I’ve tried baking bread at home maybe a handful of times before, but the ending results were never too satisfactory. There always seemed to be something off and the loaves were never just quite how I’d liked them to be.

That all changed when I’ve discovered the bread baking method which combines high heat, shorter baking time and a pan with water inserted to the bottom of the oven. The resulting loaf was just right; very crispy on the outside and soft and airy on the inside.

Another thing that is great is that this method doesn’t require that much kneading, so the actual work you need to put into this bread between the waiting is pretty minimal.

INGREDIENTS:

(Yields 1 medium sized loaf / 0.86 EUR)

1 ½ cups warm water (–)

2 tsp active dry yeast (0.27 EUR)

2 tbsp sugar (0.01 EUR)

1 ½ – 2 cups plain white flour, divided (0.13 EUR)

2 cups whole grain flour (0.20 EUR)

3 tbsp ground flax seed (0.10 EUR)

1 tsp salt (0.01 EUR)

2 tbsp sunflower seed oil, divided (0.01 EUR)

3 tbsp sunflower seeds (0.13 EUR)

Additional 1 cup of water for the pan in the bottom of the oven (–)

METHOD:

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together water, yeast, sugar and a tablespoon of white flour. Be careful that your water isn’t too hot, or else it will kill the yeast. Wait about 10 minutes for water to become slightly foamy. That means that the yeast is working and you may continue, otherwise discard and start all over again with new batch of yeast, as your dough may not rise otherwise.

Add 1 ½ cups of white flour, all whole grain flour, flax seeds and salt to the foamy water and mix with a spoon until a loose dough forms. Dump the dough on clean counter and knead for a few minutes, incorporating the remaining white flour as necessary, until the dough is soft but not sticky.

Clean up you mixing bowl, add a tablespoon of oil to it and turn the dough ball around to coat evenly. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rest in a warm, draft free room for an hour, to double in size.

After one hour, gently deflate the dough. Make a small dent in the middle, add the sunflower seeds and gently knead a few times and form a loaf. With the remaining tablespoon of oil, grease a loaf pan and carefully transfer the loaf in it. Sprinkle the loaf with a bit of flour, cover the pan with a kitchen towel and let rest for another half an hour.

Towards the end of the resting time, preheat the oven to 225°C, leaving an empty tin pan on the bottom. Make a few incisions using a sharp knife on the bread right before baking. When the oven reaches the desired heat, place the loaf pan in the middle rack and very, very carefully pour additional 1 cup of warm water to the empty dish you’ve left in the bottom. Quickly close the oven door and bake bread for 30 minutes, until the top is nice golden-brown.

Let the bread cool for about 5 minutes in the pan before carefully removing and placing on a wire rack to cool completely, before slicing into it.

Ranije sam se nekoliko puta okušala u pečenju kruha, ali konačni rezultat nikad nije bio pretjerano zadovoljavajući. Uvijek je nešto falilo i kruh nikada nije ispao baš onakav kako bi ja voljela.

To se sve promijenilo kada sam otkrila metodu pečenja kruha koja objedinjuje visoku temperaturu, kraće vrijeme pečenja i protvan sa vodom na dnu pećnice. Štruca koju sam dobila bila je savršena; hrskava izvana, a mekana i prozračna iznutra.

Još jedna super stvar kod ovog kruha je da ga nije potrebno puno mijesiti, tako da je stvarni rad koji treba uložiti između čekanja zapravo minimalan.

SASTOJCI:

(Za 1 štrucu srednje veličine / 6,41 kn)

1 ½ šalica tople vode (–)

2 žličice suhog kvasca (2,00)

2 žlice šećera (0,05 kn)

1 ½ – 2 šalice oštrog pšeničnog brašna, podijeljene (1,00 kn)

2 šalice integralnog pšeničnog brašna (1,50 kn)

3 žlice mljevenih sjemenki lana (0,75 kn)

1 žličica soli (0,01 kn)

2 žlice suncokretovog ulja, podijeljene (0,10 kn)

3 žlice sjemenki suncokreta (1,00 kn)

Dodatna šalica vode za protvan na dnu pećnice (–)

PRIPREMA:

U velikoj zdjeli pomiješajte toplu vodu sa kvascem, šećerom i žlicom oštrog brašna. Pazite da vam voda nije prevruća, jer ćete ubiti kvasac. Čekajte desetak minuta da voda postane blago pjenasta prije nego što nastavite. Ako se voda nije zapjenila, bacite sve i počnite ispočetka sa novim kvascem, jer moguće da vam se tijesto neće dignuti.

U pjenastu vodu dodajte 1 ½ šalicu oštrog brašna, svo integralno brašno, lan i sol, pa miješajte žlicom dok ne dobijete labavo tijesto. Iskrenite tijesto na čistu radnu plohu i mijesite koju minutu, po potrebi dodajući preostalo ošto brašno, dok tijesto ne bude mekano i ne prestane se lijepiti.

Očistite zdjelu i dodajte u nju žlicu ulja, pa kuglu tijesta okrećite dok se ne prekrije uljem sa svih strana. Pokrijte zdjelu čistom krpom i ostavite tijesto da se diže oko sat vremenau toploj prostoriji u kojoj nema propuha, dok se ne udvostruči.

Nakon jednog sata nježno rukom spljoštite tijesto. Napravite malu udubinu u sredini i dodajte sjemenke suncokreta. Kratko i nježno mijesite pa formirajte štrucu. Sa preostalom žlicom ulja namastite kalup za kruh, pažljivo u njega smjestite štrucu i posipajte ju po vrhu mrvicom brašna. Prekrijte kalup čistom krpom i ostavite da odmara oko pola sata.

Prema kraju tih pola sata, zagrijte pećnicu na 225°C, s time da na dnu pećnice ostavite prazni metalni protvan. Netom prije pečenja oštrim nožem nekoliko puta zarežite štrucu. Kada vam se pećnica ugrijala, stavite kalup sa kruhom na srednju rešetu. U protvan na dnu vrlo, vrlo pažljivo ulijte oko čašu tople vode. Brzo zatvorite vrata pećnice i pecite kruh oko 30 minuta, dok ne dobije lijepu zlatno-smeđu boju.

Ostavite kruh da se 5 minuta hladi u kalupu, prije nego što ćete ga pažljivo izvaditi i do kraja ohladiti na rešetki, a prije nego što ga krenete rezati.