This is one of the best recipes for homemade bread I have ever tried. This potato bread comes out from the oven with a crispy, golden crust, a fluffy core and an incredible taste. I got this potato bread recipe from a foodie friend who lives in Germany. His name is Peter, and he’s a passionate cook and baker. He gave me the recipe under the name of Rustic bread with potatoes. I tried it several times and I was delighted every single time, and my family is simply in love with it. The alterations that I’ve subjected the recipe to are minimal – I used fresh yeast instead of dried yeast, and of course both types may be used.
Potato Bread – how to make it?
Boiling and mashing the potatoes
1. Wash the potatoes very thoroughly and weigh them, choosing them so as not to exceed the required weight of 620 gr too much. The potatoes will be boiled skin on. Keep in mind to choose Russet potatoes or other starchy variety, as for mashed potatoes.
2. Put the potatoes in a suitable pot and cover them with cold water, Add 2 teaspoons of salt. Boil the potatoes with until they are properly cooked, soft inside. Drain the potatoes and keep the water aside.
Allow the potatoes to cool down, then peel and mash them.
The dough
3. Meanwhile, mix the fresh yeast with a teaspoon of brown sugar until it becomes liquid. Add two teaspoons of flour and mix again. Sprinkle some flour on top too. Leave the mixture aside until bubbles up.
4. Measure exactly 120ml from the water in which you’ve boiled the potatoes. Dilute the activated yeast with this water. If you chose to use instant yeast, simple stir in the yeast and brown sugar with this potato boiling water.
5. Mix the potatoes with the flour and the two remaining teaspoons of salt.
Add the liquid with yeast and the oil and knead vigorously (preferably in the bread maker or stand mixer with hawk attachement). Initially the dough appears very hard, but after being mechanically processed for 10 minutes it becomes supple and slightly sticky. Put the dough in a roomy bowl and leave it to rise for 35 minutes at room temperature, covered with cling film.
Bread shaping
6. After the dough has risen, place it on the worktop (previously sprinkled with flour) and cut it in two equal parts.
Flatten each piece in an oval shape and roll one side toward the interior up to the midpoint. Dust the opposite side (the unrolled one) with some flour.
Powder a kitchen towel with flour and place the breads on it, with the joint (the unrolled side) facedown, shaping them in a relatively round form.
Cover them with another thick, slightly dump kitchen towel and leave them to rise at room temperature for 35 minutes.
Potato Bread – how to bake it
7. Heat the oven at 230°C and place a small pan with hot water inside, for steam. If your oven has a steam baking function, you will not need to put the small pan inside it. Lay the breads on a tray lined with baking paper, in a position opposite from the one they were left to rise in (with the joint face-up).
Bake the potato bread in the preheated oven at a height situated in the inferior half. After 15 minutes, remove the pan with hot water (be careful with it!) and reduce the heat to 190°C. Bake the breads for 30 minutes more.
Take the potato bread out and place it on a baking wire rack, waiting for it to cool completely before cutting it.
This potato bread is phenomenal, very rich with a crunchy crust and and elastic, perfumed core.
Potato Bread - german recipe of Kartoffelbrot
Equipment
- oven
- a large bowl
- clean kitchel towels
- a pot for boiling the potatoes
Materials
- 625 gr potatoes Russet or other type that you use for puree
- 650 gr bread flour
- 120 ml water from boiling the potatoes
- 4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 25 gr fresh yeast it can be substitute with 7 gr of instant yeast
- some extra flour for dusting
Instructions
Wash the potatoes and boil them, skin on, with 2 teaspoons of salt until they are soft. Drain them and keep the water aside. When cool, peel the potatoes and mash them.
Mix the fresh yeast with a teaspoon of brown sugar. Add two teaspoons of flour and mix again. Sprinkle some flour on top too. Keep aside until bubles. If you use dry yeast, jump to the next step.
Measure 120ml from the water in which you’ve boiled the potatoes. Dilute the activated yeast with this water. If you chose to use dry yeast, simple stir the yeast and brown sugar with this potato boiling water.- Mix the potatoes with the flour and the two remaining teaspoons of salt. Add the liquid with yeast and the oil and knead vigorously (preferably in the bread maker or food processor), processing it for about 10 minutes. The dough becomes supple and slightly sticky. Put the dough in a bowl and leave it to rise for 35 minutes at room temperature, covered with cling film.
Place the risen dough on the worktop (previously sprinkled with flour) and cut it
in two equal parts. Flatten each piece in an oval shape and roll one side toward the interior up to the midpoint. Dust the opposite side with some flour. Powder a kitchen towel with flour and place the breads on it, with the joint (the unrolled side) facedown, shaping them in a relatively round form. Cover them with another kitchen towel and leave them to rise at room
temperature for 35 minutes.- Heat the oven at 230 degrees Celsius and place a small pan with hot water inside, for steam. If your oven has a steam baking function, you will not need to put the small pan inside it. Lay the breads on a tray covered with baking paper, in a position opposite from the one they were left to rise in (with the joint face-up) and bake them in the oven at a height situated in the inferior half. After 15 minutes, remove the pan with hot water (be careful with it!) and reduce the heat to 190 degrees Celsius. Bake the breads for 30 minutes more.
Take them out and place it on a baking wire rack, waiting for it to cool
completely before cutting it.
