Bread Making Day For Beginners
Just a few days ago I met with a few friends I’ve made here in New York to show them how to make bread. On here I will show the recipe we’ve tried and also share a bit about how it went. I let the group choose what type of bread they wanted to make and they all voted for Zopf. It ended up being a great choice since it is made out of a classic sweet yeast dough. The only more complicated part is the braiding of the bread but my girls managed it like champs and so can you! Make sure to read the general tips before head straight into baking!
General Tips for Bread Making:
Dough
Use a cooking scale instead of cups to measure everything. It is a lot more precise.
Yeast needs food (flour, sometimes sugar) and warmth to grow. When letting your dough rise, make sure it is in a warm place without a draft.
Salt and heat kill yeast, make sure the salt doesn’t directly touch the yeast. Don’t add super hot liquids to your dough.
Kneading & Folding
Long kneading is necessary. Your dough should be soft and smooth by the end. Yes, it’s a workout!
Window Test: Take a golf ball sized piece of dough and pull it apart. If you are able to pull it until the dough becomes see-through without tearing, then your dough has been kneaded enough.
Stretch and Fold: Some types of bread need to be stretched during the rising process. This is to give the dough more oxygen to rise. For very sticky doughs, use wet hands to stretch and fold.
Baking
Put your baking tray in the oven while heating up your oven. Pull the bread onto the hot tray right before baking. It will make the bread crunchier and bigger.
Use a spray bottle with water when baking (explained in the recipes, if needed) The mist helps the bread to raise better and to get crunchy. If you don’t have a spray bottle you can fill a bowl with hot water and put it in the oven with the bread. Usually the bowl has to be removed from the oven after 10-15min of baking.
Preservation:
If you think you might not eat the entire bread right away, cut of half of the bread and freeze it in the freezer. When using it, let it thaw at room temperature (i do it over night) and bake it for 10min at 400F (200C).
If you have some old, stale leftover bread, hold the entire loaf under running water for a second. Then bake it at 400F (200C) until crunchy.
The Starter Recipe:
Zopf
Ingredients:
500g flour
1.5 Tsp salt
1 Tsp sugar
60g butter, melted
3dl milk
5g yeast
1 egg yolk
Instructions:
Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the yeast and sugar to the bowl and mix again.
Add milk to the melted butter. (I like to mix the two before adding to the flour. Like that the hot butter cools down and warms up the cold milk, so it’s neither to hot nor too cold for the yeast)
Knead the dough for a good 10 minutes. You can see if your dough is kneaded enough by doing the window test.
Cover the dough and let it rise until it doubles in size, usually around 1.5h.
Split the dough in half. Take one half and roll it into a long strand, leaving the middle of it a bit thicker than the ends. Set aside and do the same thing with the second strand.
Braid the dough as shown in the pictures. When I braid the bread I keep saying “left goes under and under goes left” in my head. Meaning the left strand will go below the right strand and the lower “under” strand will go left of the upper one. The end can sometimes be a bit tricky. Eventually just tuck the rest of the dough under the bread.
Set the Zopf on a tray with a baking sheet. Cover the bread and let it rise for another 15-30min. Preheat the oven to 400F. (200C)
Mix the yolk and a tbsp of milk in a cup. Lightly brush the entire bread with the mixture. Then bake your Zopf for 25-30min. Test if your bread is done by knocking on the bottom of it. If it sounds hollow, it is done.
Enjoy a slice of Zopf with butter and honey or jam.
The ladies are excited to see the dough rose
