Anadama! My kids think that I’m a potty mouth when I say that. And, I certainly did say that aloud after I pulled the plastic wrap from the bowl after bulk ferment phase of this bread.
A key ingredient to Anadama (potty mouth) bread is molasses, and from where I come from very little has molasses in it save a cookie or two. I mean VERY little… the grocery store had so little that I was forced to buy either the last bottle of blackstrap molasses or Granny’s Molasses. In the book Peter R. suggests that finding a highly refined molasses tends to make a better tasting bread. Dama is right! I used what I could find…
Sitting at room temp. the bulk ferment took 2 hours
The formula is nearly 70% fully hydrated corn meal and 6 tablespoons of molasses. When I pulled the plastic wrap from the bowl to punch down and shape the dough a strong pungent smell of sweet corn and molasses smacked me in the nose.
The dough was supple and grainy. I had to use lots of flour to punch down and shape it.
Once I got the dough divided out into two pieces, it was easy to roll into logs and place it in the bread pans.
I rolled the loaves by pinching over an 8th of the dough over and over. Maximizing the tension of the surface.
Once I had the dough nicely rolled and panned. I sprayed a little oil on them and covered with plastic wrap. Time for a second rise.
Waiting for the final proof took another 2 hours. Such a cold day (it was -8 F on this day)
The formula in the book suggested that I wait until the bread “fully” crested over the edges of the pan. I’m not sure what fully crested means. So I took my best guess. Next, I sprayed the loaves with water and dusted them with cornmeal. I had visions of corn bread and bean soup after using this much corn meal in a loaf of bread.
The loaves baked for 50 minutes at 350 F. Nice and golden brown.
At first, I didn’t like this bread. But it has grown on me… Or maybe it’s better the second day. I’ve toasted it, eaten it as a sandwich (ham and cheese), and for dinner we broiled it with butter and Parmesan cheese. Not bad for molasses and cornmeal.
I loved the bread, though it was a little dry and crumbly. It was excellent toasted with just some peanut butter on top. You’re doing great… looking forward to the next delicious experiment.
HaHa! Love the potty mouth reference. You are correct. This bread was way better toasted than not. Looking forward to reading about future bakes. It’s like reliving the challenge all over again.