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White Vienna Loaf

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White Vienna Loaf

Much of what we call white and French bread goes back to a Viennese baking style of the 1800s, which used white flour.

  • Vegetarian
Preparation time:
30 minutes, plus 4 hours resting
Cooking time:
35 minutes to 40 minutes
Total time:
1 hour 10 minutes, plus 4 hours resting 60 minutes 60 minutes 60 minutes 60 minutes 60 minutes 10 minutes
Makes:
 1 small (450g) loaf

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp easy-blend yeast
  • 100ml warm water
  • 300g strong white flour
  • 100ml barely cold water
  • 1 level tsp fine sea salt
  • Oil for kneading

Method

  1. Stir the yeast and water together in a warmed bowl. Tip in 100g of the flour and stir until you have a sticky batter. Cover with a plate and leave for at least 2 hours or overnight. Pour the cold water into the yeast batter and mix it to roughly combine.
  2. Measure the remaining flour and salt into a large warm bowl and tip in the yeast batter. Stir so you have a soft and sticky dough, cover and leave for 15 minutes to allow the flour to absorb the moisture.
  3. Rub 1 tsp of oil on the work surface and form it into a circle roughly twice the area of your hand. Pour 1 tsp of oil on the top of the dough and rub it over and down the sides so you can scoop out the dough without it sticking. Put the dough on the oiled surface and knead for 15 seconds. Place back in the bowl, cover and leave for 45 minutes, kneading it briefly twice more in that time.
  4. Lightly flour the work surface and place the dough seam-side up on it. Pat it out into an oval about 20cm. Roll it up very tightly and then roll into a long sausage shape, pressing the ends into points. Place the dough seam-side down on a baking sheet. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave for another 45 minutes or until doubled in size.
  5. Preheat the oven to 220°C, gas mark 7 and place a small ovenproof dish of water at the bottom to create a steamy environment.
  6. Dust the top of the bread with flour, and with a serrated knife slash along one side. Bake for 20 minutes then reduce the heat to 200°C, gas mark 6, and bake for 15-20 minutes till golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

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liba

liba 12 June 2011 14:24

I wanted to bake "French stick "so used this recipe, but if I was going to do it I doubled all the ingredients . I did found I needed much more water , nearly double the recipe suggested. Basically I was adding water till the dough stopped being too hard but not sticky- just nice smooth and elastic. I Let the dough rise for 45 min, made two long "sticks" , let it rest for another half an hour and than baked for exact 20 min in 190 deg. The sticks are soft, light and well baked.Easy and very yummy. We couldn't resist to try a bit still hot with a bit of butter. Happy baking!

absinto

absinto 23 January 2010 12:16

I tried making a Vienna loaf but found the dough too loose to knead and too loose to slash at the end. It may need more than the final 200g flour suggested. Also the dough spread rather than rose for the final 45 minutes so try upping the yeast to a heaped teaspoon. Perhaps because of these earlier problems the cooking time was longer, more like 25 minutes but the loaf did rise in the oven and the bread was light in texture and tasty. Would be interested to read comments from anyone else who has given this a go.

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Nutritional Info

Typical values per serving:
Energy 120.0kcal
Sugars 0.5g
Fat 1.0g
Saturated Fat 0.1g
Salt 0.5g

Per slice

Click here for more information about health and nutrition


This recipe was first published on Waitrose.com in March 2006