{"id":129695,"date":"2025-03-13T02:10:05","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T02:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/recipes\/category-a-b\/bread\/10th-anniversary-bread-baking-babes-celebrate\/"},"modified":"2025-03-13T02:10:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T02:10:05","slug":"10th-anniversary-bread-baking-babes-celebrate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=129695","title":{"rendered":"10th Anniversary! Bread Baking Babes celebrate"},"content":{"rendered":"


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This is the 10th Anniversary of our Babe-dom and aren\u2019t we still looking
\ncute? 10 years of baking bread together, every month one of us picks the next
\nchallenge and we bake, we try, we drink endless bottles of virtual wine. Same
\nrecipe, different kitchens, using local flour and sharing what we found. You can
\nread all about our monthly recipe at the Kitchen of the Month, our individual
\nposts to be found at our respective personal blogs. Every once in a while life
\nhas us take a place on the bench in the back (there where an extra bottle of
\nspirits is taped under) but we bounce back and bake on. We\u2019ve had Babes on
\nHiatus, Babes backing out for various life-living reasons. We were shocked to
\nhear of the passing of one of our early Babes Sher.<\/p>\n

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Tanna and I started this from enjoying the Daring Bakers (remember?) and
\ndecided we wanted this club to stay small and together so there were the Baking
\nBabes\u2026 and from it the Baking Buddies were born. Lien (Notitie van Lien)<\/a>\u00a0is the genius behind all the (Buddy) Badges and… drum roll; she baked ALL our challenges. I think that’s worth a special mention!<\/p>\n

Our first combined effort in February 2008 was a bread in the “wet dough
\nspectrum”; specifically the\u00a0Royal Crown Tortano<\/strong>. (Recipe\u00a0Maggie
\nGlezer\u2019s Artisan Baking<\/a>) Characteristics of this bread are a mild
\npre-ferment, the addition of a small amount of potato in the dough, very very
\nlong rising time but little handling of the dough, using the tiniest amount of
\nyeast to produce a deep dark brown crusty loaf of bread. Above is how it looked back in 2008!<\/p>\n

We decided to bake this iconic bread again for our 10th Anniversary! And this is how it looks like today:<\/p>\n

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So yes, this is a 74% liquid dough, silken and smooth and quite a challenge
\nto handle. This time the hole in the middle closed up during baking, the crust
\nas it should be, crackling and the crumb shot through with large holes. Dipped
\nin olive oil\u2026. or a lick of salted butter?
I’ve made this bread several times and already posted the\u00a0recipe
\nin Dutch\u00a0<\/a>and talked about the bread\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0here<\/a>.
\nThe recipe in English:<\/p>\n

\nRoyal Crown Tortano – revisited<\/h5>\n

(based
\non Karen’s (Bake My Day) 2008 take on Maggie Glezer’s recipe<\/a>)\u00a0
\n
\nRecipe Synopsis<\/p>\n

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The Evening Before Baking:<\/u> Make the starter and if
\nyou like the mashed potato.
\nThe Next Morning:<\/u> Mix the dough and let it
\nferment for about 4 hours. Shape it, proof it for about 1 1\/2 hours, and then
\nbake the bread for about 45 minutes.
\nThe Evening Before Baking: Making the
\nPre-Ferment:
\n
Pre-Ferment Ingredients <\/u>
\n1 gm (1\/4 tsp) instant
\nyeast
\n240gm (1 cup) water 105 – 115 degrees F
\n100gm (2\/3 cup) unbleached
\nbread flour
\n85gm (1 small) potato
\nStir the yeast into the water in a glass
\nmeasure and let it stand for 5 – 10 minutes. Add 1\/3 cup of this yeasted
\nwater (discard the rest)<\/i> to the flour and beat this very sticky starter
\nuntil it is well combined. Cover with plastic wrap and let it ferment until it
\nis full of huge bubbles and sharp tasting, about 12 hours. If your kitchen is
\nvery warm and the pre-ferment is fermenting very quickly, place it in the
\nrefrigerator after 3 hours of fermenting. In the morning, remove it and allow it
\nto come to room temperature 30 minutes to an hour before beginning the final
\ndough
\n
Preparing the Potato:<\/u> For efficiency, you may want to
\nprepare the potato the night before. Quarter it, then boil it in water to cover
\nuntil it can be easily pierced with a knife tip, about 20 minutes. Drain; if
\ndesired, reserve the water for the dough. Press the potato through a ricer or
\nsieve to puree it and remove the skin. Store it in a covered container in the
\nrefrigerator. You will need only 1\/4 cup puree.<\/p>\n

Bake Day: Mixing
\nthe Dough<\/strong>
Dough Ingredients <\/u>
575gm\u00a0 (3+3\/4 cups)
\nunbleached bread flour
420gm (1+3\/4 cups plus 3 Tbsp) Water, including the
\npotato water if desired, lukewarm
all of the pre-ferment
11gm (2 tsp)
\nhoney
60gm (1\/4 cup packed) Potato puree
16gm (scant 1 Tbsp)
\nsalt<\/p>\n

By Hand:<\/u> Use your hands to mix the flour and water into a
\nrough, very wet dough in a large bowl. Cover the dough and let rest (autolyse)
\nfor 10 – 20 minutes.
Add the pre-ferment, honey, potato, and salt, and knead
\nthe dough until it is smooth, 5 – 10 minutes. It will start off feeling rubbery,
\nthen break down into goo; if you persist, eventually it will come together into
\na smooth, shiny dough. If you do not have the skill or time to knead it to
\nsmoothness, the bread will not suffer. This is a tremendously wet and sticky
\ndough, so use a dough scraper to help you but do not add more flour, for it will
\nruin the texture of the bread.
By Stand Mixer: <\/u>With your hands or a
\nwooden spoon, mix the flour and water into a rough, very wet dough in the work
\nbowl of your mixer. Cover the dough and let it rest (autolyse) for 10 – 20
\nminutes.
Fit the mixer with the dough hook. Add the pre-ferment, honey,
\npotato and salt and the mix the dough on medium speed for 15 – 20 minutes, or
\nuntil very silky and wraps around the hook and cleans the bowl before
\nsplaterring back around the bowl. This dough is almost pourably
\nwet.

<\/u>
\nFermenting and Turning the Dough:<\/u>
<\/a>Shape the dough into a ball and
\nroll it in flour. Place it in a container at least 3 times its size and cover
\ntightly with plastic wrap. Let it ferment until doubled in bulk and filled with
\nlarge air bubbles, about 4 hours. Using plenty of dusting flour, turn the dough
\n4 times in 20 minute intervals, that is, after 20, 40, 60, and 80 minutes of
\nfermenting, the leave the dough undisturbed for the remaining time. Do not allow
\nthis dough to over ferment or ferment to the point of collapse, for the flavor
\nand structure of your bread will suffer.<\/p>\n

Shaping and Proofing the
\nDough:
<\/a>Turn the fermented dough out onto a well
\nfloured work surface, round it and let it rest for 20 minutes. Sprinkle a couche
\nor wooden board generously with flour. Slip a baking sheet under the couche if
\nyou are using one for support.
Sprinkle a generous amount of flour over the
\ncenter of the ball. Push your fingers into the center to make a hole, the rotate
\nyour hand around the hole to widen it, making a large 4 inch opening. The bread
\nshould have about 12 inch diameter.
Place the dough smooth side down on the
\nfloured couche or board and dust the surface with more flour. Drape it with
\nplastic wrap and let it proof until it is light and slowly springs back when
\nlightly pressed, about 1 1\/2 hours.<\/p>\n

Preheating the Oven:
Immediately
\nafter shaping the bread, arrange a rack on the oven’s second to top shelf and
\nplace a baking stone on it. Clear away all the racks above the one being used.
\nPreheat the oven to 450 degrees (230 C)<\/p>\n

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Baking the Bread:
Unwrap the bread
\nand flip it onto a floured peel or a sheet of parchment paper. Do not worry
\nabout damaging the bread as you handle it; it will recover int eh oven as long
\nas it is not overproofed. Slash it with 4 radial cuts in the shape of a cross.
\nSlide the loaf onto the hot baking stone and bake until it is very dark brown,
\n40 -50 minutes, rotating it halfway into the bake. Let the bread cool on a
\nrack.

Baker’s Percentages<\/u>
100% unbleached bread flour
74%
\nWater, including the potato water
0.15% yeast
2% honey
10% potato
\npuree
2.4% salt
If you would like to become a\u00a0Bread Baking Buddy<\/strong><\/em>,
\nhere\u2019s how it works:
\n<\/p>\n