This bread takes time, but not a lot of effort. A great beginner’s loaf.
Ingredients
- 300g Strong White Bread Flour
- 100g Strong Wholemeal Bread Flour, plus extra for dusting
- 8g Salt
- 1/3 tsp Easy Bake Yeast
- 300ml Lukewarm Water
- Fat for greasing
Method
Place the flours, salt and yeast in a good size bowl keeping the salt away from the yeast. Combine with your hand or a wooden spoon.
Make a well in the flour. Pour in all of the water.
Mix the flour into the liquid to make the dough. It will be fairly soft and sticky at this stage. Ensure all of the flour has been incorporated.
Prove the dough:. Cover the bowl, either with cling film or a damp tea towel. Place the covered bowl somewhere cool (around 15/16 degrees, but not in a draft), to allow the dough to prove slowly.
Allow to prove for about 24 hours or until doubled in size.The time varies according to the temperature.
Shape the loaf. This may not be possible in the traditional sense as the dough can be very wet and batter like. You can flour everything really really well, including your hands, and ease it into a well-greased and floured 20cm cake tin or a 2LB loaf tin.
Prove again. Cover with a tea towel or plastic bag (making sure the latter doesn’t touch the dough) Leave for a further 2 hours or until the dough is rising from the tin.
Preheat the oven to 220℃ / 200℃ Fan / Gas 8.
Place the bread in the centre of the oven covered with a double layer of foil or a stock pot (or place in a Dutch oven if you have one) bake for 20 minutes. Remove the tin foil from the tin. Rotate the tin and return the bread to the oven. Bake for a further 15 to 20 minutes. Carefully tip the bread out of the cake tin and tap the base of the bread. It should sound hollow. If not, place the bread, upside down, directly onto the oven shelf and bake for a further 5 minutes, or until it sounds hollow.
Cool on a rack before eating.