After all the bread classes I have had at school this semester, I decided that it was time to put what I have learnt into practice by making some fresh turkish bread at home. The only challenge was… I do not own a dough mixer. Hence, I would have to knead the dough by hand. I can say now – having done the kneading by hand yesterday, that it is quite a workout and at one stage, I thought that my fingers had gone arthritic. However, the end result is extremely rewarding and so I will definitely be making more bread at home.
I cooked the bread on a pizza stone and the outcome was pretty good.
Here’s the recipe if you’re feeling like a workout.
Ingredients:
- 500 grams Baker’s Flour (or Plain Flour if you haven’t got baker’s flour)
- 10 grams Salt
- 3 grams Bread Improver
- 20 grams Fresh Yeast mixed in with a little warm water (you should get a slurry)
- 20 grams olive oil
- 10 grams Honey
- 300 grams Water
Method:
- Place all the ingredients except the water in a large bowl (make sure you place the salt and the yeast at opposite ends of the bowl – yeast and salt are not the best of friends).
- Mix together with a wooden spoon.
- Slowly add the water, leaving out a little for later.
- Mix the ingredients together to form a ball. Add more water as you go – this is a judgment call as you may not require all the water. You just want the dough to come together into a ball.
- Lightly dust your workbench with some flour and place the dough on the bench.
- Begin kneading the dough.
- Do this for about 2 – 3 minutes and the rest. Cover the dough. This gives the dough a chance to rest as well.
- When you return to knead the dough again, you will feel that the dough has also relaxed a bit, hence making it easier to knead.
- Repeat this process about 5 to 6 times.
- To check that the dough has been kneaded enough, you need to do a window test.
- Pull a small ball of dough from your dough mass and stretch it out slowly with your fingers. If the dough stretches out like a membrane without breaking, it is ready.
- Roll the dough into a ball and place it back in your mixing bowl.
- Cover with clingwrap and rest the dough in a warm place for at least 2 hours. If you can, rest it for half a day.
- After 2 hours, remove the dough from the mixing bowl and portion them. (I made 1 large turkish bread and 3 small rolls)
- Pull the dough into an elongated shape and flatten it a little (BUT NOT TOO MUCH! You want the air bubbles in your dough.)
- Place the dough on a flat surface and using your fingers, poke lines into the dough as seen in the picure above. Place the dough on your pizza stone / baking tray. (If using a pizza stone, heat the stone up in the oven before placing your dough on it.)
- Brush on some egg wash and sprinkle some sesame seeds on the top.
- Place the bread in a preheated oven at 220°C for 8 min and turn head down to 180°C for another 10-12min or until the product is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and cool on a cooling rack.
- Enjoy with your favourite dips and cheese.
