More Bread

I decided to make another loaf of bread this weekend, and it turned out better than the previous week, despite the fact that I really fudged things around this time.

Last time, the bread was a bit bland in flavor compared to truly great artisanal bread. This round, I decided to try and clear out the pantry a bit and improve the taste of the bread by throwing in some dried cranberries and raisins.

I added more water than called for in the recipe because of the dried fruit. As a result, the dough truly was a huge gloppy mess and very difficult to work with. After it had risen 18 hours, I kept on throwing more and more flour on the dough in order to help soak up the extra moisture. And when it was all formed, instead of letting it rise for another 2 hours, I shoved it in the refrigerator for about 6 because I had to dash to work.

And amazingly, it all worked out. The crust is even tastier than the prior loaf and the extra dried fruit really really helped the flavor.

Even though I didn't really do anything brilliant, when I bit into that first piece of bread, I was pretty convinced that I was a genius.