We have bread!
So after about a month and a half of thinking about baking some bread, I finally got around to doing it today. I used a really simple, easy recipe for whole wheat bread.
Let me put this into perspective here. I did try one other time to bake some bread, but my yeast was dead. I tried proofing it and nothing happened, no foaming, nothing but a bad yeasty smell. Poo. So I gave up for a little while.
I finally realized today that I have a day off and nothing planned, why not bake some bread? I got some new (alive) yeast and I started my first ever loaf of bread. I'm sure some people wouldn't appreciate hand kneading the bread, but I was so excited that the dough actually looked right that I was all about kneading it!
Then there was the rising. I can't believe how much bigger it gets! I knew it was suppose to, but actually seeing it was another thing entirely.
So I'm gonna skip right to the part where I took it out of the oven.
It looks gorgeous right? The picture doesn't, however, show the fact that it weighs about 20 pounds! It's just about the densest bread I've ever come across. Sure, it tastes fine, but this one reminds me of the movie "About a Boy" where the kid throws this loaf of bread in a duck pond and kills a duck. Yeah, it's that heavy!
I'm thinking I'm going to modify the recipe next time. Maybe mix the whole wheat flour with some lighter flour. Who knows, I know with bread, the possibilities are endless and it takes a certain amount of practice right?
12 comments:
That loaf of bread is beautiful! I just love the taste of fresh-baked bread. Enjoy!
Awesome job on the bread! Looks beautiful!
Yep - takes time. I switched to only hand-made bread about 4 months ago when I started to be cognizant of what is in my food and where it is coming from. If it's too dense it probably needed more rising time. Depending on the humidity/heat level in your kitchen it may take way longer than on the recipe.
I just started experimenting with sourdough - if you ever decide you want to try let me know and I'll be happy to send you some of my starter.
Your bread may be dense on the inside but it looks just gorgeous! :o)
Your bread looks fabulous. You might try adding a little bread flour with the whole wheat flour to lighten it up a bit. I didn't realize there was such a difference until one of my artisan loaves ended up quite heavy.
Yum!
It's a beautiful bread! Makes me think of the Lucy episode. LOL!
That is seriously too funny... kill a duck. The bread looks *so* good! Oh my gosh, I would totally slather a slice of that with peanut butter and honey! YUM!
On a side note, I recently made my first loaf of bread - Martha Stewarts Banana Bread recipe... it came out AMAZING! More like cake though :)
It definitely takes practice, but from the look of that first loaf, I'd say you're a natural! I usually mix my ww flour with unbleached white, but excellent, light ww bread can be made by adding gluten. Fresh works best and you may have to experiment with the amount a little, but it certainly makes a light whole wheat loaf. I have to add, that once you get used to the heartier loaves, the store bought stuff just doesn't satisfy any more.
I haven't seen About a Boy but that is pretty funny!
I love making bread. Don't have time to do it very often - today it was home made potato chips, and that's an adventure in grease, if ever there was one. But the kids devoured them. They are so much better than store bought. It was less than 2 minutes after the last chip was cooked and it was gone into someone's mouth. When we make samosas they at least last a while longer.
My favourite bread is a sourdough bread I make. It is made from unbleached white flour that is "fermented" for four or five days. I then roll it and add quarters of green spanish queen olives (about 24 olives to the loaf). You can make a loaf or rolls. But it's sourdough olive bread and it's amazingly good. If you make the loaf, then you can slice and toast it the next day. The toast is positively otherworldly. Of all the breads I have made, and that is many, there is nothing to compare with the sourdough olive bread. If you ask nicely, I might give you the recipe. I have it on the computer in a PDF file.
We recently mastered making samosas (both meat and vegetarian). Those are also a delight. And the coriander sauce we make to eat with them is simply divine (and can be eaten with lots of other things besides samosas). It's not bread, but it is truly awesome. I confess, I love food, cooking, and eating. It's how I managed to capture the mother of my children. Happily, she loves food too. After about three dinners together and we were inseparable. It's now 15 years later and we love to work together in the kitchen. Food is a powerful bonding agent.
Beautiful loaf.... I bet it smelled wonderful while it was baking.
Post a Comment