Today, we are baking semolina bread, p. 102 hosted by Renee of The Way to my Family’s Heart and Anna of Keep it Luce.  Click on their links for copies of the recipe and pictures of the bread.

This recipe is simple and has few ingredients.  There are several risings, so plan ahead since it took me more than 6 hours to complete.  I made the sponge as directed and it doubled in size after rising for 2 hours.

the sponge

The second step is to add the flour and semolina, salt and some olive oil.  I used my KA mixer with a dough hook and the dough came together well.  I used 3/4 cup of flour since my dough seemed extra sticky.  I let it rise another 2 hours and it again doubled in size.  The next step is to roll out into a loaf shape and let rise another 2 hours.  As you can see from the photo below, my loaf looks a little flat.  I don’t know if the humidity or heat here had some effect on it but the last rising didn’t seem to go well.  I had to google “semolina bread baking with julia” for an image of the finished product.  I couldn’t figure out the slashes from the description.  And from the comments I read on Tuesdays with Dorie, I wasn’t the only one!

ready for the oven

The finished product was fine, but I probably won’t make this again.  It was a long process and the result was ok, but not great.  It would probably make a good pizza dough.

ta da! semolina bread

I am really looking forward to the blueberry nectarine pie.  It is almost blueberry season here in the northeast US and I have a great supply of wild blueberries.  They are small and tart, perfect for a pie.

July 31, 2012- Blueberry Nectarine Pie

Links to the recipe and other bakers work can be found here: