Bread is easy

[andysocial]

Originally published at BunkBlog. You can comment here or there.

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying this great book my baby got me for Xmas – Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  We’ve had cheddar bread, sun-dried tomato bread, brioche sticky buns, pizza, naan… Good stuff, and not remotely difficult.  Alex made a couple loaves without assistance (guidance sure, but I never touched his dough!).  Here’s the most recent, a chocolate ganache-filled brioche loaf.

Comments

[visgoth.livejournal.com]

I've found the basic recipe from the book to be pretty dense and heavy[1]. Good for dipping in soup, and just about nothing else. What was your experience with the basic recipe, and have you discovered any tricks to improve on it?

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[1] The basic recipe was excerpted in Mother Earth News some time back.

[andysocial]

I've made the basic recipe, but somewhat adulterated (added sun-dried tomatoes in one, pizza, naan). The cheddar bread is VERY similar to the basic recipe, and I've made a few loaves of that as just bread, and it is fairly heavy bread. It makes awesome panini, and just slathered with butter. The most significant tip on making it is just to not bake a loaf the same day you mix the dough - the bread turns out much better with a day or two of refrigerator rest time.

[visgoth.livejournal.com]

I don't think of the times I used the recipe I ever made a loaf without waiting at least a day or two. I'm thinking of doing some minor playing with the recipe and seeing if I can't get it a bit lighter. Maybe adding a very small amount of sugar for the yeast.

I think the recipe as given would work well for bread bowls also.

[andysocial]

The cheddar recipe adds a cup of shredded cheese and 1.5 Tbsp sugar, so that may account for its different consistency. I'd think the basic recipe would definitely make a good bread bowl.

Have you tried the NYTimes no-knead bread dough? That got a lot of publicity a few years ago and some say they prefer it greatly to the Artisan5Min version.

[kylakae.livejournal.com]

Dang, that looks yummy! I bought that book for my brother's girlfriend a couple years ago for Christmas.