Sometimes, even with years and years and loaves and loaves of experience, a baker has an 'on' day. Yesterday was mine.
No, I don't have a photo: seriously, this was delicious bread. All gone....
Here's the recipe I used:
2cups hot tap water
1/2 tbsp dry yeast
1/4 cup 10% cream
1/2 tbsp salt
1/2 cup BROWN sugar
2 eggs
4 cups of unbleached flour to start
You can also add ground flax - 1/2 to 3/4 cups.
Beat all this with electric beaters for 3 - 4 minutes. The dough will climb up your beaters but don't worry; it won't get you....
Add in 2 - 3 cups more flour. When the dough is too stiff to be stirred with a fork, dump it out onto a floured surface and kneed it, adding in flour until the dough becomes smooth and elastic and is still very slightly sticky.
Return dough to the bowl. Let rise until double - about an hour - covered with a tea towel.
Punch dough down and turn out onto a floured surface. Kneed 2 - 3 minutes to extract as many air bubbles as possible.
Divide into two equal-sized parts; kneed each into a loaf-shaped log and put each into a lightly-greased loaf pan. Let rise until double - 45 - 55 minutes.
Pre-heat oven to 350F. Bake loaves 23-25 minutes until golden brown. Loaves are done when they are a beautiful colour and when they sound hollow when tapped with the handle of a wooden spoon. Do not over-cook.
Remove from oven and let sit five minutes to cool down. GENTLY turn the loaves out onto a clean tea-towel. If you won't eat them within 24 hours freeze in large freezer bags to maintain that just-baked freshness.
NOTE: Safeway in my community sold me 1 lb dry yeast - the stuff they use in their bakery - for about $1.50. I don't know whether the bakery staff was supposed to sell me yeast like that, given there's tons of it on their shelves, pre-packaged and four times the cost - but they did. Never hurts to ask.
