Lockdown has come with many strains and stresses but a personal benefit has been the discovery of bread making and realising it isn’t as onerous a task as I once thought. Little did I know when I first started, this basic staple would also come with rewarding and therapeutic values ready to banish any Lockdown lows.
Firstly, making bread is a wholesome activity. Not only does a freshly baked loaf, lifted straight from the oven, make your house smell divine but I can’t recommend enough the fulfilling satisfaction of pounding and kneading the dough to within an inch of its existence! This natural stress-ball relieves tension, can occupy three overly enthusiastic dependents on a rainy afternoon and provides a surprisingly calming effect in the simple steps of mixing ingredients and watching the magic of the yeast in action.
The baker can be as creative as they would like. There is no right way or wrong when manipulating one’s masterpiece into either a plaited weave or a towering twist. Creative expression brings overall wellbeing and a sense of accomplishment. There also comes comfort in knowing exactly what ingredients are part of the process. In essence, it is about nourishing ourselves and others. The use of pure, traditional ingredients is wholly satisfying. Supermarket baking aisles stock a wide range of flour and other ingredients, giving even more choice in our path of baking discovery.
Finally, baking bread can bring happiness to others. Bread making costs really only a few pennies but receiving a gift of a freshly baked loaf can put a smile and gives gratification to any dreary day.
Our Bread Recipe
This makes 2 x 2lbs loaves
1) Put the following in a measuring jug:
800 ml of warm water
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
2 sachets of Easy bake yeast (7 grams each) or 5 teaspoons
A glug of oil (sunflower or olive)
2) Leave for a few minutes until it smells ‘yeasty’
3) Pour into a large mixing bowl and add in:
2 lbs 12oz of bread flour (usually 2/3rd white bread flour and 1/3rd granary or wholemeal)
1 tablespoon of salt (or three big pinches)
4) Stir it all until you create a ball of dough (do use a mixer with a dough hook if you have one or just a spatula by hand)
5) Leave to rise in the bowl for about an hour or longer until it doubles in size
6) Knead into two loaf shapes and put in loaf tins (try and either get greaseproof liners if using tins or silicone bread tins are very easy)
Let the loaves rise above the tin (maybe put a tea towel over them as they rise)
Once risen put in the oven at Gas 190 and cook for around 20 -25 mins.
You know they are cooked if you tip them out and it sounds hollow when you pat the bottom of the bread. Then leave to cool.
