Fig Anise Bread
This bread is one of our favorites, and is excellent toasted and spread with chevre. While the original recipe from Nancy Silverton’s 1996 Breads from the La Brea Bakery (ISBN 978-0679409076) is made with sourdough, here we’ve adapted it for normal instant dry yeast. 10 ounces soft, dried black figs, stems removed and halved. Place ½ cup packed cut figs into a blender with the hot water and puree. Set aside. Dissolve yeast in the water in the bowl of a bench-top mixer. Let rest until the yeast activates and becomes foamy. Add in the flour and sugar and mix at low speed mix until a medium-soft dough is formed, about 2 minutes. If the dough is too stiff, add in more water. Sprinkle salt over the dough and continue mixing at medium speed for another 6 minutes. Keeping mixing speed at medium slowly add in the pureed figs, cornmeal, and anise seeds. Let mix for 2 minutes and then set mixing speed to low. Add in the remaining chopped figs and mix for another 2 minutes until they are well incorporated into the dough. Place dough into an oiled bowl, cover, and let raise in a warm place until doubled. Heat oven to 500º F. Punch dough down and cut into two equal pieces, each a little over 1 pound in weight. Form each piece into a ball and place into a small basket which has been lined with a floured tea cloth. Cover and let raise until almost doubled. Tip the dough from the baskets and onto a cooking sheet dusted with coarse corn meal. Score the top of the loaves with 2-3 cuts. Place breads into the oven and liberally spritz with water. Close the oven door and spritz again with water in 3 minutes. Repeat this process one more time. After the last spritz, close the oven door and reduce the oven temperature to 425º F. To get the maximum oven rise in the breads don't open the oven for the next 20 minutes. After 20 minutes check the loaves and rotate if necessary to ensure even baking. Continue baking for another 10 minutes until the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove the loaves to a cooling rack and lest rest at least 3 hours before slicing. Archive |
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