My grandmother died in 2003. I miss her dearly. She used to make the best bread and always would freeze a loaf for me to take home and enjoy. I’ve wanted to learn how to make her bread myself to keep the tradition going. Sadly it took me until now being on sabbatical to motivate myself to work with my mom on recreating the recipe.
This past week I drove up to my parents’ house and spent half of the day working through making two loafs of white bread. My grandmother’s recipe was never really written down so my mom tried to remember some of the special steps she followed.
We used the Classic White Bread recipe from Gold Medal Flour’s site as the foundation. Instead of milk we used water with potato flakes added – something my grandmother did.
Here are some pictures from the experience:
-
- It begins with bread flour
-
- We used an aluminum tub for mixing the batter
-
- Greased up baking stone pans
-
- Letting the dough double in size
-
- My grandmother’s secret ingredient
-
- Dry active yeast
-
- No bounce-back means it’s ready
-
- Cut in half and waiting to double again in size
-
- Egg wash gives the loaves a sheen
-
- All baked and smelling delicious
-
- Not bad for a first try
-
- My brain goes nuts for fresh bread smells
-
- Tastes great; room for improvement though!
Since last week my mom has recalled several more things my grandmother used to do in her process. We’re also reading up on the science behind making bread to really understand how to do things right. I can’t wait to make my next loaf!
Anne A. Kertscher
Enjoyed reading the bread making day with Mom in tribute to your Grandma. Nice to see someone inspired to keep the art of breadmaking alive…….and an art it is.
Keep the desire going and practice practice practice, you’ve had a great start.
For a fun read, interesting tips and a lot of laughs I suggest William Alexander’s “52 Loaves”.
Have fun,
Anne