Hamelman's Semolina Bread

Profile picture for user Mebake
Mebake on 23 Jun 2013 at 02:41

Finally, i baked some bread. It has been a busy period, full of duties, and errands. I wanted a good wholewheat bread, so i baked a Golden Date bread from Laurel's bread book.

AHH.. Golden date bread... sweet, healthy, soft, almost muffin like bread.

I also baked Sourdough semoline bread, from Hamelman's bread. I never really tested semolina in bread making, but it seems to do just fine. My semolina was the gritty almost sand like type. The final dough was soft, so i had to add more semolina to the final dough to stiffen the dough as called for in Hamleman's book.

The flavor was not as sweet as i would have expected from Semolina, but it was ok considering that it is an all white bread. The bread is faintly sour, and the crumb is somewhat rough. The crust shattered everywhere when i cut through it, a good sign.

I trust that this bread's flavor will evolve, and have yet to try it toasted.

-Khalid

 

Hi Khalid

I have always wanted to bake semolina bread for once from Shiao Ping's recipe. Her comment about this kind of bread is quite chewy just made me a bit hesitated to try.

Your loaves look great with nice grigne Khalid.

Annie

 

Thanks, Annie!

They aren't as chewy as you'd expect from an all bread flour bread, rather, tougher crumb and slightly chewy.

When toasted, the crumb becomes very crispy, and crust very crunchy. It is a good white bread, pls. do give it a try.

-Khalid

two beautifully shaped and scored loaves, nice. did you use a serrated knife for scoring? sweet date breads.. hmm what do you eat with? 

evon

Thanks, Evon

No, i scored with my usual double sided razor lame fitted on a wooden skewer.

I eat the sweet date breads with yogurt, or cheese, or even dipped in olive oil. I like it topped with butter too.

-Khalid

bread sure sounds tempting.  Looks like they would make some tempting sandwich buns but muffin like would probably not work bu they should be great toasted for breakfast with some date jam!

When I get golden temple durum atta, after sifting out the atta I then coffee mill the remaining semolina to try to get rid of the gritty texture. It does work to some extent but you can't get it to flour consistency without a real mill I'm guessing.  I just make sure it has a good long autolyse to soften it up well.  Your bread is boldly slashed which we like as much as it being boldly baked.  You definitely got that semolina color coming through on the crust - nothing like it.  The crumb has semolina all over it too texture and  hole wise too.   It is a little too much white.........  eeerrrr....yellow bread for Lucy's German roots though.

Very nice baking Khalid,

Thanks, DA!

Sounds interesting, i have never seen a date jam, only syrup. I wanted to try the semolina i have at and in bread, and observe the result. The Semolina was almost completely absorbed into the dough, so I won't bother milling it to flour consistency. I like the yellowish color of the crumb too.

-Khalid

Good Looking Crunchy Bread Khalid. Rolls look quite nice too.  

 

Josh

Those look great Khalid.  Glad to hear you found some time in your busy schedule to not only bake, but to share it with all of us.

Happy baking.

John

Toast

CB85 on 23 Jun 2013 at 09:47

Those look great. I am making semolina sourdough today too and I hope my loaves turn out half as well!

Those are some fine looking breads my friend.  I have to give that goldend date bread a try as those look very tasty.  I like your boldy scored semolina breads a lot.  Like DA said if your semolina is on the gritty side I would try and soften it up with a run through a coffee grinder or your mill so it is more on the soft side.  Any way, those are some great looking breads.

Regards,
Ian

Thanks, Ian!

You will really love the sweetness that dates impart on this loaf. Pls. note that the recipe calls for commercial yeast, not sourdough. If you opt to use your starter then you may sacrifice some of the sweetness that this bread provides.

I'll try my coffee grinder when i can, thanks for the suggestion.

-Khalid

Baked all at once?   It seems just a week ago you were amazed at multiple loaves, and now you've gone and turned out many beautiful loaves at once.  Impressive.  -Varda

Hi Khalid,

These breads all look really good!

I had forgotten about the date bread of Laurel's.  My daughter really likes it too due to the sweetness the dates fill the loaf with....will have to dig it out of my files now that I have your reminder :)  Might even toss in a few toasted nuts.....ideas are percolating...

Thanks for the post and photos!

Take Care,

Janet

Thanks!

I suggest toasting sesame seeds and including it in the loaf, and on top (raw). Laurel says in her book: Sesame and dates are dynamite, naturally! and i agree.

Thanks, janet!

-Khalid

Will do!  I forget about those powerfull little seeds :)  

At the moment I am having fun baking with poppy seeds.  They are a delight too.

Thanks for the suggestion!!!

Take Care,

Janet

All of your loaves look very attractive (as usual). And an impressive production!

Happy Baking,

Karin

 

Love the beautiful crust and scoring, and they must taste great- durum is my favorite wheat :)

Thanks, Flourchild!

Much appreciated. I havn't tried durum flour yet, but i think i'am starting to like semolina.

-Khalid