This is my first year participating in the challenge after lurking for the past two years. To come up with my redo bake, I looked through some of the cookbooks that I have bought in recent months. Because I am making tomato soup (with America’s Test Kitchen’s Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup recipe; non-paywalled recipe here) and grilled cheese sandwiches tonight for dinner, I decided some simple homemade bread would be great for the sandwiches.

For this bake, I halved the recipe and made a single loaf, as myself and my family are typically slow to get through bread and I did not want an extra loaf stuffed in the freezer.

Ultimately, I think I slightly under proofed it before putting it in the oven. I was expecting more of a rise in the oven so the slices are much too short for sandwiches (at about 2 1/2” tall). The crumb is still quite nice so I imagine it will be used up for french toast or regular toast.

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Recipe from A Baker’s Tour by Nick Malgieri (pages 34 and 35). Weights and metric measurements/temperatures were added by me.

England: Potato Loaf Bread

Notes

This is an adaptation of a recipe in Elizabeth David’s brilliant English Bread and Yeast Cookery (Viking, 1977). The addition of potato makes the bread more moist and flavorful, and the potato flavor really comes through when the bread is toasted. The potato needs to be warm when added to the other ingredients, so start cooking the potato and then get the other ingredients ready. By the time you are ready to use the potato, it will probably be just right and you may proceed with the recipe. To cook the potato microwave or boil it; then peel, mash, and measure it.

Materials

Two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 3/4-inch loaf pans, buttered and lined with a rectangle of parchment paper

Ingredients:

• 4 cups (480g) unbleached all-purpose flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)
  
• 1/2 cup (107g) warm mashed potato (1 small Idaho potato)
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (4.8g) active dry yeast
  
• 2/3 cup (158ml) warm milk, about 110 degrees
  
• 2/3 cup (158ml) warm water, about 110 degrees
  
• 1 tablespoon (17g) salt
  
  Directions:
  
  

1. Combine the flour and potato in the bowl of an electric mixer and place on the mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the flour and potato are smooth.
   
2. Whisk the yeast into the milk and water and add to the mixer bowl. Mix briefly on lowest speed, then switch to the dough hook. Add the salt and mix for 2 minutes on lowest speed. Stop the mixer and allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. (/u/lapetitebaker’s note: My dough looked very dry at this point. If your’s does as well, don’t panic! After the rest and kneading, the dough was not dry.)
   
3. Mix the dough again on medium speed until it is smooth and elastic, about 2 minutes.
   
4. Scrape the dough into an oiled bowl and turn the dough over so that the top is oiled. Press plastic wrap against the surface of the dough and let the dough rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
   
5. After the dough has risen, scrape the dough onto a floured work surface. Press the dough into a rectangle, then cut it in half. To form a loaf, make sure the surface is free of any excess flour, then stretch the dough into a rough rectangle. Fold in the short ends of the dough until it is approximately the length of the pan, then fold the far long edge over to the middle. Fold over the other long side and compress to form a tight cylinder, as in the illustration, right. Place the dough in the pan, seam side down. Cover with oiled plastic wrap. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Allow to rise until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
   
6. When the loaves are almost doubled, set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 400°F (205°C; gas mark 6).
   
7. When the loaves have completely risen, place in the oven and bake until they are deep golden and the internal temperature is about 200°F (95°C), about 30 minutes. Unmold the loaves onto a rack to cool on their sides.