Here’s a book for people who absolutely love–and I mean love–to bake, or who love to really get involved in a recipe. The payoff from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice,” by Peter Reinhart (Ten Speed Press, $35), is likely to be the most professional-looking and -tasting bread you have ever made.
The author, a baking instructor at the Johnson & Wales University’s culinary school, has written widely praised bread books before, such as “Brother Juniper’s Bread Book” and “Crust & Crumb.” This is a man who is obviously devoted to the art of baking and has no plans to dumb down the process for people who want shortcuts.
That is not to say that this is a difficult cookbook. It offers the accumulated knowledge of Reinhart’s extensive work in the bread-baking field and translates for readers the theories behind the making of a good loaf. You will find the recipes to be lengthy and labor-intensive; some require specialty purchases. Some of recipes can take as long as three days. But none is hard to follow.
Not scared off yet? Well, then, you will be rewarded, as we were, with a terrific recipe for Vienna bread, which turned out to be a more tender version of a French baguette dough. The chewy crust and soft, but elastic, crumb, made great rolls and would also make a sturdy sandwich loaf. Variations on this, including baguettes and much denser rustic-style breads, are included in the book. A number of simple suggestions and illustrations show how to cut the breads into decorative shapes.
If you truly want to surprise yourself or guests, you might try the recipes for bagels. Yes, bagels. It seemed like a foolhardy undertaking, considering that they are so widely available in stores. And because you never hear of people making their own bagels, you might think they require professional equipment. Which is why, of course, it seemed like a good test of the book.
When all was said and done–and there is a lot to be done–the tasters were faced with a gorgeous variety of fresh, hot bagels sprinkled with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, garlic, onion and salt, or various combinations. Ooohs and aaahs all around!
Although the basic dough could have used a little bit more salt for flavor–as could the Vienna bread–we had no other quibble with the recipe. The bagels were chewy and delightful, a far cry from the steamed, heavy doughiness that is the hallmark of so many commercial bagels.
It was a pleasure to find a thorough, thoughtful cookbook from which anyone can learn about proper bread baking. Details include weight measurements along with volume measurements for precision (although few people are likely to weigh their egg to make sure it is 1.65 ounces). Color photographs illustrate many of the steps, particularly the shaping techniques, as well as finished products. The 50 master recipes, from which you can form variations, also include bits of the history of the breads.
To help readers make everything from corn bread and marbled rye to pumpernickel and panettone, the book offers a resource chapter with suggested reading, Web sites, cooking school courses and specialty grain suppliers.
You will need a bit of handholding to make these recipes, and the author supplies it. This is a book worth making room for because it does what all the best cookbooks do. It challenges you first, then turns you into a believer.
Vienna bread
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Proofing time: Overnight
Rising time: 2 hours
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Yield: Two 1-pound loaves
“With all the emphasis on French and Italian rustic breads these days, it is easy to overlook the fact that the real center of the bread and pastry universe for hundreds of years was Vienna,” Peter Reinhart writes in “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.” Look for malt powder or malt syrup at home-brewing supply stores; natural foods stores also sell “barley syrup,” which will work. You may substitute honey or brown sugar.
2 1/3 cups (13 ounces) pate fermentee, see recipe
2 2/3 cups (12 ounces) unbleached bread flour
1 tablespoon (0.5 ounce) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (0.25 ounce) diastatic barley malt powder or 1 tablespoon (0.75 ounce) barley malt syrup
1 teaspoon (0.25 ounce) salt
1 teaspoon (0.11 ounce) instant yeast
1 large (1.65 ounces) egg, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon (0.5 ounce) unsalted butter or shortening, at room temperature or melted
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (6 to 7 ounces) water, lukewarm (90 to 100 degrees)
Semolina or cornmeal flour for dusting
1. Cut the pate fermentee into about 10 small pieces with a pastry scraper or serrated knife. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit for 1 hour to take off the chill.
2. Stir together the flour, sugar, malt powder (if using) salt and yeast in a 4-quart bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer.) Add the pate fermentee pieces, egg, butter, malt syrup (if using), and 3/4 cup of the water. Stir together with a large metal spoon (or mix on low speed with a paddle attachment) until the ingredients form a ball. If not all the flour is absorbed, add the remaining 2 tablespoons water, or as much is necessary to make the dough soft and supple, not firm and stiff.
3. Sprinkle flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes (or mix on medium speed with the dough hook for 6 minutes), add flour if needed to make a firm but supple dough, slightly tacky but not sticky. The dough should pass the windowpane test (gently stretch and pull a small piece and see if it will hold up as a paper-thin, translucent membrane) and register 77 to 81 degrees. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
4. Ferment at room temperature for 2 hours. If the dough doubles in size before then, remove it from the bowl and knead for a few seconds to degas it (the “punch down”) and then return it to the bowl to continue fermenting until 2 hours have elapsed or until the dough doubles in size again.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl and divide it into 2 equal pieces for loaves, or into 9 to 12 smaller pieces (3 to 4 ounces each) for pistolets, or torpedo rolls. Shape larger pieces into boules, or large balls, or smaller pieces into rolls. Mist the dough lightly with spray oil (use nonstick cooking spray or lightly brush on oil with a pastry brush), cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
6. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment, dust with semolina flour or cornmeal and transfer the dough to the pan. Mist the dough lightly with spray oil and cover the pan loosely with plastic.
7. Proof at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes, or until the loaves or rolls have risen to approximately 1 3/4 times their original size.
8. Prepare the oven for hearth baking by either using a baking stone or unglazed quarry tile, or by double-steaming. To double-steam, place an empty heavy-duty sheet pan or cast-iron frying pan on either the top shelf or the floor of the oven while it is preheating (thin sheet pans will buckle in the heat). Before putting the bread in the oven, have a pan of simmering water standing by. The hot water is added to the steam pan when the bread is placed in the oven. Then fill a plant mister with room-temperature water.
9. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Just prior to baking, mist the loaves or rolls with water and dust lightly with bread flour by tapping some through a sieve or by flinging flour across the surface of the dough. Score the loaves or rolls down the center or leave the rolls uncut.
10. Slide the rolls directly onto the baking stone, parchment and all, or place the sheet pan with loaves or rolls in the oven. Pour 1 cup hot water into the steam pan and close the oven door. After 20 seconds, open the door, spray the oven walls with water, and close the door. Repeat twice more at 30-second intervals. After the final spray, lower the oven setting to 400 degrees and bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the breads 180 degrees, if necessary, for even baking and continue baking until they are a medium golden brown and register at least 200 degrees at the center. This should take anywhere from 5 additional minutes for rolls to 20 minutes for loaves.
11. Remove the loaves or rolls from the oven and transfer them to a cooling rack. Cool for at least 45 minutes before slicing or serving.
Nutrition information per 1/20th of recipe (calculated by the Tribune):
115 calories, 10% calories from fat, 1.3 g fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 12 mg cholesterol, 185 mg sodium, 21 g carbohydrate, 3.7 g protein, 0.8 g fiber
Pate fermentee
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Rising time: Overnight
Yield: 16 to 17 ounces (enough for 1 batch bread)
This is a recipe for a “pre-ferment,” whose main purpose is to improve flavor and structure in the bread, as with a starter.
1 1/8 cups (5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/8 cups (5 ounces) unbleached bread flour
3/4 teaspoon (0.19 ounce) salt
1/2 teaspoon (0.055 ounce) instant yeast
3/4 cup to 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (6 to 7 ounces) water, at room temperature
1. Stir together the flours, salt and yeast in a 4-quart bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). Add 3/4 cup of the water, stirring until everything comes together and makes a coarse ball (or mix on low speed for 1 minute with the paddle attachment). Adjust the flour or water, according to need, so that the dough is neither too sticky nor too stiff. (It is better to err on the sticky side, as you can adjust more easily during kneading. It is harder to add water once the dough firms up.)
2. Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for 4 to 6 minutes (or mix on medium speed with the dough hook for 4 minutes) or until the dough is soft and pliable, tacky but not sticky. The internal temperature should be 77 to 81 degrees.
3. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and ferment at room temperature for 1 hour, or until it swells to about 1 1/2 times its original size.
4. Remove the dough from the bowl, knead it lightly to degas and return it to the bowl, covering the bowl with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in the refrigerator overnight. You can keep this in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze it in an airtight plastic bag for up to 3 months.
Bagels
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Rising time: 24 hours
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Yield: 14 bagels
“According to folklore, bagels were invented in 17th Century Austria as a tribute to the wartime victories of King Jan of Poland and were modeled after the stirrup of his saddle,” writes Peter Reinhart in “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.” Look for malt powder or malt syrup at home-brewing supply stores; natural foods stores also sell “barley syrup,” which will work. You may substitute honey or brown sugar.
Sponge:
1 teaspoon (0.11 ounce) instant yeast
4 cups (18 ounces) unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
2 1/2 cups (20 ounces) water, at room temperature
Dough:
1/2 teaspoon (0.055 ounce) instant yeast
3 3/4 cups (17 ounces) unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
2 3/4 teaspoons (0.7 ounce) salt
2 teaspoons (0.33 ounce) malt powder or 1 tablespoon (0.5 ounce) dark or light malt syrup, honey or brown sugar
To finish:
1 tablespoon baking soda
Cornmeal or semolina flour for dusting
Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, kosher salt, rehydrated minced garlic or onions, or chopped fresh onions that have been tossed in oil, optional
1. To make the sponge, sir the yeast into the flour in a 4-quart mixing bowl. Add the water, whisking or stirring only until it forms a smooth, sticky batter (like pancake batter). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes very foamy and bubbly. It should swell to nearly double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the countertop.
2. To make the dough, in the same mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer), add the additional yeast to the sponge and stir. Then add 3 cups of the flour and all of the salt and malt. Stir (or mix on low speed with the dough hook) until the ingredients form a ball, slowly working in the remaining 3/4 cup flour to stiffen the dough.
3. Transfer the dough to the counter and knead for at least 10 minutes (or for 6 minutes by machine). The dough should be firm, stiffer than French bread dough, but still pliable and smooth. There should be no raw flour–all the ingredients should be hydrated. The dough should pass the windowpane test (gently stretch and pull a small piece to see if it will hold up as a paper-thin, translucent membrane) and register 77 to 81 degrees. If the dough seems too dry and rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If the dough seems tacky or sticky, add more flour to achieve the stiffness required. The kneaded dough should feel satiny and pliable but not be tacky.
4. Immediately divide the dough into 4 1/2-ounce pieces for standard bagels, or smaller if desired. Form the pieces into rolls.
5. Cover the rolls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for approximately 20 minutes.
6. Line 2 sheet pans with baking parchment and mist lightly with spray oil (use non-stick cooking spray or lightly brush on oil with a pastry brush). Proceed with one of the following shaping methods:
Method 1: Poke a hole in a ball of bagel dough and gently rotate your thumb around the inside of the hole to widen it to approximately 2 1/2 inches in diameter. The dough should be as evenly stretched as possible (try to avoid thick and thin spots).
Method 2: Roll out the dough into an 8-inch long rope. (This may require rolling part of the way and resting if the pieces are too elastic and snap back, in which case, allow them to rest for 3 minutes and then extend them again to bring to full length.) Wrap the dough around the palm and back of your hand, between the thumb and forefinger, overlapping the ends by several inches. Press the overlapping ends on the counter with the palm of your hand, rocking back and forth to seal.
7. Place each of the shaped pieces 2 inches apart on the pans. Mist the bagels very lightly with the spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the pans sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
8. Check to see if the bagels are ready to be retarded (allowed to extend the fermentation process) in the refrigerator by using the “float test.” Fill a small bowl with cool or room-temperature water. The bagels are ready to be retarded when they float within 10 seconds of being dropped in the water. Take 1 bagel and test it. If it floats, immediately return the tester bagel to the pan, pat it dry, cover the pan and place it in the refrigerator overnight (it can stay in the refrigerator for up to 2 days). If the bagel does not float, return it to the pan and continue to proof the dough at room temperature, checking back every 10 to 20 minutes or so until a tester floats. The time needed to accomplish the float will vary, depending on the ambient temperature and the stiffness of the dough.
9. The following day (or when you are ready to bake the bagels), preheat the oven to 500 degrees with the two racks set in the middle of the oven. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (the wider the pot the better), and add the baking soda. Have a slotted spoon or skimmer nearby.
10. Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and gently drop them into the water, boiling only as many as will comfortably fit (they should float within 10 seconds). After 1 minute flip them over and boil for another minute. If you like very chewy bagels, you can extend the boiling to 2 minutes per side. While the bagels are boiling, sprinkle the same parchment-lined sheet pans with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you decide to replace the paper, be sure to spray the new paper lightly with spray oil to prevent the bagels from sticking to the surface.) If you want to top the bagels, do so as soon as they come out of the water. You can use any of the suggestions in the ingredients list or a combination.
11. When all the bagels have been boiled, place the pans in the 2 middle shelves in the oven. Bake for approximately 5 minutes, then rotate the pans, switching shelves, and giving the pans a 180-degree rotation. (If you are baking only 1 pan, keep it on the center shelf but still rotate 180 degrees.) After the rotation, lower the oven setting to 450 degrees and continue baking for about 5 minutes, or until the bagels turn light golden brown. You may bake them darker if you prefer.
12. Remove the pans from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for 15 minutes or longer before serving.
Nutrition information per bagel (calculated by the Tribune, without toppings):
280 calories, 4% calories from fat, 1.3 g fat, g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 730 mg sodium, 56 g carbohydrate, 9 g protein, 1.9 g fiber
