Red Wine Bread

Red wine in bread? Sounds really interesting.

Ben was describing this bread recipe that he found from “Confessions of a French Baker”, by Peter Mayle(Writer) and Gerard Auzet(Baker). The recipe calls for equal amounts of red wine and water, no sugar or oil.

In my past baking adventures, I have learnt that breads turn out dense, and even tough, if oil/butter was omitted. But I admit that it was the wine that perked my interest in wanting to try out Ben's find. Also a good excuse to finish that quarter bottle of red wine. Incidentally, I googled for "Red Wine Bread recipes" without any finds. Seemed like it's going to be an 'off-the-beaten-path' adventure today.

The recipe called for strong flour, with Ben recommending unbleached. However, I decided to change it to whole meal instead, hoping to up the nutrition index a bit more. While shopping for the flour in my neighborhood, I dropped by a newly opened food store that sells Organic food. I came out $6.05 poorer, with 1kg of organic whole meal flour and organic dried yeast. And I decided that I shall also use distilled water, instead of PUB’s sky juice for the dough. Wow, I think my nutrition index just shot through the roof.

Recipe was straightforward. Mix everything, knead for 10mins. Proof the dough. Beat down. Let it rise again. Into the oven and out. Tada! Fresh, soft, wholesome, nutrition-loaded, home baked, whole meal bread like those of Gardenia or Sunshine. Right?

Not quite.

Although the wine flavour wasn't evident, I still think the bread tasted fine and no lacking in nutrition. But the softness I was looking for wasn’t there.

Where did I go wrong?

Whole meal flour has less protein than normal plain flours and therefore develops lesser gluten. Gluten is formed when flour is mixed with water and gives breads the typical “web” or “spongy” structure that trap the CO2 released during the leavening process. When I used 100% whole meal flour, it is not surprising that the bread turned out rather coarse and dense. Maybe I didn’t knead enough. Maybe I could have used more yeast. Maybe I should let the dough rise longer. Or maybe I should have just follow instructions.

Ah, the world of what-if scenarios and hindsight. I shall ponder them over tea and my home-baked bread.