Italian/Cuban Bread


 

Rita Y

TVWBB Emerald Member
Here's the recipe you requested, Jim. A softer version than French bread sounds close to the Cuban bread I've had once or twice.

The recipe comes from a good source -- Reinhart is a really nice man and teaches at Johnson and Wales and gives detailed instructions, so this post is kind of long.

If anyone tries it, please let me know how you made out.
Rita
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ITALIAN BREAD
From "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" by Peter Reinhart

Makes two 1-pound loaves or 9 torpedo (hoagie) rolls.

BREAD PROFILE
Enriched, standard dough; indirect method; commercial yeast

DAYS TO MAKE: 2
Day 1: 3-4 hours (biga)
Day 2: 1 hour to de-chill biga; 12 to 15 minutes mixing; 3 1/2 hours fermentation, shaping, and proofing; 20 to 30 minutes baking

COMMENTARY
If you prefer a crustier loaf, lower the oven temperature to 400?F after the steaming and increase the baking time. This will thicken the crust and give it more crunch.

The use of diastatic barley malt powder produces better color because it will accelerate the enzyme activity and thus promote sugar breakout from the starch. You can also use nondiastatic barley malt syrup, which will contribute flavor more than color, or make this bread without any malt, since there is some malt already added to most brands of bread flour (the pre-ferment will contribute some enzymes of its own). Both powder and syrup can be purchased through King Arthur Flour.

- - -

In America, the term Italian bread has come to mean a loaf very similar to French bread, only usually a little softer. This has very little to do with reality, however, since scores of authentic Italian breads exist.

What made the old-time Italian bakeries that were once a part of many American towns and cities special was that the bread was baked fresh daily and bought right at the shop. Today, even with the current bread revolution, much of the bread produced does not stand up to the those old Italian loaves, despite the love, care, and wonderful wood- or coal-fired ovens that we may associate with many contemporary bakeries. This is because many bakeries, smitten with innovative modern ingredients that accelerate fermenta-tion in order to save time and increase profits, have reverted to fast-rising methods that leave much of the potential flavor and color trapped in the starches. The Italian biga pre-ferment method is a step in the direction of improving these breads, much as p?te fer-ment?e and poolish does for French bread.

The following formula pushes the biga method to its limits, and the result is an Italian bread as good as or better than any I've had in recent years. The use of a large amount of biga insures maximum sugar breakout from starches, evoking a sweetness that is far beyond the small amount of sugar in the formula. The finished bread will be slightly softer than French bread and less crusty.

BAKERS PERCENTAGE FORMULA
Italian Bread %
Biga 160.00
Bread flour 100.00
Salt 3.60
Sugar 4.40
Instant yeast 0.98
Diastatic malt powder 1.50
Oil 4.40
Water (approx.) 57.80
Total 332.70

3 1/2 cups (18 ounces) biga (below)
21/2 cups (11.25 ounces) unbleached bread flour
1 2/3 teaspoons (0.41 ounce) salt
1 tablespoon (0.5 ounce) sugar
1 teaspoon (0.11 ounce) instant yeast
1 teaspoon (0.17 ounce) diastatic barley malt powder (optional)
1 tablespoon (0.5 ounce) olive oil, vegetable oil, or shortening
3/4 cup to 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (7 to 8 ounces) water (or milk if making torpedo rolls), lukewarm (90? to 100?F)
Semolina flour or cornmeal for dusting

1. ONE HOUR BEFORE MAKING THE DOUGH, remove the biga from the refrigerator. Cut it into about 10 small pieces with a pastry scraper or serrated knife. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit for 1 hour to take off the chill.

2. Stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, and malt powder in a 4-quart bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). Add the biga pieces, olive oil, and 3/4 cup water and stir together (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment) until a ball forms, adjusting the water or flour according to need. The dough should be slightly sticky and soft, but not batterlike or very sticky. If the dough feels tough and stiff, add more water to soften (it is better to have the dough too soft than too stiff at this point).

3. Sprinkle flour on the counter, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mixing on medium speed with the dough hook). Knead (or mix) for about 10 minutes, adding flour as needed, until the dough is tacky, but not sticky, and supple. The dough should pass the windowpane test and register 77? to 81?F. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

4. FERMENT at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.

5. Gently divide the dough into 2 equal pieces of about 18 ounces each, or into 9 pieces of about 4 ounces each (for torpedo rolls). Carefully form the pieces into b?tards, as shown on page 73, or rolls, as shown on page 82, degassing the dough as little possible. Lightly dust with a sprinkle of flour, cover with a towel or plastic wrap, and let rest for 5 minutes. Then complete the shap-ing, extending the loaves to about 12 inches in length or shaping the torpedo rolls as shown on page 80. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment and dust with semolina flour or cornmeal. Place the loaves on the pan and lightly mist with spray oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap.

6. PROOF at room temperature for about 1 hour, or until the loaves or rolls have grown to about 11/2 times their original size.

7. PREPARE THE OVEN for hearth baking as described on pages 91-94, making sure to have an empty steam pan in place. Pre-heat the oven to 500?F. Score the breads with 2 parallel, diagonal slashes or 1 long slash (see page 90).

8. Rolls can be baked directly on the sheet pan. For loaves, generously dust a peel or the back of a sheet pan with semolina flour or cornmeal and very gently transfer the loaves to the peel or pan. Transfer the dough to the baking stone (or bake on the sheet pan). Pour 1 cup hot water into the steam pan and close the door. After 30 seconds, spray the walls of the oven with water and close the door. Repeat once more after another 30 seconds. After the final spray, lower the oven setting to 450?F (or 400?F, see Commen-tary) and bake until done, rotating 180 degrees, if necessary, for even baking. It should take about 20 minutes for loaves and 15 minutes for rolls. The loaves and rolls should be golden brown and register at least 200?F at the center.

9. COOL. Transfer the rolls or loaves to a cooling rack and cool for at least 1 hour before slicing or serving.

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BIGA (Makes about 18 ounces - Enough for Ciabatta, Biga Version, page 140; or Italian Bread, page 172)

COMMENTARY
Biga will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months. You can use it as soon as it ferments, but just as for poolish and p?te ferment?e, I prefer to give it an overnight retarding to bring out more flavor.

In Italy nearly every pre-ferment, including wild yeast or sourdough, is called a biga. So if you are making a recipe from another source that calls for biga, make sure you check to see exactly what kind of biga it requires. In this book, biga refers to the particular ratio of ingredients listed here.

You can substitute all-purpose flour for the bread flour if you prefer, or blend all-purpose and bread flour as in p?te ferment?e.

- - -

BAKER'S PERCENTAGE FORMULA (BIGA)
Biga %
Bread flour 100.00
Instant yeast 0.49
Water 66.70
Total 167.19

2 1/2 cups (11.25 ounces) unbleached bread flour
1/2 teaspoon (0.055 ounce) instant yeast
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons to 1 cup (7 to 8 ounces) water, at room temperature

1. Stir together the flour and yeast in a 4-quart bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). Add 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the wa-ter, stirring until everything comes together and makes a coarse ball (or mix on low speed for 1 minute with the paddle attachment). Adjust the flour or water, according to need, so that the dough is neither too sticky nor too stiff. (It is better to err on the sticky side, as you can adjust easier during kneading. It is harder to add water once the dough firms up.)

2. Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for 4-6 minutes (or mix on medium speed with the dough hook for 4 minutes), or until the dough is soft and pliable, tacky but not sticky. The internal temperature should be 77? to 81?F.

3. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and fer-ment at room temperature for 2-4 hours, or until it nearly doubles in size.

4. Remove the dough from the bowl, knead it lightly to degas, and return it to the bowl, covering the bowl with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in the refrigerator overnight. You can keep this in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze it in an airtight plastic bag for up to 3 months.
 
Rita,
Your really pushing any culinary talents that I have. This looks like the "Queen of Breads" here.
Luckily there is a baking supply house not real far from me, and I am quite sure, they will have these items available. I will surely be making this soon, as I have a great hankering for scratch breads.
Thanks for taking the time to post this!!

Jim
 

 

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