Artisan bread in 5 minutes; Monthly Mingle yeasted dough
Just out of the oven it looks quite good, but dense
Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day would that really be a possibility? When we had the breadbaking course last monday, my friend Tineke had brought the book Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day along to discuss with our workshop leaders. Edwin Klaasen is a baker and obviously the workshop was held in a bakery so there was some interest as to the concept of the no-knead method. They copied the master recipe out of the book and I am not sure if they were gonna try it out or if they would have use to a trial next week, but in any case; I didn’t want to wait.
The dough looks a little too dry before going in the oven as you can see
It was also tweeted by the #coldcoffeeclub that the Monthly Mingle for this month would be all about yeasted dough, so that seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to give it a try. It has been far too long that I participated in the Monthly Mingly of my dear friend Meeta from the fabulous blog What’s for Lunch Honey
I’ve had the book for quite a while; I think I bought it months ago together with another breadbaking book so after studying the recipe carefully I decided to give it a go yesterday. In theory it all sounds absolutely perfect. You make a batch of dough, don’t do anything other then mix it all together. Let it rest for about 2 hours, pop it in the fridge and ready to go! How easy does that sound?
Now I might have slightly changed the recipe, as I didn’t have all purpose flour anymore (which I was supposed to use) but only whole wheat flour, so I used that instead and did not adjust anything else. I added the water, threw in the yeast, salt and the flour mixed it briefly to remove any dry patches and just let it sit on the kitchen counter for a while. It rose as intended but it didn’t actually flatten on the surface. I waited a couple more hours but it appeared that the dough was not as moist as they said it would be. My guess is that this is mostly part to the whole wheat I used, but not sure. I popped it in the fridge for the afternoon until I was ready to bake it. The book does say that it makes sense to have it refrigerate for at least overnight so the flavors can develop but I wanted to have bread that night so I couldn’t wait so long and technically it should be ok to use straight away.
Dense bread but with a crackling crust!
I took it out of the fridge, formed it as instructed, then left it to rest for another 20 minutes before popping in the hot oven. I did use a little too much cornflour on the top as you can see but that didn’t change anything to the flavor as far as I have been able to tell. When I took it out it looked very firm so I was a bit concerned that it would be inedible but once it cooled down a bit you could hear the cracking of the crust when squeezed a tiny bit.. And I was actually not disappointed when I cut my first slice and had it with a bit of Old Amsterdam… Slightly warm bread, lovely old cheese… Mmm, what’s not to like right?
And together with homemade herb butter this was quite good I can tell you!
So all in all I think it was a good experiment; I liked the bread more then I had thought I would and it is – especially considering the amount of effort (none) – good. It’s not the worlds best bread but then I did do a couple of things wrong so I will make it again and then follow proper instructions to see how it will turn out. Ofcourse I am going to be baking with my sourdough soon so I am more excited on how that will turn out, but in the meantime this was not bad at all!
Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day
Yield: 4
Prep Time: 2 hrs
Cook Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 2 hrs, 30 mins
Crackling crust, fragrant bread, but quite dense. You have to eat it the same day as it becomes unedible the next
Ingredients:
- 3 cups luke warm water
- 1,5 tbsp granulated yeast (2 packets)
- 1,5 tbsp kosher or other coarse salt
- 6,5 cups unsifted, unbleached, all purpuse white flour
- cornmeal for pizza peel
Directions:
- Warm the water slightly; just a little warmer then body temperature. Warm water will rise the dough to the right point for storage in about 2 hours, You can use cold tap water and get an identical final result but it will take longer.
- Add yeast and salt to the water in a large bowl or a resealable (not airtight) container. It's not important to dissolve all the yeast.
- Mix in the flour with a spoon or with a standmixer. Make sure the dry patches are all incorporated but kneading is not necessary.
- Leave to rise for about 2 hours or until it starts to collapse or flattens on top.
- Store the dough in the fridge until ready to use.
- When ready to bake cut a grapefuit size piece of dough from your supply. Sprinkle a bit of flour on your dough and your hands so it doesn't stick. Make a ball of your dough and leave to rest for an additional 20 minutes while you preheat the oven and a pizzastone in the meantime.
- Also prepare a waterbath by putting an empty broiler tray in the bottom shelf of the oven. Preheat the oven to 240 C. (450F)
- Dust the dough with flour before slashing it with a knife to create a pattern on top.
- Slide the loaf into the oven and add boiling water into the tray in the bottom.
- Bake for about 30 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Recipe by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois
I am sending this bread in for the Monthly Mingle!
Appetizer
Asian
Bread
Breakfast
Desserts & other sweets
Healthy
A splendid loaf! Your bread looks perfect and so scrumptious.
Cheers,
Rosa
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Simone (junglefrog) — August 22nd, 2011 at 21:28
Thanks Rosa!
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This bread looks amazing! Yum and gulp! I want a slice right now with butter and Maldon salt on top!
I’m pretty sure you have Maldon salt, don’t you? 
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Simone (junglefrog) — August 22nd, 2011 at 22:37
Ah… I’ve got a stash of Maldon salt in my cabinet indeed… How did you know?
lol
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Astrid — August 25th, 2011 at 09:49
what is Maldon salt? Curious minds need to know ;o)
Simone (junglefrog) — August 25th, 2011 at 10:56
Haha… Maldon is a brand that has seasalt flakes. We got a package of it during fbc with smoked salt and regular salt flakes… It’s quite good and very delicious!
I am goona try thsi jsut to make sur eall the proofing ,kneeding,throwing of may bread making is unneccessary:)
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Simone (junglefrog) — August 22nd, 2011 at 21:18
Well, unnecessary is maybe not the right word. I think I would still prefer a ‘regular’ loaf but considering the very minimal amount of effort that is involved in this bread, it’s pretty good for the time involved!
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This is what I will always look forward to …easy and quick baking! What a gorgeous loaf it is, Simone..love that crack on it. Hmm..wish I could have a bite.
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Simone (junglefrog) — August 22nd, 2011 at 21:19
Ah yes, the quick and the easy…
I did love the crust especially.. Lovely!
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Wow, Simone! That bread class you wrote about in your last post sounds so cool, it’s something I would love to do! I’ve been baking bread for about a year and a half now; sometimes it’s a disaster, but I always eat the bread anyway, would hate to waste all that flour. But your bread looks beautiful! Isn’t the crackling of the crust as it cools down the best sound in the world?
And yes, the diminished moisture was most likely due to the whole wheat flour: it requires more hydration.
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Simone (junglefrog) — August 22nd, 2011 at 21:23
Yep, I thought it might be the type of flour I used. Funny thing is that someone in the breadbaking course had tried this bread also with the right dough and they thought it was waaaay to wet too handle. I guess my mistake turned out to be a good thing in the end.
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OH MY GOSH THIS LOAF LOOKS AWESOME! Please come on over and make this for me! I am a bread JUNKIE I could JUST eat bread and be okay with that!
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Simone (junglefrog) — August 22nd, 2011 at 21:24
Ah yes, me, a deserted island and my bread… Yep that would do the trick for sure!
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Thanks for sharing this perfect bread. Perfect for any time of the day
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Simone (junglefrog) — August 22nd, 2011 at 21:27
Absolutely!
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That loaf of bread looks rather perfect to me. I have been thinking of buying that book forever but honestly I have always doubted that 5 minute bread will never be of my liking. Which i have had so many people say isn’t true! And looking at this, I can say its not true!
Thank you so much for sending your entry for this month’s monthly mingle
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Simone (junglefrog) — August 22nd, 2011 at 21:25
Opinions vary on this bread and I do have to say it is not THE best bread I ever had but considering the amount of effort involved it sure wasn’t bad at all!
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I really need to get back to baking. I miss it so much! Your bread looks delicious and the course you took very informative. I love looking at your pictures, each one of them tell a delicious story
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Simone (junglefrog) — August 22nd, 2011 at 21:27
Thanks Ben! What about all those delicious breads in Mexico? Or was that just in my imagination.. ? loved to see you bake some of those!
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Oh, Simone – your new site looks phenomenal! So does the bread – I’ve always wanted to try it – not believing an decent artisan bread could be turned out in 5 minutes, but your result definitely proves it can. On another note..I felt so bad for Jennie – such a heartbreaking tragedy, so it was the least I could do, and very well worth it.
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Simone (junglefrog) — August 22nd, 2011 at 21:26
Yes heartbreaking indeed and a great thing for everyone to bake that pie. I would have if I had known earlier!
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Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and leaving that sweet comment! Your blog is really lovely — and what gorgeous bread! I’ve been dying to try my hand at making bread from that book and now I’m really motivated to!
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Simone (junglefrog) — August 23rd, 2011 at 08:50
Thanks Faith! And yes, you should give it a go…
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Great loaf! I have to admit, that I am not successful with the 5 minutes breads …
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I just started baking bread this year. I love the process and shake my head that I have been so afraid to try it for so long. Your loaves look really perfect! I have learned how to make brioche which is very hard to find in the U.S. It is such a rich bread that it is now dangerous to know how to make it.
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Simone (junglefrog) — August 25th, 2011 at 10:59
I can see how everyone would come to you to ask to make brioche.. lol.. I’ve made brioche once but feel I need to get a better try out there…
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I’m a huge fan of ABin5 and have been making my bread this way for a couple of years now. The pizza dough recipe is not bad too.
Have you seen their second book, Healthy Bread in 5 minutes a day? They’ve adapted the recipes to work with whole grain flours (the whole wheat recipe is on my blog if you want to check it out) and yes, the results are slightly different when using whole wheat flour only.
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Simone (junglefrog) — August 23rd, 2011 at 22:09
I had seen the second book but hadn’t realized it was called healthy bread in 5 minutes a day..lol… I’ll check out the whole wheat recipe on your blog. Curious to find out what I should have done!
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not sure what looks better: the bread or the herb butter. two of them together is a winning combo!
I’ve made bread a few times at home: makes the entire condo smell amazing.
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Ah! I haven’t done a real bread (something so beautiful, earthy and rustic) other than the no knead bread. Need to make some soon and this is just the way to go.. quick
a few slices with herbed butter it is for me.
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Simone (junglefrog) — August 25th, 2011 at 11:00
Which just reminds me that I have to get the dough out of the fridge… Would love some for lunch today!
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That third pic has me swooning… as does the herb butter! So interesting to read about your yeasted bread baking journey – may have to embark on my own!
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