My Beautiful Loaf
Apr. 14th, 2003 08:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zyzylyI had a lot to do Saturday morning, mostly involving planning the liturgies for Holy Week, for which I am the liturgical coordinator. It is a lot of work, and it generally leaves me exhausted and spent. Each year I vow to my wife that next year I will give it up and go on a retreat, but every Lent finds me in the thick of it once again.
But I digress. This wasn't supposed to be about Saturday morning and liturgical planning--it is about Saturday afternoon and bread. When I finished my planning meeting, it had begun to rain heavily. For me, a rainy day is the perfect day to bake bread. There's nothing like a warm kitchen when the rain is pouring down.
I have a new bread recipe that I am playing around with these days, ever since my sourdough starter failed. It is a honey buttermilk bread, and it shows a lot of promise. I took the original recipe off the net somewhere, and have been adjusting it for the past few weeks. The bread has a wonderful smell, and comes out a beautiful golden color, thanks to the substitutuion of a tablespoon of molasses.
3 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
3/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (ok to use dry buttermilk)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
2 Tbsp honey
1 tbsp dark molasses
6-6 1/2 cups bread flour
Sprinkle yeast and sugar over warm water in a small bowl. Let stand until proofed (about 10 minutes).
Combine buttermilk, honey, molasses, butter and yeast mixture in mixing bowl. Add salt and 2 cups of flour. Mix on low for 30 seconds, then on medium for 2 minutes. Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until a ball forms. Be sure to scrape the side of the bolw frequently.
When a ball has formed, change to a dough hook that has been sprayed with cooking spray and knead for 15 minutes, adding flour if needed. If kneading by hand, turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 8-10 minutes, adding flour as needed, until dough is smooth and satiny.
Roll dough into a ball and place in a large greased bowl, turning to grease all sides. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk, about 1- 1-1/2 hours.
Punch down dough and turn out onto a floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal poretions. Cover with a towel and allow to stand for ten minutes. Form into loaves and place in prepared loaf pans. cover and let rise until doubled in bulk; about an hour.
Place in preheated 375 degree oven and bake for about 30 minutes, until it is a nice golden brown color and the sides begin to pull away from the pan. Remove from pans and place on a wire rack to cool.
The sun is out after a night of cleansing rain, and there are a couple of birds chasing each other around the big trees in the neighbor's yard. I toasted a couple of slices of the bread and have spread some homemade jam on them that one of my friends made. I have set liturgy planning aside for a little while to simply be present in the morning. The bread of life.
But I digress. This wasn't supposed to be about Saturday morning and liturgical planning--it is about Saturday afternoon and bread. When I finished my planning meeting, it had begun to rain heavily. For me, a rainy day is the perfect day to bake bread. There's nothing like a warm kitchen when the rain is pouring down.
I have a new bread recipe that I am playing around with these days, ever since my sourdough starter failed. It is a honey buttermilk bread, and it shows a lot of promise. I took the original recipe off the net somewhere, and have been adjusting it for the past few weeks. The bread has a wonderful smell, and comes out a beautiful golden color, thanks to the substitutuion of a tablespoon of molasses.
3 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
3/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (ok to use dry buttermilk)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
2 Tbsp honey
1 tbsp dark molasses
6-6 1/2 cups bread flour
Sprinkle yeast and sugar over warm water in a small bowl. Let stand until proofed (about 10 minutes).
Combine buttermilk, honey, molasses, butter and yeast mixture in mixing bowl. Add salt and 2 cups of flour. Mix on low for 30 seconds, then on medium for 2 minutes. Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until a ball forms. Be sure to scrape the side of the bolw frequently.
When a ball has formed, change to a dough hook that has been sprayed with cooking spray and knead for 15 minutes, adding flour if needed. If kneading by hand, turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 8-10 minutes, adding flour as needed, until dough is smooth and satiny.
Roll dough into a ball and place in a large greased bowl, turning to grease all sides. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk, about 1- 1-1/2 hours.
Punch down dough and turn out onto a floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal poretions. Cover with a towel and allow to stand for ten minutes. Form into loaves and place in prepared loaf pans. cover and let rise until doubled in bulk; about an hour.
Place in preheated 375 degree oven and bake for about 30 minutes, until it is a nice golden brown color and the sides begin to pull away from the pan. Remove from pans and place on a wire rack to cool.
The sun is out after a night of cleansing rain, and there are a couple of birds chasing each other around the big trees in the neighbor's yard. I toasted a couple of slices of the bread and have spread some homemade jam on them that one of my friends made. I have set liturgy planning aside for a little while to simply be present in the morning. The bread of life.
