Bread and butter

It may sound simple, but trust me, it’s not as easy as it seems! Imagine this: a delicious loaf of bread paired with some creamy butter – it’s a heavenly combination! I recently attended a workshop where I learned how to bake a perfect, tangy bread and craft my own creamy, in my case, salty butter.

I began by preparing the add-ins for the bread, in my case, roasted walnuts. My rye bread was a sourdough, and I was fortunate to receive a ready-to-use sourdough. I mixed it with the main dough ingredients and added the nuts. Then came the stretching and folding. During breaks, we shook full cream until it turned into a lump of butter. This lump was separated from the buttermilk, a nice and refreshing drink. I then placed the lump in iced water, squeezed out any excess liquid, and shaped it as desired.

After each of the several stretching and folding sessions, the dough needed to rest for 30 minutes to regain its strength. Before baking, it’s important to pre-shape the dough to create tension, which gives the bread its desired texture.

The baking itself was quick, but since the bread should not be sliced until it’s completely cool, I needed just to wait that little bit longer until I could finally bite into my own slice of bread and butter.

My verdict? The heavenly bread and super-soft butter are worth the effort and the wait. Plus, this experience might just teach me some much-needed patience!