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Subscribe I play around with bread a lot just because I love baking bread so much. Not to mention the eating part. I started doing bread experiments in a mold recently. The mold I have is an 11-cup mold, which is pretty large, so I used the two-loaf quantity of Grandmother Bread to fill it. (Find the Grandmother Bread recipe here.) I think it came out beautiful.
And huge.
This would be a pretty presentation bread to take to a party, to serve for a holiday, or if you have ten children.
OR. You could get a smaller mold and use the one-loaf quantity of Grandmother Bread and that would be more sensible!
But whatever you decide, here’s how it goes together.
Make either the one-loaf (for a smaller mold) or two-loaf (for a larger mold–such as the 11-cup mold I’m using here) and take it through the first rise.
The mold I’m using is non-stick, but I sprayed oil on it anyway because I’m all about insurance. Punch down the dough and remove a handful, separating it off to the side.
(The amount of the handful you remove isn’t that important as long as it’s enough to cover the top center.)
With the remaining dough, take it out of the bowl and stretch it into a thick rope. Place it around the inside of the mold, pinching it together where the ends meet.
Take the handful you separated and place it over the top, covering the center of the mold and pinching together where it meets the rest of the dough in the mold.
Cover and let rise. When the bread is ready to go into the oven, you can lightly pull all around the center circle of dough to make it more visible as a top-knot if you like. Just be very gentle and careful so as not to poke through and deflate the dough.
Bake as usual, except if you are using a large mold and the two-loaf recipe, you will have to let it bake longer. I baked this for 45 minutes. If you’re using a smaller mold and the one-loaf recipe, you will probably only need to bake it for the usual approximately 25 minutes. Just keep an eye on it.
Isn’t that pretty?
But we’re not done!
Oh–and this is what it looks like on the bottom, by the way.
Let the bread cool on a wire rack for a few minutes. While it’s still warm, brush butter over the top then sprinkle with garlic salt. I used garlic salt with parsley. Behold, a deliciously ridiculous gigantic loaf!
You could do this with just about any variation on Grandmother Bread. You could also make it a sweet loaf, such as a raisin bread, and drizzle powdered sugar icing on top.
Life is short. Eat more bread.
Find all my Grandmother Bread recipes and ideas here.
Posted by Suzanne McMinn | Permalink
. While this book does a great job–and a very visual job (lots of step-by-step photos)–of the basics, it also includes some deliciously unique recipes like Cajun Watermelon Relish (with hot peppers! wow, hot and sweet!) and Brandied Cranberry-Orange Marmalade (sounds like a perfect holiday gift recipe!). And I’m pretty sure I need some Brandied Honey-and-Spice Pears (sounds like it would be awesome over pound cake). I need some pears now. You?
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