 pieces
1. Bring the milk to the boil, then leave to cool until hand warm. Stir in the ginger syrup and yeast until dissolved, then whisk in the flour. Cover and leave at room temperature for 2 hours.
2. Whisk the egg into the pre-ferment, then mix in the flour, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Knead the dough until smooth and stretchy.
3. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for about 2 hours, or in the refrigerator overnight. If kept in the refrigerator, remove about 2 hours before you plan to bake and leave to return to room temperature.
4. Line two 500g/1lb loaf tins with kitchen foil, pressed flat against the sides while making sure not to tear any holes, and leaving about a 5cm/2in overlap all the way around. Grease generously with butter, and dot with about a third of the sugar, shaken around so that it sticks to all the sides.
5. Dust the work surface with flour and divide the dough into 2 equal-size pieces. Dust the tops well with flour and roll each piece out into a rectangle a little shorter than the longer side of the loaf tin and about 30cm/12in long. Holding back a little sugar for the tops, sprinkle the remainder evenly over the 2 pieces of dough, then roll each piece up tightly and place seam-side down in the loaf tins and press down gently into the corners.
6. Cover and leave to prove for about 2 hours, until the dough rises just above the tops of the tins. Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/ 350°F/gas 4.
7. Brush each loaf with a little water and sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Bake the loaves for about 30-40 minutes until golden brown, checking that they do not burn. Remove the tins from the oven, fold the foil over the top of the loaves, remove from the tins and leave to cool in the foil.
Gaye Whitwam runs a microbakery at her home in the Surrey suburbs of Greater London. As well as baking for a local farmers’ market, she is a leading figure in the Bread Angels network, teaching other people to make Real Bread and set up their own microbakeries.
Saffron Cake GAYE WHITWAM
Gaye was born in Cornwall just after the Second World War. She told me “this bread evokes everything that was good about my childhood. Everything that was not so good is best forgotten and compensated for by a piece of toasted saffron cake with Cornish butter, naturally, and a good cup of English tea.”
MAKES: 1 loaf
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 9-12 hours
BAKING TIME: 50 minutes
160g/5¾oz/⅔ cup milk, plus a little extra
100g/3½oz/¾ cup mixed dried fruit
0.2g/a good pinch of saffron strands
zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
5g/1 tsp fresh yeast
200g/7oz/1½ cups minus 1 tbsp wholemeal/wholewheat bread flour
200g/7oz/1½ cups minus 1 tbsp white bread flour
70g/2½oz/⅓ cup packed light soft brown sugar
2g/½ tsp fine/table salt
65g/2¼oz/¼ cup butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
1 egg, beaten, to glaze
1. Heat the milk, dried fruit, saffron and lemon zest in a pan until barely boiling, simmer briefly, then leave to cool for 15-20 minutes.
2. Strain the milk into a bowl, reserving the fruit separately. Measure the milk and make up to 160g/5¾oz/⅔ cup.
3. Rub the yeast into the wholemeal/wholewheat flour, then stir in the milk. Cover and leave at room temperature for about 1 hour, or until the mixture has puffed up and there are bubbles on the surface.
4. Add the white flour, sugar and salt and mix thoroughly. If the dough won’t come together into a consistent mass, add a few more drops of milk. Knead until you have a smooth dough, then cover and leave it to rest for 10 minutes.
5. Knead the butter and reserved fruit into the dough, working it until it comes together again. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth and stretchy, then return it to the bowl, cover and leave to prove in the refrigerator for 6-8 hours until it looks puffy again. Remove from the refrigerator about 1 hour before you plan to bake.
6. Grease a 1kg/2lb loaf tin. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, pressing it into a rectangle slightly shorter than the long side of the loaf tin. Roll the dough up into a log, then place it seam-side down in the tin. Cover and leave to rise for about 40 minutes.
7. Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas 6. Brush the top of the dough with beaten egg and bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas 4 and continue to bake for a further 40 minutes, checking halfway through and covering loosely with kitchen foil if it is browning too quickly. Turn the loaf out of the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Christmas Bread ANDREW WHITLEY
While other nations have their stollen and panettone, when it comes to Christmas, here in Britain we tend to put our dried fruits and spices into cakes, puddings and mince pies. However, in English Bread and Yeast Cookery, Elizabeth David mentioned a Christmas bread recipe from Cumbria, which inspired Andrew to write this modern version. Yeast has a hard time when dough is enriched with butter and sugar, and using a pre-ferment helps get that “rise”.
MAKES: 1 large or 2 small loaves
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: overnight plus 4½-6½ hours
BAKING TIME: 30-60 minutes, depending on loaf size
FOR THE PRE-FERMENT:
175g/6oz/1¼ cups white bread flour
5g/1 tsp fresh yeast
125g/4½oz/½ cup water, at about 25°C/75°F
FOR THE FRUIT AND NUT SOAKER:
100g/3½oz/½ cup crystallized/ candied ginger, chopped
100g/3½oz/¾ cup raisins or sultanas/ golden raisins
100g/3½oz/1 cup dried cranberries
50g/1¾oz/⅓ cup pitted dates, chopped
50g/1¾oz/⅓ cup dried figs, quartered
100g/3½oz/scant 1 cup almonds or Brazil nuts, chopped
50g/1¾oz/3⅓ tbsp rum, brandy or fruit juice
FOR THE DOUGH:
220g/7¾oz/1½ cups white bread flour
100g/3½oz/7 tbsp butter, plus extra for greasing
70g/2½oz/⅓ cup packed dark brown sugar
100g/3½oz lightly beaten egg, (about 2 eggs)
1. Mix the pre-ferment ingredients together thoroughly, cover and leave in the refrigerator for about 12 hours overnight. Meanwhile, mix the soaker ingredients together in a bowl, substituting similar fruits, nuts and liquid if you wish, according to taste, allergies or simply what you have to hand. Leave this mixture at room temperature for about 12 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Mix the dough ingredients into the pre-ferment and knead until the sticky mixture becomes a soft, smooth and glossy dough. Cover and leave at room temperature for 2-3 hours. At this point you can give it a fold and leave it for another hour or so, but this isn’t essential.
3. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat it into a rectangle about 20x25cm/8x10in. Spread the fruit and nut soaker over almost all the surface. Roll the dough up carefully, turn it through 90 degrees and gently roll it up again, taking care not to force the fruit through the surface. The aim is even distribution, but it is better to leave the dough a bit lumpy than to work it so much that you end up with a mess.
4. Grease the baking tin (or tins) with butter, shape the dough to fit and place it in the tin(s). Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until the dough doesn’t spring back instantly when gently pressed. Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas 4.
5. Bake a large loaf for 45-60 minutes, smaller ones for about 30-40 minutes, until the top is a deep golden brown.
Baker’s Tip: For an extra glossy crust, you can brush the top of the dough with a little beaten egg before baking or with melted butter afterward. For a festive flourish, dust the top with icing/confectioners’ sugar when it has cooled.
