go make some bread part II

Did you make your sponge? Is it bubbling over with yeasty goodness?
First step is already down! Wasn't that easy?!

Let's move on.

From start to finish this process takes about 30 minutes (and that includes waiting 10 minutes for the autolyse). 

You need bread flour, all-purpose flour, water, a pinch of yeast, salt, sugar, and of course, your sponge.

Recipe from: Flour Bakery

• 1 1/2 cups water (360 grams) at body temperature (when you put your finger in it, it should feel neither hot nor cold)
• 2 cups (280 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus 2 to 3 tablespoons for baking
• 2 cups (300 grams) bread flour
• 12 oz (340 grams) (roughly 1 1/4 cup) bread sponge
• pinch of active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Put the water, 2 cups all purpose flour and bread flour in the mixer (fitted with a dough hook) on low speed for about 1 minute. If the dough doesn't come together after a minute you'll want to add a teeny bit of water. The dough should look shaggy and rough like this:

shaggy dough.

Cover it up with plastic and let it sit for 10 minutes (this is called an autolyse. I just learned about this a few days ago. This process allows the dough to be hydrated and makes for easier mixing down the road.)

Now clean up your mess while you wait for the autolyse so you don't have to clean up later. 

Next, add the sponge, yeast, salt and sugar and mix on medium-low speed for about 3-4 minutes. The first time I made this dough I had to stop the mixer a few times and scrape the bowl to get the stuff to mix up. This time I added a teeny bit of water and it mixed up nicely. Either way is fine. Just go with whatever works!

After a few minutes, the dough should be somewhat sticky, but feel smooth (like an earlobe as Joanne writes in her book!). If it is stiffer than this, mix in a tablespoon (or two) of water. If it is too loose, mix in a tablespoon (or two) of flour. If you aren't using a mixer, you will need to spend about 5-6 minutes kneading the bread and get some pretty sweet biceps in the process! 

At this point, your dough will look something like this:

a nice smooth ball of earlobe.

Lightly oil (I use olive oil) a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl and turn it once to coat it. Lightly cover the bowl with a piece of oiled plastic wrap and put your little baby to bed for about 2-3 hours in a draft-free, warm (78-82 degrees is perfect) place. I turn my oven on the warm setting (about 200 degrees) and set the bowl on top of the stove. The dough will rise up a little bit (not a whole lot) and it will feel a little loose and relaxed and somewhat sticky. 

After the dough has rested for a sufficient amount of time you will want to flour your hands and a clean surface. Turn the dough out and divide it in half (you can use a knife or a bench scraper). Shape each half into a ball by tucking the edges of the dough underneath until you have a nice ball with a taut surface. 

Now, wrap the balls up in plastic and put them in a ziploc bag, or put them into oiled bread pans (whatever suits your fancy). Let them sit in the fridge overnight and we'll come back to them in the morning! 

Think about this. 

You're going to have beautiful, delicious, homemade bread for dinner tomorrow and you've only spent about 1 hour making it so far! 

Trust me, it will be worth the wait.