Sunday 8 June 2014

Recipe: Basic Bread

So Harry and I have been making bread for quite a while. It is so easy and much cheaper to make yourself - also the bread tastes so much better than shop brought. All you need is an oven, a mixing bowl, a baking sheet or loaf tin and a pair of hands.


Here is my preferred recipe, altered from Hobbs House Baker Brothers recipe, found here. You can substitute in pretty much any type of flour. The loaf I made today was a mixture of Stonegound smoked flour and Spelt flour - purely because there were the only one we had left! I used a rectangular proving basket and baked the bread on a baking sheet.

Bread recipe:
560g flour
10g salt
5g (1tsp) dried yeast
300ml tepid (just warm) water
1tbsp honey
20ml (2tbsp) rapeseed or olive oil

  1. Set the oven to 220℃ or as hot as it will go. Lightly oil or flour your loaf tin or proving basket.
  2. Measure out the water in a jug, add the honey and yeast. Stir until there are no clumps of yeast and the honey has dissolved.
  3. Mix the flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl and add the oil.
  4. Add the water-yeast mixture to the flour in the mixing bowl. Stir until well combined.
  5. Put a little flour on you hand and the kitchen surface and knead the dough for 20 minutes (or if you are lucky enough to have an electric mixer set it to low and leave for 10 minutes). When the dough is smooth and elastic place it back in the bowl and cover with cling film or a tea towel. Leave for 1 hour (or until it has doubled in size).
  6. Tip the dough out on the surface and shape to fit your loaf tin or proving basket. Gently transfer the dough to the proving basket or loaf tin and leave for another hour (or until it has doubled in size).
  7. If using a proving basket, tip the dough onto a lined baking sheet. Slash the top of the loaf with a sharp knife and pop it in the oven. 
  8. Check after 10 minutes and continue baking for approx. 30 minutes until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. 
  9. Turn the loaf out of the tin or transfer from the baking sheet to a wire rack. Leave for a least 10 minutes to cool before slicing.

Turned out onto surface after first rise
Finished prove in proving basket

Enjoy! 

L xx

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