Well, here it is, my first attempt at real bread. Now I've made Pumpkin bread and such, but never real bread. But, my friends Amanda and Matt just had twins. And the way I look at it, anyone who gives birth to twins deserves real bread!
I have to say, it was not nearly as daunting as I imagined! I used the recipe below from Epicurious. Not too many ingredients. Reading over it, it didn't seem to hard. So, in the middle of a torrential down pour I headed to the store. Yes, I realize most people keep these simple ingredients in their pantries. If only I had a pantry! But, I digress.
I decided to double the batch so that I could try some as well and it made for easy math. I don't think I anticipated just how much extra flour is really necessary once you turn out the dough. And I forgot to put flour on my hands in preparation! Oh well.
I was super excited to try out my new baking stone (thanks Jamie!) which inevitably made the bread perfect. There is probably a trick to it though to keep the bread from sticking to it after baking. I used flour and am not sure if that helped or hurt. Either way, I used a spatula to help ease the bread off and not too much was lost in the transfer. I will say that the second set got the chance to rise longer than indicated in the recipe, probably about an hour total, instead of the 30 minutes indicated. Those loaves were definitely larger and had a overall better aesthetic. No word on whether it impacted the taste.
I am on my way to drop these lovelies off with the well deserved recipients. And the taste I stole...well worth the effort!
Honey-Butter French Bread
Bon Appétit | November 1999
by Gina M. Sarti, Malvern, PA
Yield: Makes two 9-inch loaves
2 cups warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 envelope dry yeast
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon honey
5 cups (about) unbleached all purpose flour
Mix 1/4 cup warm water and sugar in large bowl. Sprinkle yeast over; stir to dissolve. Let stand until foamy, about 8 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 3/4 cups warm water. Mix in butter, salt and honey. Using wooden spoon, stir in 4 cups flour.
Turn dough out onto floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky, about 8 minutes. Form dough into ball. Butter large bowl. Add dough, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then with clean towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch down dough. Cover dough with plastic wrap and let rest 10 minutes. Divide dough in half; roll each dough piece between hands and work surface into 9-inch-long loaf. Transfer loaves to baking sheet. Cover with plastic, then with towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled, about 30 minutes.
Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 425°F. Make 5 diagonal slashes crosswise in surface of each loaf. Lightly brush water over tops and sides of loaves. Bake loaves 20 minutes, brushing occasionally with water. Continue baking until loaves are golden brown
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