Bread Tips and Ballymaloe Brown Yeast Bread Recipe

Ballymaloe Brown Yeast Bread

Ballymaloe Brown Yeast Bread

One of my favourite breads - Ballymaloe Brown Yeast Bread. A recipe I use loads at home and in the workshop - it's quick, simple, nutritious and so delicious! We make it with red fife or park wheat flour and sometimes will use honey instead of molasses to but an Alberta spin on it. It's delicious with lots of butter and served alongside your favourite soup, it's yummy with smoked salmon and a quick pickle, with egg salad or toasted with jam.

450g whole grain flour
425g warm water
1 tsp molasses
1 tsp salt
25g fresh yeast

Preheat the oven to 450F. Mix the flour with the salt in a large wide mixing bowl. In a small jug mix the water, molasses and yeast together, leave for 4 - 5 minutes. Make a well in the centre of the flour, add the water, mix to a loose dough. The mixture should be too wet to knead. Cover and leave for 10 minutes in the bowl (the dough will begin to slightly ferment). Meanwhile generously brush a 1lb loaf tin with a neutral oil. Scoop the mixture into the tin (should be porridge consistency), cover and leave to rise to the top of the tin. Sprinkle the loaf with seeds, if you wish. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Turn the heat down to 400F and bake for a further 40 - 50 minutes. If you want the crust to evenly browned, remove the loaf from the tin for the last 5 - 10 minutes. The loaf should sound hollow on the bottom when tapped. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

A Few Bread Tips

  • It might sound silly, but even if you're not confident, try to act confident! Trust your hands. I always say with both pastry and bread when I am teaching, one of the number one ways both get over worked is from fiddling with it. Lots of little movements of the dough can be more detrimental than a few confident and efficient movements.
  • Like anything, the more you do it, the more familiar it will feel, and soon, bread will be almost intuitive!
  • The quality of the flour matters, the better the flour the better the bread!
  • Start with a good recipe - some of my favourite bread books include Baking School, The Ballymaloe Bread Book and Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast.
  • We're told everything needs to be warm to make bread, but I would argue the slower the bread the better the bread. What does that mean? We think of sourdough as being a fermented dough, but really, all bread is fermenting to some extent. Fermentation happens faster when you heat the process up (warm water, a warm oven, a microwave with a boiling cup of water…), but it will ferment at room temperature too (and in some cases, in the fridge). When you slow the dough down, you'll develop more flavour.
  • We don't need sugar to make bread! It's a very North American thing to put lots of sugar into yeast breads. Fermentation is the process of yeast consuming sugars (in the case of bread without added sugar, it'll consume the starch!).
  • Bread isn't hard - it might take some practice, but anyone can make it!
  • Fresh yeast vs. dried yeast - we use fresh yeast at Awn, but at home these days I make most of my breads with dry yeast. Fresh yeast is available at the Italian Centre in the back cooler, and it comes in a 1lb brick - it's a lot of yeast and only lasts for about four weeks. Dry yeast, you can buy anywhere - I buy traditional rather than quick acting (remember, the slower the dough, the better the dough!). Fresh yeast has a milder flavour, and, in most cases, you can chuck it right in with the flour - there's no need to mix it with the water first, the kneading process will break it up! Dry yeast however, you have to dissolve in the water. Fresh and dry yeast can be used interchangeably and some helpful measurements to remember - 10g of fresh yeast is equal to 5g of traditional dry or 2.5g of quick acting. 2 ¼ tsp of dry yeast is equal to 7g of dry yeast.
  • Do you need to add sugar to the water when dissolving yeast? No. Unless you are worried that your yeast is too old, there is no need. I dissolve my yeast in about 50g of warm water, and then usually top it up to the full amount in the recipe using room temperature water.
  • Timing - timing is important, and something to remember the cooler the kitchen the slower the dough, the warmer the kitchen, the faster the dough. Now, not to contradict myself, but if you're in a rush, use warm water, or pop it into a warm place to rest or proof. Recipes often say (mine included) wait for the dough to double in size or that it will take 1 - 2 hours to do so. These measurements and timelines can be hard to follow - what does doubled in size look like? And an hour vs two, is significantly different! Rather than relying on these two things, I like to "learn the dough!"
    • Resting vs. proofing; resting the dough is the stage after kneading, you leave the dough to develop and do a first rise before shaping it. Proofing is the stage after the dough has been shaped, at this stage it's dough the second rise before going into the oven
    • When your dough is ready to shape (after resting) if you poke it with a well-floured finger it should "hold a belly button" meaning, the belly button won't close in on itself (wait a little longer if this happens) or that when you poke it, the dough doesn't collapse (make a note to check the dough sooner next time)
    • When your dough is ready to bake (after proofing) it should be the opposite, when you poke it (gently!) or give it a little pinch, it should resist your touch

There is loads more that I could talk about when it comes to bread, but I hope these tips help! Down the road I'll be sure to write a bit about flour and equipment! We teach loads of bread classes (and they're not all sourdough) so be sure to check the schedule regularly for bread classes.

Happy baking!

K

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