October 21, 2008 - 9:57am
What's your heavenly loaf???
Hi all:
Because I'm a curious (i.e., nosy) baker, I previously asked you all what your signature loaves are - the ones you bake regularly. But what loaves would you definitely want to find on the dinner table in heaven? Assuming that there is a heaven, we all know that there will be endless bakeries there. What are the loaves that you think give you a taste of heaven on earth? (and not necessarily ones that you can bake).
For me, I think that a real and true pizza margherita (spelling?) reveals a bit of nirvana. And of course, a straight up chewy peasant loaf, with its attendant slabs of real butter.
And Soundman - you'll probably bring some book along with you too?
peace & love from Atlanta,
KP
Share
When it comes to white bread now, I've only been eating sourdough, but that old original white double crusty, shaped the old fashioned Quebec way, rising so high and light, toasted with loads of butter, oh sigh....that would be heaven to me. Recently, I made my nephew some bread sticks from a recipe I tweaked and he declared them to be 'manna', so maybe that's the bread he would choose in heaven. I know his mom, my sister, would say my raisin bread, the bread she almost lives on now.
Paddy, do you have that recipe, along with any of the tricks of making it great? I always called it "downhome" bread, because we came from the Gaspe coast, and everyone down there made it. I never asked my mom for the recipe until she was getting forgetful, and she could not tell me how to make it. It was made in a pan, two balls to a pan that rose up and touched the top of the oven in the wood stove.
That would be my bread in heaven, too, but maybe because it was the bread in childhood. Twelve loaves lasted a week, as long as we had rolls or other bread type products made up on Saturday.
This was originally called Acadian Bread by Janice Murray Gill in her Great Canadian Bread Book, but when I first made it and took my first bite, I knew it was the bread my mother used to buy years ago and that was called Double Crusty.
1 tbsp. active dry yeast (I now use instant yeast so I use a little less and mix it with the flour.)
2 cups lukewarm water
1 tbsp. sugar
4 tsps. vegetable oil
1 tbsp. salt
1 egg
1 tsp. vinegar
6 cups flour (approx.)
Proof the yeast in the warm water with the sugar. When the yeast has bubbled up well, stir and add the oil, salt, vinegar, and lightly beaten egg. Stir well, and beat in the flour until it clears the sides of the bowl. Turn out and knead, adding bits of flour to keep it from sticking, until it's smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise till double. Punch down and let rise again in the bowl, till double. Punch down, turn out, divide in two, shape, and place in two greased bread pans. Let rise till double, then bake in preheated 350 F. oven 35 to 40 minutes, or until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Cool on wire racks.
Now, I've made this bread in 8 x 4" pans, and doubled it up in an extra long pan, but if you want to try the Quebec country shaping, here's how it goes. Don't divide the dough in two, take the whole thing and roll it out into a long sausage-shape of about 36 inches. Fold the two ends in to meet each other in the middle and press down to seal. Put it onto a greased baking pan, sprinkled with cornmeal, and let rise till double. You may have to sort of pat in the sides a bit before baking. Start it in a 400 oven for about 5 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 and bake till done. There is another shape I've done with this, a split loaf, and if you'd like, I'll post that too, but this is my absolutely favourite bread in the world, and believe me, I've made dozens of different breads. I've got my sourdough batter all mixed up in the kitchen now to sit overnight till tomorrow, but it just isn't the same as a Double Crusty. I've also used this dough for cinnamon buns, coffee cakes, and sticky buns, but you can't beat it toasted.
Hi Paddy, I was away when you posted this, and never really caught up until the new format came out, but thank you so much. I will be making it tomorrow, since a brother in law is arriving in time for dinner.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Mini O
Paddy, that loaf sounds lovely. Wish I could see a pic! You wouldn't happened to have worked out the metric equivalents of those quantities, would you?
I hope heaven has a multitude of breads to choose from, not just one. Can you imagine how quickly you would tire of the same bread over and over again?
Is one I got from a book titled "Steal This Book" by Abbie Hoffman - way back in the 70s (during my rebellious youth). In there is a recipe for bread that can be made with wheatgerm, cornmeal, or rolled oats, and uses corn oil. It is the bread with which I taught myself how to bake bread.
Even now, so many years later, I still make this recipe at least once a year because it makes a reliable, easy loaf that tastes good for sandwiches, toast, or just cut off the loaf.