Trabzon bread (Trabzon ekmegi)

This large round country-style loaf comes from Trabzon, a city on Turkey’s Black Sea coast.

• makes

  2

• prep

  2 hours

• cook

  55 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

You will need 2 x 20 cm round cake pans for this recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 kg plain flour, plus extra 105 g (¾ cup) 
• 7 g sachet dried yeast
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

Place 1 kg flour, yeast and 3 tsp salt in a large bowl. Pour 810 ml warm water over the back of your hand to control the flow of the liquid into the bowl of flour, and, using your fingers, combine the mixture until a very sticky, wet dough. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 1½ hours or until mixture starts to bubble and doubles in size. Grease 2 x 20 cm cake pans.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Using your fingers, mix dough with extra 105 g flour until mixture forms a sticky dough. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 4 minutes or until smooth. Halve dough and shape into 2 x 20 cm discs.

Place each disc into a prepared cake pan. Brush the top of each disc with 1 tbsp oil and rest, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

Bake for 55 minutes or until golden and loaf sounds hollow when tapped underneath.

As seen in Feast Magazine, Issue 13, pg53.

Photography by Christopher Ireland

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

You will need 2 x 20 cm round cake pans for this recipe.