Bread Mania: 5 Tips and 2 Recipes – Summer Foccia and Yeast Bread | Food

Images from social media around the world of fabulous overseas travel and vacations seem to have been replaced by photos of cakes and the most delicious culinary experiments. Producers claim that this trend was also felt in Lithuania: in recent months, Lithuanians have discovered baking.

“With the start of the quarantine in Britain, millers barely managed to secure the flour supply, and here yeast became a real deficit in the United States. However, it is not necessary to look far, we also had a similar situation in Lithuania: demand for flour and flour mixes nearly doubled overnight. Even today, we receive inquiries from consumers asking for advice on how to grow yeast, what type of flour to choose for baking, “quoted the Rima press release. Gerulaitienė, Malsena bakery technologist.

According to V. Kordiukova, baking bread has become a way of getting out of the routine for some people, a project that allows them to immerse themselves in a long and worrying process, patiently implementing all the stages and, ultimately, enjoying a result tangible.

Kneading the bread allows you to relax, teaches you to focus on one job, making you less haunted by the heavy or distracting thoughts that many visit today.

“From my experience, I can say that after trying it several times and enjoying the process of baking bread, you just don’t want to stop. So I think we will cook bread even after quarantine. Also, there are those who say that kneading bread will It allows you to relax, it teaches you to concentrate on a single job, so you are less tormented by heavy or distracting thoughts that visit many people today, “says the blogger.

If you decide to try baking bread at home, Kordiukova advises you on what steps and aspects to consider for each beginner.

Tip no. 1: choose the right flour

The most common question that Kordiukova receives from confectionery enthusiasts is what type of flour to use.

“When baking traditional Lithuanian bread at home, we recommend choosing whole wheat flour. These are ground, have an expressive flavor and contain natural enzymes and other nutrients that are beneficial to the human body. Baking world bread as light butter Roll, in French jonquil or Italian ciabatta – choose the highest quality wheat flour (type 550 or 405) or replace part of it with wheat flour from all parts of the grain, ”advises baker technologist R.Gerulaitienė.

Tip no. 2: choose how you lift the dough

Properly evaluate what the bread dough will do – yeast or yeast? Yeast will come in handy if you have less time and plan to bake bread at night. And yeast is a much more complex and slower ingredient. It is a mixture of flour and water that, when fed daily, awakens wild yeast to help the bread ferment and rise. The yeast will take about 7 days to grow:

• Day 1: In a jar, mix 100g of whole rye flour and 150g of warm water.
• Day 2: keep 70 g of yeast mixed the first day and feed it: 50 g of whole rye flour, 50 g of wheat flour, 115 g of water. Mix everything well.
• Day 3: Repeat the ritual for the second day.
• Day 4: Keep 70 g of yeast and feed it: 50 g of whole rye flour, 50 g of wheat flour, 100 g of water. Mix everything well.
• Days 5 and 6: Repeat the ritual on the fourth day.
• Day 7: Keep 25 g of yeast and feed it: 50 g of whole rye flour, 50 g of wheat flour. 100 g of water. Mix everything well.

“It is important to weigh the ingredients accurately, since baking is not cooking, we cannot put a pinch or a pinch on it. I suggest choosing electronic scales and weighing everything in grams,” says the blogger.

Tip no. 3: Use fresh ingredients

When baking bread, it is very important to use fresh yeast. If there is an old yeast packet in your closet, it is best to throw it away, as the yeast may be dormant and the bread may not be elevated. When baking natural sourdough bread, the freshness of it must also be constantly cared for and fed.

“Your yeast should smell: fertility, perhaps something reminiscent of the blueberry smell, yogurt with citrus notes. If the smell becomes unpleasant, you must feed the yeast, and if the smell doesn’t go away, it’s time to grow new yeast,” he says. V. Kordiukova.

Tip no. 4: observe the consistency of the dough

When you start working with the dough, it is very important to check the consistency of this: if it is very liquid, the dough slides between your fingers, the baked bread can snag. Therefore, water must be added to the dough carefully.

“If the dough, on the other hand, is too hard, the bread is baked slowly and the baked bread can also be caught. This is because the yeast does not have enough time to stand up and the dough to rise up. If a piece of dough on the table does not lose its shape, it is difficult to form: you can dilute the dough with water. It is better when the dough is easy to form and the loaf of bread slowly loses its shape, “says bakery technologist R.Gerulaitienė.

Tip no. 5: Enjoy the process!

“I honestly want to advise that the most important thing is to enjoy the process. It may sound a bit magical, but sourdough bread feels the humor and humor of the baker. The best breads always succeed when you bake in a good mood. Therefore, Positivity and self-confidence are important elements to achieve the best results ”, says V. Kordiukova.

2 bread recipes – for experienced and lovers

Hassle-free summer focaccio with tomatoes

“If you don’t dare start your yeast bread journey or just wait for your yeast to grow, I invite you to try a very easy focacia recipe with wholemeal flour,” says V. Kordiukova.

Ingredients:

• 8 g of dry yeast;
• 5 g of sugar;
• 340 g of warm water;
• 25 g of olive oil;
• 250 g of integral parts of wheat flour;
• 200 g of white wheat flour;
• 13 g of salt.

for decoration and condiments:

• pinch of salt;
• olive oil;
• cherry tomatoes (or other condiments).

Doing:

1. Mix yeast, sugar and water in a mixer bowl with a dough hook (or simply in a large bowl if you knead the dough by hand). Wait a few minutes for the yeast to activate. Then add the flour, the salt, add the olive oil and knead for about 10 minutes.

2. Grease the container with olive oil, roll out the dough, cover with an adhesive film and refrigerate for 8-12 hours. Then remove the dough and beat, letting the air out, let the dough rest for 15 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 220 ° C. Grease the baking sheet with oil, transfer your dough and gently roll it to the desired size or the edges of the pan. Cover the dough in a pan with a damp towel and leave it for 30 minutes at room temperature. Then sprinkle with olive oil, press the holes in the dough with your fingers, put the desired seasonings on the surface, sprinkle with salt. Bake for 25 minutes at 220 ° C and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting.

Rich sourdough bread with natural yeast

Ingredients:

• 100 g of yeast;
• 340 g of water;
• 200 g of rye flour from all parts of grain;
• 300 g of wheat flour;
• 10 g of salt.

Doing:

1. In a large bowl, mix the yeast and water, add the flour. Stir by hand and add a little. Cover and let sit for 1 hour. Then add salt with a little water to the dough and spread it throughout the dough. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes.

2. Then go back to the dough about 4-5 times every half hour and go through the process of stretching and folding the dough: take one edge of the dough, pull it out as far as you can and then fold it towards the center of the dough ball. mass.

3. Spread the dough on a lightly floured surface and form a loaf. Put it in an ascending basket, cover it with a damp towel, and store it in the refrigerator for 12-16 hours.

4. Once the dough has stabilized, preheat the oven to 250 ° C with the pot. When they are hot, turn your bread into a hot pot, cut the surface with a sharp knife and bake in a covered pot for 30 minutes. Open the lid, reduce the temperature to 235 ° C and bake uncovered for another 10 minutes. Chill the baked bread on the grill and cut it only when cold.