A few months ago I’ve posted a bread recipe which changed my whole perspective on home bread baking. I’m happy to say that I’ve continued to bake bread ever since, using the described technique which includes a water bath in the oven during baking. The results are always so great that bread baking became my favourite form of relaxation.

Furthermore, my bread has been evolving over time. My whole approach now is more relaxed. I go with my instinct and add a bit here and a bit here. And the bread is just getting better and better. So, described below is my perfect bread recipe. Perfect for now, that is. I expect this whole bread adventure to grow, evolve and change even more, as I grow more and more confident in this whole endeavour.

INGREDIENTS:

(Yields 1 loaf / 1.10 EUR)

For the bread:

2 cups warm water (–)

2 tsp active dry yeast (0.27 EUR)

2 tbsp sugar (0.01 EUR)

2 – 2 ½ cups plain white flour, divided (0.17 EUR)

2 cups whole grain flour (0.20 EUR)

1 tsp salt (0.01 EUR)

3 tbsp ground flax seed (0.10 EUR)

3 tbsp sunflower seeds (0.10 EUR)

3 tbsp hulled millet (0.10 EUR)

3 tbsp olive oil (0.13 EUR)

Additional:

Oil for greasing the bowl and the loaf tin (0.01 EUR)

1 cup water for baking (–)

METHOD:

Take a large mixing bowl and whisk together water with yeast, sugar and 1 tablespoon of plain white flour. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes until frothy. If the mixture doesn’t bubble, discard and start again with a fresh batch of yeast, as your dough probably won’t rise.

Add 2 cups of plain flour, all whole grain flour, salt, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, millet and olive oil to the frothy yeast mixture and stir with a spoon until shabby dough forms. Dump everything on a clean counter and knead for a few minutes, incorporating a bit more flour as necessary. Dough should be soft and pliable, but not too sticky.

Wash up your mixing bowl, grease with a bit of oil and turn the dough ball around to coat on all sides. While your hands are already greasy, you may as well coat the loaf tin in oil. Cover the dough bowl with a clean kitchen towel and allow the dough to rest for at least 30 minutes and up to a few hours. The resting time always depends on my other activities and what I’m doing. The bread doesn’t mind. We’re friends.

When ready to bake, place a tin pan to the bottom of your oven and preheat oven to 250°C. Gently deflate the dough, give it a few kneads, shape a loaf and gently transfer to greased loaf tin. Sprinkle with a bit of flour, cover again with a kitchen towel and let sit for about 10 minutes, while your oven fully heats up.

Just before baking, using a very sharp knife, make a few incisions on the dough’s surface. Really carefully pour 1 cup of water into the pan you left at the bottom of the oven. Quickly place the bread pan with dough onto the middle rack and bake for 30 minutes until bread is deep golden brown. Do not open the oven door during that time under any circumstance.

After 30 minutes remove bread from the oven and allow it to cool in its tin for about 5 minutes. Carefully remove from tin and allow the bread to completely cool on a rack before digging into it.

Since I am the sole bread eater in our household, I always slice up the whole loaf once it’s completely cool and freeze it sliced in a zip lock bag. Then, when I am in a mood for some bread, I simply toast as much as I feel like eating.

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Pred nekoliko mjeseci napisala sam recept koji je skroz promijenio moj pristup pečenju kruha kod kuće. Sa zadovoljstvom mogu reći kako sam od onda nastavila redovito peći kruh, a prema opisanom načinu, tako da u pećnici za vrijeme pečenja bude vodena kupka. Rezultati su svaki puta bili tako dobri da mi je pečenje kruha postalo omiljeni način opuštanja.

Osim toga, moj je kruh s vremenom evoluirao, a moj vlastiti pristup je sada puno opušteniji. Slijedim instinkte pa dodajem malo tu i tamo. A kruh postaje sve bolji i bolji. Pa vam u nastavku dostavljam svoj recept za savršeni kruh. Savršeni za sada. Očekujem da će ova cijela avantura sa kruhom rasti, evoluirati i još se više mijenjati, sve kako bude raslo i moje samopouzdanje u ovom cijelom pothvatu.

SASTOJCI:

(Za 1 štrucu / 8,06 kn)

Za kruh:

2 šalice tople vode (–)

2 žličice suhog kvasca (2,00 kn)

2 žlice šećera (0,05 kn)

2 – 2 ½ šalice glatkog brašna, podijeljene (1,25 kn)

2 šalice integralnog brašna (1,50 kn)

1 žličica soli (0,01 kn)

3 žlice mljevenih sjemenki lana (0,75 kn)

3 žlice suncokretovih sjemenki (0,75 kn)

3 žlice prosa (0,75 kn)

3 žlice maslinovog ulja (0,99 kn)

Dodatno:

Ulje za namastiti posudu i kalup za pečenje (0,01 kn)

1 šalica vode za pečenje (–)

PRIPREMA:

U velikoj posudi razmutite vodu sa kvascem, šećerom i 1 žlicom glatkog brašna. Pustite 10-15 minuta dok ne postane pjenasto. Ako vam smjesa ne bude pjenasta, bacite i počnite ispočetka sa novim kvascem jer vam se tijesto na kraju vjerovatno ne bude dignulo.

Dodajte 2 šalice glatkog brašna, svo integtalno brašno, sol, lan, suncokretove sjemenke, proso i maslinovo ulje u pjenasti kvasac i dobro pomiješajte žlicom dok se ne formira labavo tijesto. Sve istresite na čistu radnu plohu i mijesite par minuta, dodajući po potrebi malo po malo još brašna. Tijesto treba biti mekano i podatno, ali se ne smije previše lijepiti.

Operite svoju posudu u kojoj ste zamijesili tijesto, namažite sa malo ulja, pa unutra okrećite loptu tijesta dok se ne namasti sa svih strana. Kad su vam ruke već masne, namastite i kalup za pečenje. Pokrijte zdjelu sa tijestom čistom krpom i ostavite da miruje barem 30 minuta, a do nekoliko sati. Ja to vrijeme uvijek prilagodim nekim drugim aktivnostima. Kruhu je to okej. Mi smo frendovi.

Kada ste spremni za pečenje, stavite plehnati protvan na dno pečnice i zagrijte ju na 250°C. Nježno ispuhnite tijesto, kratko promijesite, oblikujte štrucu i nježno ju prebacite u namašćeni kalup. Posipajte sa malo brašna, pokrijte čistom krpom i ostavite da miruje još desetak minuta, dok vam se pećnica skorz ne ugrije.

Netom pred pečenje, jako oštrim nožem par puta zarežite tijesto. Jako, jako pažljivo ulijte šalicu vode u protvan koji ste ostavili na dnu pećnice, pa brzo stavite kruh da se peče 30 minuta na srednjoj rešetki, sve dok ne dobije duboku zlatno-smeđu boju. Ni u kojem slučaju ne otvarajte pećnicu za to vrijeme.

Nakon 30 minuta izvadite kruh iz pećnice i ostavite ga da se 5 minuta hladi u kalupu. Nakon toga ga pažljivo izvadite iz kalupa i pustite da se skroz ohladi na rešetki, prije nego što ćete navaliti na njega.

Pošto sam ja jedini jedač kruha u našem kućanstvu, uvijek cijelu ohlađenu štrucu narežem na šnite i u vrećici smrznem. Onda, kada mi se jede kruh, samo kratko tostiram onoliko šnita koliko mi treba.