Whitebread

whitebread, originally uploaded by Seligmans Dog.

I visited my mother last week. At one point, she asked if I could make a whitebread. Hmmm, pretty much dedicated most of my adult baking life trying to perfect a razor-crust on a lean dough baguette, but, sure, I guess I could whip up a simple 'merican style loaf.

One trick to a good bread cooked in a loaf pan is getting the blob of dough in the correct size loaf pan. I made approx. a 500 g dough and used a 1.5 L glass loaf dish (I think this is a standard 9x4 loaf pan, but the dish was stamped with a "1.5l" on the bottom).

Anyway, here's the recipe:
water, 200 mL (could've used milk), warm (ca. 90°F)
butter, softened, ca. 2 T
sugar, 2 T
salt, 1 t
flour, 2C
active (not instant active) yeast, 1 packet (2 1/4 t)

Add everything into a bowl and stir until a shaggy mass is formed. Dump onto counter and knead about 5 minutes. Let rise and hour or so, degas (squish it) and let rest 15 minutes, form into loaf and plunk down into buttered glass loaf pan, let rise covered (I use a slightly moist paper towel) until just bulging over the top of the loaf dish, cook in preheated 425°F oven for about 20 minutes.

Wait until cool to slice. Make grilled cheese sandwiches with it.