Kricket Cakes

Apparently this bread is more commonly known as Pane Siciliano, but I’ve never heard of that, so I decided to name it like it is. I found this recipe in my new favorite bread book, “The Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.

I split the recipe in half and just made one big loaf for my friend, Cynthia’s, birthday potluck. I whipped up a fancy sundried tomato and cheese spread to go with it, but I thought the bread was excellent on its own. I imagine it also would be tasty with any number of other spreads, especially sweet ones. It was one of the fluffiest breads I have made… maybe the semolina flour had something to do with this? It also was relatively sweet from the addition of honey. It reminded me a little bit of a pastry bread because of its consistency and flavor. And the sesame seeds made an excellent crunchy contrast!

Plan 3 days in advance to make this bread… it isn’t a lot of work, but it takes time to develop the awesome flavor!

For the Pate Fermentee:

• 1 1/8 cup flour
• 1 1/8 cup bread flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
• 3/4 cup water, room temperature

For the Bread:

• 3 cups pate fermentee
• 1 3/4 cups bread flour
• 1 3/4 cups semolina flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 1/4 cups water, lukewarm
• Sesame seeds for sprinking on top

To Make the Pate Fermentee:

1. Mix together the flours, salt and yeast in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on low speed.
2. Add the water and mix for one minute.
3. Add more flour or water as needed, erroring on the sticky side.
4. Switch to dough hook and knead for 4 minutes on medium speed.
5. Transfer dough to an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
6. Place bowl in refrigerator overnight.

To Make the Bread:

1. Remove the pate fermentee from the refrigerator and cut into 10 small pieces. Let stand at room temperature for one hour.
2. Mix the flours, salt and yeast with a paddle attachment in the stand mixer.
3. Mix in the pate fermentee pieces, oil, honey and water on low speed until the dough forms a ball.
4. Knead for 6-8 minutes on medium speed.
5. Form the dough into a ball and transfer to an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for two hours or until double in size.
6. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces.
7. Shape each piece of dough into a long baguette shape, being careful not to completely degas the dough.
8. Then curl in each end of the dough to create an “s” shape.
9. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and sprinkle semolina on the paper.
10. Place the loaves on the prepared pan.
11. Mist loaves with water and sprinkle generously with sesame seeds.
12. Mist the loaves with oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
13. Place the pans in the refrigerator overnight.
14. Remove the pans from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature, around 1-2 hours.
15. Place a baking pan with one cup of water on the bottom of the oven.
16. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
17. Place the bread in the oven and immediately mist them with water.
18. Open the oven briefly two more times in the first 5 minutes to mist the loaves again.
19. After the final spray, turn the temperature down to 450 degrees and bake for 15 minutes.
20. Rotate the pans and continue baking for 10-15 minutes or until the loaves are a rich golden brown all over.
21. Remove the pans from the oven and transfer the loaves to a cooling rack.
22. Cool at least 45 minutes before slicing.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, March 15th, 2009 at 6:28 pm and is filed under Breads. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.