Episode 2: Magic in the Oven and the Bread Fairies

When I opened the wooden door of the fermentation chamber, the warm, moist air and the sweet and sour unique fruity scent of natural fermented starter came out. The dough that had been sleeping in the ceramic bowl rose to a surprisingly pleasant level over the course of 50 minutes. The dough, which had more than doubled in volume compared to when it was first put in, was proving with its entire body that hundreds of millions of tiny bubbles were alive and breathing beneath the tightly stretched surface. Jane lightly dusted the tip of her finger with white powder and then poked it into the center of the puffed dough.

Swoosh - When I pulled my finger out, the hole in the dough did not shrink or collapse, but maintained its neat shape. It passed the ‘finger test’, which is a sign of perfect primary fermentation. “It’s perfect. It’s not overfermented and rises very vigorously.” Jane smiled contentedly and poured the dough balls onto the counter. The heavy dough fell onto the oak floor with a thud.

“Now, it’s time to get rid of the rough gas trapped inside.” Jane opened her palm and gently pressed the dough from the center outward. Pushuuk, phushuuk. The old carbon dioxide gas trapped in the dough escaped and fresh air filled its place. The elasticity of the dough conveyed through my palm felt soft yet tight, like touching the soft cheeks of a newborn baby. Jane used a scraper to evenly divide the dough into exactly 250 grams each. I put the cut pieces of dough in the palm of my hand and started rolling them in a circle on the counter.

It was a delicate process of tightening the surface tension so that the smooth surface of the dough faced outward. “Round, round! Draw a pretty circle!” Pong rolled around on the counter, shaking her buttocks in time with Jane's hand movements.

“Pong, don’t make such a fuss near the dough. You’ll make dust fly!” Lulu flapped her wings in the air and shouted. “Lulu, you are so bleak. When making bread, a happy heart must be transferred to the dough for the bread to grow round and good!”

“Hmph, it’s good to have fun, but you shouldn’t break the rules of bench time. The dough that has been rolled should rest for at least 15 minutes, covered with a wet cloth, so that the gluten relaxes and becomes easier to shape.” “Hehe, both of you are correct.” Jane covered the six round balls of dough with a dry cloth and gently covered them with plastic again.

“Now, while the kids take a break, we should get ready to greet today’s hero.” Jane turned to face the red brick oven that majestically occupied the entire wall of the kitchen. This oven was a treasure that Jane built with the greatest effort when she opened a bakery here a year ago. Unlike a typical electric deck oven, it was a special oven built with layers of thick refractory bricks and red clay inside, and once heated, emits soft far-infrared radiant heat consistently for a long time. When this oven was being built, my grandfather, an old plasterer down the alley, told Jane that ‘the clay and bricks must breathe for the bread baked in them to come to life.’

When Jane turned on the ceramic preheating switch at the bottom of the furnace, a warm orange light slowly began to flicker from the gap between the thick bricks. As the air inside the furnace warmed up, the unique smell of red clay and the warmth of the brick spread pleasantly into the kitchen.

“Wow, it’s warm!” Pong shouted cheers and flew towards the entrance of the furnace. “Ah, Pong, why did you take the risk of going in there!” Lulu screamed in shock, but Pongi had already landed lightly on the floor inside the orange-colored warmth of the furnace. Unlike human skin, fairies were mysterious beings who could communicate with the fire spirit that bakes bread, so they did not get hurt in the scorching heat and actually became more alive.

“Lulu, come in too! The stones on the floor here are already warm. The orange light is just like the sunset!” As Pongi danced in a circle, soaking in the warmth, Lulu reluctantly flapped her silver wings and flew into the oven. The two fairies enjoyed the warmth as they spun around on the red brick floor. Jane sat down on the bench in front of the fire pit and looked at the scene happily. At this time a year ago, the memory of opening a small bakery in this unfamiliar alley with no connections flashed by. For the first few months, there were no more than three or four customers per day.

The miserable times when we had to shed tears and clean up the hardened bread every evening as the carefully baked bread remained intact. That night, the small warmth that appeared from somewhere on the palm of Jane's hand, who was crying alone in an empty kitchen, was none other than Lulu and Pong.

‘Don’t cry, Jane. Your hands contain extreme love for bread. That sincerity will surely touch people’s hearts.’ The wonder and thrill of the first two fairies speaking to Jane was still vivid. ‘Where on earth do you guys come from?’

‘We are the bread fairies born from your sweat and sincerity! ‘Only when the baker is sincere can the voices of our fairies be heard.’ Thanks to the fairies who became her only friends and soul mates in the world, Jane did not give up and was able to light the fire in the oven every morning.

“By the way, Jane! What temperature are you going to set when you bake the mocha bread today?” From inside the furnace, Pong poked his head out and asked. “I plan to set it to 185 degrees today.” “No! 185 degrees is too awkward!” Pong waved his arms and raised his voice.

“The real charm of mocha bread is the crunchy taste of the sweet coffee biscuit on the top! When baked at over 190 degrees, the butter and sugar caramelize at once, creating a fantastic brown crust!” Then Lulu, who was standing nearby, immediately refuted.

“Pong, you are so ignorant that you only look at the outside! If you bake it at 190 degrees, the outside may be crispy, but all the moisture on the inside will disappear in an instant. Then the inside of the bread will become dry and dry! To keep the inside moist and chewy, you have to bake it gently below 180 degrees!”

“If you bake it at 180 degrees, the biscuit becomes soggy! Crispyness is everything, so who would eat soggy mocha bread?” “It’s 100 times better than dry bread, right? Are you looking for something crispy every day and going to burn the bread?” The two fairies stood at the entrance to the furnace and engaged in a tense war of words, putting their faces right in front of each other's noses. The scent of silver flour powder and yellow butter clashed violently in the air. Jane laughed cheerfully as she watched the two fairies arguing.

“Come on, you two fairies. Calm down, both of you. As Pongi said, you can’t give up on the crispy and fragrant crust, and as Lulu said, you can’t give up the moisture in the moist and chewy flesh.” “So how do you satisfy them both, Jane?” Lulu and Pongi simultaneously turned their heads and looked at Jane.

"The secret is 'temporal convection control' and the magic of 185 degrees. For the first 10 minutes, heat the top biscuit with strong hot air of 190 degrees to burst beautiful brown cracks, and for the remaining 15 minutes, lower the temperature to 180 degrees and slowly cook the inside with the residual heat of the stones at the bottom of the oven. Then, the best mocha bread in the world is the crispiest on the outside and moist like a cloud on the inside. “Because it is born.” At Jane's clear answer, Lulu and Pong looked at each other blankly for a moment and then burst out in exclamation.

“Wow… what a perfect ensemble on the outside!” Pong patted his stomach and admired it. “As expected, it’s Jane. I was worried for no reason when you calculated the function of temperature and time so perfectly.” Lulu also nodded, scratching her silver wings as if she were embarrassed.

“Hehe, since you two always think about the best taste, I also think more deeply. Thank you, Lulu and Pong.” Jane precisely adjusted the temperature control dial on the oven. The orange light burned within the bricks, taking on a deeper, redder warmth. Meanwhile, the dough lumps that had finished their bench time were waiting for the next step after a cozy rest. Now it was time to dress up the flower of mocha bread and the most tempting coffee biscuit in the world.

“Lulu, the third dough guy over there is a little more puffy than the others!” Pong twirled in the air and pointed with his finger. “Don’t worry, Pong! I’ll balance it out with some warmth magic!” When Lulu gently waved the flame wand, invisible, fine golden sparks fell lightly like snowflakes on the dough being benched. The temperature of the dough was stabilized very evenly at 26 degrees Celsius, and fine wrinkles on the surface of the bread were smoothed out.

“Thank you, Lulu. The dough seems to breathe much easier when the fairies touch it.” Jane smiled and lightly stroked Lulu's hair with the tip of her index finger. Lulu blushed and smiled brightly as if she was happy. Making bread was not a simple dish, but an elaborate concerto created by time, nature, and humans. When the protein in the flour meets water, it forms a network called gluten, and air bubbles emitted by the yeast are trapped within the network, allowing the bread to breathe. If you rush or are greedy and raise the temperature, the dough will collapse from exhaustion, and if you leave it too cold, it will harden.

'Only those who know how to wait can get the softest bread.' The words that her late mother always said filled Jane's heart. As the 15 minutes of bench time passed, Jane cleaned up the area around the counter and prepared for the next step: making the raisin filling and mocha crust. The air in the kitchen was now perfectly mingled with the scent of freshly brewed espresso and the sweet smell of yeast from the dough.

“Jane, today’s dough is exceptionally soft and soft, like a baby’s butt!” Pong was impressed as he carefully touched the surface of the dough. “Yes, we made good organic flour with plenty of freshly squeezed milk and natural butter. Bread doesn’t lie. As much as we pour good ingredients and warm hearts into it, it honestly rewards us with its taste and aroma.” Jane lightly patted the dough that had finished bench time with her palm. Now it was time to place sweet rum raisins in this delicious lump and place it in a crispy coffee biscuit hat.