Scali Bread

Scali bread is a braided Italian style bread that is coated in sesame seeds. The interior is very light and fluffy and the crust is super soft.

Scali bread is perfect for breakfast toast and sandwiches. It also is wonderful served with dinner to soak up sauces and gravies.

Scali Bread is evidently a staple of the Italian American community in Boston. It's not just sold in bakeries, but in grocery stores as well. After trying it, I don't understand why it hasn't spread across the country!

This month, the Bread Bakers are baking braided breads, a theme chosen by Gayathri's Cook Spot. After the recipe, be sure to check out the rest of the braided breads from my bread baking friends.

I have lots of braided bread recipes on this site, including holiday breads, challahs, and even cheese filled braids. This time I wanted to make a "leaner" and lighter bread, a loaf without too much enrichment from eggs, oil, and/or butter. While I love enriched breads, they are usually best the day they are made, and seem to get stale fairly quickly.

I wanted a bread that would be equally comfortable being garlic toast or French toast! In other words, a sandwich bread, only way better.

Scali bread is a great substitute for everyday sandwich bread, and, because it includes a preferment, it's so much more flavorful. The first slice from a freshly baked loaf, slathered in butter, will make you do a happy dance.

This dough is somewhat sticky. I braided it directly on the parchment lined baking sheet so I wouldn't have to move it after shaping, in case it stuck to the counter. I'm pretty good an making a mess of my shaped loaf (or pizza for that matter) when I try to move it. Bless you parchment paper!

Note: you will need to plan ahead to make the preferment, but the timing is really flexible. I made mine around 5:30 pm the day before, and started the bread the next day at noon.

This Scali bread is also a wonderful bread to give as gifts, or sell at farmers markets. It stays fresh enough for sandwiches for at least a couple of days, and freezes very well. If you have any questions about baking this bread, leave a comment and let me know!

Scali Bread Recipe

Ingredients

For the Preferment

• 3 1/2 ounces (2/3 cup) all purpose flour
• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) water
• 1/8 teaspoon instant yeast

For the Final Dough

• All of the preferment
• 7 ounces (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) water
• 13 1/3 ounces (2 2/3 cups) all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large egg, beaten with a tablespoon of water and a pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds

Instructions

Preferment:

1. Stir all of the ingredients together in a medium bowl until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 6 to 24 hours.

Final Dough:

1. Pour the preferment into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the water and mix with the paddle attachment for about a minute. Add the flour, yeast, salt, sugar, and olive oil. Using the dough hook on low speed, mix until you have a cohesive dough with no dry flour.
2. Increase the mixer speed to medium low and mix for another 8 minutes, until the dough is elastic and smooth.
3. Place the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about 90 to 120 minutes.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray it generously with spray oil.
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and divide it into three equal pieces.
6. Pat and roll each piece of dough into a 10 inch rope, and place each rope onto the baking sheet, next to each other. Press the ends together, and then braid the strands. At the end of the braid, press the other ends together, and tuck both ends under the loaf. Using your hands or a bench scraper, tighten up the loaf by tucking the ends and sides under the loaf if necessary to even out the shaped dough. Cover the loaf loosely with oiled plastic wrap.
7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with a rack positioned in the middle. Let the loaf rise until it is puffy but not completely doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Brush the loaf lightly with the egg mixture, and sprinkle generously with sesame seeds.
8. Bake the loaf until golden brown and the interior reaches 205 degrees F, 35 to 40 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet at 20 minutes. Transfer the loaf to a wire rack, and let it cool completely.

Yield: 1 loaf
Recipe adapted from Bread Illustrated: A Step-by-Step Guide to Achieving Bakery-Quality Results at Home. 

This month's Bread Baker's theme is Braided Breads and is hosted by Gayathri Kumar of Gayathri's Cook Spot Here is the collection of all the beautiful braided breads from our team.

• Artisan Herb Bread Braid by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Basic Challah Bread by Cook's Hideout
• Braided Bread with Candied Papaya Chunks by Sara's Tasty Buds
• Braided Garlic Bread by Sizzling Tastebuds
• Braided Herbed Breadsticks by Ambrosia
• Braided Rum & Raisin Buns by All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Challah Bread by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Cherry Cheese Braid by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Chicken Cheese Braided Bread by Sneha’s Recipe
• Nutella Braided Bread by Veena’s Vegnation
• Orange Saffron Braided Brioche by Food Lust People Love
• Scali Bread by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Spice and Herb French Braid by The Schizo Chef
• Two-Seed Potato Challah by What Smells So Good?
• Whole Wheat Challah Bread by Spill the Spices
• Whole Wheat Pizza Braid by Herbivore Cucina
• Whole Wheat Zopf Bread by I camp in my Kitchen
• Winston Knot Bread by Gayathri's Cook Spot

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.