👩🍳 ¡Hola! ¡Hola! 👩🍳
After weeks of planning, the ham bread class finally happened! And today I want to share with you the details of the experience. Please read it all the way to the end so you don’t miss a single step of what was done 😉. I want to clarify that I am neither a chef nor a baker, and I don’t even consider myself an assistant; I’m just a cooking enthusiast, who, maybe like you, is even afraid to add salt to a mixture because it might become too salty. However, if I did it, you can do it too by adding your own touch and practicing a lot, so that it turns out dreamy and magazine-worthy. The preparation starts beforehand with selecting the ingredients and setting up the table, or as it is known in cooking, MISE EN PLACE. Remember that term because every time something is being prepared, even just hot water, it should be done.
The ingredients we used were:
👩🍳 1 kilogram of flour. You can use all-purpose flour, like the one we use for cakes; however, it is tougher and takes longer to knead. Therefore, it is recommended to use bread flour instead.
👩🍳 For every kilogram of flour, use 15 g of yeast.
👩🍳 3 tablespoons of sugar.
👩🍳 3 tablespoons of milk.
👩🍳 1 tablespoon of salt.
👩🍳 1 cup of oil.
👩🍳 1 or 2 eggs.
👩🍳 a 500 ml jar of water.
👩🍳 For the filling: smoked ham, bacon, raisins, olives.
Los ingredientes que usamos fueron:
👩🍳1 kilo de harina. Se puede usar todo uso de esa que usamos para la torta; sin embargo, es más dura y tarda para amasar. Entonces, se recomienda que se use de panadero de una vez.
👩🍳 Por cada kilo de harina, se usan 15 g de levadura.
👩🍳 3 cucharadas de azúcar.
👩🍳 3 cucharadas de leche.
👩🍳 1 cucharada de sal.
👩🍳 1 taza de aceite.
👩🍳 1 o 2 huevos.
👩🍳 un tarro de agua de 500 ml.
👩🍳 Para el relleno: jamón ahumado, tocineta, pasas, aceitunas.
How did we do it?
Here we talk about the moment: during the preparation. We weighed the flour and from that kilogram we took out 2 cups and set them aside. These will be useful later for kneading and sprinkling on the dough so it doesn't stick to the table.
To make the yeast, we take the 15 g and add it to a cup of warm water _hot enough that our finger won’t burn_, stir, and gradually add 3 tablespoons of sugar and 3 tablespoons of the flour we have already measured, combining all the ingredients. We cover it and place it in a dark place. We wait 10 minutes and it should double in size. If nothing happens, that yeast is expired and the process must be done again.
While that process is happening, in the container where the flour is, we make a well and add the egg or eggs (the more eggs, the softer the dough, but without overdoing it), 1 tablespoon of sugar, a cup of oil, the tablespoons of milk, and the tablespoon of salt, which are added outside of this mixture. After the 10 minutes have passed, the yeast is added and kneading begins. How should the dough be? Soft, fluffy, manageable, and shiny. There are flours that need a lot of hydration and others that do not. We must learn to understand the dough.
The next step is to let it rest, well covered with a black bag and cloths, in a dark place. This process should take about 30 minutes. It is important to work with a timer. During this time, we clean up, gather the materials, and arrange the materials we will use for filling the bread.
After 30 minutes, we take out the dough and DEGAZE it. This involves kneading and removing the air from the mixture, and then weighing it. Weighing is very important because we divide the total into equal parts to make the loaves.
With each 'ball' formed, the kneading process begins, and then we roll out the dough in a rectangular shape. The filling of the bread is flexible; you can see different types on YouTube; we made it this way: a row of olives, cover with dough, add the filling of ham, bacon, raisins, and roll it up. We leave a section without filling to be able to 'seal the bread'.
Once ready, we place it on a previously greased tray and let it rest for another hour. Meanwhile, we preheat the oven and gather everything we used to keep the table clean and the place tidy. When we put the bread in the oven, we shouldn't open it until 30 minutes later to add some butter and close it for another 10 minutes. Let it rest, and it's ready to serve.
How did they turn out? For it being our first time, they turned out great! However, let me tell you:
👩🍳 The dough should taste like Christmas because it is a typical dish of this season. Therefore, we can sweeten it more with melted and flavored panela; also, room temperature malt can be used as a substitute for water.
👩🍳 To glaze the breads, we can use a mixture of vanilla and egg.
👩🍳 We must knead well; a lumpy, dry, non-sticky dough will turn out like bread, but not like Christmas bread.
👩🍳 The oven is important because it must be hot, at the perfect temperature to cook our bread inside and out.
👩🍳 We need to have many, many utensils on hand: a scale, baking trays, kitchen towels, measuring cups and spoons, brushes, and absolutely everything that can be placed on the table to simplify the kneading process.
👩🍳 La masa debe saber a Navidad, porque es un plato típico de esta época. Por lo tanto, podemos endulzarlo más con papelón derretido y aromatizado; también, se puede usar malta a temperatura ambiente que sustituye el agua.
👩🍳 Para barnizar los panes, podemos usar una mezcla de vainilla y huevo.
👩🍳 Debemos amasar bien; una masa grumosa, seca, sin adherencia, quedará como pan, pero no como pan navideño.
👩🍳 El horno es importante porque debe estar caliente, a temperatura perfecta para que nuestro pan se haga por dentro y por fuera.
👩🍳 Debemos tener muchos, pero muchos utensilios a la mano: el peso, bandejas, paños de cocina, tazas y cucharas medidoras, brochas, y todo, absolutamente todo lo que se pueda colocar en la mesa para simplificar la labor de amasado.
La portada, el banner y el separador los hice en Canva.
El traductor que usé fue Google Traductor.
Hasta la próxima oportunidad 👩🍳
In the next class, we will make Christmas or Kings' rings, as they are known, so I hope you liked this way of preparing the bread, and if you know any other method or trick that can help me make a delicious ham bread, I would appreciate it if you leave it in the comments 👩🍳. The photographs are my property and were taken during the preparation of the bread. I made the cover, the banner, and the divider on Canva. The translator I used was Google Translate. Until next time 👩🍳.
