An unusual bread with a light anise flavor. Makes fantastic toast.
Source: Yiayia
This recipe is very special to me. It comes from my partner's Greek great-grandmother, translated and interpreted by his family with some trial and error. He has a strong nostalgic attachment to the bread, so it's an incredible joy to make this for him. The recipe as given to me produces more bread than I can eat; this is 2/3 of that, and makes two loaves of white bread. You could make sandwiches with this bread, but it's slightly sweet and has a subtle anise flavor, and I enjoy it as toast with jam.
Ingredients
- 5g instant yeast
- 730g all-purpose flour
- 1/3c shortening, melted
- 1 egg
- 70g sugar
- 1+ Tbsp anise
- 430g orange water
- 1 tsp salt
Procedure
- Mix together the anise and flour.
- In a mixer: beat egg, salt, sugar, shortening, yeast, orange water for 1 minute.
- In the mixer using a dough hook: Add 1 cup flour, mix on lowest speed for 1 minute. Move up to the next faster mixing speed. Add 1 cup flour every 2 minutes until all flour mixed in. If the dough is sticky, add flour 1/4 cup at a time until not sticky.
- Empty mixer onto a floured board and knead.
- Grease a large glass bowl (with neutral oil). Put dough in the bowl, roll around to grease all sides of the dough. Proof for 55 minutes.
- Punch down dough, fold. Proof for 45 minutes.
- Punch down dough. Divide dough into 2 loaves. I use a loaf pan for this. Squeeze gently to remove all the air bubbles. Proof for 45 minutes.
- Bake at 350 F for 21 minutes.
Orange Water
Exactly what it sounds like. Peel an orange or two. Toss the peel into some water and boil it for a while (5-15 minutes).