Each loaf measures 14" by 7"
This is my second attempt at baking bread. Before I had a chance to photograph my first attempt, Justin was already in the kitchen with a bread knife making quick work of the loaf I baked in a proper loaf pan. These loaves were permitted to sit on a cool rack long enough for me to snap this photo with my iPhone. Then Justin took to them with a bread knife.
In all my years of cooking and baking, I had never attempted baking bread from scratch. I think it had everything to do with my mom baking whole wheat bread at home. No matter how amazing the bread smelled whilst baking, that loaf came out hard as a rock and resembled a similar density. I know that white flour is eschewed by all proper gay homes but baking with whole wheat flour just ain’t gonna happen. I’d much rather endure the carbs in loaves baked with white flour. Also, I’m not partial to eating rocks.
I have my mom’s copy of Betty Crocker’s Cookbook which, surprisingly, contains many recipes that can be made vegan. The recipe for white bread in the cookbook called for 3 tablespoons shortening which probably meant lard back in Betty’s time. A simple conversion to hydrogenated vegetable oils and I had vegan bread rising & baking in the kitchen. The trick to baking bread is allowing the dough to properly rise twice. During my second attempts, I let the loaves rise for over an hour which created a lighter density when fully baked.
Baking bread loaves bigger than a baby has its advantages:
- One loaf is just the right size for making Roasted Eggplant and Spinach Muffuletta Sammiches from The Veganomicon
- The insides of the bread loaf that need to be excavated for the aforementioned sammiches can be dried and used for the crumb topping of Pumpkin Penne Pasta with Caramelized Onions (also from The Veganomicon)
We’re saving the other loaf, what’s left of it anyway, for French toast this weekend.
Cookbooks, people. They’ll save the publishing industry and destroy the processed foods industry.