Recipe: Ballymaloe Brown Bread

Ballymaloe Brown Bread
BREAD BAKING, SIMPLIFIED
From The American Institute for Cancer Research
By Dana Jacobi for the

There was a time when I would confidently make a three-layer devil's food cake from scratch, complete with marshmallow frosting, but would hesitate at baking a simple loaf of bread. The cake tasted great even when it was not picture perfect. My bread-baking results, on the other hand, were sometimes inedible, adding insult to injury after hours of diligent work.

To master my fear of working with yeast, I selected a recipe for a loaf I liked enough to eat every day. I've now made this recipe often enough to promise that it will let you conquer bread-baking without fear of failing. Equally important, it takes little time to make.

This is a batter bread, which doesn't require kneading. Instead, it is vigorously stirred, then turned directly into the baking pan. This eliminates guessing about whether it is properly kneaded as well as the mess of a doughy board and flour strewn about. This loaf rises just once, so it takes about the same amount of time as your favorite zucchini or banana bread.

The recipe is adapted from Myrtle Allen's Cooking in Ballymaloe House, a cookbook from one of Ireland's great restaurants. This light and pleasant whole-grain loaf is delightful toasted, for sandwiches or to accompany soups and salads. It conquers any prejudice about whole wheat bread.

For success, always follow two suggestions. First, measure the yeast, which avoids the problem of active dry yeast packets whose weight can vary as much as 20 percent.

Second, go by visual cues during proofing (a test to ensure yeast is alive, "proven" if it swells and bubbles when steeped in a warm liquid) and the rising period. Set a timer for less than the recipe calls for and check how the yeast mixture, or the loaf, looks. This reduces the risk of the yeast losing power from sitting too long in a warm kitchen after it dissolves, or the loaf collapsing during baking, as it does if it over-rises before going into the oven.

1 tsp. butter
3 1/3 cups (14 oz.) whole wheat flour, preferably stone-ground
1/2 cup (2 oz.) unbleached white bread flour
2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. unsulphured molasses
2 cups lukewarm water (100-115 degrees)
2 Tbsp. dry active yeast (about 2 1/2 packages)

Use butter to generously grease light-colored 9x5x3-inch bread pan. Set pan aside. Set rack in center of oven.

In large bowl, combine whole wheat and white flour with salt. To warm flour and bowl, set in gas oven with pilot light or electric oven on lowest possible setting.

In small bowl, mix molasses into 1/2 cup of water. Sprinkle yeast over liquid. Set aside until yeast is dissolved and foamy, about 5 minutes.

Remove warmed bowl of flour from oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Using wooden spoon, mix yeast and remaining 1 1/2 cups water into flour until sticky dough forms. Mixture will seem dry at first but gets wetter as stirred. It will partially pull away from sides of bowl but remain sticky and too soft to knead. Turn dough into prepared baking pan. Cover pan with dish towel. Set in warm, draft-free place until dough doubles in volume, 10 to 15 minutes, and is slightly below edge of pan.

Bake 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 425 degrees. Bake 20 minutes, or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped in center of top and bottom of pan. Crust will be dark brown and hard. If loaf is very dark but still moist in center, turn off oven. Remove bread from pan and let it sit in oven 5 minutes. Remove and let cool completely on rack before slicing.

Makes one 9-inch loaf, or about 18 slices.

Per slice: 95 calories, 1 g. fat (less than 1 g. saturated fat), 20 g. carbohydrate, 4 g. protein, 3 g. dietary fiber, 260 mg. sodium.