Pan de Cristal Catalan (Pa de Vidre)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Digital kitchen scale accurate to 1g
• •Large mixing bowl
• •Clear straight-sided container, about 3 liters
• •Flexible dough scraper
• •Metal bench scraper
• •Baking stone, baking steel, or heavy inverted baking sheet
• •High-temperature baking parchment
• •Rimless baking sheet or bread peel
• •Sturdy metal roasting pan
• •Wire cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix the first dough

   Put 450g of the cool water in a large bowl and stir in the yeast. Add the 500g flour and mix firmly with one hand or a stiff spatula for about 2 minutes, until no dry pockets remain. It will be loose, lumpy, and sticky. Cover and leave it for 20 minutes so the flour can begin absorbing the water.

   Keep the 30g dusting flour separate. Adding it to the dough changes the hydration and closes the crumb.
2. 2

   Work in salted water

   Dissolve the salt in the remaining 50g water. Add this mixture to the dough in three additions, lifting, squeezing, and folding after each one until the water disappears before adding more. The dough will loosen, then gather itself again. Continue for 5 to 7 minutes, until it looks glossy and stretches without immediately breaking. Transfer it to a clear, straight-sided container lightly greased with the olive oil. Cover and rest for 20 minutes.

3. 3

   Build strength gently

   Wet both hands and slide them beneath the middle of the dough. Lift slowly until the two ends release from the container, then let those ends fold underneath. Turn the container a quarter turn and repeat. That is one coil-fold set. Cover and repeat the set every 20 minutes, making four sets in all. By the fourth, the dough should lift as one trembling piece and hold a rounded shape for a moment before relaxing.

   Use wet hands, not floured ones. Flour worked into the dough now leaves dense streaks inside the finished loaf.
4. 4

   Let the dough rise

   Cover the container after the final fold and leave it at about 24°C for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours. It is ready when it has grown by roughly three quarters, the top is gently domed, and large bubbles show beneath the surface and along the sides. The dough should wobble when the container is nudged. Don't wait for a full doubling; an over-risen dough spreads and loses the web you worked for.

5. 5

   Heat the oven

   During the last 45 minutes of the rise, heat the oven to 250°C conventional or 230°C fan. Put a baking stone, baking steel, or heavy inverted baking sheet on the middle rack. Set a sturdy empty metal roasting pan on the lowest rack. Cut two pieces of high-temperature baking parchment just larger than the loaves.

6. 6

   Divide without shaping

   Dust the work surface evenly with most of the reserved flour. Loosen the dough around the edges with a wet scraper, then invert the container close to the surface and let gravity release it. Dust the top lightly. Cut straight through the middle with a floured bench scraper to make two long pieces. Don't punch them down, roll them, or tighten them into loaves. Use two scrapers to move each piece onto parchment, then nudge it gently to about 30cm by 12cm, touching the edges rather than the bubbly center.

7. 7

   Proof until pillowy

   Cover the loaves with an upturned deep roasting tin or food-safe box that does not touch the dough. Leave them for 45 to 75 minutes. They are ready when visibly swollen, very light-looking, and slow to spring back after the edge is touched with a floured fingertip. Small surface bubbles are good. If they begin spreading quickly, bake at once.

8. 8

   Bake deep amber

   Slide both loaves, still on their parchment, onto the hot baking surface. Carefully pour the 150ml boiling water into the metal pan on the lowest rack, keeping your face and hands clear, and close the door at once. Bake for 10 minutes. Open the door briefly to release the moisture, lower the heat to 230°C conventional or 210°C fan, and bake for another 15 to 18 minutes. Rotate once if needed. The loaves are done when deeply amber, crisp underneath, and remarkably light for their size. Pale pan de cristal stays leathery, so give it its full color.

9. 9

   Cool before cutting

   Move the loaves to a wire rack and leave them for at least 45 minutes. The thin crust becomes crisp and the delicate inner walls set as the bread cools. Cutting too early compresses the holes and leaves the crumb gummy. Tear or slice only when fully cooled, then toast for pa amb tomàquet.

Chef Tips

• •The flour decides whether 100% hydration works. Look for harina de fuerza or white bread flour with 13% to 14% protein. If the label shows only 11.5% to 12%, reduce the dough water to 460g. You will get smaller holes, but a loaf that stands instead of a puddle.
• •The dough is supposed to look alarmingly loose after the salted water goes in. Don't add flour. Each coil fold makes it smoother and stronger, and by the fourth it should lift from the container in one piece.
• •Judge fermentation by the dough, not just the clock. A cool kitchen may add an hour; a hot one may remove it. Stop the bulk rise at about three-quarters growth, while the dough is domed, bubbly, and still strong.
• •For pa amb tomàquet, split and toast the bread, rub it with the cut face of a ripe tomato, then add extra virgin olive oil and salt. Make that only when the tomato is worth eating raw. A hard winter tomato has no business being rubbed over good bread.
• •Pan de cristal is best within hours of baking. The next day, refresh it for 6 to 8 minutes at 210°C. Don't refrigerate it, since cold makes bread stale faster.

Advance Preparation

• •For a same-day loaf, begin about six hours before serving. Most of that time belongs to the dough, not to you.
• •For an overnight rise, use 1g instant yeast instead of 2g. Complete all four folds, cover the container, and refrigerate immediately for 8 to 12 hours. The next day, leave it at room temperature for 45 minutes, divide it while cool, and allow 60 to 90 minutes for the final proof.
• •The cooled loaves freeze well for up to one month. Wrap them tightly, thaw uncovered, and refresh at 210°C for 8 minutes to bring back the thin crust.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 100g)