my creative space is filled with commitment bread (yours can be too!)

i'm joining in with my creative space for the first time this year, and my creative space today is filled with the smell of baking of my favourite kind of bread (i posted a little bit ago about my second favourite bread oaty grainy honey bread):

but my favourite bread is: commitment bread. 

ok, so i know it is weirdly named, but it is based off the fabulous pip's famous pane toscano. see when i first read the recipe, i was a little put off by the fact the bread takes two days to make. it seemed like a bit of a big commitment. but then i realised i was going to be around the house for the weekend, and decided to give it a go. i committed the two days required and made my first batch of what has since become known as commitment bread. 

i now make it often and i have changed and refined the recipe so that it works a bit better for me. the major changes are that i like a bit of wholemeal flour, so i have added that into the mix, and i've also adapted it for my breadmaker (dodgy wrists from rsi mean that kneading dough is out for me).

so i thought i would share: my version of commitment bread (or pane toscano)

on day 1: make starter


starter: 
1 1/2 cups water
3 cups bread flour (it is so much better to use real bread flour. i get mine from here)
1 teasp yeast. 

put ingredients in bread maker on dough setting. once done, i pop it in a big bowl, cover and leave in the fridge overnight to rise. 

on day 2: make commitment bread

pull the starter out of the fridge and divide into quarters. (i pop 3 of the quarters in the freezer to make bread out of later). using one quarter of the starter, i make two loaves of bread. you also need:

2 cups water
1 1/2 teasp of salt
splash of olive oil
3 3/4 cups white bread flour
1/4 cups wholemeal bread flour
1/2 teasp yeast

put one quarter of the starter in the bread maker with all the other ingredients on the dough setting. once done, divide into two and place on trays sprinkled with semolina (to stop it from sticking). pop straight into a moderately hot oven (it rises in the oven) for about 25 min.

when you pull it out, it is good to let it rest for a little before you cut it. (i don't know why, but it cuts better after a little rest). 

it disappears quickly in our house, so watch out...