BREAD MAKING TUTORIAL



FLUFFY GOLDEN CRUST



I was introduced to the art of bread making more than 40 years ago in the back woods of Nova Scotia by my mother in law. Ever sense my first loaves I have enjoyed making it, eating it and sharing it. Bread dough is versatile and very forgiving. Initially I was very careful to follow the recipe. I soon found that "a little of this and a little of that" allowed for a great degree of creativity. Over the years I have experimented with different liquids, flours, oils, sweetners, baking pans, temperatures,  baking times, fillings and kneading techniques.

In this tutorial I'm sharing my favorite technique. You will notice that the measurement of ingredients are general and that I go more on how it looks and feels.

Add 2 cups of scalded milk to a cup and a half of water. Allow to cool until tepid. Add honey, white or brown sugar, stir to dissolve in the liquid. You will need at least a tablespoon of sweetener, increasing it as needed for a sweeter tasting bread. Making sure your liquid is tepid add the yeast sprinkling it over your liquid. Place the bowl in sink of hot water to keep it warm being careful not to stir or cause movement in your liquid.

Once your yeast is "working" you will notice it has changed to a frothy appearance with fine bubbles. Now add your salt, Oil (about 3 tablespoons) and flour.

Gradually add 3 or 4 cups of flour stirring until you have the consistency of runny paste or runny oatmeal porridge.

Keeping your bowl in a sink of hot water allow the dough "sponge" to rise to the top of the bowl, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Stirring vigorously beat the dough down deflating the bubbles. I stir the dough "sponge" for a minute and then leave the dough to rise again. I may repeat this step only once or up to 4 or 5 times. My dough does not dictate when it is ready . The convenience of this method is that I can get back to my dough when I am ready.

Before pouring my dough onto a floured counter I add more flour making it the consistency of thick oatmeal porridge.

Cover the dough with flour making sure you have flour surrounding the whole dough mound.

Before kneading I gently press the flour into the sticky dough. As I handle and knead the dough I make sure that any sticky dough is quickly covered in flour. I gently work the dough in to a soft formed ball covered in a dusting of flour.

Now I am ready to prepare my dough for the oven. Dividing my dough into 4 balls I will make pizza, "boy bread" cinnamon buns and a loaf of plain white bread.

To make "Boy Bread" roll out the dough cover it with shredded mozzarella and cut up ham. Named for them, my grandsons love helping me make and eat this bread.

Roll the dough into a log and cut according to the portion size you desire. Place pieces in oiled baking dish.

CINNAMON BUNS

After rolling out your dough cover it with cinnamon, sweetener (brown sugar, apple sauce, honey or white sugar) walnuts and raisins.

Roll dough into a log and cut. Place pieces in oiled baking dish.

PIZZA

Roll out dough and place on oiled pizza pan. Top with meat sauce and mozzarella or topping of choice.

Cover to keep warm and allow to rise for up to an hour. I find if I am pressed for time that I can easily reduce the rising time to only 10 or 15 minutes and still get good texture and taste.

Bake in a hot oven (380 to 420 degrees F) until golden brown. Remove from oven lightly rub butter over crusts. Remove bread loaves from pans onto cooling racks.