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Bread Dough Basket

Source of Recipe

Unknown


List of Ingredients

2 pounds flour
1 pound salt
1 and a half cups of warm water
clear gloss varnish
ovenproof dish, round or oblong




Recipe

Mix the warm water with the salt in a bowl.


Let it cool down and then slowly add the flour until you have formed a firm dough.


Knead the dough until it feels elastic.


Cover it with a damp cloth and let it rest for at least 30 minutes before using.


Measure the diameter of the ovenproof dish.


Roll out the dough to the desired thickness and cut it into strips of about an inch longer than the diameter of the dish.


Lay the strips in one direction:

Lay the strips across the dish - from the top of one side, downwards across the base of the dish and then upwards on the other side, to the top of that side. Continue laying the strips, leaving an even gap (of about 1 inch width) between the strips.


Weave the strips in the opposite direction:

Lift up every alternate strip that has already been laid and move the one end to the other, so that both ends are next to each other.

Place another strip of dough across the dish in the opposite direction. Gently pull back the strips that were previously lifted. Use this method to “weave” the other strips across the dish as well.


Trim any uneven edges with a knife.


Make the rim by rolling out thin strips of dough of about 5 inches long. Place the strips of dough around the edge of the dish. Lay the next piece of dough carefully next to the last piece of dough - continue this until the rim is covered. Take a tiny piece of an old, damp and clean pair of pantihose, cover your index finger with it and gently wipe over the edges of the dough covering the rim - this is to ensure a smooth finish to the rim. Take a sharp knife and deftly, make slight incisions into the top part of the rim - to give a ribbed effect.


Bake in at a low heat (about 250 degrees Fahrenheit) for about 1 and a half to 2 hours, or until the dough is a light golden brown in colour. The dough must be hard to the touch.


Remove from the oven and let it cool down completely before removing the basket from the dish.


Paint the basket with clear varnish. Let it dry and then add an additional layer of varnish.


Keep the basket in the kitchen, or in the dining room, and place fruit or bread rolls in it.