Richard Bertinet's White Dough

 

There's a story behind this.

The book was a library book. I had borrowed it during the school term but as papers and exams came crept up on me, I never got around to baking anything from it. But I didn't want to return it - just yet. I ended up renewing the book 3 times: the maximum number of times I recently realized (and probably would have renewed it again had I been allowed).

What intrigued me was Richard Bertinet's "kneading" technique. He explained that American bakers knead their dough on a "lightly" floured surface, ending up with much more flour than as stated in the recipe,  altering the final product. His method was to repeatedly stretch the dough and trap air inside, eliminating the need for any extra flour. It made perfect sense. The complementary CD made it look so simple.

On the day I finally got around to baking bread, I was ecstatic. I had the CD playing on my laptop in front of me while I was "kneading" my dough. I admit, it was a bit of a challenge. I had to replay the clip 3 times to finally get the dough to the state it was supposed to be in. But I knew all that work would be worth it in the end. So you see how frustrated I was when the dough failed to rise (at all) even after an hour and a half in a warm place. I called the book stupid. I blamed the author. I was not impressed.

I didn't want to waste my bread flour that I bought for the first time and since I was halfway to the finish line, I decided to continue on and see what happened. Afterall, as long as it was edible... right? So I divided the dough in two and waited another hour. And when I flipped back my tea towel, I was in shock. The bread had risen! It had worked. Who knows what happened during the first rising but... in the end, all turned out well. When the oven timer went off and I pulled my bread out of the oven, it was love at first sight. I might even buy the book now. Unless I find another bread book I fall in love with.

This might be my favorite bread recipe - yet.

chewyyy

White Dough
from Richard Bertinet's Dough: Simple Contemporary Breads

10g (1 1/2 tsp) fresh/active dry yeast
18 oz (3 3/4 - 3 7/8 cups) white bread flour
10g (about 2 tsp) fine-grain salt
13 fl. oz in a measuring cup (1 - 1 1/2 cups) water

Rub the yeast into the flour using your fingertips as if making a crumble. Add the salt and water. Hold the bowl with one hand and mix the ingredients around with the other for 2-3 minutes until the dough starts to form.

Make the dough according to this method: 1) Slide your fingers underneath with your thumbs on top 2) Swing the dough upwards then slap it down away from you 3) Stretch the front of the dough towards you 4) Lift it back over itself in an arc to trap in the air. Continue until a smooth dough forms.

Form into a ball by folding each edge in turn onto the center of the dough and pressing down well with your thumb, rotating the ball as you go. Turn the whole ball over and stretch and tuck the edges over. Put in floured bowl and sprinkle flour on top. Let rest for around 1 hour, until it is roughly double in volume.

To shape into loaves: flatten the ball of dough a little with the heel of your hands. Fold on edge into the center and press down with the heel of your hand. Fold the other edge over into the center and press down again. Fold over in half and then press down again firmly to seal the edges. Turn over and place (seam-side down) in a greased loaf pan and let rise 1 - 1 1/2 hours until the loaves have nearly doubled.

Preheat the oven to 475 F/250 C. Turn down the heat to 425 F/220 C and bake for 20-25min.