I love baking pane.
Maybe because I love its taste and I have always eaten it with gusto.
There was the buttered slices of white bread that I ate without jam.
The common bread (pane comune) on the table at lunchtime and again for dinner.
There were the baskets of different breads and breadsticks for Sunday lunch or if there were guests.
There were the soft, filling sandwiches for merenda and when I went on school trips.
And now there is this whole wheat sandwich bread that I called the bread of friendship.
Sandwich bread.
From the dough you get two beautiful breads, soft and fragrant inside, with a very crunch crust on the outside. It is a flavored whole wheat bread thanks to the mix of different flours: wholemeal, but also spelt and flax.
One it is for you and one, wrapped in paper tied with a simple string, you give to whomever you want: a friend, a neighbour, or a person you know might want it or find comfort from this simple gift.
Just before the pandemic, I had decided to take a professional baking course to add to the other cooking courses I had taken and which, with the long work experience I have had into my bad and breakfast, solidified my training as cook.
That wish is, for now, a dream locked in the drawer. For now.
Every time I bake bread, that smell renews and strengthens my intentions.
Sandwich bread is perfect for sandwiches, toast, charcuterie and cheese tagliere or just enjoying with some softened butter.
The recipe is inspired by the rustic bread from a special issue of La Cucina Italiana dedicated to bread.
Buona cucina, Monica
On the blog in the section Bread and Pizza you will find different types of bread, the cassette without dough is not rustic but is nevertheless worth trying, crescente, a Tuscan fried bread called ficattola, focaccia, tigelle and pizzas.
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Food Tips.
You can replace the molasses with malt or unflavoured lager, or double the amount of honey.
As an alternative to spelt flour, you can use buckwheat or oatmeal.
Instead of dry yeast (sachet for 500 g flour), use 25 g fresh yeast.
You can use a larger baking tray and make a single loaf.
Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread Recipe
2 breads
rectangular moulds 18x5cm
Ingredients
first dough
Manitoba flour, 300g
whole wheat flour, 150g
active dry yeast, one sachet per 500g flour
honey, 25g
dark molasses, 25g
natural white yoghurt, 125g
lukewarm water, 300g
second dough
spelt flour, 100g
fine cornmeal flour, 50g
lukewarm water, 100g
fine salt, 13g
baking soda, 4g
olive oil, 30g
cereal flakes for decoration
Directions
In a glass, melt the yeast in 100g of warm water, add the honey, stir well and leave to stand for a few minutes.
In the meantime, take a bowl and mix Manitoba and whole wheat flour, add yoghurt, molasses, melted yeast, 200 g lukewarm water and mix the ingredients to make a soft, sticky dough.
Knead vigorously for about ten minutes. Up to 15 minutes if kneading by hand.
Cover the bowl with a clean, damp kitchen towel and leave to ferment overnight at room temperature.
The next morning, add the spelt and cornmeal flours, olive oil, salt and half the water (whether and how much water to add depends on how much the flours have drunk during the night’s rest and how dry the dough is when you add them. It also depends on the season. Prepare the lukewarm water and add as much as necessary. I, for example, used all of it).
Knead for 5 minutes (by hand or with the planetary).
Preheat the oven to 180C degrees, static function.
Add the baking soda and knead for another 5 minutes.
The dough will be sticky, place on a clean, floured surface and divide in half without kneading again.
Take two baking moulds and brush the bottom and sides with a mixture of olive oil and water. Then sprinkle cereal flakes on the sides of the moulds.
Place the two doughs in the two moulds, brush the surface with water and olive oil, sprinkle with more flakes and leave to rest for about ten minutes.
Before placing in the oven, put a small kettle of water on the base of the oven, then place the breads in the oven and bake for 40 minutes at 180C degrees.
Check that they are cooked, the surface should be crispy, and take them out of the oven.
Leave to cool before cutting.
