Pear Bread

Every fall we anticipate pear season.  Ariel's parents have pear trees in their backyard, and sometimes we get to bring some home with us.  On a recent visit to their house we were handed a heavy paper bag of the much-anticipated fruit.  When we arrived home, we devoted an entire shelf in the refrigerator to the fruit, and our pear experimentation began.

A number of soups, salads, and crisps later we were ready to eat the last few when I was hit with an epiphany: chop them up and put them into a bread for French toast!

For a number of years I have been loving Jim Lahey's dutch oven, no-knead bread baking method. It is ideal for a home oven, especially if you're like us: cursed with electric heat.  The dutch oven creates an oven within an oven, which helps produce a thick, crunchy crust with an airy, spongy center. Many people tell me my bread tastes better than what they find in local bakeries, and I agree: this method produces incredible loaves.

What I didn't know is what would happen if I added fruit to the mix?  Ready to find out, I peeled and diced two cups of pears.

Let's say adding the pears was a great choice; one worth sharing.  The French toast also worked out great.  Unfortunately it was not feeling very photogenic, so I was unable to include a shot here. Take my word for it: bake this bread and make French toast; you will be happy you did.  

Ingredients:

3 cups or 400 grams bread flour

1 1/4 tsp or 8 grams kosher salt

1/4 tsp or 1 gram active dry yeast

1 1/3 cups or 300 grams cool water

cornmeal and flour for dusting

2 pears peeled and diced

In a large bowl, use a wooden spoon to stir together the water, yeast, flour, pears, and salt.  If there are any dry patches in the dough add another tablespoon or two of water, assuring the dough is uniformly sticky to the touch.  Cover the bowl with a tea-towel or plastic wrap, and let sit for 12-18 hours.  

Flour a work surface and using a bowl scraper or rubber spatula turn the dough out onto the floured surface.  Working around the edges of the dough, bring the edges inward, making the dough into a ball.  Put cornmeal down on the work surface and place the ball of dough on the cornmeal.  Flour the surface of the dough and cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap.  Let the dough sit for about two hours.  When there is 30 minutes left, preheat the oven to 475 and place a covered dutch oven on the center rack to preheat.  

Using potholders, carefully remove the pot from the oven and uncover it.  Quickly invert the dough into the pot with the seam side up.  Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes.  Use a heat-proof spatula to lift the bread out of the pot and onto a cooling rack.  Cool the bread thoroughly before slicing into it.  

Once the bread is cool, it can be wrapped in plastic overnight to retain freshness.  For French toast, age the bread a couple of days for the best results.