Pane Bianco – Bakealong with King Arthur Flour

My bread expertise can be iffy. Sometimes glorious golden loaves emerge from the oven, the delicate, yet crunchy crust sheltering soft fragrant middles. Sometimes my bread is for the birds. Literally.

I need all the practice I can get so that’s one reason why I decided to join this month’s Bakealong from King Arthur Flour.

The other is bigger. This summer, for me, has been all about getting back to basics. I’ve been traveling all over the world this past year for both for work and pleasure. Five trips to seven countries in Europe, three to the Caribbean, Mexico twice and Sudan for diving, Dubai and many other places in between. While that has been exciting and rewarding, a big reset and reorganization were both needed.  I know. First. World. Problems.

However, my blog had become too hectic. It was feeling more like an albatross than a happy place. For two years I was the German Food Expert for about.com and Executive Producing a TV show and trying to feed this blog with posts, at the same time. Something had to give. Unfortunately, most of the time it was this space.

Most of my expertise, energy and creativity were going elsewhere. Consequently, I was so happy for this opportunity to be able to take some down time this summer and refocus some of my energy here, on my first love. Trying to rediscover the joy of blogging.

In past years, I used to have so much fun participating Bakealongs and baking challenges. Most of that has gone by the wayside. So when I saw this chance on King Arthur Flour’s Facebook page. I said, “Hell yes!”

Here’s the thing about this bread. The recipe calls for sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, shredded cheese and fresh basil for the fillings. Use those or whatever combination of other ingredients you would like to try or have around. A nice jar of tapenade, pesto, red peppers in oil and/or other fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary would also work well.

The recipe and excellent step by step instructions for this beautiful Pane Bianco can be found here. Don’t be fooled by the fancy result. The bread relatively simple to make.

King Arthur Flour promises a new challenge monthly, so check back with them for the next one.