A Test of Patience

It’s really amazing how yeast works. If you have never worked with yeast – it can be quite rewarding, yet frustrating at the same time. It must be coaxed out of its freeze-dried slumber, fed and bathed in a warm milk bath (sugar snack optional) only to be put through the paces in a mixer with the hopes of creating some sweet gas to inflate those bread molecules. Delicious, no? The actual making of bread doesn’t take too long, but it’s the waiting for those periods of activity that can really drive someone nutty. To make a bread recipe is a real test of one’s ability to plan ahead and read a recipe – in my case, I failed.

Bottom line – the recipe turned out beautifully – but it was also finished close to dinnertime! I completely misread the 2nd rise in the recipe. Here’s how it went:

Make dough – rise for 1 1/2 hours.
Punch dough down – rise for 1 1/2 hours.
Shape dough – rise for 30-40 min.
Bake for 45 min.

So there you go. Homemade bread, it’s delicious – but it take a long time.

For the rises – I left it in the warmest place in my apartment – my bathroom!

Before the third rise – the rolling out & swirling.

Letting the freshly baked loaf rest…as Barricelli suggests, “on its side”. It took a great deal of self control not to rip it apart and shove it in my mouth right there. The crust was…buttery and flaky – almost croissant-like.

Ah yes, I forgot to mention. Doused in syrup & then rolled in sugar. Oh yeah.

My twist on it this week was a cinnamon-raisin swirl. Overall, it was great, although I think I could have rolled it out thinner and made the swirl a little tighter. The gaps in the bread wasn’t as aesthetically pleasing but made for extra-eggy French toast the next day.

Having my coffee while prepping my breakfast. It was a good Sunday morning 🙂

The recipe was from the Sono Cookbook by John Barricelli – who mentions that he wakes up in the middle of the night to get started….I can see why!!