I had plans. Plans for make a sweet delicious brioche loaf, for Saturday morning breakfast with strawberry preserve and lady grey tea. Plans it seems do not a loaf make. Friday evening needed children to be fed, baths to be run, husbands to talk to, books to read and a bed to fall into.
Last night I looked in our very bare bread bin, we needed bread for lunch boxes and breakfast in the morning. I searched through some of my favourite recipe books looking for three words, EASY, HANDMADE, BREAD
This recipe is from a Tana Ramsey book I have called Kitchen Secrets, the pages are torn, splashed with sauces made for meals long ago and dried, pressed herbs sit in the spine. A well loved recipe book
I made a plate which was as simple as rolling the dough into three sausages, squeezing the ends together and moving one piece over the other. The recipe provides enough dough for 2 small loaves, I made the plate and some little rolls for lunch boxes
You will need:
840g strong white bread flour (I substituted 100g for 100g wholemeal bread flour)
2 x 7g sachets dried yeast
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. salt
Sunflower oil for the bowl
180c fan oven
1. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Stir in 500ml tepid water and mix into a soft dough. Using an electric mixer with a dough hook, kneed the dough for 5 minutes, then turn it onto a floured surface and kneed well by hand for 10 minutes.
2. Place the dough in a large oiled bowl and cover with a damp clean cloth or cling film. Leave in a warm place to rise for an hour and a half. (I opened the door of my oven and had it on a low temperature, placed the bowl on top of the opened door and let it rise there, it worked really well)
3. Knock back the dough, briefly kneed again then divide into two pieces, shape then place onto a floured baking sheet.
4. Place the bread into the middle of the oven, slide a pot of hot water into the bottom to create steam. Bake for around 35 minutes until golden. Test if they are cooked by tapping the bottom, if they sound hollow they are baked to perfection!
Note: I baked the rolls for 15 minutes
