So, did you watch The Great British Baking Show yet? I dare you to watch a whole season and then not try a made-from-scratch recipe in your own kitchen. After finishing the season that just aired on PBS, I promptly went to the kitchen to try a simple Italian loaf. The first two attempts were mediocre. But a third try, in which I layered mozzarella cheese and pepperoni, was tasty if not especially attractive. Today, I'm trying an alternate recipe and my hopes are rising with the dough.
After just a few days of bread-baking adventures, I have learned a few life lessons taught in the school of home-kitchen-baking.
1. How to wait. Proofing (that's the rising of the bread as the yeast activates) takes time. There's no action for the baker to take, nothing to quicken the process. Just patiently waiting. And after it finishes, you punch it down and reshape it for a second round of rising and waiting. Moving on to the next step too soon can mean doom for your bread. You must learn to wait.
2. The sweetness of providing nourishment. My husband got home yesterday and devoured nearly an entire loaf of pepperoni bread. Providing something yummy that fills up the soul as it fills up the belly is rewarding. Doing things for others, things that meet their needs, is sweet to your own soul.
3. Nobody else's life instructions work perfectly for you. The first loaf I tried was ugly. I mean really ugly. Dry looking, pale and pasty in color. It tasted alright, but my guess was that my oven (which is gas and therefore heats up quickly) did not work with the fast-rising yeast recipe I was trying. I had to make some changes for the second loaf, which was only slightly better, and will be further experimenting with getting the right coloring on my bread.
So what did I bake? I started with this recipe. It looked super easy and impossible to mess up. As I mentioned, it didn't brown very well and looked awful but the taste was yummy, especially my third try.
Today, I baked this one. After the first rise, I made it into a rectangle and sprinkled it with some Italian seasoning, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni slices. Then I rolled it up, let it have its second rise, and baked it, all as directed in the recipe (with some extra cheese on top too). I'm still having issues with the coloring of the bread (why is it not browning!?), but it's tasting awesome.
Got a bread recipe that never fails? Got tips for me on getting this bread to turn golden? Help a baker out! In the meantime, go buy some yeast and get some bread proofing in your kitchen.
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