Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Just in time: December Bread Baking Babes

Against all odds, I did manage to bake and post too this month's bread, YAY for me (sorry no Dutch translation this time). Our Babe Elle ("Feeding my enthusiasms") chose a loaf that I've baked before without much succes. So it was surprising to see that it came out quite nice and light. I didn't have any molasses, so I used rice-molasses, which is very light in colour. That's why my loaf has such a light colour. It was delicious, light in colour ánd texture and very suitable for sandwiches. I love the seeds in this bread, for me there could be even more in it! Wonderful choice Elle, for me to bake it again with such good results.

Please bake along and find out what a lovely loaf this is. Check out the details on how to enter this baking challenge as a Bread Baking Buddy at Elle's Post. Deadline 29th of this month. Also check out the bakes from the other Babes, using the link on the bottom of this post.

Anadama Bread
(makes one loaf)
(PRINT recipe)
30 g unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for the pan
7 g active dry yeast
240 g lukewarm water
130 g stone ground medium cornmeal
85 g mild-flavored molasses (I used rice molasses...had nothing else at hand)
2 Tbsp white sesame seeds
1 TBsp black sesame seeds
2 tsp golden flaxseed
2 tsp brown flaxseed
2 tsp poppy seeds
9 g salt
280 g bread flour
1 small egg, beaten to blend
Preheat oven to 190ºC. Lightly butter 20 cm loaf pan and spray with oil.

Place yeast in a medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add 240 g warm water; stir to dissolve the yeast. Add the cornmeal, molasses, sesame seeds, golden and brown flax seeds, poppy seeds and salt. Stir to combine using a wooden spoon. Continue stirring with the wooden spoon or use the dough hook if using the stand mixer. Add 2 cups of flour and 2 tablespoons of butter and mix until no dry spots remain.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, 10-15 minutes OR mix in stand mixer on medium speed 8-10 minutes.

Lightly butter a medium bowl. Transfer dough to bowl and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap or shower cap and let rise in warm, draft-free spot until almost doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough to deflate; cover. Let rise again until about doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a rectangle. Starting at the short side furthest from you, roll up dough, pinching the seam as you go to create a tight roll. Pinch seam to close and tuck ends under, pinching to seal. Place seam side down in the prepared loaf pan. Cover with plastic and let dough rise. Uncover before it crests the top of the pan and wait for it to spring back slightly when pressed, about 1 hour.

Brush top of dough with egg. Bake, rotating halfway through, until bread is baked through and the top is a deep golden brown, 30-35 minutes. Let cool slightly in the pan on a wire rack before turning out. Let cool on the rack before slicing (if you can wait that long). Serve with salted butter.

Bread can be made 5 days ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature.

Recipe from Bon Appetit magazine, March, 2015




7 comments:

Elle said...

Your loaf is has a much better shape than mine Lien...perfect sandwich size in fact. I'm glad that you were successful with this bread. It's a very nice loaf for winter weather.

Karen said...

That looks really nice and almost light and fluffy. I used half rice syrup and half molasses.

Elizabeth said...

Rice molasses, how interesting! I must look for it at the supermarket.

Your bread is perfect, Lien! I am so impressed with the loft you achieved.

Cathy (Bread Experience) said...

Beautiful loaf Lien! I love the color. I used honey because that's all I had on hand and mine was even lighter than yours. I need to try the rice-molasses.

Katie Zeller said...

It's such a pretty color! And I love the texture and the way the 'grain' shows.... Well done!

Karen Baking Soda said...

And such shape! Very nicely done Lien

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Now that's a loaf to aim for! Mine was so dense compared to yours. Makes me think I'll try some bread flour next time, all I had was whole wheat.