BAKE 18 – MAY 29, 2020

Yeast Utilized: 2 1/4 teaspoons

Made a quick batch of brown bread for my friends Debbie and Kyle. They’d brought me lovely presents, including a wooden thrift-store squirrel, and this was my ‘thank you,’ for better or worse. I chose this one because it makes two loaves. Test loaf! I’d have one so I could make sure I wouldn’t be giving them something terrible (without knowing it anyway). It’s also the softest bread I’ve successfully made, and Debbie likes soft bread.

Much coffee and much yeast. Bloom, you beauty!

Oh, I actually have wheat flour, so was even able to do that part correctly.

Shaggy dough before kneading.

After kneading and ready to proof.

The world feels chaotic and ugly right now. Kneading dough doesn’t fix anything, but it does give my heart a place to breathe.

And it rose so beautifully.

I then had to divide the dough in half. I weighed it to try to make sure I got it exact, and I managed to nail it on the first go.

But look. I had over two and a half pounds of dough.

Time for the second proof.

My friends will get the pretty one.

Slicing the tops was a mini-disaster. I managed to fling one loaf across the counter. No harm done, though. Fortunately.

I only have one cast-iron pan big enough for these loaves, so the other went into a casserole dish.

Twinsies. But like En Vogue where they wear different but similar outfits.

Then into the oven for 35 minutes. I idiotically forgot to drizzle them with olive oil until halfway through, but it seems to have not done too much damage.

…they look okay. “Pretty one” was declared to be the one on the left.

I walked the fresh loaf to my friend’s house where we talked 10 feet apart for about 20 minutes. Then, I walked home to shower and savor the fruits (breads) of my labor.

Winner.

To the next bake—–>