Cuban Bread – About as simple as it gets!

If you’re looking for a quick and easy white bread recipe, this Cuban Bread is about as easy as it gets. It contains five simple ingredients: flour, yeast, salt, water, plus a little sugar and can be made in a couple of hours from start-to-finish. Now that’s what I call simple! 

Ilva of Lucullian Delights chose this Revolutionary Cuban Bread for the Bread Baking Babes.  I almost missed out baking with the babes this month, but this recipe is so quick and easy, I was able to make it in the evening even after a busy day in the office.

The final proofing for this bread is done in the oven while the oven is warming up.  You place the loaves in a cold oven with a steam pan of hot water underneath.  This differs from a lot of artisan breads that require preheating the oven during the final proofing of the dough, and then placing the loaves in the warm oven with a steam pan underneath.  I was intrigued by this process and enjoyed watching the bread unfold. The bread literally opened up during the bake like a beautiful flower. 

 

Cuban Bread Recipe

Makes: Two round loaves

From Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients:

• 700-840g (5-6 cups) of bread or all-purpose flour, I used all-purpose
• 18g (2 packages or 1 1/2 T) dry yeast, I used instant
• 15g (1 T) salt, I used Kosher salt
• 50g (2 T) sugar, I used raw sugar
• 450g (500 ml/ 2 cups) hot water
• sesame or poppy seeds for sprinkling (optional)

 

Directions:

1) Mix the dough by hand or mixer (15 mins)
Place 4 cups flour in a mixing bowl and add the yeast, salt and sugar. Stir until they are well blended. Pour in the hot water and beat with 100 strong strokes, or three minutes with a mixer flat beater. Gradually work in the remaining flour (using fingers if necessary), 1/2 cup at a time until the dough takes shape and is no longer sticky. I used about 5 cups of flour total.

 

2) Kneading the Dough (8 mins)
Sprinkle the work surface with flour. Work in the flour as you knead, keeping a dusting of it between the dough and the work surface.

 

Knead for 8 minutes by hand or with a dough hook until the dough is smooth, elastic, and feels alive under your hands.

 

3) Rising (15 mins)
Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and put in a warm (26-37°C/80-100°F) place until double in bulk, about 15 minutes.

 

4) Shaping the Loaves (4 mins)
Punch down the dough, turn it out on the work surface, and cut into two pieces. 

 

Shape each into a round. Place on the baking sheet. I used a parchment-lined baking sheet.

 

With a sharp knife or razor, slash X on each of the loaves. I used my new lame.

 

If desired, brush or spray with water, and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds.

 

5) Baking the Loaves (205°C/400°F; 45-50 mins)
Place the baking sheet on the middle shelf of a cold oven. Place a large pan of hot water on the shelf below, and heat the oven to 205°C/400°F. The bread of course, will continue to rise while the oven is heating. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until the loaves are a deep golden brown. Thump on the bottom crusts to test for doneness. If they sound hard and hollow, they are baked.

 

6) Cooling the loaves
Cool the loaves on a wire rack for about an hour before slicing if you can.

 

7) Slicing and Eating the Loaves

Now it’s time to enjoy.  This bread is really good considering the time it takes to make it.  I enjoyed it with peanut butter and just plain with butter.  It’s also good just plain.

This bread has been YeastSpotted. Please visit Wild Yeast to view all of the lovely breads in the weekly roundup.

 

Since this bread doesn’t contain any fat, it won’t keep very long so you’ll want to eat it right away or freeze it. This bread freezes really well so I froze one of the loaves to enjoy another day.

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Tuscan Bean Soup with Kale

I’ve been on a soup kick recently. It’s funny how your tastes evolve as you get older. For the longest time, I only enjoyed a few varieties of soup. Now, it seems I can’t get enough. Every time I see a new soup recipe, I want to try it.

This is one of those recipes. It’s a hearty vegetarian Tuscan Bean Soup that includes cannellini beans and kale.  I haven’t cooked with kale before so this was a good opportunity to try it.

This soup is very satisfying. I really like the flavor. Some of the comments on the original recipe stated that it was bitter. I didn’t find it to be bitter at all, but I made a couple of substitutions. I used balsamic vinegar instead of cider vinegar and added more beans and vegetable broth.

 

Cannellini Bean and Kale Soup

Serves: 4

Adapted from: Fine Cooking Cannellini Bean and Kale Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped (1-1/2 cups)
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped (3/4 cup)
• 2 medium celery stalks, finely chopped (3/4 cup)
• 1-1/2 tsp. minced fresh rosemary (I used dried rosemary)
• 2 Tbs. tomato paste
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbs.)
• 1 quart homemade or lower-salt vegetable broth (I used 4 cans)
• 3 15-oz. cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 6 oz. Lacinato kale, center ribs removed, leaves chopped (about 4 firmly packed cups)
• 1 Parmigiano-Reggiano rind (1x3 inches; optional)  (I didn’t add this)
• 1-1/2 tsp. cider vinegar (I used balsamic vinegar)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Directions:

Heat the oil in a 4- to 5-quart pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and rosemary and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 6 minutes.

 

Add the tomato paste and garlic and cook until fragrant, 45 seconds.

 

Add the broth, beans, kale, and Parmigiano rind (if using).

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer gently until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.

 

Stir the vinegar into the soup and season to taste with salt and pepper.

 

Enjoy!  I served this soup with a couple of slices of the Five Grain Spelt Levain. Yummy!

 

nutrition information (per serving, original recipe):
Calories (kcal): 280; Fat (g): 6; Fat Calories (kcal): 50; Saturated Fat (g): 1; Protein (g): 12; Monounsaturated Fat (g): 2.5; Carbohydrates (g): 46; Polyunsaturated Fat (g): 1.5; Sodium (mg): 700; Cholesterol (mg): 0; Fiber (g): 12;

Sprouted Spelt Bread

The HBinFive Baking Group is making sandwich breads this month. Sprouted Wheat Bread is one of my favorite sandwich breads so I decided to continue my experiment with different types of sprouted grains and come up with a new sprouted grain sandwich bread. I used my favorite sprouted bread recipe, but substituted spelt grains for the whole wheat grains and spelt flour for the whole wheat and bread flours. The finished bread is very tasty.

I milled spelt grains into flour and sifted part of the flour twice to remove a good bit of the bran.  I substituted the sifted spelt flour for the bread flour and the unsifted spelt flour for the whole wheat flour called for in the original recipe.

In the photo below, the sifted flour is shown in the top left.  The whole grain flour is in the bottom right and the sifted bran is shown in the bottom left.

 

Sprouted Spelt Bread Recipe

Adapted from The Pleasure of Whole-Grain Breads by Beth Hensperger

Makes: 3 Medium Loaves or 1 Pullman Loaf and 1 Small Loaf*

*The original recipe makes three medium loaves. I decided to make one loaf in my Pullman pan and one loaf in my small loaf pan.  I used about 2/3 of the dough for the Pullman loaf and the rest for the smaller loaf.

 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (4 oz) warm water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons (1 1/2 packages) active dry yeast
• Pinch of sugar
• Pinch of ginger
• 2 cups (260 g) whole spelt flour
• 1 cup (85 g) nonfat dry milk powder
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups (12 oz) warm water
• 1/4 cup (3 oz) honey
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Sprouted spelt berries, chopped (see method below)
• 4 cups (540 g) spelt flour (sifted once to remove the bran and germ)
• Wheat germ, for sprinkling (optional)
• Melted butter, for brushing (optional)

 

Directions:

Step 1: Sprouting the Spelt Berries

Duration: 2 to 3 days

Makes: ~2 cups

1/2 cup raw spelt berries

Place the spelt berries in a bowl and add tepid water to cover by 1 inch. Let stand at room temperature for 6 to 8 hours.

 

Drain the spelt berries and rinse with fresh water. Place in a 1-quart jar. Cover with cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band. Place the jar on its side in a warm, dark place. Twice a day, rinse and drain the berries with tepid water poured through the cheesecloth.

 

After 2 to 3 days, the spelt berries will sprout.  Refrigerate in a plastic bag for up to 3 days.  I sprouted the spelt berries for a couple of days, then refrigerated them for a few days until I was ready to bake the bread.

When you’re ready to bake the bread, grind the berries in a food processor or blender. Be careful not to over process; the berries should be chunky.

 

Step 2: Making the Bread

Pour 1/2 cup warm water into a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast, sugar, and ginger over the water. Stir to dissolve and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.

 

In a large bowl using a whisk or in the bowl of your mixer, combine the whole spelt flour, milk powder, and salt.

 

Add the warm water, honey, and 4 tablespoons butter. Mix by hand or beat in the mixer for 1 minute. Add the yeast mixture and beat 1 minute longer. Add all the spelt berries and the spelt bread flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating on low speed until a soft dough that just clears the sides of the bowl forms.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until soft and spongy, 1 to 2 minutes for a machine mixed dough and 3 to 4 minutes for a hand-mixed dough, dusting with flour only 1 tablespoon at a time, just enough as needed to prevent sticking.

 

Place dough in a lightly greased deep container, turn once to coat the top with oil, and cover with plastic wrap.

 

Let rise at room temperature until double in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

 

Grease a Pullman pan and an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan and sprinkle the bottom and sides with wheat germ.

Divide the dough into two pieces.  Use about 2/3 of the dough for the Pullman loaf and the rest for the smaller loaf or divide it into three pieces to make three medium loaves. Shape the dough into balls, cover them with plastic and let them rest on the counter for 10 to 15 minutes.

 

Shape the large dough ball into a cylinder shape.

 

Place the cylinder in the Pullman Pan and cover it with the lid.

 

Flatten the smaller dough ball on the counter and pat it into a rectangle.  Then, roll it up jellyroll style into a loaf shape. Press the seam closed with your fingers and place, seam side down, into the prepared pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until level with the rims of the pan, about 1 hour.

 

About 15 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and position a rack in the center of the oven. Bake the loaves for 45 to 50 minutes, or until crusty and golden. Remove the loaf from the pans to cool on a rack and brush the top with melted butter (if desired).

 

Let the loaves cool, then slice and enjoy. I like this bread, it has a great flavor.  It makes a great grilled cheese sandwich and tastes yummy spread with jam.

 

 

Thanks for joining me in the bread-baking blog. 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Five Grain Spelt Levain

I’m featuring breads made with Spelt during the month of January. Spelt is one of the super grains. It can be used as an exact substitute for whole wheat flour in baking recipes. Breads made with spelt have more protein, a deeper and richer flavor, and a slightly different texture than those made with wheat. All good things in my book. Try it, you’ll like it! 

To experiment with the versatility of Spelt, I decided to use Spelt flour instead of whole wheat flour in the next couple of breads for the Mellow Bakers.  The first bread is a Five Grain Levain. 

 

Five Grain Spelt Levain

I substituted freshly-milled spelt flour for the whole wheat flour and changed the mixture of grains in the soaker. I didn’t have any cracked rye or sunflower seeds, and I really wanted to use what I had on hand, so I substituted rye flakes for the chops and sesame seeds for the sunflower seeds.

Makes: 3 Loaves

Adapted from Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman 

Ingredients:

Liquid-Levain Build:

• 8 oz (1 7/8 cups) bread flour
• 10 oz (1 1/3 cups) water
• 1.6 oz (3 T) mature culture (liquid)

Soaker:

• 2.5 oz (3/4 cup) rye flakes or (2.9 oz (5/8 cup) cracked rye)
• 2.5 oz (3/4 cup) oats
• 2.9 oz (5/8 cup) flaxseeds
• 2.9 oz (5/8 cup) sesame seeds or (2.5 oz (1/2 cup) sunflower seeds)
• 13 oz (1 5/8 cups) cold water (if using cracked rye, use boiling water)
• .2 oz (1 tsp) salt

Final Dough:

• 1 lb (4 3/8 cups) high-gluten flour
• 8 oz (1 3/4 cups) spelt flour
• 8.4 oz (1 cup) water
• .6 oz (1 T) salt
• .1 oz (1 tsp) instant dry yeast (I retarded the dough overnight so I omitted the yeast)
• 1 lb, 8 oz soaker (all of above)
• 1 lb, 2 oz liquid levain (all less 3 T)

 

Directions:

1) Preparing the Liquid-Levain Build:

Prepare the sourdough by mixing all of the ingredients together.  Let it ripen for 12 to 16 hours at 70 degrees F.

 

2) Preparing the Soaker:

Pour the water over the grain blend and salt; mix thoroughly, and cover with plastic to prevent evaporation.

 

Make the soaker at the same time as the final build of the levain and let it stand at room temperature. 

Soaker after 16 hours

 

Liquid-levain after 16 hours

 

3) Mixing the Dough:

Add all of the ingredients to the mixing bowl.  In a spiral mixer, mix on first speed for 3 minutes, adjusting the hydration as necessary.  Mix on second speed for 3 to 3 1/2 minutes.  The dough should have moderate gluten development.  Desired dough temperature 76 degrees F.

 

4) Bulk Fermentation:

Place the dough in a clean bowl and let it bulk ferment for 1 to 1 1/2 hours if you plan on making the bread the same day.  Fold the dough after 45 minutes.

If you run out of time like I did, you can retard the dough overnight* for the final fermentation. In which case you would let the dough bulk ferment for 2 hours and fold it after 1 hour.

*Instead of retarding the dough in the refrigerator for the final fermentation, I let it bulk ferment overnight in the refrigerator. I also omitted the instant yeast since the dough benefits from a slow fermentation in the refrigerator and therefore does not need any additional yeast.

 

Dough after retarding in the refrigerator overnight

 

The next day, I let the dough warm up to room temperature before shaping the loaves and the final fermentation.

 

5) Dividing and Shaping the Dough:

Divide the dough into 1.5-pound pieces and shape them round or oblong.  I shaped the loaves into batards.

To learn how to shape a batard, refer to the Hutzelbrot post.

 

6) Final Fermentation:

Place the batards on parchment paper and cover them with plastic wrap. Let them ferment approximately 1 hour at 76 degrees F.  You can let the loaves retard in the refrigerator overnight at this point if you prefer instead of using my method outlined above*.

 

7) Preparing the Oven for Hearth Baking:

Prepare the oven for hearth baking by placing a baking stone on the middle rack of the oven and a steam pan underneath. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

 

8) Scoring the Loaves:

Score the loaves using a serrated knife of lame.  Since I had fermented the dough in the refrigerator and let it warm up to room temperature, it turned out to be a wet dough.  This was a good thing for the crumb, but made it a little bit tricky for scoring.

 

9) Baking the Loaves:

Once the oven is preheated, slide the breads (on the parchment paper) directly onto the baking stone and pour 1 cup of water in the steam pan. After 30 seconds, open the door, spray the walls with water, and close the door. Repeat twice more at 30-second intervals.

Bake the bread for 15 minutes, then lower the oven setting to 450 degrees F.  Continue baking for 30 minutes more.  Check the breads during the bake and rotate them 180 degrees for even baking if necessary.  Since there is a lot of water retention due to the grains, be sure to let the bread bake thoroughly.

 

9) Cooling and Slicing the Loaves:

Remove the loaves to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.

 

Slice and enjoy!

This bread has been YeastSpotted. Please visit Wild Yeast to view all of the lovely breads in the weekly roundup.

 

This is a wonderful bread. The combination of grains provides a unique texture as well as a pleasing color and flavor. It went really well with the homemade sausage marinara I made this past October using tomatoes from my abundant tomato harvest.  I had a very hectic week this week and it was nice to be able to relax and not have to worry about dinner. I didn’t take a photo of that part so you can use your imagination.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Semolina (Durum) Bread

The Mellow Bakers are winding down their journey through Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman.  I’ve been really mellow about baking with this group so I didn’t make all of the breads in the book, but I’ve tried to make at least one bread each month. This month, there are two different types of Semolina Breads on the list so I definitely didn’t want to miss out on that!  I just love breads made with Semolina.

This Semolina (Durum) Bread utilizes an old-fashioned type of sponge called a “flying sponge”. Don’t you just love that name! This type of sponge was common in Austria and England and probably got it’s name because of the yeast that is added to it; not to mention the fact that the fermentation is relatively short – usually no more than 1 hour.

 

Semolina (Durum) Bread

I used the ingredients from the formula in the book, but changed the process around a bit to suit my schedule.  After the bulk fermentation, it was late so instead of letting the dough rise in the baskets on the counter for an hour or so, I covered the baskets with plastic wrap and a towel and retarded them overnight.  I took them out the next day; let them warm up to room temperature, then I baked them using the steam method. 

Makes: Two large loaves

Adapted from Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman

Ingredients:

Sponge:

• 6.4 oz (1 1/2 cups) Durum flour
• 6.4 oz (1 1/2 cups) Bread flour
• 9 oz (1 1/8 cups) water
• .13 oz (1 1/4 tsp) yeast
• .6 oz (1/2 tsp) sugar

Dough:

• 9.6 oz (2 1/8 cups) Durum flour
• 9.6 oz (2 1/4 cups) Bread flour
• 10.8 oz (1 3/8 cups) water
• .6 oz (1 T) salt
• 1.6 oz (3 T) Extra-virgin Olive oil
• 1 lb, 6.5 oz (all of above) sponge

 

Directions:

Making the Sponge:

Mix the durum flour, bread flour, water, yeast, and sugar until evenly incorporated.  You can use the mixer, but I just used my Danish dough whisk. The sponge should be fairly loose.  Let the sponge ripen for about 1 1/4 hours, when it is on the verge of collapse.

 

Mixing the Dough:

Add all of the ingredients, including the sponge, to the mixing bowl and mix on first speed until all of the ingredients are incorporated, about 3 minutes.

 

Increase the speed to the second speed and mix for another 2 to 3 minutes.  The dough will be of medium consistency.  It should have noticeable gluten development.

 

Bulk Fermentation:

Let the dough bulk ferment for 1 1/2 hours and fold the dough after 45 minutes.  I let the dough bulk ferment for 2 hours and folded it about 1 hour, then I proceeded with the shaping.

 

Dividing and Shaping the Loaves:

Divide the dough into 1.5-pound pieces, preshape lightly into rounds and place the rounds on a lightly floured surface, seams up.  Cover the rounds with plastic.

 

After about 10-20 minutes, when the dough has relaxed sufficiently, shape it into tight round or oval loaves.  Place the loaves into floured bannetons.  I used one round and one oval banneton basket.  I always coat the inside of the baskets with a mixture of rice flour and all-purpose flour.  This mixture seems to help prevent the dough from sticking to the basket. 

At this point, I covered the baskets with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and placed them in the refrigerator to retard overnight.

 

Preparing the Loaves for Baking:

The next day, I removed the baskets of dough from the refrigerator and let them warm up to room temperature for about an hour or so.

 

Preparing the Oven for Hearth Baking:

I prepared the oven for hearth baking by placing a baking stone on the middle rack of the oven and a steam pan underneath. Then preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

I inverted the loaves onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.  They came out of the baskets really easily.

 

Scoring the Loaves:

I used my new Bordelaise Lame to score the loaves.  I’ll tell you more about it later.  I’m still testing it. So far I really like it!

 

I decided to try a different scoring on the round loaf.

 

I just scored the oval loaf straight down the middle.

 

Spray the top of the loaves with water and sprinkle them with sesame seeds. I should’ve done this before I scored it, but I sort of forgot.  I was too excited to try out my new lame.

 

Baking the Loaves:

Once the oven is preheated, slide the breads (on the parchment paper) directly onto the baking stone and pour 1 cup of water in the steam pan. After 30 seconds, open the door, spray the walls with water, and close the door. Repeat twice more at 30-second intervals.

Bake the bread for 15 minutes, then lower the oven setting to 450 degrees F.  Continue baking for 20 to 30 minutes more.  Check the breads during the bake and rotate them 180 degrees for even baking if necessary.

 

Cooling and Slicing the Loaves:

Remove the loaves to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.

 

Slice and enjoy!

This bread has been YeastSpotted. Please visit Wild Yeast to view all of the lovely breads in the weekly roundup.

 

The sponge gives this bread a lightness and a unique flavor. It has a nutty and crispy crust with a chewy interior. The fact that I fermented it overnight also added to the flavor and texture. I really like it!

I sent one of the loaves to my son in college.  He went back to school this past weekend, and he forgot his towels so I shipped the towels and a loaf of bread to him.  He’s been enjoying this bread along with some homemade Blueberry Jam. 

 

Mellow Bakers was started by Paul at Yumarama. We’re baking breads from Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy