Making my homemade bread has become a routine for almost 2 years. It is very economical and really really easy. I wanted a little “twist” to the classic recipe, so I added raisins and cinnamon. This version has a little more yeast than our classic recipe, so it rises faster (5 hours instead of 8 hours).
Take note that I use version 2.0 of the bread recipe, which requires more steps (autolyse, folds, etc.), but oh so much more delicious! Refer to the video to see the steps.
Ingredients:
- 400g white all-purpose flour
- 100 GR of wheat flour or other type of flour
- 390 gr of lukewarm water
- 1 ½ tsp. salt tea
- ½ tsp. instant dry yeast
- 1 cup raisins
- ½ to 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon (to taste)
What you need:
- A kitchen scale ( I recommend using a scale to weigh all your ingredients)
- A large bowl or pot to fit all your ingredients
- A bowl cover our kitchen cloth
- A fermenting bread basket banneton or a bowl
- A Cast iron casserole / Dutch oven like Le Creuset or Lodge
- Place your bowl on your scale (tare it), add only the flour and water.
- Mix everything with your hands. The mixture is sticky, that's normal! Mix roughly for a few moments so that the flour is well mixed with the water. You will end up with a sticky and not very uniform ball, that's what we want!
- Place a cloth or bowl cover over your bowl and place it in a warm place away from air drafts. If it is winter, the house may be cooler and this could slow down the fermentation process. So you can put the container in the oven off with the light on or a bowl of hot water.
- After 30 minutes, it's time to add the salt, yeast, cinnamon and raisins. See the Youtube video to understand how to mix and do the next steps.
- This recipe calls for 3 folds, 30 minutes apart. Again, see the video for explanation.
-
Once the folds are complete, put the bowl cover back on your bowl and let the bread rise for 5 hours.
- Flour your work surface and your hands and gently scrape the edge of the container to make the dough fall on the work surface.
- Shape the ball: add flour as needed to prevent sticking. Stretch one corner of the dough outward and fold it over the center. Repeat the exercise on 2 corners and when folding the 3rd corner, fold completely until the dough is turned over to form a ball. (to better understand, I advise you to watch our video here). Gently, with your hands and fingers, tighten the ball by pulling the outside inwards and the work surface. Turn 2-3 times only on itself while doing the movement.
- Place your ball in a banneton fermentation basket or lightly floured bowl.
- Let the ball rise for another hour. Near the end of rising, preheat your casserole dish with the lid on in your oven to 475 degrees F. Depending on your oven, this temperature may vary.
- Remove the casserole from the oven with mittens (be careful, it's very, very hot!) and with flour on your hands, gently slide the ball of dough into the casserole. The top of the dough ends up being the bottom of the bread.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the color is golden and even. Then remove the lid to cook for another 20 minutes. * or until the color of the crust is to your liking. Personally, I like the crust to be nicely browned, almost burnt.
- Take the bread out of the oven and unmold it simply by turning the casserole upside down and letting it fall. Let the bread cool on a wire rack.
- The hardest part, waiting 15-20 minutes before slicing it. The bread continues to bake at this stage, we do not want its steam to escape.
Store your bread in your bread bag right on your counter. Discover our new bread bag lined with a waterproof membrane, which helps your bread to keep even longer!
