Name: Chestnut Bread
Yield: 4 loaves, 1 pound 10 ounces (740 g) each
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 8 ounces (225 g) high-gluten bread flour; 1 pound 12 ounces (795 g) chestnuts in the shell or 1 pound 8 ounces (680 g) shelled chestnuts; 1 ounce (30 g) fresh compressed yeast; 1 cup (240 ml) warm water (105° to 115°F/40° to 46°C); ¼ cup (60 ml) or 3 ounces (85 g) honey; 2 cups (480 ml) warm milk (105° to 115°F/40° to 46°C); 2 ounces (55 g) unsalted butter; 1½ ounces (40 g) fresh compressed yeast; 12 ounces (340 g) unsweetened chestnut puree; About 1 pound 10 ounces (740 g) high-gluten bread flour; 8 ounces (225 g) whole wheat flour; 4½ teaspoons (23 g) salt

Preparation info

4
loaves, 1 pound 10 ounces each

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef

By Bo Friberg

Published 2003

About

I nearly gave up on this recipe in the beginning because while the flavor was great, it seemed that no matter what I did or how carefully I treated the dough, I simply could not get a healthy, attractive oven-spring in the baked bread. I singled out the chestnuts as the culprit, but it took a few tries before I realized exactly how they were adversely affecting the loaves: Because of their high starch content, the chestnuts reduced the gluten strength of the bread flour I was using to appro