| Makes 1 large or 2 small loaves 1lb 8oz/700g strong white bread flour, plus a little extra for the
top of the bread
1 tablespoon salt, or less, according to taste
1 teaspoon easy-blend dried yeast
1 teaspoon golden caster sugar
about 15fl oz/425ml hand-hot water
You will also need two 1lb/450g loaf tins or one 2lb/900g
loaf tin, well buttered. Preheat the oven to its lowest setting.
Begin by warming the flour in the oven for about 10
minutes, then turn the oven off. Sift the flour, salt, yeast and sugar into a bowl, make a
well in the centre of the mixture, then add the water. Now mix to a dough, starting off
with a wooden spoon and using your hands in the final stages of mixing, adding a spot more
water if there are any dry bits. Wipe the bowl clean with the dough and transfer it to a
flat work surface (you may not need to flour this). Knead the dough for 3 minutes or until
it develops a sheen and blisters under the surface (it should also be springy and
elastic). You can now either return the dough to the mixing bowl or transfer it to a clean
bowl; either way, cover it with clingfilm that has been lightly oiled on the side that is
facing the dough. Leave it until it looks as though it has doubled in bulk, which will be
about 2 hours at room temperature.
After that, knock the air out, then knead again for 2
minutes. Now, if you're making two loaves, divide the dough in half, pat each piece out to
an oblong, then fold one end into the centre and the other in on top. Put each one into a
buttered tin, sprinkle each with a dusting of flour, then place them side by side in an
oiled polythene bag until the dough rises above the tops of the tins - this time about an
hour at room temperature. Alternatively, place all the dough in the one tin. Meanwhile,
pre-heat the oven to gas mark 8/450f/230fc.
Bake the loves on the centre shelf for 30-40 minutes, or
35-45 minutes for the large loaf, until they sound hollow when their bases are tapped.
Now return them, out of their tins, upside down to the oven to crisp the base and
side crust for about 5 minutes, then cool on a wire rack. |
