Post by Carolyn on May 12, 2003 9:37:25 GMT -5
Since I have my recipe notebook out, having done the week's baking today, I thought I would post two basic breads here, a white and a rye. Both of these were good in the States, but have turned out to be even better here, probably due to the difference in flours.
For both recipes, the amounts of flour are going to be very approximate, because so much depends on the weather. You do better baking bread on drier days, for instance. But I did notice that I used less flour over here in the recipes as well, again due to the different flour.
Basic White Bread (beats Roast N Toast!)
4-6 cups white BREAD flour (little better than the softer regular flour)
3 T (3 msk) sugar
2 t (2 tsk) salt
4-1/2 (4 tsk plus 2 ksk) dry yeast
2 cups water
1/4 cup oil (matolja) or melted Milda
1 T (1 msk) melted butter
In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour (approx. 5 dl), sugar, salt and yeast and mix well.
In small saucepan, heat water and oil to between 120-130 F - NO WARMER, YOU WILL KILL YOUR YEAST).
Add liquid to flour mixture and beat 3 minutes or until all the flour is well moistened. Then, by hand, stir in an additional 1-1/2 to 3 cups of flour, until the dough becomes very bound together and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and form a loose ball.
Spread another cup of flour onto a clean table or counter, put the dough in the middle of this and gently start kneading the dough, incorporating the flour, until the dough feels smooth and elastic, probably about 5-6 minutes. You won't necessarily have incorporated all the flour, so don't worry about that. You want a nice, NOT STICKY, smooth ball of dough, that has a good, elastic feeling when you gently push into it with a fingertip.
Grease or oil a large bowl. Put your dough in the bowl, taking note of the approximate size, cover top with plastic wrap and then a towel, and place in a warm place, out of drafts. Temperature should be about 80 degrees. If you have a cold apartment, you can turn your oven on for about one minute to the 200 mark, then turn off and place the bowl in the oven. Be sure it's not too warm or you'll murder your yeast and the dough will not rise.
In about 45-60 minutes, your dough should have doubled in size. To determine if the dough has raised (proofed) sufficiently, you can take your two fingers and kind of poke into the dough. If your fingermarks stay and don't puff back up immediately, the dough has risen.
Grease 2 bread pans. Using your fingers or a fist, punch the dough down several times to remove all air bubbles. You can be firm, but don't beat it to death.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, cut into two equal pieces. With each half, gently roll out into an approximate rectangle, about 15 by 7 inches, and starting at the shorter side, roll the dough into a roll, pinching the bottom seam and sides to seal. Place the roll, seam side down, in your bread pan.
Again, place the bread pans in a warm place, covered with a towel, and let the bread rise again, until about double in size, approx. 30-45 minutes.
At this point, you can either just pop it in a 375 degree oven (between the 180 and 200 mark on your Swedish stove), OR if you want a thicker crust, you can first lightly brush the top with a little water, OR if you want a fancy crust, you can brush the top with an egg that has had 1 T (1 msk) of water whipped into it, and then sprinkle the top with sesame seeds or, my personal favorite, poppy seeds. Bake for between 40 and 50 minutes, until the loaves sound hollow when you tap them lightly on the top.
Immediately remove from pans and cool on a wire rack. When completely cold, can be frozen successfully.
RYE BREAD (a Swede's general favorite and mine)
4-1/2 t (4 tsk plus 2 ksk) dry yeast
1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
1 cup warm milk (120-130 degrees, no more)
1/2 cup molasses OR dark bread syrup
1/4 cup Milda, melted
2 t (tsk) salt
3-4 cups bread flour
2-3 cups rye flour
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and set to one side.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter and then heat the milk in the pan, but NOT anywhere near a boil, you will kill your yeast.
In your mixing bowl, combine the molasses or syrup, salt, milk and butter, mixing well, and then add in the yeast and water, again, mixing well. NOTE: At this time, if you like rye with seeds in it, you can add about a tablespoon of caraway seeds.
Add 2 cups of bread flour and combine well, and then beat in the rye flour. I generally can only get in about 2 cups of the rye flour, but the taste is still real good. You want to add the flour until the mixture gets very sticky and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and form a ball.
Sprinkle about a cup of regular bread flour onto your tabletop or counter and turn out the dough into the flour, and start kneading the dough, to incorporate more flour and evenly distribute the flour, etc. You will find that this bread has a much stickier dough, due to the rye flour, and will take more flour than a white bread and stay sticky longer. It will take approximately 6-8 minutes of kneading for the dough to become smooth and elastic and stop having sticky spots where you touch it.
Again, oil a deep bowl, place the dough in it, cover and let raise in a warm spot for approximately 60 minutes.
When dough has doubled in size, punch down and turn out onto a floured board.
Grease a large cookie sheet or tray. Divide the dough into halves and shape into either a long oval or a round loaf. Slash the top a couple times with a sharp knife, cover with a towel and let rise in a warm area for about 45 minutes, until the loaves have doubled in size.
At this point, I like to brush the tops with one egg that has been beaten with 1 Tablespoon of water.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-35 minutes, until the tops sound hollow when tapped on. remove from the baking tray and cool on a wire rack.
For both recipes, the amounts of flour are going to be very approximate, because so much depends on the weather. You do better baking bread on drier days, for instance. But I did notice that I used less flour over here in the recipes as well, again due to the different flour.
Basic White Bread (beats Roast N Toast!)
4-6 cups white BREAD flour (little better than the softer regular flour)
3 T (3 msk) sugar
2 t (2 tsk) salt
4-1/2 (4 tsk plus 2 ksk) dry yeast
2 cups water
1/4 cup oil (matolja) or melted Milda
1 T (1 msk) melted butter
In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour (approx. 5 dl), sugar, salt and yeast and mix well.
In small saucepan, heat water and oil to between 120-130 F - NO WARMER, YOU WILL KILL YOUR YEAST).
Add liquid to flour mixture and beat 3 minutes or until all the flour is well moistened. Then, by hand, stir in an additional 1-1/2 to 3 cups of flour, until the dough becomes very bound together and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and form a loose ball.
Spread another cup of flour onto a clean table or counter, put the dough in the middle of this and gently start kneading the dough, incorporating the flour, until the dough feels smooth and elastic, probably about 5-6 minutes. You won't necessarily have incorporated all the flour, so don't worry about that. You want a nice, NOT STICKY, smooth ball of dough, that has a good, elastic feeling when you gently push into it with a fingertip.
Grease or oil a large bowl. Put your dough in the bowl, taking note of the approximate size, cover top with plastic wrap and then a towel, and place in a warm place, out of drafts. Temperature should be about 80 degrees. If you have a cold apartment, you can turn your oven on for about one minute to the 200 mark, then turn off and place the bowl in the oven. Be sure it's not too warm or you'll murder your yeast and the dough will not rise.
In about 45-60 minutes, your dough should have doubled in size. To determine if the dough has raised (proofed) sufficiently, you can take your two fingers and kind of poke into the dough. If your fingermarks stay and don't puff back up immediately, the dough has risen.
Grease 2 bread pans. Using your fingers or a fist, punch the dough down several times to remove all air bubbles. You can be firm, but don't beat it to death.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, cut into two equal pieces. With each half, gently roll out into an approximate rectangle, about 15 by 7 inches, and starting at the shorter side, roll the dough into a roll, pinching the bottom seam and sides to seal. Place the roll, seam side down, in your bread pan.
Again, place the bread pans in a warm place, covered with a towel, and let the bread rise again, until about double in size, approx. 30-45 minutes.
At this point, you can either just pop it in a 375 degree oven (between the 180 and 200 mark on your Swedish stove), OR if you want a thicker crust, you can first lightly brush the top with a little water, OR if you want a fancy crust, you can brush the top with an egg that has had 1 T (1 msk) of water whipped into it, and then sprinkle the top with sesame seeds or, my personal favorite, poppy seeds. Bake for between 40 and 50 minutes, until the loaves sound hollow when you tap them lightly on the top.
Immediately remove from pans and cool on a wire rack. When completely cold, can be frozen successfully.
RYE BREAD (a Swede's general favorite and mine)
4-1/2 t (4 tsk plus 2 ksk) dry yeast
1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
1 cup warm milk (120-130 degrees, no more)
1/2 cup molasses OR dark bread syrup
1/4 cup Milda, melted
2 t (tsk) salt
3-4 cups bread flour
2-3 cups rye flour
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and set to one side.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter and then heat the milk in the pan, but NOT anywhere near a boil, you will kill your yeast.
In your mixing bowl, combine the molasses or syrup, salt, milk and butter, mixing well, and then add in the yeast and water, again, mixing well. NOTE: At this time, if you like rye with seeds in it, you can add about a tablespoon of caraway seeds.
Add 2 cups of bread flour and combine well, and then beat in the rye flour. I generally can only get in about 2 cups of the rye flour, but the taste is still real good. You want to add the flour until the mixture gets very sticky and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and form a ball.
Sprinkle about a cup of regular bread flour onto your tabletop or counter and turn out the dough into the flour, and start kneading the dough, to incorporate more flour and evenly distribute the flour, etc. You will find that this bread has a much stickier dough, due to the rye flour, and will take more flour than a white bread and stay sticky longer. It will take approximately 6-8 minutes of kneading for the dough to become smooth and elastic and stop having sticky spots where you touch it.
Again, oil a deep bowl, place the dough in it, cover and let raise in a warm spot for approximately 60 minutes.
When dough has doubled in size, punch down and turn out onto a floured board.
Grease a large cookie sheet or tray. Divide the dough into halves and shape into either a long oval or a round loaf. Slash the top a couple times with a sharp knife, cover with a towel and let rise in a warm area for about 45 minutes, until the loaves have doubled in size.
At this point, I like to brush the tops with one egg that has been beaten with 1 Tablespoon of water.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-35 minutes, until the tops sound hollow when tapped on. remove from the baking tray and cool on a wire rack.