Ali Baba bread

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 4 loaves, you will need:

• 1 100 g sesame seeds
• 2 100 g water
• 3 100 g leaven
• 4 320 g water
• 5 30 g sesame oil
• 6 40 g tahini (sesame paste)
• 7 500 g plain white flour (French Type 65)
• 8 5 g yeast
• 9 9 g salt
• 10 10 g sesame seeds
• 11 1 tablespoon oil
• Total weight: 1,230 grams

Times:

Preparation	Resting	Cooking	Start to finish
45 min.	3 hours	40 min.	4 hours 25 min.

Step by step recipe

• 1: Preheat the oven to 360°F (180°C).
  Lay a sheet of cooking parchment on a baking sheet and spread 100 g sesame seeds out on this.
  Toast in the oven for 15 minutes.
• 2: Take the sesame seeds out of the oven and tip them into 100 g water.
  Mix quickly and leave to cool.
• 3: Put into a mixer bowl in the following order: 100 g leaven, 320 g water, 30 g sesame oil, 40 g tahini (sesame paste), 500 g plain white flour (French Type 65), 5 g yeast and 9 g salt.
• 4: Knead on slow spead for 15 mintes.
  Note: For the best way to knead, see: A few tips for effective kneading at home..
• 5: 2 minutes before the end of the kneading time, add the sesame seeds with their soaking water.
• 6: Gather the dough into a rough ball and transfer to a large clean bowl, then cover with a plastic sheet.
  Leave to rest for 1 hour.
• 7: After resting, knock back and work the dough: stretch it up with a dough-cutter as far as possible...
• 8: ...and fold it over.
  Do this once or twice, then cover again with the plastic and leave to rest for another hour.
• 9: After resting, weigh out the dough into lumps of about 350 g and shape these into oval balls.
  Cover with the plastic sheet and leave to rest for 20 minutes.
• 10: After this, fold each ball lengthways in 3 to form a long roll.
• 11: Lay the loaves in a baguette tin or mould or, if you don't have one, on a baking sheet.
• 12: Brush the tops of the loaves with a little water or oil and scatter some raw sesame seeds over them. Press these in slightly to help them stick.
• 13: Preheat the oven to 460°F (240°C ) and bake for 20 to 30 minutes.
  Note: As when baking any bread, you should ensure that the oven is filled with steam for the first 15 minutes of baking. This page shows you how; it really is the secret of golden-brown, crusty loaves..

Remarks

This bread is delicious enough on its own, but it si simply heavenly with houmous, especially if sliced thin and toasted.

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