This is a bread with a very particular texture and brown color. I loved to eat it toasted with butter and with a lot of honey on top, accompanied by a big cup of coffee. My mother made a sandwich with it, filling it with a wonderful pork steak we had for lunch and pepper jelly. I think that sweets give a very nice touch to it.
The recipe of this type of bread is very much like the one of bread with common flour. The major difference is the use of granary flour, which is a whole-wheat flour with brown color and made of malted wheat flakes. It is somewhat difficult to find in Brazil. However, it is possible to make a blend of flours to replace it.
We used whole-wheat flour milled in a stone mill, the traditional process preserves the flavor better than the mechanical process. This blend recipe also uses buckwheat flour. In Vitória it is a little hard to find, but I found it at Empório Veganza (and I was very well attended, I also tasted their cajuzinho [traditional Brazilian sweet] made of sweet potato and it was delicious. I highly recommend it!).
Whole-wheat flours contain wheat fibers, generating a bread with a stronger flavor and more dense texture, other than being way more nutritious than more refined flours.
Flour blend (granary)
the simple but fantastic 200 Receitas de Pães Tentadores
500g of whole-wheat flour
200g all-purpose flour
100g buckwheat flour
Granary bread
Makes 2 loaves
500g granary flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons instant yeast
30g unsalted butter at room temperature
300ml water
extra virgin olive oil for greasing
1. In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the yeast and mix further.
2. Open a hole in the middle, add the butter and knead the dough. Gradually add water until you have a smooth, homogeneous dough (the quantity of water may vary depending on the flour's liquid absorption).
3. Place the dough on a floured work surface and knead it until smooth and elastic. Make a ball with the dough, grease it with extra virgin olive oil and return it to the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until it doubles in size.
4. Knead again to remove the air formed during fermentation. Divide it into two parts and roll each one giving a long shape. Riccardo tends to make a rectangle and fold in two folds along its length.
5. Adjust the doughs into two 500g bread molds greased with oil or butter. Cover again with plastic wrap and leave it to rise until it doubles in volume. We used two English cake molds of 28 x 11cm.
6. Preheat oven to 200 ° C.
7. Bake the bread for about 30-35 minutes or until they are grown, golden and hollow sounding when hitting their bottom. Unmold the bread and let it cool. But if you do not resist, eat warm as us!
You can add 3 tablespoons of golden or brown flaxseed if you like.
