Durum Sesame Loaf!

READERS: THIS RECIPE HAS BEEN EDITED AND CORRECTED!
Thank you for your forgiveness and your patience!

I hope you'll forgive me........this bread is very similar to last week's loaf, but that's just where I am right now. Something tells me once you've made and tasted this bread, I won't need to ask for your forgiveness!! 

A little story about this loaf....I was looking for something to make for my card club friends. The host was serving Italian, so I was assigned to bring bread that would be an appropriate compliment to that. I discovered this recipe- It intrigued me for three reasons: 1. I had durum flour on hand that needed to be used up and 2. Its cornstarch wash was a technique I had never tried before and 3. It looked easy (I was feeling lazy!!). I quickly mixed it up the evening prior to card club and headed to bed. The next day I realized I had fresh tomatoes and fresh basil on hand that needed to be used up, so I changed my plans and mixed up the caprese bread (FIND THIS RECIPE on my site - It's amazing!). I had taken the durum dough out of the frig earlier in the day, so I prayed it would forgive me and I threw it back in the frig. Two days later, I decided to serve soup for supper and, of course, you need fresh bread when serving soup. With some hesitancy, I took the dough out of the frig again. I formed it and was letting it rise when I got a phone call and had to run to an appointment. The rising loaf got thrown once more into the frig. Upon arriving home, I FINALLY put the loaf, with many doubts, into the oven. To my surprise, it turned out beautifully!! In the words of Brinna Sands, a past owner of King Arthur Flour, "bread dough is very forgiving."  Forgiveness is, in more than one way, a VERY good thing! 

 Durum Sesame Loaf!

Dough:

1 ½ Cup warm water

-1 Tbsp/packet Red Star Platinum Yeast (slightly less than a tablespoon or packet)

1 tsp. salt

1 Cup durum flour

2 1/8 Cup unbleached, all-purpose flour

For dusting pan:

½ Tbsp. cornmeal

For topping:

¼ tsp. cornstarch

¼ Cup water

1 Tbsp. sesame seeds

Parchment baking paper

½ Cup hot water

Place warm water and yeast in EZ DOH bucket and stir to dissolve yeast. Let rest 1 minute. Add one cup of flour, then additional dough ingredients. EZ DOH-it for 2-3 minutes, until all ingredients are incorporated. Cover the bucket and let the dough rise for two hours at room temperature.  Place everything in the frig until you’re ready to use it (up to two weeks – I left mine in the frig for two days. The original recipe also states that the dough can be used immediately after the two-hour rise also).

When you’re ready to bake, remove the bucket & dough from the frig. Flour a surface and, using a spatula, scrape the dough onto the floured surface. With floured or “sprayed” hands (spray with a bit of cooking spray), shape the dough into an oval shape. Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and sprinkle it with the cornmeal. Carefully place the loaf on the sheet. (I trimmed the parchment very close to the loaf – I’m sorry, but I’m still paranoid about putting paper in a very hot oven- lol!!  ) Let rise for 40 minutes. After 20 minutes, preheat your oven to 450, placing a pan under the cooking rack (you will be pouring hot water into this pan to create steam) . Preheat oven for 20 minutes.

Mix the cornstarch with a small amount of water to create a bit of a paste. Stir in the remaining ¼ cup of water and microwave for one minute, then stir. Gently brush the bread with this mixture, then sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Place the bread in the oven. Pour ½ cup of hot water carefully but quickly into the “steam pan”. Shut the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, until the bread is golden. Remove from oven and ENJOY!!! 

This bread is worth the investment of the durum flour (I found it at our local bulk food store). You will use it up fast, as this loaf is one you'll want to make again and again. 

Recipe adapted from thatsusanwilliams.com

Durum Sesame Loaf!