Refining A Recipe

Day 40: When can you call a recipe "original?" I've heard it said that you have to change at least three ingredients, but with basic breads, that's nearly impossible. I found a recipe for Dutch oven raisin bread on line, and when I made it, I wasn't fully satisfied with the results. With over 50 years of bread-baking experience behind me (I've made all my own bread since I was in my early 20s), I was confident that I could make adaptations which would yield the loaf I wanted. I changed proportions, used regular yeast instead of instant, revised the number and length of rise times. My version is slightly less hydrated which makes the dough easier to handle, although it's still quite sticky. I know some of you were waiting for this adaptation, so here ya go! If you don't have a banneton, simply shape your loaf by hand.

Crow's Dutch Oven Raisin Bread

400 g bread flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon table salt
½ teaspoon yeast
1/4 cup warm water for yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
1/2 cup raisins

Soften yeast in 1/4 cup warm water for 10 minutes. Stir together flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Pour in warm water and yeast. Stir until a shaggy, wet dough forms. Stir in raisins and mix until evenly distributed. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to raise for 45 minutes.

Sprinkle a clean work surface with a little flour. Scrape dough out onto the prepared surface and use a bench scraper knead and fold for a few minutes, adding only enough flour to keep it from sticking to your hands. Let rise for an additional 45 minutes.

Scrape dough out onto a floured surace and knead for several minutes. Place a piece of parchment paper in a banneton, folding so that it sits flat against the bowl. Place dough onto the parchment paper in the banneton and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for another hour. Halfway through this third rise, begin heating a Dutch oven to 400 degrees.

At the end of the final rise time, remove the dough from the banneton on its parchment paper and slash in a few places. Transfer dough with the parchment liner into the Dutch oven. Cover with a lid. Bake on center rack.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5 minutes more. Remove from the oven and carefully transfer bread onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.