bake really good bread

I love my friend’s breadmaker, it makes it so easy.

and i will never forget the taste of it!
I want to be able to bake it for my future children and wife and friends, because few things can compete with a big glass of milk and newly baked bread!

(i love raisins in bread too :)

I just can’t compete.

By Thursday the bread I made on Sunday is usually finished. So to go with that night’s soup I’ll sometime make some soda bread. I’ve got a couple of recipes I use, and last night I tried a new one (from The Bread Book, Sara Lewis).
The recipe was actually for Date & Walnut soda bread. However, having neither dates nor walnuts in my cupboard, I made it without. Needed a little less of the liquid (and I added too much, and had to add more flour), but it seemed to turn out OK. This one had a lot more sugar in it than I’m used to seeing, which gave it a kind of sweet crust. Not unpleasant, and went rather well with the spicy soup. One to try again, I think – with variations.

I found this terrific recipe for honey whole wheat challah (egg bread).

I bake bread about twice a week and I’ve been doing it on and off for about three years now, experimenting with different recipes and adapting them and I think I’ve pretty much perfected my standard bread recipe which just makes a great white loaf with a crunchy crust, not too soft, not too dense, just kind of…springy. I don’t really measure things out exactly but I usually use either about half a kilo or a kilo of flour, depending on whether I want a big or a small loaf (well, duh!).

Some things that I’ve learned over the years are:

1. It’s much easier to mix everything in a bowl than just straight on a work surface. Jamie Oliver makes doing it on a work surface look cool but it’s much quicker and easier to wash a bowl!

2. Use only the four fingers of one hand to mix the dough. That means you only get one hand messy and having an extra clean thumb comes in useful too (yeah, I know that sounds pretty weird and I can’t think of any good examples but it’s true!)

3. Don’t worry too much about how much water (or other liquid) you initially add to the flour. You can always add more (or more flour if it’s too wet) during the kneading process.

4. The first time, knead the dough for at least ten minutes until it’s a soft and silky texture. If kneading it is very hard work or it seems stiff, add more water.

5. The first prove can be done in the mixing bowl. I put the bowl on top of the stove with the oven on underneath.

6. The second kneading doesn’t have to be so long. Five minutes is enough.

7. Use oil to grease the baking tray. I used to sprinkle it with flour a la Jamie Oliver but the flour just burns in the oven and smells bad.

8. To get the best shape for a round loaf fold the ends of the dough underneath. This seems to make it rise up more than sideways.

9. It’s better to prove it a bit less than you think it needs rather than a bit more. It rises quite a lot more once it’s already in the oven and leaving it to prove for too long usually results in a weird flat shape and a much stronger yeasty taste and smell.

There’s nothing quite like having fresh bread to tuck into, especially in the winter. Okay, it does take about two and half hours from the beginning until you have your lovely hot fragrant loaf but only about half an hour of that is actual hands-on time and once you get the hang of it it’s so easy that there’s really no excuse not to do it!

I’ve now got two bread books – “The Handmade Loaf” by Dan Lepard, and “The Bread Book” by Sara Lewis.
Haven’t made anything out of either of them yet, but I have changed the way I make my ‘standard’ loaf after reading the Lepard book. The first kneading, I don’t do continuously for a long time. instead, I give it brief kneads, leaving it for a couple of minutes between each. Oh, and oil the surface, don’t flour it. Then after a few of these short kneads, it goes into the bowl for a first rise. Used to give the dough only one rise (fast action yeast; says it only needs one). Now, I knock it back and give it a second knead (briefly). After that, shape it and put in onto the baking tray for a second rise. That’s another change – I used to bake it in a loaf tin, now I just shape the loaf. Score the top a few times, and once it’s risen again, bake it.
It does seem to turn out much better.

And then I woke up.

My first - and last - attempt to bake bread was when I was twelve. Overcome by the new and exciting urge to knead dough and play with packets of yeast, I happily worked away in the kitchen for hours only to produce some ghastly loaves that even the cats wouldn’t nibble on.

I think this will be a fun learning project for the summer: I’m older, more patient, and (somewhat) better at following directions. The worst that could happen is that I amass a collection of organic doorstops over the next few months. I wonder if there is a market for that…

I used to bake bread when I lived in a commune in Wales….it was fab and had sunflower seeds, poppy and hemp seeds in it, a mixture of white and brown flour, and honey instead of sugar and tamari instead of salt. Unfortunately I don’t have the recipe any more. There was a really good book in the kitchen called “The Bread Book” which had loads of clearly written recipes including sour-dough and cornbreads. It’s really therapeutic kneading the dough and then the smell fills the kitchen when the loaves are nearly done….mmm!