Give us this day our daily bread
. . . . .
A diary of yesterday’s breadmaking…
6.30am: I mixed up two batches of semolina sourdough in the early morning light – it was a lovely, gentle way to start the day.
The dough only needed a few turns and squelches to bring it together, and then the shaggy mass was covered and left to rest. It’s been years since I’ve kneaded a bread dough until it was smooth – I just don’t find it necessary any more…
8:00am: Resting the dough after combining but before kneading allows the flours to hydrate and the enzymes to start working, which softens the dough and makes it more pliable. This process is known as autolysing.
I had meant to give the dough a brief knead at 7am, but completely forgot about it for an hour and a half. I uncovered it and gave it a few quick folds before we headed into town for the day (love school holidays!)…
3:00pm: When we arrived home, both batches of dough were puffed and risen (remember they had only had a few minutes handling time thus far!). The dough was turned onto a lightly oiled bench, and shaped into rolls and baguettes. This part of the process took 15 minutes. The shaped dough was allowed to rise for an hour or so, and then baked for 40 minutes…
5:00pm: The finished loaves were a little browner than I would have liked, but I was distracted and didn’t check on them while they were in the oven. There were four regular and two dragon tail baguettes, and twelve cheese and olive scrolls for school lunches…
Sunrise, sunset.
Many people find breadbaking stressful, or laborious, but for me, it’s a soothing, comforting process. That’s partly because I’m never terribly concerned about how the loaves will turn out. Don’t get me wrong, I want to bake tasty bread that my family will enjoy, but I’m happy to accept that the loaves will vary on a daily basis, depending on the weather, the flour, the activity of the starter and my frame of mind.
Sometimes the loaves will be full of big holes, other times the crumb will be quite tight. Some days I’m careful to measure my quantities to the last gram, other days I’m a little more slapdash. Occasionally a batch will refuse to brown up in the oven (which is usually a flour related issue).
Furthermore, as I’ve grown older, I find myself handling the dough less and less – it’s much easier on my hands and shoulders that way. I want to be able to do this for many years to come, so I needed to make procedural adjustments to ensure that I can.
Baking sourdough bread – it’s part of the rhythm and cadence of our lives.
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
You make such beautiful breads that I think when I become brave enough I will follow one of your recipes…
Thank you, Norma! The yeasted breads are very easy, but they don’t allow you the luxury of forgetting the dough and coming back to it later! :)
And then you ask yourself WHY would your blog get 1 million page views.
Ha! Question answered.
You’re very kind darling, thank you! xx
I’m really glad you forget about your dough too! Thanks for this explanation – I will make sour dough, I will, I will!
Sally, rising times will obviously be different in Dubai as it’s much warmer over there, but I find sourdough affords me far more flexibility than yeasted breads do. I started breadbaking using Richard Bertinet’s method and recipes that you blogged about recently, and I still use them today – especially his sweet dough recipe and the olive oil dough (for pizzas).
Loved this post, Celia!
I have some sourdough raising in the kitchen right now and I have stopped the heavy kneading – EXCEPT for when I knead to work something out in my head. Then I just knead and knead and knead. I know what you mean about not worrying about how it turns out- the bread of life is very much like the vagaries of life- uncertain and certainly unpredictable. :)
Heidi, I used to fuss about how the bread turned out, but it’s now become such a routine part of our lives that it’s almost second nature. And my starter is so robust that it bounces back beautifully even when it’s overproved in the first rise. I like the feeling that the sourdough fits into our timing, and not the other way around. :)
Lovely post, Celia. Your family is really blessed to have bread baked at home ALL THE TIME. Those olive scrolls look delicious and how exciting to open your lunch box and find one – just so different to Bakers Delight! No comparison xx
Charlie, thank you! I know it sounds strange, but it’s honestly easier to bake bread than it is to start the car to go out and buy some!
Variety is the spice of life.
My mum’s mum baked tiny loaves in miniature tins for me and my cousins when we were very young. She used to leave them proving in the hearth, filling her house with that unmistakable aroma and promise of treats to come: thinly sliced, buttered jam sandwiches for afternoon tea.
Peter, that’s a lovely story! Thank you! I hope my boys are telling tales like this when they’re adults. :)
Agree!! Although I can be tired or in a hurry, I love the idea, the feeling of making bread. And my family love it, no matter how wrong the recipe goes. And the smell… I´m in love with the smell of bread just out of the oven and warm.
Lovely post!!
Thanks Ale! I tried leaving a comment on your blog, but couldn’t do it as I don’t have a google account?
Great post Celia and I agree with you 100%. I love to get up early to enjoy the calmness of the morning and the rhythm of bread making. Its a beautiful thing! I am in the middle of feeding starters this morning ready to bake early in the morning before it gets too warm. Your bread looks amazing as usual :)
Thanks Jane! I know you understand what I’m talking about! :)
I’m with Jane… getting up in the early morning to bake (bread or cakes) is indeed a good thing. I wish I was less intolerant of bread, I would experiment more. Thank you for sharing your beautiful recipes.
Thanks Lizzy! I’m sorry you can’t eat a lot of bread!
How lovely that you can fit the rhythm and ritual of bread making into the rhythm of your daily life.
I’m glad you can save your arms and shoulders so your family can look forward to many more years of beautiful homemade bread.
Lovely post, Sweetie xox
Thanks Becca! We’re not getting any younger, and I do so love handling the dough rather than mixing it by machine! :)
Lovely loaves! The advantages of sourdough!
Manuela, that’s so true! :) Thank you!
According to my sister you had a lovely hot day in Sydney yesterday, perfect for bread proving :)
Tandy, we’ve been having some gorgeous weather here recently, although yesterday was a very mild 18C!
I’ve found an anonymous bag of flour in the pantry that may or may not be semolina flour. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow when I attempt your semolina sourdough!
Amanda, hope it works for you! The remilled semolina is usually an imported product, so it’s unlikely to be what’s in your bag, which might be regular semolina instead? If so, it might be a bit coarser than the remilled version, which will mean your dough might be wetter to work with – you might want to try using mostly bakers flour with just a little of the semolina for flavour?
You’re baguettes look beautiful and crispy. Dragon’s tails and epi are such great ways to shape. I fully agree with you on the mixing and kneading of sourdough. The only time I’ve had problems is when it’s very hot. Then if I think I’m going to be running late, I mix with cold water.
Liz, I often use cold water or cold flour – I think slowing down the process helps with the development of flavour. Having said that, do you ever put dough in the fridge? Lots of people do, but I’ve never had any luck with it. And thank you – I love the dragons tails and epis too – such a simpler way to slash the dough! :)
I do put dough in the fridge overnight in the summer when I’m preparing for the markets. I take it straight out and shape it but it takes a long time to fire up. In the winter I use the veranda as a retarder with good results.
Since I’ve started making bread in my thermomix I don’t do anything to it but move it and then shape it. All that kneading is a bad memory :)
Your bread is gorgeous!
Maureen, that’s good to know! I usually make huge batches – 2 – 4kg at a time, so it won’t fit in any of my machines. Plus I love the feel of the dough in my fingers.. :)
Celia, what a beautiful post – I love your first shot! How special to share your day’s baking with us – what a lucky family you have.
:-) Mandy
Mandy, thank you! I’m so glad you guys could share it with me!
All I need to do is see your bread Celia, and I’m off to the kitchen! One can’t go past the ‘Bread of Life” theme….mmmmmm, -now to wake up at 4.30a.m.!!!
Lina, it doesn’t need to be that early! :) Sometimes I mix up the dough last thing at night and then leave it on the bench to do its thing. Works well in winter! :)
Your bread always looks lovely Celia, your practised hand shows. I notice in the linked earlier recipe this requires: “Semola Rimacinata di Grano Duro (remilled durum wheat semolina flour)”. I may be able to get that down in Warrawong but, in case I can’t, what’s your recommended source in Sydney please?
I hope your garden is enjoying the rain as much as ours is, it’s so good to have decent rain at last.
Thanks Rose! It rained last night, so hopefully the garden got a decent soaking. The remilled semolina is an imported Italian product (there are a few brands) and you should be able to track it down at Italian or continental delis. Some of the fancier fruit shops stock it as well.
Celia, don’t worry about that question, I just remembered to check your suppliers section. Thank you.
Beautiful breads! You must be so nimble with shaping. I’m getting better but still find it a bit of a fiddle handling high hydration doughs. I’m amazed you shaped all those in 15 minutes. I guess you only do one shaping? (ie, no folding before final shape?)
Thank you! This dough is actually a slightly lower hydration, which makes it much easier to handle and shape. And yes, only one shaping. With the ciabattas (which is a higher hydration), they don’t even get a second rise. :)
Utterly amazing – seriously. I wish I could bake as much bread as you find the time to do :D… I’ll get round to it when I’m settled :)
Nick, you don’t need to bake as much bread as I do. ;-) Hope the move is all going well!
PS. You might want to check out my friend Joanna’s blog – http://www.zebbakes.com – she’s based in Bristol and there are lots of lovely posts about things to do and see there.
Awesome. Thanks! I know it very well though – having lived there for 3 years already. But one can always find new things to do in a city like Bristol!
Aah yes, sorry, I remember you mentioning that! How’s the house hunting going?
Indeed! Well! Only one things is taking forever to be checked, so we need to wait. (We have found a flat)
Hi Celia
Lovely, as always. You are the master of sourdough!!!
Thanks Glenda! It’s great fun, isn’t it? :)
I wish I could bake :) You are so cool, and your house must smell so good :)
Tes, thank you – and yes, the house often smells of baking! :)
Beautiful loaves as usual. I have never worked with sour dough starter, it really sounds very easy and forgiving.
Norma, thank you! I love sourdough – it’s patient with me, and works even when I’m off schedule. :)
I remember my gf’s mother throwing out an age old starter and she cried…it was a very sad day, indeed—your loaves look so tender and restaurant quality!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Oh, that would have been a sad day indeed!
A lovely post! How refreshing to read how RELAXING making bread can be, most accounts make it sound so difficult, enough to turn inexperienced bakers off before they even begin! Your bread looks very good as always, Celia.
Jeannette, thank you! It really isn’t difficult, once you get your head around it. Mostly it’s just a case of being patient! :)
They all look great. I do agree with your sentiments entirely – I now have a basic recipe that I am happy to make for myself routinely. No doubt that if I were to pay closer attention to each of the stages then it would turn out more uniformly, but there is only me to eat it and I don’t much mind if it’s a bit tight one day or has a big bulge out of the side. It all tastes good! I would like to get to the same stage of relaxed baking with sourdough but I still have a long way to go yet with that. But it makes life interesting – wouldn’t it be boring if everything turned out perfectly.
Caroline, your loaves have been looking fabulous! And it’s hard to experiment when you’re the only one eating – maybe you could starting taking loaves to work! :)
i love how forgiving sour dough is. You can ignore it, forget about it but it never holds a grudge against you for your inattention. Yours looks spectacular You have reminded me – I must make some pumpkin rolls for school lunches or the kids will never forgive me (not like the sour dough).
Liisa, that really is so true! I can forget to feed the starter for a few weeks, and it always bounces back. It really is very forgiving! :)
Dough!
Ha! Yes! :)
What a great day you had, Celia! This post is a good reminder for me to start bread baking again. I usually stop during the Summer months and begin anew this time of year. And thank you for the link to the instructions for making the dragon tail baguettes. I definitely want to try that sometime. If you’re going to bake your own bread, why not do it with some flair?
John, the dragon tails are so clever aren’t they? You might find these epis fun as well…
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2009/05/08/bread-101-epi/
One day I hope to make beautiful loaves like these. For now I bake in a tin. I start the dough on Friday night and leave in the fridge overnight, then into the tins, rise for a bit wherever it is warm and then bake. More ideas gained from you – I borrowed Richard Bertinet’s Dough from the library. So much to try….
Jo, Bertinet’s book is a gem – I just made the bacon slices from it yesterday.
If you’re baking sourdough in a tin, you might want to try this recipe, which is a SD version of Joanna at Zeb Bakes’ white toast bread. We love it!
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/11/18/salt-crusted-bread/
Ignore the salt crust and lidded top if you like, as it bakes brilliantly as a regular high top loaf in a rectangular tin. You might need to adjust the amount of dough you use to suit the size of your tin. x
I adore the dragon tails! Great bread. I totally agree with you in that I too love the way the dough feels in my hands. Sometimes I knead, sometimes I don’t. Since I make bread every week, I find kneading a good way to keep “flying squirrel wings” at bay with a decent upper arm workout.
Pamela, the dragon tails are an idea from Susan at Wild Yeast – some brilliant stuff on her site! http://www.wildyeastblog.com/
I have just made a batch and have 5 loaves to play with.
2 dragon tails, 2 epis and 1 baguette.
I wish I had a bigger oven! Thanks for the heads up on Wild yeast blog, I’m going there next.
Cheers!
I love it when you bake! Perfect as always.
Thanks Greg! Perfectly imperfect, as it were. :)
I absolutely love the breads!!
Thank you! :)
There is a serenity in letting go and allowing the dough to just be dough, bless you dear bread maker and friend xx
Thanks darling.. xx
[…] was reading Celia’s post, My Daily Bread, the other day and it brought a smile to my face as I realised just how different we are. When it […]
Celia, I am impressed – you appear to have mastered at least one thing Julian hasn’t (this I’m sure, isn’t the only one) – baguettes. You and he will need to swap ideas so I can reap the benefits!
Jess, I’m still blown away by his croissants! Most of them were eaten that night! :)
I’m always happy to encounter accomplished home bakers who have graduated from the often unnecessary need to knead everything to death (I actually do think there is a real danger from over-kneading!). And thank you also -along with Glenda- for the motivation and inspiration to begin baking more semolina breads.
Doc, I think there’s a time and place for kneading, but sore hands and shoulders have necessitated a modification of the process for us! :)
Celia thank you for your lovely site, I get so much pleasure from your posts, I’ve just ordered Richard Bertinet’s Dough since you sing its praises and thank you once more for all the wonderful recipes.
Chris, thank you for your comment, it’s so nice to know that people are enjoying the blog! :) The Bertinet book is a gem – I still use it often. And isn’t the dvd that comes with it great? Try the sweet dough recipe – we use it a lot!