Give us our Bread

Once a week I make bread. Here is this weeks offering. Why four loaves? Because I only have 4 tins and under normal circumstances only myself and the Lady of the Villa are in residence and 4 loaves lasts the whole week. When friends and relatives arrive baking days increase to two or even three a week. The whole process takes about 3 hours including baking and waiting for the bread to rise.

Here is the recipe for 1 of the loaves in the picture.

Ingredients

200g/7oz whole milk, at room temperature
150ml/5½ fl oz water, at room temperature
2 tsp fresh yeast, crumbled
200g/7oz plain white flour
300g/10½oz strong white flour
1½ tsp fine sea salt
olive oil, for greasing
flour, for dusting

Method

1. Place the milk and water into a bowl. Add the yeast and whisk gently until dissolved.
2. Place the flours and salt into a clean bowl and mix together well.
3. Add the milk, water and yeast solution and mix together until it starts to come together as a sticky, cohesive dough, then cover and leave for 10 minutes.
4. Turn on to a lightly floured work surface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
5. Put in a clean bowl and cover. Stand in a warm place for 1 hour to rise.
6. Shape each into a ball and leave, covered, on a flat, floured surface for five minutes.
7. Heat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7. Lightly grease a 1kg/2¼lb bread tin.
8. Turn each ball on to work surface and knead for 5-10 minutes.
9. Shape the dough into a long French sticks and place it onto a flour-dusted baking sheet OR shape the dough into loaf shape to fit the tin.
10. Cover with a clean tea towel and allow to rise back up again, about 15 minutes.
11. Bake in the oven until golden and risen, about 30-40 minutes.
12. The base of the loaf should sound hollow when you tap it. Turn on to a wire rack to cool.