5. Bake focaccia in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until surface is crisp and brown. Cut

into about 40 to 45 squares and serve fresh. Store extra in freezer.

Once baked, let the bread cool on a wire rack before slicing. This allows excess steam to

escape so the crust remains crisp, and it also completes the chemical changes of baking. Remain

calm and hold off for at least 10 minutes before the first bite, even though there is nothing like

eating freshly-baked bread hot out of the oven. If you have tried it, you know how easy it is to get a

stomach ache from eating the hot bread. One reason is that hot bread tastes heavenly and you tend to

overeat. But there's also another reason—hot bread is hard to digest because the various chemical

changes are not complete until the bread cools.

Glazing and seeds

Most breads develop a nice brown crust in a hot oven even without a glaze. But a glaze can

dress up the crust to shine with tantalizing beauty and eye appeal as the rows of master bakers’

breads do in a good bread bakery.

If you like a soft brown crust, brush the dough with milk before baking. The lactose (milk

sugar) in the milk caramelizes during baking giving you color but not crispness. You can also brush

nearly-finished hot bread with cream or butter and return it to the oven for the last few minutes of

baking. Another way for soft crust is to brush the loaf with melted butter right after removing it

from the oven and cover it with a damp cloth. For a crisp brown crust, brush the dough with melted

butter before baking.

For an alluring shiny crust, brush the hot bread with egg wash or, for sweet breads, sugar

syrup near the end of the baking period, then return the loaf to the oven to finish baking. Or brush

the top with a cornstarch solution (see sidebar) before you put the loaf in the oven to bake and once

again after the loaf is baked but still hot. Brushing with oil right after baking also shines up the

crust.

TASTINGS Cornstarch glaze for breads

To make a cornstarch solution, dissolve 1 teaspoon cornstarch in 2 teaspoons cold

water. Mix this into 3 tablespoons of boiling water in a tiny pan and stir for a few

seconds until it thickens. Keep the extra in a covered labeled container in your

refrigerator for the next batch of bread. The solution keeps for at least 6 months.

For a country-style crust, like that of traditional Italian and peasant breads, dust the top and

sides of the dough generously with flour before baking.

Seeds not only give grace and elegance to breads but enrich them with flavor. Sesame and

poppy seeds are old traditions but today's imaginative bakers enlarged their seeding repertoire

beyond those. Any seed goes. If you feel like having seeds on your bread, sprinkle them right after

glazing or after you sprayed the surface with water so the seeds stick better. For bread rolls and

bagels, press the moist top of each roll or bagel into a plateful of seeds before the last rise, then set

them right side up on the baking sheet. In fact, you can do the same with full-size loaf if you like

plenty of seeds on the crust.

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