Sunday, August 21, 2016

King Arthur Flour's August Bakealong Challenge

Summer, ah, the long hot days of summer when the days are hot, humid, and.....hot and humid.  I'm a autumn girl myself, so I endure the summer to get to the fall with all the colors and the cooler air, brisk breezes and spicier foods.  You knew I was going to get to the food part...at least I hope you did.

So, I follow King Arthur flour on both Instagram and Facebook and get their weekly newsletter via my email box and they have a challenge that sounds interesting.  A Bakealong!  I'm in and will be sharing my results with you.  The first challenge is the Pane Bianco loaf, which is filled with fresh basil, tomatoes, garlic and cheese!  YES!

Here is the picture of my dough as it is pre-proofed on the left and then here is the second stage of the shaping process.   After rolling the dough out to a 22x8.5" rectangle, you put the filling on and roll it up long wise.  Then with seam side down, you cut through the layers from 1/2 inch from each end..not to the bottom, however.


 Now that is is shaped, the right side is the pre-proof stage and the left is the finished risen stage, ready to bake!  I rarely follows rules to the T, and today is no different, I didn't have the ingredients for the filling, so I used the leftover tomato paste from my cast-iron pizza, and dried basil.  It still turned out absolutely wonderful....like a pizza bread.
 Now baked, it smells heavenly.  I tented it after about 20 minutes as suggested and the golden crust came out perfect.  The slices were beautifully soft and evenly distributed with the filling.
This challenge was so easy and delicious!!  Try it!

ENJOY!