#bread figures

One of my absolute favorite breads! And my sister too. I baked it for her last summer, and she liked it so much she started serving it at her restaurant! The decorations on the loaves are optional, I just think it looks pretty. They are made from spinach bread, if anyone wants the recipe you can find it on my tumblr =) 

Dough 1:  2 g yeast.  100 g water.  150 g strong bread flour.  4 g salt. 

Dough 2:  20 g yeast.  500 g crushed tomatoes.  800 g strong bread flour.  50 g olive oil.  15 g salt.  2 tbsp dried thyme.  To make dough 1, dissolve the yeast in water, add the flour and salt, knead to a firm dough. Ferment in a plastic box brushed with olive oil in the fridge over night, or in room tempeature for 3 hours. 

For dough 2, dissolve the yeast in the crushed tomatoes, add the flour and the fermented dough 1. Knead in a machine for a few minutes. Add the oil and thyme, knead for another 10. Add the salt and knead for a few more minutes. If the salt is added at the beginning of the kneading, the bread might get a wierd texture, since the salt destroys the "gluten threads". Ferment for 2 hours. 

Place the dough on a floured surface, divide into two equal pieces. Shape to round buns. Sprinkle 2 breadbaskets or something round to ferment the breads in with generous amounts on flour, and place the buns there. Cover with plastic, or a kitchen towel, ferment for abour 2 hours or in the fridge over night. If you want to decorate the bread, wait until after the fermentation. Otherwise, the decorations might "over ferment." 

Preheat the oven to 250 ºC (480 ºF) 

Gently place the loaves unto a baking tray dressed with baking paper. Place in the oven. Throw some water or ice cubes in the oven while baking to give the bread a nice crust. If you don't want to thow water in the oven, you can place a small heat resistance mold filled with water in the bottom of the oven, the steam will crisp up the bread. 

After 5 minutes, lover the heat to 200 ºC (400 ºF.) After another 10, open the oven door to let some heat out. Bake for another 20-30 minutes. After the loaves are done, let them cool down on a rack.