Pan de cristal is a light and airy Spanish bread
- Scott Daniels: We Ate Well and Cheaply
- February 20, 2022
- 1116
As much as I probably complain about it, bread baking has the appeal of being an endless field of learning and skill building.
Every culture has its bread, and all of them are interesting. Americans, or at least pre-covid isolation Americans, tend to think of bread rather narrowly as a round topped plain white loaf for toast and sandwiches fished out of a plastic bag. But if social media chitchat is to be believed, many of us have taken up learning to bake bread as a way to try and remain productive while safely locked in.
I baked so many sourdough loaves I don’t think I want to touch another slice of it for years, but there are still plenty of breads to stumble across and learn how to make, and I found such a bread last week: pan de cristal, or “glass bread,” from Spain.
When I saw a picture of this bread, with a dark, crisp crust and big, open holes inside, I knew I wanted to give it a try. I made four loaves over the weekend and they’re all gone.
They’re almost impossibly lightweight and airy. They’re a bit of work in terms of paying attention for a few hours, but not so much effort as to be off-putting. I started my dough at around nine Saturday morning and took the loaves out of the oven at about four that afternoon.
You’ll need a 7X10 inch baking dish a couple of inches deep, some parchment paper and either a baking stone or cast iron pan. A kitchen scale is also a major help because the measurements must be quite exact.
This bread dough requires no kneading, but is instead strengthened by a series of folds. This recipe has also helped me better grasp the concept of hydration percentages, which is a baker’s language I’ve found rather baffling.
The hydration for this is 100 percent, meaning the flour/water ratio is equal by weight, making for a very wet, almost batter-like dough. Use high quality unbleached bread flour; all-purpose flour isn’t sturdy enough for this recipe.
PAN DE CRISTAL, or GLASS BREAD
500 grams water at about 105°
(2 cups plus 2 tablespoons)
500 grams bread flour (4 cups
plus 2.5 tablespoons)
2.5 grams yeast (3/4 teaspoon)
10 grams kosher salt
(1.5 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons olive oil
In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, water, yeast and salt until well incorporated. Rub the bottom and sides of a 7x10 inch baking dish with the olive oil, then turn the dough out of the bowl and into the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest 20 minutes. To be sure of dough temperature, check it with an instant read thermometer. It should be about 72°. If it’s less, move it to a warmer spot. An oven with the interior light turned on works well.
After 20 minutes, you’ll give the dough its first fold, leaving it in the pan. With wet hands, lift the corners of the dough well above the edge of the pan and bring them to the middle. Do this for each corner and repeat five times, then turn the dough over in the pan, cover again and let rest 20 minutes.
This time, you’ll be turning the dough to fold it. Again with wet hands, insert two fingers under the sides of the dough in the middle, lift it completely free of the pan, drop the end closest to you back into the pan and then fold the dough onto itself. Turn the pan one quarter turn and repeat three more times. Cover and rest the dough 20 minutes. You’ll repeat this folding three more times, with the 20 minute rests between.
At this point, allow the dough to ferment for 90 minutes. Tear off two pieces of parchment paper big enough to cover your baking stone or cast iron pan. Turn the dough very gently out of the pan onto a heavily floured surface. Sprinkle plenty of flour over the dough until you can’t see any wet places. Using a knife, cut it into four equal sized pieces. Handling it as carefully as possible to preserve bubbles that have formed, transfer two pieces of dough to each piece of paper. Let rest uncovered for two hours while you preheat your over to 475°.
Slide two of the loaves, with the paper, onto the stone or pan and bake for 28 minutes. Remove from the oven and bake the other two. Cool on a wire rack.
This recipe is courtesy of King Arthur baking. Their website provides other tips and videos to help get a good result.