Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Floating Loaf - Adapted from Maria Speck's Recipe



The author of Taste of Beirut suggested I look into this very interesting bread that requires minimal kneading and rises inside a vat of water. I was pretty sure it would work, but wanted to know more details, so I looked for a few more sources.

I found a source that had pretty detailed step-by-step photographs, i.e. Bread Experience.

Anyhow, I'm going to share my experience with the Floating Loaf.


Ingredients

2 Cups AP Flour
1/2 Cup Spelt Flour
1 Cup + a little more luke warm water
2 Tbsp Sesame Seeds
1 Tsp Coarse Sea Salt
2 Tsp Brown Sugar
5.5 g Baker's Yeast
Corn Meal (for sprinkling on the oven paper)

Step 1: Mix all dry ingredients except for the sesame seeds.

Step 2: Add 1 cup water and mix and add more water if you think it needs more. The dough should be pretty wet and sticky but you should be able to make a ball with it.

Step 3: Roll in flour.

Step 4: Put the ball of dough into a vat of water. I used tap water, but if the water is heavily chlorinated in your area, I would let the water sit in the vat for a day to let chlorine evaporate a bit. Wait until the ball of dough floats to the surface. In my case, it took 8 minutes for this to happen, but the time can vary.

Step 5: Now knead it a bit on a floured surface and then put it on top of oven paper that you have sprinkled with corn meal. Cover it with a tea cloth/dish towel and let it rise for another 15-20 minutes or so. When it has risen, wet it with your fingers (fingers will warm the water a bit) and then sprinkle the sesame seeds on top. I used a brush during winter once and my loaf caved in. It's going to be baked anyway so why worry about fingers touching the dough?

Step 6: Preheat the oven to 220C (425F).

Step 7: The oven should be pre-heated by the time the bread rises so slide it onto the hot baking tray inside the oven and bake it for 20-30 minutes or until it is golden brown. I baked mine for 30 minutes.


We had aged Manchego cheese with fresh basil and rosemary inspired by Jana's display from Jana Around the World , green Spanish olives, and Cannellini Bean Spread from Steamy Kitchen with our freshly baked loaf of bread. It was a pretty nice lunch.

The beauty of this loaf is that the cooking time is relatively short. You can basically make freshly baked bread in around 60 minutes.

15 comments:

ann low said...

I seldom make bread, oh only once but I would love to try this recipe because it is not time consuming to make this bread :) Love it!

Dewi said...

Love all the use of healthy grain such as spelt in this loaf.

babalisme said...

What a big big loaf of bread! I think it's very healthy deciding by the ingredients used. Thank you for sharing!

mike in tokyo rogers said...

That looks fantastic! I hate to tell you this, but I am so sick of eating white bread from the store. I'm going to print this out and give it to my wife.

Murasaki Shikibu said...

Anncoo: This really is easy and quick.

Elra: I wish I had access to more varieties of flour. Spelt however is pretty easy to get around here.

babalisme: Don't know if it's really healthy, but spelt does give bread a nice flavor!

Mike: Might be difficult to find spelt in Japan, but you could use rye instead of spelt - or whatever else you can find.

Murasaki Shikibu said...

Anncoo: This really is easy and quick.

Elra: I wish I had access to more varieties of flour. Spelt however is pretty easy to get around here.

babalisme: Don't know if it's really healthy, but spelt does give bread a nice flavor!

Mike: Might be difficult to find spelt in Japan, but you could use rye instead of spelt - or whatever else you can find.

Lori said...

Must try that. Never heard of a floating loaf. And that sure does sound like a really great lunch.

Jayanthy Kumaran said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jayanthy Kumaran said...

wow..sounds absolutely healthy n mouthwatery..;P
Tasty Appetite

Dorte said...

This is an insteresting way to make bread. i'll have to try this one day, but for now i'm still enjoying the sourdough bread :)

Murasaki Shikibu said...

Lori: I am not sure what the water really does, but it sure goes fast!

Dorte: I'm pleased to hear the sourdough is still alive and well. :)

My Little Space said...

I simply enjoy breadmaking! And yours looks incredibly beautiful. Well done!
Hope you're having a great day, dear.
Kristy

mike in tokyo rogers said...

OK... WELL... I printed this out and gave it to my wife... She asked me where they sell it....

Murasaki Shikibu said...

Mike: Funny. :) Yes. Bread is something you BUY in Japan.

Zoe said...

I see lots of goodness in this delicious loaf. What a great recipe! Thanks for sharing.