Ruhlman's Twenty (23 page)

The second rise is what gives the dough its final structure. It’s especially important not to let the dough overrise, or your bread may be flat and dense.

The following doughs—for Dutch Oven Bread and the pizza dough—use exactly the same ingredients in exactly the same proportion. They differ only in how they’re shaped and how they’re baked. The same dough can be used to make herbed bread, sandwich bread, flat bread, focaccia, and ciabatta.

Perhaps due to the ubiquity of the frozen pie crust, many have stopped making dough for pies. This is a shame because it’s easy and so much tastier, especially if you make it with butter rather than with flavorless vegetable shortening/lard (though that’s an option if you prefer it).

Pie dough can be used in many ways—for savory pies such as quiches or chicken potpie, as well as sweet pies and tarts. Meat or fillings can be enclosed in pie dough and sautéed or baked or fried, as for empanadas. Leftover dough can be sprinkled with cinnamon and coarse sugar, baked, and eaten like cookies (which is really all it is).

The secret to tender, flaky crusts is three-fold. First, keep the butter or other fat in pieces of varying sizes, from tiny to peanut sized. When the dough is rolled out, the chunks of fat create layers within the dough, which results in flakiness. Second, add just enough liquid to bring the dough together. Using more than you need encourages more gluten to form, which makes dough tough. Finally, working and kneading the dough strengthens the gluten network, so work and knead the dough only enough to bring it together.

Some preparations require you to blind-bake dough, for custard pies, for instance. This means that the dough is baked before the filling is added. You can buy pie weights, which keep the dough from buckling and cracking in the oven. It’s just as easy to line the dough-filled pan with aluminum foil and weight it with dried beans. Bake at 325°F/165°C/gas 3 for 20 to 30 minutes, then remove the foil and beans to finish baking.

The most basic cookie is simply pie dough with sugar replacing the water. Butter is used for a shortbread style of cookie. The water in the butter helps hold the dough together. This results in dry, crumbly cookies, what a friend calls “adult” cookies, excellent after dinner or as a midmorning snack with a hot beverage. The cookies can be flavored with citrus juice or zest and poppy seeds, or dusted with confectioners’/icing sugar or decorative granular sugar. But most important is that cookie dough shows how doughs in general work. Add more fat, and the cookies spread out and become thin. Add more sugar, and they retain more moisture and are chewy (depending on proportions of other ingredients, this can also spread them out more and increase crispiness). A cookie with a high fat content will be crisper if you increase the sugar. On the other hand, you don’t want a cookie that is cloyingly sweet. Increasing the flour makes them crisper, drier, and more crumbly. Eggs make cookies cakier. Cookies are all about balance.

This is an example of a soft yeasted dough, a dough that has pillowy crumb from the butter, egg, and sugar. The recipe can be made to the point of cutting the dough and arranging the pieces on the pan. The dough can be covered with plastic wrap/cling film and the pan placed in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, let the dough rise and bake the buns as directed. The rise will take at least 90 minutes because the dough is cold.

DOUGH

5 cups/700 grams bread or all-purpose/plain flour

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 teaspoons kosher salt

¼ cup/50 grams granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1¼ cups/300 milliliters buttermilk, warmed for 40 seconds in a microwave

4 tablespoons/55 grams butter, melted

FILLING

¼ cup/50 grams granulated sugar

4 teaspoons cinnamon

4 tablespoons/55 grams butter, softened

GLAZE

2 cups/200 grams confectioners’/icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ to
³
/
₈
cup/60 to 90 milliliters milk, warmed

MAKE THE DOUGH:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir together the flour, yeast, salt, sugar, and eggs. Add the butter-milk and melted butter. Mix until the dough comes together. Switch to the dough hook and knead until the dough is tacky but not sticky, and can be stretched to translucency, 6 to 7 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Shape the dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl, rolling the dough around the bowl to coat it lightly with oil. Cover with plastic wrap/cling film or a kitchen/tea towel and let rise until doubled, 60 to 90 minutes.

Place the dough on the work surface. Roll out into a rectangle about 14 by 12 inches/35 by 30 centimeters. It should be about ½ to
²
/
₃
inch/ 12 to 17 millimeters thick. Don’t roll out the dough too thinly. If it resists rolling, cover it with a towel and let it rest for 5 minutes or so.

MAKE THE FILLING:
In a small bowl, mix together the granulated sugar and cinnamon.

Spread the softened butter all over the surface of the dough and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Roll the dough up from a long edge into a log. Pinch the seam closed, then rock the roll slightly to finish the seal. Using a serrated knife, cut the dough at about 1¼-inch/ 3-centimeter intervals.

Coat a baking sheet/tray with vegetable oil or cover with parchment/baking paper. Arrange the rolls on the pan. (They should not touch, but may be touching after the next rise.) Cover with a kitchen/tea towel and let rise until roughly doubled in size, 60 to 90 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C/gas 4.

Place the pan in the oven and bake until the buns are golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Let cool until barely warm.

MAKE THE GLAZE:
In a small bowl, mix together the confectioners’/icing sugar, vanilla, and enough milk to form a thick glaze.

Brush the buns with the glaze and let cool completely before serving.

This is the most basic kind of loaf, simple to make and to shape, beautiful to look at, and delicious to eat. I believe that baker Jim Lahey initiated the idea of baking bread in a pot, and it’s a brilliant one. The moisture trapped in the closed pot results in a fantastic crust. The pot is uncovered for the second half of baking. The dough can be made a day before it is baked. Proceed up to the second rise, and instead of letting the dough rise at room temperature, refrigerate it overnight. Remove it an hour before baking it. This recipe can be halved, doubled or tripled provided you weigh all the ingredients.

TO MEASURE BY volume

4 cups all-purpose/plain flour

1½ cups water

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling

Vegetable oil or vegetable oil spray

Olive oil

TO MEASURE BY WEIGHT

500 grams all-purpose/plain flour

300 grams water

10 grams kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling

2 grams yeast

Vegetable oil or vegetable oil spray

Olive oil

Combine the flour, water, yeast, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, 5 to 10 minutes. Depending on the size of the bowl, you may need to stop the mixer and remove the dough from the dough hook if the dough is not developing thoroughly. When the dough looks smooth, cut off a piece and stretch it. If it stretches to the point of transparency, it’s mixed enough. If not, continue mixing until it will.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover it with a pot lid or plastic wrap/cling film. Allow the dough to rise until it has doubled in size and does not spring back when you push your finger into it, 2 to 4 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead it to release the gas and redistribute the yeast. Shape it roughly into a ball, cover it with a towel, and let stand for 10 minutes or so to allow the gluten to relax.

Shape the dough into a tight ball—the tighter the better—by rolling it on the work surface between your palms.

Coat the bottom and sides of a large Dutch oven or other heavy ovenproof pot (5½ quarts/ 5.2 liters or larger) with vegetable oil. Put the dough in the center of the pot and put the lid on. Allow the dough to rise again, 30 to 60 minutes (less if it’s very hot and humid, more if it’s cold).

Preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C/gas 8.

Rub 1 tablespoon olive oil, or more if you like, gently over the surface of the dough. Score the bread with a sharp knife or razor, making an X or a hash mark; this will allow the dough to expand freely. Sprinkle the dough with salt. Cover the pot and put it in the oven.

After 30 minutes, remove the lid, reduce the oven temperature to 375°F/190°C/gas 5, and continue baking until the bread is nicely browned and cooked through. It should have an internal temperature of 200°F/95°C or so when done.

Allow the bread to rest on a rack for at least 30 minutes before serving so that the interior finishes cooking.