Savory Sponge Loaf

Ingredients:
2 cups warm water
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 Tbsp. lemon or lime juice.
1 cup whey protein powder (natural flavor)
1 cup vital wheat gluten (70% protein, I used Bob's Red Mill)
1/3 cup flax meal
1/3 cup psyllium husks (replace with flax, if allergic)
1/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup wheat bran
3 Tbsp. Splenda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 Tbsp. whipping cream
1 egg

Place the warm water in a large bowl and add the yeast, sugar, salt and lemon or lime juice. Place in warm oven, 100-150°F, until the yeast starts to foam. Mix the whey protein, wheat gluten, flax meal, psyllium husks, almond meal, wheat bran and baking powder. Add the olive oil to the yeast mixture then the dry ingredients. Mix well with a wooden spoon until smooth. You will be using a 5-x 9-x 3-inch nonstick loaf pan for the next procedure. If your pan is 5-inches high instead of 3-inches, you will not have to do this. Tear off a piece of aluminum foil that is 36-inches long. Fold the strip in half lengthwise. Make a "collar" by wrapping it loosely around the pan, 1-inch below the rim. Gently but firmly press the foil around the sides pan, making sure that it is secure. Straighten out the foil so it sticks straight up and brush the inside of the foil with oil. What you are doing is making the pan higher so the dough will not escape from the pan.

Place 3/4 of the mixture into the prepared pan. The pan should be 1/4 full. Beat the cream and egg into the remaining 1/4 of the mixture with. Place the two mixtures in the warm oven (100-150°F) for an hour. The mixture in the loaf pan should at least triple in size by this time. Take the cream and egg mixture and spread it gently and evenly over the top of the mixture in the bread pan. The bread will sink a little, and this is fine. The egg and cream mixture prevents the air from escaping while baking which will cause the bread to fall. Return to the oven (100-150°F) and let rise again for about an hour. With the bread suntill in the oven, turn the temperature up to 375°F and bake the bread for 45 minutes. Check by sticking a small thin knife in the middle to make sure it is dry. Remove from the pan and let cool. I cut it into slices when it is suntill warm and set them aside to let the moisture escape. Place in a paper bag and freeze them individually if you intend to store for a long period. Two or three days in the fridge should be fine. The whey powder makes this bread firm and uniform in consistency. It should be easy to slice it into 24-28 slices.