Apricot Ginger Bread
Apricot Ginger Bread or chocolate-cherry bread
via Make the Bread, Buy the Butter
2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold water or whey from making yogurt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon kosher salt
¾ cup dried apricots, cut into quarters
use less salt, more yeast
1. In a big bowl, mix all the ingredients. Stir briefly; do not knead. The mixture will seem very wet and clumpy, which is as it should be.
2. Cover with a clean, damp dish towel and let the dough rest for 18 hours in a draft-free spot. No need to dampen the towel again and don’t worry too much about the time; a little more or less makes no difference.
3. Dust a clean, dry dish towel with flour. Scrape the dough into a round onto the flour. Gently nudge into a ball, and then swaddle in the towel. Let the dough rise for 1 or 2 hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 475F with a covered cast-iron Dutch oven inside. The pan does not serve to give the bread shape but to trap heat and steam as the inside of a brick oven does, yielding bread with a crunchy, hard crust.
5. When the oven reaches 475 F, open the Dutch oven and carefully slip the dough inside. Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
6. Take the lid off the pot and bake for 15 to 30 minutes more, until the bread is a deep chestnut color but not burnt. Cool completely before slicing. Store in a paper bag at room temperature for up to a week.
milk chocolate-cherry bread
omit ginger and apricots and replace with 0.33 cup dried cherries and 0.5 cup milk chocolate chunks. use parchment in bottom of pan so sugars won't stick.
via Make the Bread, Buy the Butter
2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold water or whey from making yogurt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon kosher salt
¾ cup dried apricots, cut into quarters
use less salt, more yeast
1. In a big bowl, mix all the ingredients. Stir briefly; do not knead. The mixture will seem very wet and clumpy, which is as it should be.
2. Cover with a clean, damp dish towel and let the dough rest for 18 hours in a draft-free spot. No need to dampen the towel again and don’t worry too much about the time; a little more or less makes no difference.
3. Dust a clean, dry dish towel with flour. Scrape the dough into a round onto the flour. Gently nudge into a ball, and then swaddle in the towel. Let the dough rise for 1 or 2 hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 475F with a covered cast-iron Dutch oven inside. The pan does not serve to give the bread shape but to trap heat and steam as the inside of a brick oven does, yielding bread with a crunchy, hard crust.
5. When the oven reaches 475 F, open the Dutch oven and carefully slip the dough inside. Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
6. Take the lid off the pot and bake for 15 to 30 minutes more, until the bread is a deep chestnut color but not burnt. Cool completely before slicing. Store in a paper bag at room temperature for up to a week.
milk chocolate-cherry bread
omit ginger and apricots and replace with 0.33 cup dried cherries and 0.5 cup milk chocolate chunks. use parchment in bottom of pan so sugars won't stick.