Baking for Dummies

by Emily Nolan

  Salt

  Salt is quite important in baking bread. It adds flavor, controls yeast growth, and prevents overrising. Salt was always the final ingredient added to the brioche dough we made in the bakery, and I have to admit that, on more than one occasion, we would forget to add it. Although the omission wasn’t apparent, when we went to put the dough into the bowl to rise overnight, the next morning we would come in to find dough pouring out over the sides of the bowl and a rather flavorless, weakly structured dough. So learn from my mistakes and don’t forget to add the salt. That said, don’t overdo it, or the salt will inhibit the proper growth of the yeast. Just use the amount called for in the recipe.

  Fat

  Fat in bread recipes adds to the tenderness and texture of the bread. Fats are also flavor carriers and act as natural preservatives, helping your loaf retain its moisture and stay mold free. Butter adds a bit of color, but you can substitute shortening or lard for butter measure for measure. Some recipes also use vegetable or olive oil.

  Eggs

  Eggs are not essential to bread-making, but some recipes call for them. The addition of eggs produces a richer dough and gives the dough a lovely pale yellow color.

  Liquids

  The liquid in a bread recipe moistens the flour, which activates the gluten. It also can feed the yeast. Typical liquids found in bread recipes are water, milk, and buttermilk. Water gives bread a brown, crisp crust. Milk gives a velvety, creamy texture to the bread. Buttermilk adds a nice tangy flavor. Yeast dissolves a bit more slowly in milk than in water.

  If you use milk or buttermilk, warm it slightly (so that it’s warm to the touch) to remove the chill of the refrigerator before dissolving the yeast in it.

  Mixing and Kneading Breads

  When you get ready to make bread, it’s important to get all your ingredients assembled on the workspace. Typically, a recipe calls for you to dissolve the yeast in a liquid and then add several other ingredients (butter, salt, and sugar) to the yeast. Then you add the flour.

  You can mix doughs in two ways: with a mixer with a dough hook or by hand. Either way, adding the flour slowly is very important. The first 2 to 3 cups will be absorbed quickly into the dough, making a wet, loose batter. Then you start adding the flour in 1/2-cup intervals and continue mixing until the dough starts to come away from the sides of the bowl.

  If you have a sturdy mixer with a good motor, using it is the easy way to mix bread dough. If you’re using a mixer with a dough hook attachment, knead the dough for about 5 minutes on medium speed. Remove the dough from the bowl and finish kneading by hand on a lightly floured surface.

  Don’t use a handheld mixer to mix yeast bread dough. The dough will become too heavy for the motor, and you may burn it out. Unless you have a heavy-duty stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, I recommend mixing the dough by hand. Or, if you have a large enough bowl and a dough blade, you can mix it in a food processor.

  Mixing bread dough by hand is a little more work, but it has its rewards. When the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. A large wooden cutting board, a clean countertop, or a large slab of marble makes a good kneading surface.

  Before you begin kneading, make sure that your work surface is completely dry and that no obstacles are in your way. Put away all your ingredients except the flour, clear off a space, clean it if necessary, make sure that it’s dry, and then lightly dust it with flour. Also, rub your hands with a little flour to keep the dough from sticking to them.

  If you’re kneading bread on a wooden board and you find that it’s slipping or moving on the counter, wet a dishrag and place it between the board and the countertop. That should help steady the board.

  Kneading dough develops the gluten and incorporates tiny air pockets into the dough, all of which helps with the rising of the bread and its texture and look. As you knead the dough, you may notice that it still feels a bit sticky or tacky. If so, lightly dust the surface of the dough with additional flour and continue kneading — and dusting — until your dough is finished.

  Follow these simple steps to knead dough by hand like a pro:

  1.Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface.

  2.Dust the top of the dough with flour (don’t use more than a tablespoon or two of flour for each dusting).

  3.Press the heels of your hands into the top of the dough.

  You need to use some arm strength, so lean into the dough and push the dough hard into the kneading surface. Sometimes, I link my fingers together, one hand on top of the other, as if I’m giving CPR to the dough. It increases my kneading strength.

  4.Fold the dough in half toward you and press down again with the heels of your hands.

  5.Give the dough a quarter turn, fold it again, and continue the pushing and kneading with the heels of your hands, always turning the dough and folding it so that all the dough gets worked.

  6.Continue to lightly dust the dough if it sticks to the board or your hands.

  Keep up the kneading process for about 10 minutes (3 to 5 minutes if you’ve used a mixer). If you’re kneading by hand, it’s unlikely that you’ll overwork the dough.

  Kneading is a very important step in good bread-making, so don’t cut corners here. If you get tired and need to rest, that’s okay. Just cover the dough with a clean dish towel and rest for 5 minutes. The dough will be glad to rest, too. You’ll know you’re done when your dough is smooth, elastic, and a bit satiny. If you press into the dough and it springs back, you’ve done the job correctly. Figure 13-1 shows kneading in action.

  Kneading is actually fun. You can smack, punch, toss, hammer, slam, or abuse your dough however you choose — and it will reward you with good shape and texture. Bread dough is a good thing to take your aggressions out on, and if you make it often enough, you may find that your arms are a bit more toned, and you gain arm strength (hey, maybe there’s an idea for a new type of gym class!). If you’re a more peaceful-minded baker, you may find yourself in a pleasant rhythmic motion that gives you time to let your mind wander, look out the window, sing along to music, or just sing to yourself.

  Figure 13-1: Kneading bread dough by hand.

  Encouraging Bread to Rise

  After you’ve finished kneading, it’s time to set the bread aside to rise. I find that the best bowl for bread rising is a large, heavy ceramic bowl. Ceramic bowls seem to be good insulators. Metal or glass bowls may fluctuate with the exterior temperature, but you can use them if you want. Yeast rises best when it’s cozy warm, so preheat your bowl by rinsing it out with warm water and drying it thoroughly. Then generously grease the inside of the bowl with softened butter, margarine, or even shortening (just don’t use oil).

  To increase the chances of your bread dough rising sufficiently, follow these steps:

  1.Form the dough into a ball and place it in the bowl.

  2.Turn the dough once around the bowl to grease the dough itself.

  3.Dampen a clean dish towel with warm water and drape it over the top of the bowl.

  If you don’t have any clean dish towels available, which I often find to be the case, you can just dampen five or six paper towel squares (don’t separate them into individual sheets) and double that over the top of the bowl. You also can very loosely cover (but don’t seal) the top of the bowl with plastic wrap. The purpose of the cover is to keep the dough draft-free and prevent anything from entering the dough as it rises, but the dough also needs to breathe, so you don’t want to seal it off from air.

  Many cooks agree that the best place to let dough rise is in a gas oven, turned off. The heat that the pilot light gives off creates the perfect cozy spot for bread to rise, and the oven itself should be draft-free. If you have an electric oven, you can place your bread to rise there as well. If you have two racks in your electric oven, place a pan of hot water on the bottom rack and the bowl with the bread dough on the upper rack. This creates a slightly warmer environm
ent than the average kitchen countertop. The microwave oven, if it’s large enough, is also a good, draft-free choice. First, make sure that the bowl you choose fits in there. You also can place a cup of hot water in the corner of the microwave oven, if it fits, to add a bit of warmth, but doing so is not necessary. Of course, the kitchen countertop is fine, too.

  The dough needs to double in size, which usually takes 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Always check it after the minimum amount of time. If you’re using rapid-rise yeast, check it after 30 to 40 minutes.

  You’ll know that your bread has finished rising when you can poke your finger about 1/2 inch into the dough and the indentation stays. If it springs back, continue letting it rise. Don’t allow the dough to more than double in size. If a recipe calls for a second rising, literally punch down the dough, give it a few quick turns in the bowl, re-cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rise again.

  If you’re going to shape the dough into loaves, punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured board. Knead the dough again for 2 to 3 minutes. Then divide the dough, if necessary, into the portions you need, letting the dough rest for about 5 minutes before shaping the loaves.

  Shaping and Baking the Loaves

  If you’re making two loaves of bread from one batch of dough, pat or roll the dough out into a rectangle slightly shorter than the loaf pans. Fold the dough in thirds, like a letter, or roll it up like a jelly roll. Tuck the ends under and place it seam side down into the prepared loaf pan, as shown in Figure 13-2. Cover and allow the bread to rise until it just comes up to the side of the pan.

  Figure 13-2: Preparing dough for a loaf pan.

  You also can braid bread dough (see Figure 13-3). Divide the dough into three equal portions. Roll out each portion to look like a long snake, a few inches longer than the loaf pan, and braid the three portions together. Tuck the ends under and place the braid into the prepared bread pan to rise.

  In the first 15 or so minutes of baking, you’ll discover that your bread has an amazing growth spurt during which the yeast gets really active and pushes up the bread before the crust begins to set. Always account for this sudden spurt of growth by not allowing your bread to rise over the top of the pan during the second rising time.

  Figure 13-3: Braiding bread dough.

  Always bake your bread in a preheated oven. Usually, the baking time given for a recipe is accurate, but if you’re unsure, give a thump on the bread (watch out, it will be hot!). If it sounds hollow, it’s finished. If you still aren’t sure whether it’s done, you can go ahead and insert a long wooden skewer into the middle of the loaf. If it comes out clean, your bread is finished. Don’t judge doneness by the color of the loaf. If you find that your bread is browning too quickly, cover it with aluminum foil for the last 15 or 20 minutes of baking.

  Turn the bread out of the pans onto cooling racks when you remove them from the oven. They should slip out easily. If you want a soft crust, you can brush the top with melted butter.

  Let the bread cool for at least 30 minutes before you slice it; otherwise, you run the risk of ruining the bread you’ve worked so hard to make. If you cut it too soon, the center will be gummy, and the bread will not be set enough to cut and can taste doughy. Always use a serrated knife — a straight edge will press and squash the loaf. If you have trouble making even slices, turn the bread on its side and cut it by using very light pressure. Pressing too hard will crush the loaf.

  Yeast Bread Recipes

  Yeast breads are some of the most satisfying foods you can bake. Few things are as welcoming as a home filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread. Try your hand at some of the breads in this section, and you’ll discover how satisfying and agreeable bread-baking can be.

  Yeast breads do require a time commitment — usually you need to put aside a few hours to allow for the rising and baking.

  Loaves

  Loaves are the easiest breads to make; just shape the dough into a loaf shape and voilà! But if you want to get fancy, this section also contains a recipe for a lovely braided egg bread.

  Basic White Buttermilk Bread

  Try this recipe if you want an uncomplicated, tender, tasty white bread. It is excellent toasted or fried as French toast. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can substitute whole milk.

  Preparation time: 25 minutes, plus 1 1/2 hours for rising

  Baking time: 35 minutes

  Yield: 2 loaves (about 24 servings)

  1/4 cup warm water (not above 115 degrees)

  1 package active dry yeast

  2 tablespoons sugar

  1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm

  2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature

  5 to 6 cups bread flour

  1 teaspoon salt

  1/4 teaspoon baking soda

  1In a large mixing bowl, combine the water, yeast, and sugar. Stir with a whisk to dissolve the yeast. Add the melted butter to the buttermilk and mix it into the yeast mixture.

  2In a separate bowl, mix together 5 cups of the flour, the salt, and the baking soda; mix it into the yeast mixture to form a dough (add up to 1 cup additional flour, if necessary).

  3Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

  4Place the dough in a buttered bowl, cover, and set it in a warm place to rise until doubled, about 1 hour. (You can find tips for doing this in the “Encouraging Bread to Rise” section earlier in this chapter.)

  5Grease two 9-x-5-inch loaf pans. Punch down the dough and knead it again for about 1 minute. Divide the dough in half and shape it into two loaves. Place them in the prepared pans, cover, and let rise in a warm place until the dough just barely reaches the edge of the pan, about 30 minutes.

  6Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the bread until it’s browned and crusty, about 35 minutes. Cool the bread on wire racks.

  Per serving: Calories 100 (From Fat 17); Fat 2g (Saturated 1g); Cholesterol 4mg; Sodium 99mg; Carbohydrate 17g (Dietary Fiber 1g); Protein 3g.

  Braided Egg Bread

  If you’re looking to try just one bread recipe, this should be the one. I’ve been making this recipe for years. It’s so versatile and durable that it would be hard to make a mistake. You can braid this loaf for a lovely appearance, or you can place it in loaf pans for sandwich bread. For a shiny loaf, beat an egg with a little water and brush it over the top of the loaves just before they go into the oven. See the color insert for a photo of this bread.

  Preparation time: 30 minutes, plus 1 1/2 hours for rising

  Baking time: 40 minutes

  Yield: 2 small loaves (about 16 to 18 servings)

  2 1/2 cups warm water (not above 115 degrees)

  1 package active dry yeast

  1/2 cup honey or sugar

  4 tablespoons butter, melted

  2 eggs

  1 tablespoon salt

  7 to 8 cups bread flour

  1Place the water in a large bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Whisk to dissolve. Whisk in the honey or sugar, butter, eggs, and salt. Slowly add the flour, stirring with the whisk until it gets too thick; then use your hands until a kneadable dough forms (add up to 1 cup additional flour, if necessary).

  2Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, adding flour when necessary.

  3Place the dough in a buttered bowl, cover, and let it rise in a warm place until it doubles in bulk, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

  4Punch down the dough and knead it for 1 minute more. Divide the dough in half. Then divide each half into 3 equal pieces. Let the dough rest for about 5 minutes.

  5Roll out the pieces into logs about 1 1/2 inches thick.

  6Braid three of the logs together (refer to Figure 13-3). Repeat with the remaining three logs so that you end up with two braids. Tuck the ends under and set the braids on a greased baking sheet, as shown in Figure 13-3. Let rise for another 30 to 40 minutes.

  7Prehea
t the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the bread for about 40 minutes, until golden brown. When you thump it, it should sound hollow. Cool the loaves on wire racks. Let them cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

  Vary It! If you don’t want to braid your bread, shape the two halves into loaves and place them in greased 9-x-5-inch loaf pans. Cover and let rise until the dough just reaches the edges of the pans, about 30 minutes. Then bake as directed.

  Per serving: Calories 142 (From Fat 20); Fat 2g (Saturated 1g); Cholesterol 17mg; Sodium 223mg; Carbohydrate 26g (Dietary Fiber 1g); Protein 4g.

  Honey-Oatmeal Bread

  When I worked as a cook during the summers, we served oatmeal for breakfast, and we always had a lot left over. Because we didn’t like to waste anything, we incorporated it into the bread we made. Whether you have some leftover oatmeal or you need to make some from scratch, give this bread a try.

  Preparation time: 45 minutes, plus 1 1/2 hours for rising

  Baking time: 35 minutes

  Yield: 2 loaves (about 24 servings)