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A friend gave me a fantastic bread book for my birthday last year. A few years ago, bread-baking guru Peter Reinhart saw the light, and jumped wholeheartedly into whole grain baking. I’ve enjoyed reading it, and applied some of his tips and techniques in my once- or twice-weekly bread baking, but hadn’t followed a single recipe start to finish.

While most of the recipes in the book don’t require much active time, many of them take two or three days from start to finish. That requires some serious planning!

Started on Friday evening, and 24 hours later, after lots of long, slow fermentation, ended up with this honey whole-wheat batard. The loaf slumped a bit when I transferred it inexpertly to the pan, and the slashes are a bit ragged.

The loaf has a fine-grained crumb, but is fairly light for a 100% whole wheat loaf. I used King Arthur Flour Stone Ground, the stuff in the brown and red bag. It’s a top quality flour, but on it’s own, it’s challenging to turn it into a loaf that’s not a doorstop. I’ve had more luck with a brand I discovered on the west coast, Stone Buhr, which is ground more finely.

Of course appearance counts for something, but flavor trumps everything else. If it tastes good, it is good. So how’d it taste? A bit sweeter than what I usually make, thanks to the 2 ½ tablespoons of honey. Nice toasty, nutty flavor.  It’s an enriched loaf, which means it’s got oil or butter and dairy, which keeps it soft and nicely chewy.

Tasted great warm with a bit of soft cheese. I’ll have to let it cool completely, and see if those extra hours paid dividends in flavor. Overall, a classic sandwich loaf. Next time, I’ll make it in a loaf tin, and keep the peanut butter and jam at the ready.