Pizza Napoletana

This week in the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge, we made the 25th bread in the challenge: Pizza Napoletana. Wow! Have we really made that many breads? My, how time flies while you're having fun, as the saying goes...

I love making pizza! I've been really psyched about trying this one.  I agree with Peter Reinhart's contention that it is the crust, not the toppings, that make a good pizza.  For some time now, I've been on a quest to find Pizza Nirvana, and I do believe this pizza crust has earned a place on my list of favorites.

Some of my other favorite pizzas are: Bread Machine Deep Dish Pizza prepared in a bread machine and baked in a La Cloche, No Knead Deep Dish Pizza made with a mixture of all-purpose and Semolina flours and baked in a 9" x 13" pan, and Brick Oven-Style Pizza made with a poolish and baked on a baking stone.

According to Peter Reinhart, "the single biggest flaw in most pizza dough recipes is the failure to instruct the maker to allow the dough to rest overnight in the refrigerator.  This gives the enzymes time to go to work, pulling out subtle flavor trapped in the starch.  The long rest also relaxes the gluten, allowing you to shape the dough easily, minimizing the elastic springiness that so often forces you to squeeze out all the gas." 

This Pizza Napoletana is similar to brick oven pizza in that it utilizes a poolish but it seems to have a smoky flavor.  Or, maybe it's because I rolled the dough too thin and it got a little burnt on the bottom. I don't know, but it sure was good!   All I know is that pizzas made with a poolish are so much better that there really is no comparison. I really liked this pizza and so did my taste tester.


Pizza Napoletana
I used the pizza dough from the Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart.

Before we get to the pizza crust, let me tell you about my favorite pizza sauce.  I've also been on a quest to create a homemade pizza sauce that is worthy of all of these wonderful crusts.  I found a combination I like.  It has a little kick to it which my sons and I really enjoy.

Here is my go to pizza sauce recipe. It's a combination of a couple of different recipes. It makes enough to top several medium pizzas.

My Favorite Pizza Sauce Recipe

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (you can add more if you like)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, undrained (or you can use fresh tomatoes if in season).
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (or use dried basil if you prefer)
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (I usually add a little more because I like the flavor)
  
  

Directions:

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon olive oil to pan. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes or until tender. Add garlic to pan; sauté 30 seconds. Stir in wine; cook 30 seconds. Add tomato paste, oregano, black pepper, salt, crushed red pepper flakes, bay leaf and tomatoes and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes or until thick. Then stir in basil and vinegar and cool. It took about 30 minutes for my sauce to thicken. It also cooked down a good bit. This makes a chunky sauce so if you prefer a smooth sauce, you can puree it in the blender. I like it either way but my taste tester prefers the sauce smooth so I usually puree it.  Feel free to experiment.


Now on to the pizza crust....


Making the Pizza

On the day you want to make the pizza, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator 2 hours before making the pizza. 

Dust the counter with flour, and then mist the counter with spray oil.  Place the dough balls on top of the floured counter and sprinkle them with flour; dust your hands with flour.  Gently press the dough into flat disks about 1/2 inch thick and 5 inches in diameter.

Sprinkle the dough again with flour, mist it again with spray oil, and cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag.  Let rest for 2 hours.

Baking the Pizza

45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lowest rack of the oven.  At least that's where it works best for my oven.  Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500 to 550 degrees).  I baked the first pizza at 550 degrees and it burned a little bit so I lowered the temperature to 500 degrees for the second one and that seemed to work out better.  If you don't have a baking stone, you can use the back of a sheet pan, but don't preheat the pan.

Generously dust a peel or the back of a sheet pan with semolina flour or cornmeal.  I used cornmeal.  Make the pizzas one at a time.  Dip your hands, including the backs of your hands and knuckles, in flour and lift 1 piece of dough by getting under it with a dough scraper.


I'll just let you know right now that I didn't shape the pizza exactly the way the book describes.  I still don't have the hang of stretching the pizza in the air and then tossing it. I did stretch it in the air a little bit, then finished stretching it on the counter.  I didn't need a rolling pin, I just used my fingers to spread the dough out.  

When you've stretched the dough enough (about 9 to 12 inches in diameter), lay it on the peel, making sure there is enough semolina flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide.  Or, you can do what I did and place the dough on parchment sprinkled with cornmeal then transfer the whole thing to the peel.  I find that much easier to manage.

I parbaked the first pizza crust for a few minutes before adding the toppings.  I didn't parbake the second pizza and we could definitely tell the difference.  We like it parbaked much better!

Lightly top the pizza with sauce and then with your favorite toppings.  In addition to the yummy pizza sauce, I topped my pizza with onions, green peppers and mozzarella cheese.

Slide the pizza onto the stone and close the door.  Wait 2 minutes, then take a peak to make sure it is baking evenly.  If necessary, you can rotate the pizza for even baking. The pizza should take about 5 to 8 minutes to bake.

 

Cooling and Serving the Pizza

Remove the pizza from the oven and transfer to a cutting board.  Wait 3 to 5 minutes before slicing and serving, to allow the cheese to set slightly.  This was the hard part!  But we managed.

 

Now it's time to enjoy some of this yummy pizza!

Thanks for joining us this week in the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge!  And, a big thanks to Nicole at Pinch My Salt for getting us started on this journey.  We're learning a lot and having loads of fun!

The next bread in Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge, is Poolish Baguettes. 

 

Happy Baking!
Cathy

 

Altamura (Semolina) Bread

Today I’m featuring Altamura Bread.  I really like breads made with semolina flour and this bread is no exception.

 

Semolina flour feels gritty when dry, but doughs made with this flour become smooth and silky and very easy to work with. This particular bread incorporates semolina flour as well as a sponge of whole wheat and all purpose flour for a beautiful, rustic texture. It's a delightful bread!

 

 

 

Altamura is a town in Puglia, Italy where they grow their own Durum wheat. This wheat is so special that the Altamurans have achieved the DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) for their breads which are made with semolina flour milled from the durum wheat grown in the area.

 

Although my version is made with flour from the farmer’s market, and not flour from Italy, it delicious nonetheless.

 

 

Altamura (Semolina) Bread

Makes: 1 small loaf

 

The recipe for this Semolina bread is from Bread Matters: The state of modern bread and a definitive guide to baking your own. For more information about the book, please read my review of Bread Matters.

 

 Ingredients:

 

Sponge:

• 1/4 heaping teaspoon active dry yeast
• 2/3 cup Water
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon stoneground breadmaking whole-wheat or graham flour

 

Final Dough:

• 1/2 cup Sponge (from above)
• 1 2/3 cups Semolina flour
• 3/4 teaspoon Sea salt
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Water
  

Directions:

Making the Sponge

To make the sponge, dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the flours and mix to a soft sponge.  There is no need to mix it vigorously.  It will ferment for a long time so the naturally occurring enzymes and acids will develop the gluten.

Put the sponge in a bowl with plenty of room for expansion (up to 3 times its volume) and cover with a lid or plastic bag to conserve moisture.   Let it ferment at room temperature for 16-48 hours.  During this time the sponge will rise up and collapse.  The yeast cells will multiply and the acids will begin to develop.

I marked it with the date and time so I could remember how long to let it rest on the counter.  I made the sponge on Sunday, then made the dough and baked it on Tuesday.

Here is the dough after resting on the counter for 2 days.  You can see how it has risen then fallen.

Making the Dough

Add the semolina, salt, and water at a temperature that will finish the dough at about 81 degrees F.

 

Knead it well until the dough is silky and stretchy.  If it's hard to stretch and seems to tear easily, add some more water.  It takes semolina a little while to absorb its full complement of water because the granules are bigger than flour.  Be prepared to adjust the dough while you are kneading.

I didn't have to add more water, but I did add some more flour because the dough was just too wet.  There, now I can stretch it without it tearing or sticking to the counter too much.

Put the dough in a bowl.  Cover it with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for1-2 hours.  This is the dough after rising on the counter for 1 1/2 hours.

Mold into an oval loaf that is slightly tapered at the ends, the shape of a rather fat football. Dip the loaf into a bowl of semolina flour so that the whole thing is covered.  The semolina coating gives a wonderful crunch and nutty flavor to the crust. If the dough is too dry for the semolina to stick to it, wet it and try again.  I just rolled it in the semolina on the counter to cover it.  Couldn't really get a photo of this because I didn't have enough hands. 


Dust a lined baking sheet with semolina flour and place the molded loaf on it.  I put my loaf on a parchment-lined peel dusted with semolina flour so I could slide it off onto the hot baking stone.  Cover the loaf with plastic wrap.

Allow plenty of time for a full proof so the bread will expand.

When the loaf is well risen, take a sharp blade (I used a serrated bread knife) and make 2 cuts, from point to point, about 3/8 inch apart at their widest and following the "contours" of the loaf.  I followed the contour for the cut on the right but I didn't quite get the one on the left curved the right way.  We'll get it right one day!

Slide the loaf onto a baking stone that has been preheated with the oven as hot as possible -- 450 to 470 degrees F.

 

Close the door as quickly as possible and bake the loaf for about 30 minutes, reducing the oven temperature by 60 to 70 degrees after 10 minutes or so.  I preheated my oven to 475 degrees F. and baked the loaf for ten minutes at that temperature, then lowered it to 425 degrees F to finish baking.

 

The finished loaf should have a golden brown crust that is quite hard immediately after baking.

The 2 cuts should have helped the inside of the dough to expand and push up a little through the crust.  There should be a pleasing contrast between the cuts and the semolina-dusted crust.  Allow the bread to cool before slicing or serving.

 

Now, it's time to enjoy a slice!

 

 

It tastes great toasted with butter or jam. I particularly like it with Pear Pineapple Jam.

 

 

I'm submitting this bread to Bread Baking Day #24 -- Mixed Breads.  This bread qualifies as a mixed bread since it utilizes a sponge of whole wheat, and all-purpose flour in addition to the semolina flour.  Very yummy indeed!

 

Bread Baking Day #24

 

To learn more about BBD #24, click here.

 

You have until December 1st to submit your own mixed bread.  Go ahead and get started...

 

Be sure to check out all of the fabulous breads in the BBD #24 Roundup.  You'll definitely want to start baking once you see them.  I already want to start baking them.  So many breads...so little time.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

Thanks for visiting The Bread Experience Bread-Baking Blog. We hope you enjoyed your visit and will join us again next time.

Happy Baking!
Cathy 

 

Bread Matters: The state of modern bread...

For the past several weeks, I’ve been reading (devouring rather) Bread Matters: The state of modern bread and a definitive guide to baking your own by Andrew Whitley.  This book had been on my reading list for several months so when the publisher contacted me to see if I would like to review it, I was delighted.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who bakes their own bread, but also to those who don't bake their own bread yet because I believe it will open your eyes to some interesting insights about the bread industry as well as introduce you to some really great bread tips and techniques!

Would you like to win your own copy of Bread Matters?

The publisher provided an extra copy of the book to give to all the wonderful visitors to The Bread Experience blog and web site.  To enter the giveaway, all you need to do is click here and post a comment about why bread matters to you...



The deadline for entering the contest has been extended to Nov. 20th.  Anyone that entered the drawing  by submitting a bread recipe is already in the hat.  Thank you so much for your submission!

Or, you can always get a copy of the book by visiting our Bread Cookbooks store.


Now, on to the review...

The author, Andrew Whitley, is a professional organic baker who has been baking bread in his award-winning bakery in Cumbria, England, since 1976.  He founded Bread Matters, an organization devoted to improving the state of bread, in 2002.  He is also one of the founders of the Real Bread Campaign in Britain. Although this book was written about the state of the bread industry in the UK, it has been updated with references to the U.S and definitely addresses concerns we face here as well.

What initially caught my attention was the background information the author provides on the issues surrounding commercial bread production.  He provides a breakdown of the different enzymes used in breads and what they are used for. I found it very interesting and a bit disturbing that this information is not necessarily disclosed on all labels.  I have a friend who is a vegetarian so information on the types of enzymes that could potentially be in his bread is particularly important to him.  Even though I’m not a vegetarian, some of the information isn’t very appealing to me, either.  I prefer to know what’s in the food I eat.

I’m a big proponent of making my own bread.  In fact, I’m fascinated by the whole process – from the wheat seed planted in the ground to the flour used to make the bread I put on the table. I really like what Mr. Whitley has to say about quality, wholeness, and health. “When we choose a loaf of bread, we are not simply choosing a shape, a flavor, or even the method that was used to make it.  We can also choose how its basic ingredient is grown. We can opt for bread made with organic flour…Or we can choose flour from conventional wheat production…”   I already incorporate organic flours in my breads whenever possible and mill most of my own whole wheat flour, but this book has inspired me to do further research into the quality of flours and grains that I use. 

In addition to the information on flour, wheat production and the bread industry, I really enjoyed reading his comments regarding illogical instructions for bread-baking.  I’ve wondered about a lot of these instructions myself.  I had to chuckle when he talked about “making a well in the flour”.  I never have understood the purpose for that and as it turns out, there isn’t one – well, at least not a modern one.  This myth is probably from a time when bread was made in large quantities.  According to the book, “the bread consumption in a country clergyman’s family in the middle of the nineteenth century was about five pounds of bread per person a week – equivalent to not far short of a small loaf each per day, or more than three times what the average person consumes now.” Wow!  That’s a lot of bread!  A lot of wonderful, delicious bread! 

As you can tell, I enjoyed reading this book.  It has a wealth of information.  Not only does it provide interesting insights on what goes into breads, it also includes some wonderful recipes (more than 50) and great tips for simplifying the bread-making process. There are chapters on Starting from Scratch, Bread--A Meal in Itself, Easy as Pie, and chapters on gluten-free baking and how to use day-old bread.  You can bet that I’ll be baking breads from this book.

In fact, I already tried the Altamura bread.  It's a delicious, Semolina bread that utilizes a sponge of whole wheat, and all-purpose flour. Look for the post on making Altamura bread soon.

We would love to know your thoughts on why bread matters to you. Click here to leave a comment and enter the drawing or just feel free to leave a comment.

Making Jam: Cranberry Pear Jam

When I saw this Autumn Cranberry Pear Jam, I just had to make it!  I love pears and the addition of cinnamon and dried cranberries gives this jam a burst of fall flavor that will delight your taste buds. This is a delicious and easy jam to make and it has a beautiful rich color.  Perfect for November!

I've been canning up a storm this year.  I need to start giving some away some of these jams, but I've gotten attached to them.  Well, Christmas will be here before you know it.  You know what I'll be giving this year.

 

For this recipe, be sure to use fully ripe pears so they can be crushed easily.  I peeled and chopped the pears, put them in a covered container, and placed them in the refrigerator for a couple of days to make sure they were fully ripe and easy to crush. 

Autumn Cranberry Pear Jam
Makes: Six to eight 8-ounce jars

Recipe from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.

 

Ingredients:

• 3 cups crushed cored peeled pears
• 2/3 cup coarsely chopped dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup unsweetened apple juice
• 1/4 cup bottled lemon juice
• 5 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pouch liquid pectin

 

Directions:

 
Step 1: Crush the pears and chop the cranberries.
I started with these delicious pears.  I peeled, cored, cut them up and put them in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

It was much easier to crush the pears after they had been in the refrigerator. I used the potato masher to crush them.  It worked great!

Step 2: Prepare the canner, jars and lids. For detailed instructions on water-bath canning, please refer to the instructions on the National Center for Home Preservation site. See resources at the bottom.

Step 3: Cook the fruit mixture. In a large, deep stainless steel pan, combine pears, cranberries, apple juice, lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon.  Over high heat, stirring constantly, bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Stir in pectin.

 

Step 4: Boil until gel forms and skim off foam. Boil hard, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and skim off any foam.

 

Step 5: Ladle jam to the jars. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.

 

Step 6: Remove air bubbles, add lids and rings and tighten.  Remove any air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot jam.  Wipe rim.  Center lid on jar and screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

 

Step 7: Process the jars using the water-bath canning method.  Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completed covered with water.  Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes (if altitude is less than 1000).  If you live in a higher altitude or need more detailed instructions on water-bath canning, please refer to the instructions on the National Center for Home Preservation site.

 

Step 8: Prepare the jars for storage.  Remove canner lid.  Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store. Here is my stash of Autumn Cranberry Pear Jam.

 

In addition to the Ball Book on Canning, I've been using the following resources as a reference in my canning adventures.  You might enjoy them as well:

• Canning Across America
• Well Preserved
• National Center for Home Preservation  
• Keeping The Harvest: Discover the Homegrown Goodness of Putting Up Your Own Fruits, Vegetables & Herbs

Happy Canning!

Cathy

Panettone: BBA Challenge

It's day 24 in the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge and we're making Panettone.  I thought about skipping this one until December but I didn't want to get out of sequence in the challenge so I just took a little break.  You probably didn't miss me because I've been making other breads and jams in the meantime. 

It's November and I'll be making festive breads this month anyway so I decided it was time to make the Panettone.  I'll just freeze it until December.  It is an enriched bread so it should freeze pretty well.

A bit of Panettone history ...

Panettone is an Italian Christmas Bread that originated in Milan. There are differing stories surrounding the origins of this bread but my favorite is the one that Peter Reinhart recounts in his book. Legend has it that the bread was created a few hundred years ago by a humble baker named Tony to woo his beloved, the daughter of a rich merchant.  More importantly, he had to win over the father to the idea of his daughter marrying a baker, so he pulled out all the stops and filled this bread with the baker's equivalent of the gifts of the wise men: butter, brandied dried and candied fruits, nuts, and sugar.  The merchant was so impressed that he not only gave his daughter in marriage, but also set Tony up with his own bakery in Milan with the promise that he would continue to make his bread, pane Tony.

Panettone
Makes: Two large loaves, a bunch of small loaves or a combination

 

Recipe found on page 202 of the Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart.

 

 

Ingredients:

Wild-Yeast Sponge

• 1 cup (7 ounces) mature starter
• 1 cup (8 ounces) milk, lukewarm (90 to 100 degrees F.)
• 1 cup (4.5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

Fruit Blend

• 1 cup (6 ounces) golden raisins
• 1 cup (6 ounces) candied fruit blend (or dried fruit, such as dried cranberries, apricots, and apples)
• 1/2 cup (6 ounces) brandy, rum, or whiskey
• 1 tablespoon (.5 ounce) orange or lemon extract
• 1 tablespoon (.5 ounce) vanilla extract or Fiori di Sicilia (a blend of extracts and floral oils)

Dough Ingredients

• 3 cups (13.5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons (1.5 ounces) granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon (.19 ounce) salt
• 1 tablespoon (.33 ounce) instant yeast
• 1 large (1.65 ounces) egg, at room temperature and slightly beaten
• 1 large (.65 ounce) egg yolk
• 4 to 6 tablespoons (2 to 3 oz) water, lukewarm (90 to 100 degrees F.)
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup (5 ounces) blanched almonds, slivered or chopped

 

Preparing the Wild-Yeast Sponge

The day before making the bread, add a cup of barm (wild-yeast starter) in a medium mixing bowl.  Peter Reinhart outlines his method for making barm on page 230; however, I have 3 starters in the refrigerator so it didn't make since for me to make another one. 

 

I used the starter I created in 2007 from a recipe from the Boudin Bakery in San Francisco. It took me a little while to get the flavor of the starter right. I had to throw it away a couple of weeks after I started it because it turned pink. I started it again a few weeks later and it's been working fine ever since.


Mix in the milk and flour just long enough to hydrate all the flour and to make a sponge.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough ferment at room temperature for approximately 4 hours, or until the sponge begins to foam and bubble, then put it in the refrigerator overnight.

Soaking the fruit

While you're waiting for the sponge to ferment, mix together the raisins and candied fruit in a bowl.  Add liquor (I used rum) and extracts. 

Cover the bowl and let this sit out overnight to allow the fruit to fully absorb the liquid.


Mixing the Dough

The next day, remove the wild-yeast sponge from the refrigerator 1 hour before making the dough to take off the chill.

Stir together the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a 4-quart bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer).   Add the sponge, egg, and egg yolk.  Stir (or mix) these together until the form a firm, but supple, ball.  I started out using my stand mixer but decided partway through to switch to the Danish dough whisk.

Add as much of the lukewarm water as needed to form a dough.  I didn't need to add any of the water. The sponge provided enough liquid because of the consistency of the starter that I used to make the sponge. 

Stop mixing and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes to let the gluten begin to develop.   Add the softened butter and the soaked fruit mixture and continue mixing until the ingredients are evenly distributed.

 

Transfer the dough to a counter sprinkled with flour and knead the dough gently for 2 to 4 minutes, until it is soft and supple but not overly sticky although it can be very tacky.   Gradually work in the almonds until they are evenly distributed.

Add flour if necessary (you will probably have to sprinkle small amounts of flour continually as you knead to keep it from sticking to your hands, but use only the minimum necessary to allow you to knead without getting the dough all over your hands).

To keep the dough from sticking to my hands and to keep from adding too much flour, I periodically dipped my hands in flour and rubbed them together to get the mixture off my hands and incorporate it back in the dough.  This way, I didn't have to wash my hands every time I needed to take a photo.  Besides, they just get sticky again and washing them off wastes the dough.   You can see the sprinkles of dough that came off of my hands in the photo above and below.

The entire kneading process, after the resting period, should take 6 to 10 minutes.  The dough should be soft and supple, tacky but not sticky. It took me a good 10 minutes (maybe a little more) to get the dough the right consistency.

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 let the dough ferment at room temperature for approximately 2 hours.  During this time, it will rise very slowly and only increase to about 1 1/2 times its original size.

Preparing Panettone Pans

You can use professional panettone papers or prepare the pans as shown below:

Use the bottom of a round pan to trace a circle on baking parchment.  Cut out the circle and place it in the bottom of the pan.  You can also make a parchment collar to ensure easy removal after baking.  I decided to use a springform pan for easy removal but I also lined it with parchment paper.

Shaping the Loaves

Divide the dough into the desired sizes.  If you are making large 2-pound loaves, divide the dough in half and round the pieces into 2 boules.  Place them into the prepared pans.  Press the dough down slightly to spread it into the papers or pans.  The dough should reach halfway up the forms. 

I made one large loaf and a bunch of smaller loaves.

To make mini panettones, you can use individual baking papers or grease muffin pans and fill each cup half full.

Mist the dough with spray oil and loosely cover the pans with plastic wrap.

Proof the dough at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until it nearly doubles and has risen just to the height of the pans.

Baking the Loaves

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees with the oven rack in the lower third of the oven.   Bake large loaves for up to 1 1/2 hours, depending on the oven.  Bake mini loaves for 25 to 35 minutes.  The top of the dough could get very brown before the center is baked.  If so, cover the tops with aluminum foil or a sheet of baking parchment.  My loaf was starting to get too brown on top so I covered it with baking parchment.

The finished bread should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom, and be golden brown all around.

Transfer the loaves to a cooling rack and thoroughly cool before serving, at least 2 hours.  These breads are best kept by wrapping them in aluminum foil after they completely cool.  You can store them at room temperature for as long as 2 weeks.

You can also freeze them for up to 3 months to save for special occasions.  That's what I'm going to do with the big one. 

 

I know I said I would freeze all of the bread, but I think we'll just eat the mini ones.  They make good snacks. Yummy!

 

I'm submitting these delicious loaves to YeastSpotting, a bread roundup hosted by Susan of Wild Yeast.  Please visit Wild Yeast to view all of the lovely breads in the roundup.

 

Thanks for joining us this week in the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge!

The next bread in Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge, is Pizza Napoletana (page 207).  I can't wait to try this one.  I love pizza! 

Happy Baking!
Cathy