Midsummer Sunflower Loaf
4 cups fine yellow corn meal 3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 2 pkgs. Yeast 1 cup warm milk 1 1/2 cup warm water 1/2 cup honey 1 egg 1 tsp. Salt poppy seeds
Start yeast in warm water and honey. Mix dry ingredients and cut in butter with pastry knife. mix in starter, milk, and egg. Knead and flatten out, let rest about 10 minutes. Cover and let rise until puffy, but not doubled. Divide into thirds, roll in cornmeal, and roll out into 8" discs. Place on parchment paper, and let rise about 10 minutes. Cut centers with a water glass; not quite all the way through, cut petals with a bench knife; first quarters, then eighths, then sixteenths. Mold each to look like a flower petal, and give each a little twist. Cover and let rise until doubled; about 1-1 1/2 hours. Preheat oven to 425o. Coat the center with egg white, and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake 10 minutes, and decrease heat to 350o, baking 10-15 minutes more, watching very carefully; remove just before they brown!. A yellow bread in the shape of a sunflower, celebrating the height of Summer and the peak of the Sun's ascendancy.
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