No Knead Orange Bread

After the initial success of my No Knead Wine Flour Bread, I made it again. And again. Then I got a trashbag full of oranges from my grandfather's yard and had to get creative before they rotted. Thus was born: No Knead Orange Bread. To my knowledge, I am the only person to apply orange flavor to yeasted bread (quickbreads have been done).

-AnglophileinLA

Ingredients for 1 loaf:

3 3/4 cup bread flour (King Arthur is the best!)

2 Tb wheat gluten

1 packet yeast (2 1/2 tsp)

1/2 Tb sea salt

1 1/4 C. Orange juice

1/4 C honey

1/2 cup eggs, well blended

1/3 cup butter, melted

zest of 1 orange

slivered almonds and sugar to top bread

Now for the fun part: throw all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix them. Then throw all the wet ingredients into the bowl and mix them. It's going to be really really goopy. No Knead bread making is a messy process, the dough is wet but yields such a delicious moist and spongy bread. Let rise in the bowl for 2 hours, and then I like to keep it in the fridge overnight so the flavors can develop.

After the dough has risen, pick up the goopy mass and stretch it into an oblong ball, so it fits in the breadpan. This will take some of the air out, but don't worry. Sprinkle the top with sugar and slivered almonds, and then let it rest another 90 minutes. It will rise again.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and when it's hot, put the bread in with an oven-proof dish of water to keep the oven environment humid. The bread should be close to done in 60 minutes, though I like to use a meat thermometer to check. The internal tempreture should be between 190 and 200 degrees when the bread is done.

Remove the bread from the breadpan 15 minutes after it comes out of the oven to a cooling rack. I've found that the bread is so moist that it will develop a soggy bottom if its allowed to sit in its pan too long.

Also, here is the recipe for 1 loaf of the Wine Bread, if 3 loaves is an intimidating prospect - follow the same directions as above.

Ingredients for 1 loaf of Wine Bread

3 1/2 C flour

1/4th C wine flour

2 Tb wheat gluten

1/2 Tb sea salt

1 1/4 C warm water
1 packet yeast (2 1/2 tsp)

1/4 C honey

1/2 cup large eggs, mixed (5 eggs = roughly 1 cup)

1/3 C butter, melted

I used sunflower seeds to top my last loaf, but any crunchy nut would be good.

No Knead Wine Flour Bread

The new Blogger format is a nightmare - can you tell? I couldn't move these pictures into any kind of logical formation. So there they are, in a jumble.

My friend at A Girl, A Market, A Meal put a No Knead bread recipe up on Facebook the other day, and I just had to try it. Although I enjoy kneading bread - it's great exercise - I haven't been able to produce the kind of loaf you would make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with. Her recipe seemed like it would produce a loaf more like store-bought bread. I've also been dying to try out my new Cabernet Wine Flour from Blackmarket Bakery. It's flour made from red grape skins leftover from the wine making process and is very rich in resveratrol. It's also purple, which is awsome. So, I put the recipe together with the wine flour and came up with this vaguely purple and absolutely delicious bread.

Important note on the wine flour - I was advised that when using the wine flour, only use it to replace 10-15% of the flour in the recipe, so a little goes a long way. I can't do math worth a damn, so all I can report is that my guess of 1/2 cup for this recipe worked.

No Knead Bread, slightly altered from the fantastic recipe on A Girl, A Market, A Meal.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 55-60 minutes, plus rising time
Yield: 3 loaves
Ingredients:
7 cups King Arthur Bread Flour
1/2 cups wine flour
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast, or 2 packets
1 tablespoon sea salt
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten (available at health food stores and online)
2 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup honey
5 large eggs
2/3 cup melted butter

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl of a stand mixer or food processor (14-cup capacity), or your 1 gallon storage container, mix together the flours, yeast, salt and wheat gluten. In another smaller bowl, whisk together the water, honey, eggs and preferred fat. Using the dough attachment, or your hands, mix the wet ingredients with the dry until thoroughly combined. It will be very sticky. Do not knead.

2. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 2 hours. After this, the dough is ready to be formed and placed in a loaf pan, but it is easier to do this if you refrigerate it first for a couple of hours. The flavor improves after 24 hours, so make it the evening before, if you have time.

3. On baking day, lightly grease a standard loaf pan (8 1/2 x 4 1/2). Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour and grab a large hunk in your hand, cutting it off at the bottom. It should be about the size of a cantaloupe. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Cover the rest of the dough loosely and return to the refrigerator.

4. Form the ball into a thick log shape and place it in the prepared loaf pan. It should be just over half full. Cover it loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for 90 minutes in a warm place (40 minutes if the dough you are using is already room temperature).

5. Thirty minutes before you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the loaf in the center of the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes or until the loaf is golden brown. Remove the bread from the pan and allow it to cool completely on a rack before slicing.