The art of BREAD making

 Bread making, is an art. Period. And this I tell you from my experience. It doesn't mean is difficult, BUT...you need to understand the ingredients, work with them, care for them, study the chemistry between them...and practice, practice, practice. 

 

So I have been practicing lately a lot of bread making. And I admit I failed some times, but also I created beautiful breads many other times.
I am getting better and better, with each try. I must say that bread making, is a pleasure. At least for me, and every time I see the rising dough, I get a feeling of cozyness, of a warm home, where there is a wooden oven, and bread is baking for dinner. Sounds crazy, true..but maybe in a past life I lived in those times with big stone houses and wooden ovens, and I was a bread maker :)
So far I have tried to make 3 different types of bread:

1. The no knead bread or rustic bread. This is a wet dough, that will rest for more than 12 hours, and will make big bubbles, and gummy crumb and very hard and rustic looking crust. It came out pretty well, however I must work on the flavor and also do the folding of the bread before baking, which will develop a better texture. Here it is...

  2. Second success was a bunch of cute breakfast petite buns, which are very soft and the crust is kind of crunchy but not too much. They are made with white flour, yeast, water and a bit of milk. Which gives a nice flavor. On top I have made a wash of melted butter. So they are pretty rich, hence the breakfast connection:)
I am very happy the way they turned out and will continue making them. Here they are...

 
 



3. White bread. A simple white bread, that got an egg white as an ingredient, which made it rise very very nice while baking. Moist, fluffy, tender. Fabulous bread.

 

4. Baguette. I liked it, my husband liked it too. It wasn't really the french baguette, as it came out more dense than the typical baguette but it was super tasty. Of course, what else can one have baguette with than cheese ? So baguette and cheese, pretty damn good.

This is probably the first series of the bread story. I will collect another batch of breads and pictures and come back with new results or the development of these one. Tomorrow I am leaving for the Netherlands, and will be there for 3 weeks. I am absolutely sure I will love it, and my "research" on baked goods will blossom. Will keep you posted :)