Spelt bread
Today I baked my first loaf of bread. This is something I've been meaning to do for a long time, but never got around to doing until now. The bread available in the store where I usually do my grocery shopping is expensive, fairly tasteless, and usually not even fresh. As usual, if you need something properly done, you have to do it yourself.
I used spelt flour to add some flavor and fiber to an otherwise basic wheat bread. Spelt (Triticum spelta) is a sub-species of wheat, and an ancient grain that has been cultivated for thousands of years. It contains much more fiber, proteins, minerals, and vitamins than the modern, high-yielding wheat hybrids that are commonly grown today.
Spelt flour have more complex carbohydrates than regular wheat flour; making a starter in advance will help feeding the yeast sufficiently for the bread to rise properly. This is what I used for the starter:
- 50 g yeast
- 3 dl lukewarm water
- 3 dl whole grain spelt flour
Let the yeast dissolve in the water, add flour and mix well. Cover the starter and let it stand in room temperature over night (the fridge should be fine as well; this is not supposed to be sourdough, we're just giving the yeast some extra time). Combine the starter with the rest of the ingredients:
- 5 dl whole grain spelt flour
- 13 dl white wheat flour
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1-2 tbsp salt
- 6 dl lukewarm water
When you have a nice, smooth and elastic dough, let it rise for one hour in room temperature. Form the dough into two loaves and place them on a pan with baking paper. Let them rise for another 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 220° C.
Spray the loaves with water and cut the surface gently. Lower the temperature to 200° C, then bake on the lowest rack for about 45 minutes. Let the loaves cool on wire racks.
Baking my own bread was well worth the effort; I'm very satisfied with the result. I should have done this sooner.
2 December, 2004
Pretty Good Pollution
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by Johan
And thank you for taking the time to write a comment, Marjorie! After stumbling through a (baker's) dozen Dutch pages I finally found the Roman spelt bread and for the benefit of future visitors I edited your comment to link directly to the recipe.
by Clayton Allport
Did you know you are a googlewhack? Trilithium Loaves, nice to meet you!
Clayton Allport
claytonallport@mail.com
by Johan
Good whack, Clayton! I didn't know, but given the eclectic nature of this blog I'm not surprised.
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by Marjorie B.
Dear Johan:
Thanks for the spelt bread recipe.
I became fascinated with this bread after eating "Ordinary Bread" in Egypt (2000).
I recently baked a very successful batch of spelt bread, using about 2 cups spelt flour and 3 cups white bread flour (with honey, oil and salt as flavorings). First I made a sponge (spelt flour, a pinch of yeast and water) which sat at room temperature in a covered bowl for 24 hours.
The next day I prepared the dough--warm water + yeast, oil, salt, honey and starter. Then I mixed in the white bread flour. Instead of the usual 1 rise before shaping--I did two risings before shaping--for a total of three risings.
For additional flavor, I sprinkled some shredded smoky cheese into the dough as I shaped it for the final rising.
Have you seen this great recipe for Roman spelt bread?
Regards,
Marjorie