|
St. Mark's
Communion Bread
Yield:
one loaf
Ingredients
|
yeast |
scant 1 packet, 5 grams |
|
water, warm |
3/4 cup |
|
bread flour |
1
pound, about 3 cups, plus a little more for
kneading |
|
sugar |
1/4 cup |
|
salt |
2
teaspoons Kosher, 1 1/2 teaspoons regular |
|
eggs |
2, at room temperature |
|
oil |
3
ounces |
Procedure
By hand
Sprinkle the yeast on top of the warm water. Let
yeast dissolve while you assemble the remaining
ingredients.
Mix flour, sugar and salt together in a large bowl.
Make a well in the center of the dry mixture.
In a small bowl, beat the two eggs together, then
mix in the oil. Give the yeast/water mixture a stir,
then mix it into the egg/oil mixture.
Pour the combined liquid ingredients into the well
in the dry ingredients. Gradually mix together,
until the whole thing forms a "rough, shaggy mass."
Turn out the dough onto the counter. Knead 5
minutes, using as little additional flour as
possible to keep the dough from sticking to the
counter.
When the dough is smooth "like a baby's bottom" and
feels like your earlobe, put the dough into the
cleaned and oiled large bowl, cover with plastic and
let rise until doubled in bulk.
(After the first rise and deflation, the dough can
go in the refrigerator overnight. I got up about 3
am to pull it out of the refrigerator and let it
warm up to room temperature. By 6 am it was warmed
up, ready to be deflated and start on its second
rise. Bread was baked and cooled enough to transport
to church at 8:30 am.)
Deflate the dough gently and fold it over on itself
several times. Turn the dough ball over again, so
that the smooth side is on top. Cover and let rise
again until double in bulk.
Deflate and fold the dough to make a ball with a
smooth top. Place in a greased baking pan. Cover
with plastic and let rise until almost double in
bulk, but not quite.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Let
cool completely before wrapping in foil. Freeze
immediately if not being used that day. Allow to
thaw in the wrapper.
By mixer
Combine dry ingredients in mixer bowl. Combine wet
ingredients following instructions above. Fit a
dough hook into the machine, pour in the liquid
ingredients, and mix with dough hook until dough is
smooth, about 3 minutes.
Allow dough to rise twice, shape and bake, per the
instructions above.
By bread machine
Follow bread machine instructions. |
