Kelly Rossiter
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Here we are with only a few days left of the great bread challenge. I'm actually a bit surprised at how easy it has been to make all of our own bread over the past month, although my husband has started to make noises about really needing a bagel. My daughter and I have been talking about making bagels since we began the challenge, but we keep putting it off for all kinds of reasons. I guess it's time to get serious and make them before the challenge runs out.
When I was thinking about baking earlier this week I decided on a raisin bread, but then at the last moment couldn't remember if my daughter like raisins or not, so I chickened out and made the bread without them. The recipe said it made a really good sandwich bread without the raisins, so that's what I made. I normally get up at about 5:30 a.m. at the suggestion of our cat, but I had gone to bed late the night before and sleep deprivation made for an interesting baking session. I tossed things in the wrong order and I forgot to put the salt in until I was finished kneading it. I tried to add it then, but it was too late. To my surprise the bread actually turned out, albeit a bit tasteless for the lack of salt. Making toast out of it and adding butter and raspberry jam solved that problem. I'm going to try this bread again, doing it properly, and even adding the raisins.
Raisin Bread Without the Raisins
2 cups scalded milk, cooled to lukewarm1 cup warm water
1 tsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
6 1/2 - 8 cups unbleached all -purpose flour
1 large egg
1 1/2 -2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted, plus extra melted butter for brushing
1 tbsp salt
Combine milk and water in a bowl. Sprinkle on the yeast and stir in. Add the sugar and two cups of the flour and stir until smooth. Let stand for several minutes.
Add the egg and butter and stir in, then sprinkle on the salt and stir in. Continue to add flour a cup at a time until the dough becomes difficult to stir. Flour a work surface generously and turn out the dough. Knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth, firm and elastic.
Place the dough in a clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 3 to 4 hours, until not quite doubled. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and cut it in half. Lightly butter two 8 x 4" bread pans. Place loaves in pans, cover and let rise in a warm place for one hour.
Preheat oven to 425 F. Just before baking, brush the loaves with a little melted butter and slash twice crosswise. Bake until golden, about 30 minutes. Brush the tops of the loaves with a little more butter and lower the heat to 375 F and bake for another 5 minutes.
Remove from the pans. The loaves should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Place on a rack to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Once it's aged a day, this bread makes great toast.
From Home Baking by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
Difficulty Level: Easy
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