St. Galler Brot

Zorra from Kochtopf invites us to celebrate Swiss National Day (August 1st) with her by preparing either Swiss or red / white colored food. I tried my luck with St. Galler Brot, a loaf that is traditionally shaped into a knot so the bread gets a “nose”. Apparently I put the bread in early, so all my knotting-efforts vanished after five minutes of exposure to the high heat in the oven. The dough should be rather firm and is allowed only a short final rest, then it is put into a fierce hot oven (280°C) and baked for about 50 minutes with the heat falling to about 220°C. The dark crust is brushed with lots of water immediately the bread leaves the oven in order to get a shiny crust, which is firm and seals the crumb. Consequently, this bread, although not huge, stays fresh a little longer than its friends that were baked at medium heat.

I baked this with a 1:1 mix of Type 550 and Type 1050 wheat flours, so the bread was not too white and more like the famous Swiss “Ruchbrot”. What surprised me – again – was that small changes in a bread formula can drastically influence the quality of the finished loaf. With its pronounced crust and roasting aromas this loaf is different to one made from the same dough but baked at lower temperatures. Excellent.

Zorra’s posts related to this type of bread can be found here, here and here.

St. Galler Brot

• 400g strong white flour or dark wheat flour
• 240g warm water
• 8g salt
• 10g fresh yeast
• 60g levain, hydration: 100%

Knead to a moderately firm dough and let rest for 1 hour.
Shape into a knot or round, then let rest for another 30 minutes.
Heat oven to 260°C, bake loaf for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 220°C and bake for further 35-45 minutes.
Take bread out of oven and brush with lots of water. Let cool completely.

Recipe: Levafresh site. There are more recipes available via the following link: Swiss Bread Recipes

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