Pan de Cristal (Glass Bread)

 

With a rainy Monday and no plans, I decided to try my hand at a recipe that looked intriguing from King Arthur's Baking website. I get a weekly newsletter from this excellent company and have always found them well tested with plenty of helpful hints to achieve success.

This was last weeks King Arthur's Recipe of the Week and the pictures posted of this bread looked so delicious. A dark crust, just how we like it at our house and an extremely porous looking texture. Here's the thing; it takes a minimum of six hours to make so it's not something to tackle if you're not dedicated to running in and out of the kitchen all day.

I started by printing out the recipe and it was FIVE pages long. A bit intimidating and I thought  "What have I gotten myself into?" I read and reread the recipe a few times and then pulled up my sleeves and got started. Initially, when I got the ingredients (bread flour, salt, yeast, and water) it was so loose it was almost like waffle batter. That, apparently, is the secret to making the phenomenally crackly crust. 

Well, throughout the day as I went in every 20 minutes to twist and fold this dough, it turned very manageable and when it was time to bake, it had nice fat bubbles erupting on the surface . It makes four small loaves, approximately 5" x 7" and it can be reheated in the oven to refresh the crispness.  

The Husband and I cut into and tasted the first loaf still hot from the oven because who can wait and I can honestly say it was the best bread I have ever tasted. Seriously delicious.   Here is the link to the recipe if you're looking to challenge your bread making skills, https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/pan-de-cristal-recipe