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Thursday, February 25, 2010

Barleycorn bread

I'm so sad, I got a real thrill of anticipation opening the pack of Doves Farm Barleycorn flour. What will it be like? I'm going to do it the honour of proper hand-kneading, but otherwise it'll be straightforward, fairly quick proving etc.

Ingredients
300g flour
2g salt
Liquid: 200g water; 2g muscovado; 2g dried yeast

The dough seemed too wet at first but I resisted the temptation to add more flour, and kept on stickily kneading, and it turned into one of the nicest doughs I've ever made. For once, it was hard to stop myself kneading it. But at 1045 I did, and it's now proving by the radiator. (But it's a mild day today, so ironically, that may not be a particularly warm place. We'll see.)

1200 Risen, but not greatly. Anyway, knocked back and formed into a boule, slashed.
1245 Into oven. I feel I've rushed this a bit.
But here it is. Looks OK, doesn't it?

Verdict
I probably should have given it longer for both risings; it's a bit heavier than it should be. Taste is good, but would be better with more salt or with salted butter. Mmm, salt.  

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