I love to bake. And while my cookies and cakes come out fine, breads are my Achilles’ heel; the recipes often appear Greek and Latin to me. So, when I am asked to report on a class on bread making by culinary expert Marina Charles, I can’t help but feel intimidated.
There are 13 women in the batch, ages ranging from mid twenties to the late fifties. Homemaker Ajitha P.N. has enrolled in the class as she wants to bake her own bread. “Bread is a breakfast must have in many households. I enjoy baking but have never tried my hand at baking bread as I find the recipes complicated. When I heard about this bread making class, I decided to join it.”
Sherine Mohamed Ramzan says she is attending the class for the various tips in bread making that are often not mentioned in recipes. “I have tried baking breads but they have never come out well.”
Sifana Hijas, who is on a holiday however, decided to attend the class out of curiosity. “I am here on vacation from West Asia, visiting family. While I do cook at home, I have never baked.”
The class begins with Marina walking us through the different stages of bread making. “The first step is to measure the ingredients. A gram here or there can alter the texture of your bread,” she says. As we wait for the yeast to rise, we start measuring out the rest of the ingredients — flour, sugar, water, oil and milk. Once the yeast rises, we add it to the flour mixture and mix.
Marina Charles demonstrating the techniques to bread making
“Now comes the fun part,” says Marina, “Kneading.”
Dipping our palms in flour, we start kneading the dough. “Kneading develops the gluten by making it stronger and more elastic for better volume and air retention. Use the heels of your palm to knead. The more air you incorporate into the dough as you fold, compress, stretch… the finer the texture of your bread will be. Beware of overworking it though.”
Kneading the dough is pure torture. My dough, in particular, does not want to co-operate, sticking to my hands like glue. After finally beating my dough into submission, I manage to clear the window pane test. “You know you can stop kneading when you pass the window pane test. Pull off a golf-ball-sized piece of dough and stretch it into a thin sheet between your fingers. If the gluten is well-developed, the dough will stretch into a paper-thin film without breaking. If it quickly breaks...you guessed it, keep kneading until it develops into a smooth, strong and bouncy dough,” explains Marina.
We get a breather as we leave the dough to rest. “You need to rest the dough until it doubles in size, this is so the yeast fills the mixture with gas and allows the dough to rise. Make sure you cover the dough with a wet towel.”
An hour later, our work stations clean, we are ready to shape our dough. Marina demonstrates a couple of intricate looking shapes but while they look nice, I have my eyes set on stuffed buns and cinnamon rolls.
I make medium-sized balls out of the dough, flatten it a bit, place bits of a spicy potato filling that Marina made in the centre, and seal them. I roll out a larger piece of dough, spread butter and sprinkle a mix of cinnamon and brown sugar. I then roll the dough tight and cut slices out of it. After applying a generous dose of egg wash on the stuffed buns and cinnamon rolls, I place them in the oven.
Soon, the aroma of fresh bread fills the room. The breads out of the oven, we apply butter on the tops and leave them to cool. Looking at my breads I can’t help but feel proud of them. Sure kneading the dough and waiting for it to rise were a pain, but sinking your teeth into a warm, soft fluffy bread...worth it.
