Jeffrey Hamelman

Hazelnut and Fig Bread with Fennel Seeds and Rosemary

Preparation info

  • Difficulty

    Easy

  • Dough Yield: About

    27

    loaves at 1.5 lb each

Appears in

top 1000Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes

Bread

By Jeffrey Hamelman

Published 2004

  • About

Although on the Face of it, the ingredients in this formula are similar to those in the preceding Whole Wheat with Pecans and Golden Raisins, the figs and roasted hazelnuts will add quite a different flavor note. The fennel seeds and rosemary further heighten the flavorsā€”this bread is loaded. The hazelnuts should be roasted until they begin to darken slightly in color, about 12 to 14 minutes at 375Ā°F should be sufficient. Shaking the baking pan a couple of times helps even out the roasting. When the cooled nuts are rubbed vigorously between your hands, most of the papery skins should fall away from the nuts.

U.S. Metric Home Bakerā€™s %
Whole-Wheat Flour 10 lb 5 kg 1 lb (3ā… cups) 50%
Bread Flour 10 lb 5 kg 1 lb (3ā… cups) 50%
Water 13.6 lb 6.8 kg 1 lb, 5.8 oz (2Ā¼ cups) 68%
Salt .4 lb .2 kg .6 oz (1 T) 2%
Yeast .3 lb, fresh .15 kg, fresh .16 oz, instant dry (1Ā½ tsp) 1.5 %
Fennel Seeds .3 lb .15 kg .5 oz (2 T) 1.5 %
Rosemary .1 lb .05 kg .2 oz (2 T or leaves of 4 sprigs) .5%
Hazelnuts, Roasted and Skinned (see headnote) 3 lb 1.5 kg 4.8 oz (1 cup) 15%
Dried Figs 3 lb 1.5 kg 4.8 oz (1 cup) 15%
Total Yield 40.7 lb 20.35 kg 4 lb, 9 oz 203.5 %

Method

  1. MIXING: Add all the ingredients except the hazelnuts and figs to the mixing bowl; the fennel seeds and rosemary can go in at the outset. In a spiral mixer, mix on first speed for 3 minutes in order to incorporate the ingredients thoroughly. The dough consistency should be moderately loose. Turn the mixer to second speed and mix for about 3 minutes more, until a moderately strong gluten development has been achieved. Add the hazelnuts and figs (either chop the figs or leave them whole, but in either case remove the hard nub of the stem before adding them to the dough), and mix on first speed just until the nuts and figs are thoroughly incorporated. Desired dough temperature: 76Ā°F.
  2. BULK FERMENTATION: 2 hours.
  3. FOLDING: Fold the dough once, after 1 hour.
  4. DIVIDING AND SHAPING: Divide the dough into 1.5-pound pieces (or make rolls of about 3 ounces). Preshape lightly into rounds and place on a lightly floured work surface, seams up. Cover the rounds with plastic. When the dough has relaxed sufficiently, shape it into tight round or oval loaves. Place the loaves in floured bannetons and cover with bakerā€™s linen and plastic.
  5. FINAL FERMENTATION: 1 to 1Ā½ hours at 76Ā°F.
  6. BAKING: With normal steam, 450Ā°F. The figs will contribute a lot to the bread coloring, particularly if they have been chopped; therefore, lower the temperature by about 15Ā°F after 20 minutes. Loaves weighing 1.5 pounds will bake in about 40 minutes, with round loaves taking slightly longer than oblong ones.

Ā© 2004 All rights reserved. Published by Wiley.