VIRGINIA WOOLF'S COTTAGE LOAF

VIRGINIA WOOLF'S COTTAGE LOAF

 We don’t see many cottage loaves today. Even in the early 20th century, when Woolf was writing, they were going out of fashion. It’s believed they were originally shaped to save space in an oven — rising vertically instead of spreading out over the oven floor — but their unusual dimensions make them harder to cut or use for a sandwich.

But Woolf wasn’t the only literary champion of the cottage loaf. George Orwell, ever the expert about traditional English cooking, extolled its virtues as among the best food the U.K. had to offer, good just on its own. “If there is anything quite as good as the soft part of the crust from an English cottage loaf,“… I do not know of it.”

(Adapted from Bewitching Kitchen)

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
2/3 cup warm water
In a large bowl, sift together flours and salt. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add to flour mixture and stir until dough forms. Let rest 10 minutes.
On a floured surface, knead dough briefly, then return to a greased bowl and allow to rise 1 hour at room temperature. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

All of the preferment
1 teaspoon instant yeast
2/3 cup warm water
1 3/4 cups bread flour
1/4 cup rye flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method

Remove the preferment from the refrigerator, cut into 8 wedges, and let sit 1 hour until it reaches room temperature.
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. In a large bowl, mix together preferment, dissolved yeast, flours, and salt until a rough dough forms. On a floured surface, knead dough 10 to 15 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl and let sit in a warm place 30 minutes, or until it has doubled in size.
 Divide dough into 2 pieces (with 1/3 and 2/3 of the dough respectively) and form into tight balls. Place rounds on a greased baking sheet and set 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Place the smaller round on top of the larger round. Push a floured chopstick (or wooden spoon handle) completely through the center of the top round and 2/3 of the way into the bottom rounds to join them. Slash both rounds.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown and loaf makes a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.