East Coast Baking

I'm having a brief moment of Type A-ness and have made two loaves of bread. It won't last. The bread nor the motivation.

The motivation to get baking may stem from coffee, but nevertheless I have two loaves of fresh homemade bread in my Nana Ursula's bread tin.


The recipe comes from a great book, which I received my equally great friend Sandra, West Coast Cooking by Greg Atkinson:




I love cookbooks and I have quite the collection. Some I just look at, some are dogeared and sticky and there are probably some I don't even know I have.  I love it when a giver writes a message in any of my books.  When I grab a book down and open it up I always reread any inscription and it always makes me happy. 


Better than Store-bought White Bread

This all-American white bread is not unique to the West Coast, but it was, in its day, as prevalent here as it was anywhere else.  Commercial yeast in a very soft dough makes for soft bread, reminiscent of the "batter-whipped" factory-made breads that gave American bread a bad name.  The difference is that this one has none of the strange-tasting chemical additives that make store-bought white bread so disagreeable.  Instead, this bread fills the house with pleasant aromas while it's baking and makes terrific sandwiches.

Makes two 9 x 5 inch loaves

2 Cups warm water
2 Tablespoons (2 packets) active dry yeast
2 Tablespoons sugar
5 Cups unbleached white flour, plus upt to 1/2 cup additional flour as needed
2 Tablespoons salt
2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar    

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer or in a large mixing bowl, stir together, the warm water, yeast and sugar.  Allow the mixture to stand until the yeast is softened, about  minutes, then stir until the yeast is completely dissolved.

2. If you are working with a stand mixer (which I did), pile in the flour, along with the salt and vinegar.  With the paddle attachment, mix on low speed to make a thick sticky batter.  If you are mixing the dough by hand, whisk in 1 cup of flour at a time until the batter is too thick to whisk, then switch to a wooden spoon and stir in the remaining flour.

3. Use the dough hook on the mixer, or turn the dough out onto a well-floured counter top and knead the dough, pressing and folding it until it is very springy, and sprinkling it with additional flour if needed to keep the dough from sticking to the counter.  Be careful not to add more flour than necessary, or the dough will be stiff and the bread will be heavy.  Once my dough stopped sticking to the kitchen aid bowl (I think I used an extra 1/2 cup flour) I let the dough hook work its business for 4 minutes.

4.  Leave the dough in the electric mixer bowl or return it to the regular mixing bowl.  Cover the bowl with a damp lint free kitchen towel or a piece of plastic wrap and pt it in a warm place until the dough is doubled in size, about an hour.  

5.  Lightly oil two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans with canola oil.  Punch the dough down, turn it out on to the counter and divide it in half.  Form each half into a ball.  Cover the balls of dough and let them rest for 10 minutes.  The will allow the gluten to relax.  The shape the loaves, roll each piece into a rectangle about 10 inches wide and 15 inches long.  Starting at the bottom, roll the dough like a jelly-roll, pressing it firmly to form a log.  Put the loaves into the oiled pans and allow them to rise until they are light and almost doubled in size, about 35 minutes.  While the loaves are rising, preheat the oven to 375F (190C)

6.   Bake until the tops of the loaves are brown and the loaves are baked through.  When the bread is ready, after about 35 minutes of baking, it will make a hollow sounds when tapped, and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the centre of a loaf will register about 195F (I didn't do this, so not sure on the C).  Turn the loaves out of the pans onto a cooling rack and cool to room temperature before slicing.