Dough Notes

Today we'd like to introduce you to the Arbitrary Hedgehog Bread. I should not mention that it turned out really, really nice, because this one will be a bit difficult to put into a recipe that one could follow. Nevertheless, it makes a good story.
Let's start with stating that I had no particular plan as to what kind of bread I wanted to do. We finished with the previous one, so there was a certain urgency to do a new one. I also need to mention that I wasn't in the best mood for baking for reasons outside the scope of this blog. Usually, that would not be a good outset!
Anyway, while our zuccini and the lamb where in the oven getting ready for dinner I started measuring the flour. There was a nearly finished pack of strong white flour and a nearly finished pack of rye flour and the next thing that caught my attention was flames shooting out of the oven!
After getting the situation under control again I returned to the flour to find the electronic scales having gone back to stand-by, so I just added a bit more flour to get an amount that I felt comfortable with. Luckily I've done the sugar- water- and yeastmix earlier, so at least that was done properly measured. However, now I simply added some salt, a splash of olive oil and another splash of cider (you see what I mean by 'arbitrary'), mixed everything together, got reminded that dinner by now was ready... things were getting hectic!

All there was left for me to do was quickly (but using good old stress-releasing brute force) knead the dough, cover it and let it rest while we were having dinner. Now don't ask me how long I allowed it to rest, I estimate about 90 minutes, after which I returned to the dough for more stress releave. As a matter of fact, there was a moment it almost looked like I was trying to do a pizza, but I thought better and rolled it up to a more bread-like shape. Did some deep cuts, rubbed some thyme into the wounds and covered again while I was preheating the oven to roughly 220 degree.

The rest was fairly simple.. get the dough into the oven, wait 20 minutes, take it out, tap (sounded 'proper') and resist the temptation to sample it right away.

So, after another 10 minutes the whole ordeal was over and done, and, much to my surprise we had a good looking, hedgehog-shaped (can't you see?), gorgeous smelling bread with a subtle crust and a nice and tasty inside. maybe a hint on the soft side, but hey! You should always leave some room for improvement!