Anadama Two Two – #BBA

Since the first loaf in [easyazon-link asin=”1580082688″]The Bread Baker’s Apprentice[/easyazon-link] Challenge, blogged recently, was such a success, I decided that I’d give the recipe another go and this time keep track of the process with step-by-step pics.

It again proved to be a rather simple, straight forward loaf with little in the way of “tricky bits”. It does span several hours but as with most breads, that time is simply letting the dough rest or proof and it’s not time you need to babysit it.

So if you’re up to a play-by-play with photographic documentation, let’s get started.

The first step which I have no pics of (I’m sure you can picture it quite well in your heads) was to soak the coarse cornmeal for 12 hours. So I got my little bowl, my warm water and cornmeal and went to town. Ok, I just poured them in the bowl and covered. Not exciting. Fast forward to the next morning…

01-soaker

The next stage is to create the preferment, although I think technically this doesn’t qualify as it has the cornmeal in it, Regardless, I tossed the cornmeal mush into the bowl with about half the flour, instant yeast and a little more water.

02-soakermix

Gave a quick stir to get it all incorporated, then covered the bowl and popped it into the oven with just the light on – this seems to keep at about 85º, perfect for growing yeasties. Gave it about an hour to get good and bubbly.

03-addlasting

You can see the foamy stuff around the edges here. I now added the remaining flour, salt and molasses. I dashed to the store earlier tto nab some light molasses but the only choice available was “fancy” molasses. Once I git it home I popped open the little carton and was glad to see it was definitely lighter than the “cooking” molasses I had used earlier. I still cut it back to about 2/3 of the required amount and made up the remainder in brown sugar.

04-shaggymess

A quick minute or two in the KA mixer and I have a good mixed lump of “shaggy” dough. (Why o why does Austin Powers always pop into my head when I see that word??) So now that it’s gathered, time to start kneading. But not with the mixer this time. Why? No reason, just felt like doing it by hand.

05-ready2knead

A sprinkle of flour on the counter, plop out the dough mass and we’re ready to go. It looked like it would be a sticky mess but surprisingly wasn’t.

06-1minknead

Here it is after just a minute of kneading, pretty well together. All the flour you saw in the previous picture was all the flour it got. Cleaned up the counter nicely.

07-8minknead

Here we are at about eight minutes of kneading. It passes the windowpane test at this point and feels smooth (aside from the cornmeal texture, of course). It’s ready to go for it’s first rise.

08-inthetub

Grease up a tub, toss the dough in and spread it out.

09-tubmark

Adjust the tape to show where we started, then back into the 85º oven for the next 60-90 minutes until it doubles.

10-doubled

60 – 90 minutes? Here it is at 60 and it’s already more than doubled! Good show! Nearly there. And I’ve hardly broken a sweat. Even during kneading, the dough is so soft, it’s hardly much work.

11-shaped

Cut our lump o’ dough in two, shape and pop into these great heavy (sorta) loaf pans (9″ X 5″). Cover and back into the warm oven one more time to rise well above the rim.

12-showercaps

Here the loaves, now well risen and about 60 minutes later, are sporting fashionable shower caps . Yes, shower caps, from the dollar store (8 for a buck). They work better than cling film which, well… clings and would either restrict the rise or pull off the sides and let the dough dry. And they’re reusable! AND cheaper than the “brand name” food covers that are exactly the same thing.

OK, enough of that. Our oven is now preheating to 350º…

13-sprinkled

… so in the meantime, the loaves get misted and sprinkled with more cornmeal. Finally, they go into the hot oven for about 40 – 50 minutes.

And…

14-hotloaves

Voila! Two beautiful, fresh from the oven loaves, a house that smells heavenly and looking forward to slicing into this sligtly modified version (referring to the lighter molasses).

No pics yet but the new crumb is much lighter the old one smells quite distinctly of molasses – had saved the last crust to compare. This one is much lighter and has more of the corn aroma coming through.

We’ll see how long these two loaves last…

15-sliced

Wanna see other bloggers giving this bread a go? Here’s a tiny sampling out of some 185 [easyazon-link asin=”1580082688″]The Bread Baker’s Apprentice[/easyazon-link] Challenge members you might want to check out…

GothPanda has posted a similar play-by-play description
WhiteApples came out (literally) with some lovely loaves
Susie1955 ditched tradition and did a cool variation
Wants and Kneads also did a step-by-step
At The Very Yeast has included a little tidbit on the bread’s origin
Jeff at Culinary Disasters pumped out a lovely specimen, his first loaf ever!

… and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Check out the BBA Challenge homepage at PinchMySalt and the list of members and their blogs is all there. With over 185 members participating and lots of them blogging, there’d be too many to mention here and everyone still has a week before we move on to the next recipe anyway.

[easyazon-image-link asin=”1580082688″ alt=”The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51f8aSiQREL.SL160.jpg” align=”none” width=”146″ height=”160″]

9 Replies to “Anadama Two Two – #BBA”

  1. Ciao ! Your step by step is brilliant ! And thanks for the schedule !!I see you love sourdough :I was thinking of sourdoughing all the recipes !

  2. I loved reading through your process and WOW I have never been mentioned before on anyones blog before. How neat………..thanks!
    Great idea about the shower caps. I’ll have to look them up.
    Terrific looking bread. 🙂
    Susie

  3. Thanks for the step by step instructions and pictures. I love the suggestions about using less molasses and a bit of brown sugar to make up the difference. I am not a molasses lover and was a bit concerned about the overpowering taste. Brilliant suggestion for the shower caps. Am off to find some now before I make my bread.

    When I told my kids (19, 17 and 16) I was doing this challenge they mocked me and said I really have no life. You are my new idol – you have time to bake the bread and take pictures at the same time!! I am envious. I told my kids, no bread for them.

    Cindy

  4. I am new at all of this, so I really really appreciate all the photos in this post and your explanations, descriptions, etc. I can’t thank you enough, really!

  5. Awesome looking loaves… I also think the shower caps are brilliant! I mean, I use a plastic bowl about 99% of the time for rising and always curse when wrestling with the plastic wrap.
    I can’t wait to make my loaf now!

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