Slow Dough: Real Bread: Bakers' secrets for making amazing long-rise loaves at home - Chris Young (2016)
Long Ferment
As demonstrated by many industrial bakers, a loaf of sorts can be made in under a couple of hours from start to finish. The thing is, like certain other things in life, does a quick finish necessarily give the most satisfaction?
Even when you’re not using a sourdough starter, lowering the proving temperature and reducing the amount of yeast will mean the dough takes longer to be ready. As with other methods in this book, this extra time allows all sorts of bready alchemy to go on, turning even relatively unremarkable ingredients into what you might agree is a far superior loaf to one that’s been banged out as fast as possible.
Cottage Loaf SONYA HUNDAL
By 1977, Elizabeth David might have waxed nostalgic about the cottage loaf, but still within the context of bakeries making it. It graced the cover of that year’s Ladybird bread book for children, and of The Sunday Times Book of Real Bread in 1982. Today? I can’t remember the last time I saw one outside a baking competition. Sonya’s recipe is unusual in adding dashes of wholemeal/wholewheat and rye flours to the usual white.
MAKES: 1 very large loaf
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 5-6 hours
BAKING TIME: 30-45 minutes
625g/1lb 6oz/4½ cups white bread flour
40g/1½oz/scant ⅓ cup wholemeal/ wholewheat bread flour
25g/1oz/scant ¼ cup wholemeal/ wholegrain (dark) rye flour
10g/2 tsp fresh yeast (reduce to 4g/scant 1 tsp if room temperature is above 20°C/68°F)
9g/1¾ tsp fine/table salt
450g/1lb/2 cups minus 2 tbsp water at 18-20°C/65-68°F
1. Stir all the flours together, then rub the yeast into the flour. Add the salt and most of the water and mix together thoroughly, then knead the dough for 10 minutes. This needs to be a stiff dough but if it’s so stiff that you can’t knead it, or any dry patches remain, gradually add more of the water. Cover and leave to rise at a cool room temperature (15-18°C/60-65°F) for 2 hours, then give the dough a single fold, cover again, and leave to rise for another 45-60 minutes.
2. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. The side of the dough in contact with the floured surface is the “good side” and will end up as the top of the loaf. Shape the dough into a ball, return to the bowl good side down, cover and leave to rise for 1 hour.
3. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, one about half the size of the other (so the smaller piece weighs about 360-370g/12¾-13oz), then flatten each piece to thoroughly de-gas the dough and shape each piece tightly into a ball, to keep a defined shape for baking. Cover the dough and leave for a final 45-60 minute rise. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas 7, with a baking stone or baking sheet in place, leaving sufficient headspace for your loaf.
4. Slightly flatten each ball and place the smaller on top of the larger one. Using a thumb and two fingers pinched together, or a wooden spoon handle (some old-school bakers used an elbow), push a deep dimple straight down through the middle of the top ball and well into the lower one. With a really stiff dough, you can go down to the work surface. Cover and leave the dough to rest for 10 minutes.
5. If you like, you can snip or slash vertical notches on one or both parts of the loaf just before it goes into the oven. Using a floured peel, lift the dough onto the baking stone and bake for 10-15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas 4 and continue to bake for a further 20-30 minutes until well browned.
Sonya Hundal is a writer and baker who set up Greenfield Bakers in 2008 in a converted stable in Friskney, on the coastal strip of rural Lincolnshire. She bakes slow-fermentation breads all made from stoneground organic flour from the Maud Foster Windmill in Boston, some with added locally seasonal ingredients. They are baked directly on the floor of her wood-fired clay oven “by a contented human being”.
Remek Sanetra learnt his baking skills in the UK over 20 years ago but his passion started back home in Poland. There, under the communist regime, he has childhood memories of queuing on Saturdays for good bread that lasted a week. With an air that some of his colleagues liken at times to a “mad professor”, Remek carefully nurtures each of The Flour Station’s starters to deliver Real Bread across London every day.
Wholemeal Dark Rye and Potato Bread REMEK SANETRA
This reminds me of a pumpernickel, though traditionally that would have a much longer sourdough fermentation and long, slow baking in covered tins. But don’t bake the potatoes for this recipe on their own: save energy and cook something else at the same time, such as another loaf, or tonight’s dinner.
MAKES: 1 loaf
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 1 day plus 6-7 hours
BAKING TIME: 55 minutes
FOR THE SOAKER:
55g/2oz/⅓ cup chopped rye grains
60g/2¼oz/¼ cup cold water
FOR THE DOUGH:
1 or 2 large baking potatoes (a floury/ starchy, rather than waxy, variety)
60g/2¼oz/¼ cup rye sourdough starter (see page 14)
200g/7oz/¾ cup plus 1 tbsp water
235g/8½oz/heaping 2 cups wholemeal/wholegrain (dark) rye flour
10g/2 tsp fresh yeast
8g/1½ tsp fine/table salt
190g/6¾oz/1⅓ cups sunflower seeds
45g/1½oz/2 tbsp black treacle/ molasses
butter or oil, for greasing
1. Cover the chopped rye grains with the water and leave to soak for 24 hours.
2. Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas 7. Bake the potato for 1 hour or until soft, then leave to cool. Scrape the flesh out of the skin, mash it and weigh 235g/8½oz/1 cup of it to use in the dough.
3. Mix the rye soaker, mashed potato and all of the other ingredients together thoroughly, working the dough for a few minutes until it changes from brown to a lighter, yellower shade. Because of the low gluten content, you can’t knead it in the same way as a wheat dough, and it will be very wet and sticky. Cover the dough and leave at room temperature for about 3 hours until it has puffed up and is starting to show little holes on the surface.
4. Grease a 1kg/2lb loaf tin. Dust the work surface with rye flour and turn the dough out onto it. Shape the dough to fit, place it in the tin, flatten the top with wetted fingers and dust the top with rye flour. Cover and leave at room temperature for 1-2 hours, or until you see cracks appearing on the surface of the dough.
5. Heat the oven to 240°C/220°C fan/475°F/gas 8-9. Dust the top of the dough again with rye flour, put it into the oven and bake for 20 minutes, then turn the oven down to 190°C/170°C fan/375°F/ gas 5 and bake for a further 35 minutes, or until the loaf has a rich dark crust.
Baker’s Tip: This bread positively improves with age and is best enjoyed the day after baking.
Overnight White SID PRICE
This recipe has stayed almost the same since Sid Price made it in 1943. Deborah Cook, Sid’s granddaughter says, “We’ve always made Real Bread! The only change, apart from converting from Imperial to metric measurements, is that we’ve reduced the salt level slightly.” Fermenting dough slowly overnight with a very small amount of yeast allows time to develop maximum flavour, a great crust and a loaf that will keep longer.
MAKES: 1 large loaf
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: overnight plus 2½ hours
BAKING TIME: 45 minutes
500g/1lb 2oz/3½ cups white bread flour
8g/1½ tsp fine/table salt
2g/½ tsp lard
1.5g/¼ tsp fresh yeast 280g/10oz/1¼ cups minus 1 tbsp water
butter or oil, for greasing
1. Mix all of the ingredients together thoroughly, then knead quite firmly until you have a smooth and stretchy dough. As it is so tight (which means the ratio of water to flour is quite low), you might need to stop and leave the dough to rest for 10 minutes before continuing. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature overnight.
2. Grease a large loaf tin, shape the dough to fit and place it in the tin. Cover and leave to prove at room temperature for 2 hours.
3. Heat the oven to 240-250°C/220-230°C fan/475-500°F/gas 8-9, or as high as it will go. Dust the top of the dough with flour, if you like, slash down the middle of the loaf and bake for 45 minutes.
Sid Price bought the bakery on Castle Street in Ludlow, Shropshire, in 1943. He ran the bakehouse and shop with his wife and the help of several of their 12 children, amazingly finding time to serve three terms as the town’s mayor. After Sid passed away in 1977, the business was inherited by three of his children, of whom Sheila is still a co-owner with two of her daughters.
Plain Maslin Loaf CHRIS YOUNG
In an age where cereal monoculture is the norm, it might come as a surprise to learn that fields once swayed with not only different varieties of the same grain, but also mixes of different cereals. At one time it was not unusual to have wheat and rye grown, harvested and milled together. Other grains might also find themselves in the mix. The resulting meal, and bread made from it, was known as maslin, which was my inspiration for this lovable mongrel of a loaf.
MAKES: 1 large loaf
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 5½-8 hours
BAKING TIME: 40-50 minutes
300g/10½oz/2 cups plus 2 tbsp wholemeal/wholegrain bread flour
150g/5½oz/1 cup white bread flour
100g/3½oz/¾ cup wholemeal (dark) rye flour
50g/1¾oz/½ cup rolled oats
400g/14oz/1 ⅔ cups water
5g/1 tsp fresh yeast
8g/1½ tsp fine/table salt
butter or oil, for greasing
1. Mix all of the ingredients except the butter together thoroughly and then knead until you have a smooth and stretchy dough. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for about 4 hours - if the room is cooler, it could take up to 6 hours. At this point, you can go shopping, watch TV, set off on a bracing walk or whatever; the dough won’t have abandonment issues.
2. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and gently press to deflate it a little and form it into a square-ish shape. If baking a sandwich loaf, roll the dough up like a Swiss/jelly roll and place it seam-side down in a greased large loaf tin. Alternatively, shape into a cob (round) loaf by pulling the corners into the middle of the dough and pressing down, repeating with the four new corners you’ve made, then flipping this over, tucking-in and smoothing any sticking-out bits with your hands and placing on a greased baking sheet. Cover and leave to rise again for 1½-2 hours.
3. Heat the oven to 230°C/210°C fan/450°F/gas 8. Bake the loaf for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 200°C/180°C/400°F/gas 6 and bake for a further 30-40 minutes. Remove the loaf from the tin or baking sheet and leave on a wire cooling rack until cold.
Sippet: The word maslin is assumed to come from the Latin for mixed, via Old French and Middle English.
No-Knead White Loaf KELLIANNE DI CAPRI
As this is a fairly high hydration (wet) dough, it gets a long baking, which also gives a darker-coloured loaf. Uncooked bread dough has none of the charms of cookie dough, and I don’t see any ice-cream makers turning it into a popular flavour in the foreseeable future, so sometimes it is better to opt for a little more time in the oven.
MAKES: 1 loaf
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 10 hours, or overnight plus 2 hours
BAKING TIME: 50-60 minutes
7g/1½ tsp fresh yeast
375g/13oz/1½ cups plus 1 tbsp warm water
500g/1lb 2oz/3½ cups white bread flour
7g/1½ tsp fine/table salt
butter, for greasing
1. Crumble the yeast into the water in a large bowl and stir until dissolved, then add the flour and salt and mix everything together thoroughly. You will have a very loose, wet and shaggy dough.
2. Cover the bowl and leave to rise in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight.
3. Grease a 1kg/2lb loaf tin well and dust the inside with plenty of flour.
4. Take the bowl of dough from the refrigerator, deflate the dough gently and, with wet hands and dough scrapers, remove all the dough from the bowl.
5. Keeping your hands wet and using swift but careful movements to avoid the dough sticking to your hands, try to shape it to fit the loaf tin. Place it in the tin, seam-side down.
6. Dust the top of the loaf well with flour, cover and leave to rise at room temperature for about 2 hours.
7. Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas 6. Bake the loaf for 50-60 minutes until really well browned.
Kellianne Di Capri trained as a boulanger in Paris and has worked as a baker in one way or another for the past 15 years. She set up her home-based microbakery and baking school in Llandinam, Powys, Wales, in 2013. She says, “I am a total breadhead and an utterly unrepentant Real Bread obsessive. I truly believe that if people ate more Real Bread, we would be happier … probably.”
Rustic Lincolnshire Poacher and Onion Bread SONYA HUNDAL
Sonya’s bakery is about 50 miles/80km from where Lincolnshire Poacher cheese is made. She says it “has a distinctive nutty flavour when cooked and is nicely balanced with the sweet flavour from the onions”. Do substitute a different hard, mature/sharp cheese if you can’t get this one, but you’ll have to give the loaf a different name.
MAKES: 1 large loaf or 2 small loaves
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 5-6 hours
BAKING TIME: 25-45 minutes
10g/2 tsp fresh yeast (reduce to 6g/1¼ tsp if room temperature is much above 20°C/68°F)
400g/14oz/1⅔ cups water, at about 20°C/68°F
600g/1lb 5oz/4¼ cups white bread flour
40g/1½oz4½ tbsp wholemeal/ wholewheat bread flour
30g/1oz/4 tbsp wholemeal/wholegrain (dark) rye flour
10g/2 tsp fine/table salt
60g/2¼oz/½ cup diced onion
60g/2¼oz/⅔ cup Lincolnshire Poacher cheese, coarsely grated
1. Whisk the yeast into the water until dissolved, then add the 3 different flours with the salt and mix thoroughly. Cover and leave at a cool room temperature (ideally 15-18°C/60-65°F) for 2 hours.
2. Give the dough a single fold, cover and leave for a further 45-60 minutes until the dough has noticeably increased in size; you may notice an aroma similar to ripe bananas.
3. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. The side of the dough in contact with the floured surface is the “good” side and will end up as the top of the loaf. You can divide the dough into 2 equal-size pieces at this point, if you would prefer 2 small loaves.
4. Gently round the dough into a boule without using the full shaping process on page 21, ending with it “good” side down on a floured surface. Cover and leave to prove for 1 hour.
5. Flatten the dough down gently and place the onion and cheese in the middle. Fold the nearest and furthest edges over the middle so they overlap, pressing down with your fingers to seal in the onion and cheese.
6. Fold the left and right ends of the dough in to form points, then fold these almost to the middle of the dough, pressing them down to seal. Roll the dough backwards and forwards 2 or 3 times, ending with the “good” side facing up. Do any tucking-in needed at the bottom to create a neat oval shape, cover and leave to prove for 1-1½ hours.
7. Heat the oven to 250°C/230°C fan/480°F/gas 9+, or as high as it will go, with a baking stone or baking sheet in place. Make 3 slashes in the dough and dust with flour, then slide it onto the baking stone using a floured peel. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas 7 and continue to bake for another 25-30 minutes (large loaf ) or 10-15 minutes (small loaves).
Sippet: Lincolnshire Poacher is a hard, unpasteurized cow’s milk cheese, made by a process that is similar to traditional Cheddar, and matured for up to 24 months.
Dragan Bread DRAGAN MATIJEVIC
This loaf is the creation of “Magic” Dragan, the Conjuring Croatian. He says, “The smell of the loaves baking is enough to lift the spirits on even the dullest day!”, and that blend of honey, fruit, nuts and spices is guaranteed to lift your spirits. It goes well with cheese and I’m assured it makes outstanding toast for breakfast, if there’s any left by then.
MAKES: 2 small loaves
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 6 hours
BAKING TIME: 35 minutes
500g/1lb 2oz/3½ cups white bread flour
150g/5½oz/⅔ cup white sourdough starter
350g/12oz/1½ cups water
30g/1oz/about 2 tbsp honey
3g/¾ tsp fresh yeast
10g/2 tsp fine/table salt
5 cardamom pods
200g/7oz/1½ cups pitted prunes, chopped
150g/5½oz/1½ cups walnuts, quartered
2-3 tsp ground cumin
1. Mix the flour, sourdough starter, water, honey and yeast together thoroughly. Cover and leave at room temperature for 1 hour.
2. Stretch the dough out, scatter the salt over it and then knead until you have a smooth, stretchy dough. Cover the dough and leave to relax for 10 minutes.
3. Crush the seeds from the cardamom pods in a mortar and pestle, discarding the husks. Flatten out the dough and spread evenly with the prunes, walnuts, cumin and cardamom. Knead until all the ingredients are incorporated and evenly distributed, then shape the dough into a ball. Cover and leave for 30 minutes before giving the dough a single fold.
4. Leave for a further 30 minutes before giving the dough another single fold, then cover and leave to rise for a further 2 hours.
5. Divide the dough into 2 equal-size pieces, shape into balls, cover and leave to rest for 15 minutes.
6. Dust two 500g/1lb proving baskets with flour. Shape the dough balls to fit and place them seam-side up in the baskets. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 1 hour.
7. Heat the oven to 230°C/210°C fan/450°F/gas 8, with a large baking stone or baking sheet in place. Turn the loaves out onto a floured peel. Slash the top of each loaf, slide them gently onto the baking stone and bake for 35 minutes.
Dragan Matijevic started baking when he arrived in the UK from what was Yugoslavia in the 1970s and was shocked by what was sold as “bread”. He and his partner Penny later created what they called “the world’s smallest bakery” at home. In 2013, they moved to the edge of Dartmoor National Park and set up the Artisan Bakery School, teaching people both baking and business skills to launch their own microbakeries or micropizzerias.
Scott Hayward was born in London and worked as a chef for many years. When offered the chance to become a baker at Olivia’s Bakery & Café in Darlington, he dived right in and took over as head baker in 2011. Olivia’s is a social enterprise that offers training placements to disadvantaged young people, helping them to improve their self-confidence and contribute positively to their local community. Scott now runs the wholesale part of the business, promoting Real Bread to the region’s finest restaurants and hotels.
Stout, Stilton and Walnut Bread SCOTT HAYWARD
Historically, stout was a type of porter: a dark beer, made from well-roasted barley, and with a higher alcohol content. Today, though the colour remains the same, it’s usually lower in alcohol, but this makes it an ideal, flavoursome alternative to water when bread making, particularly when teamed with other sophisticated flavours.
MAKES: 2 small loaves
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 4-5 hours
BAKING TIME: 30-40 minutes
350g/12oz/1½ cups stout or porter
5g/1 tsp fresh yeast
365g/12¾oz/2½ cups plus 1 tbsp white bread flour
305g/10¾oz/2 cups plus 2 tbsp wholemeal/wholewheat bread flour
10g/2 tsp fine/table salt
10g/1 tsp black treacle/molasses
75g/2½oz/¾ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
75g/2½oz/¾ cup Stilton cheese, cut into 1cm/½in cubes
1. Mix the stout and yeast together until dissolved, then add the other ingredients, except the walnuts and cheese, and mix thoroughly.
2. Knead the dough until smooth and stretchy, cover and leave to relax at room temperature for 10 minutes.
3. Press the dough out gently to form a rectangle, scatter the cheese and nuts over it, roll the dough up and knead until mixed in, trying not to mash the cheese up too much. Cover the dough and leave to prove at room temperature for 3 hours.
4. Divide the dough into 2 equal-size pieces and shape into balls. Cover and leave to relax for 10 minutes.
5. Reshape the balls, dust with flour, cover and leave to prove at room temperature for 1 hour, either seam-side down on a floured work surface or seam-side up in floured proving baskets.
6. Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas 7, with a large baking stone or baking sheet in place. Transfer the loaves to a floured peel, seam-side down. Slash the top of each loaf, then slide them gently onto the baking stone. Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown.
Sippet: Stilton is a blue-veined cheese made in the English counties of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire or Leicestershire. Due to its legally protected status, it cannot be made in the Cambridgeshire village which gave it its name.
Baker’s Tip: As this is a Real Bread book, you won’t be surprised if I suggest the stout you use is a real ale with complexity and depth of flavour, rather than some bland mass-produced fizz.
Einkorn Bread CLARE MARRIAGE
Einkorn (Triticum monococcum) is one of man’s earliest crops, with evidence of cultivation from at least 8000BC. While not suitable for a wheat- or gluten-free diet, some people who have trouble with modern wheat varieties may find it more digestible. Clare says, “Einkorn flour may absorb more liquid than other flours and can become sticky with excessive kneading.” Her recipe makes a characterful dark loaf, with an even crumb and good flavour.
MAKES: 1 large loaf
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 10-15 hours, or overnight
BAKING TIME: 1 hour
5g/1 tsp fresh yeast
500g/1lb 2oz/scant 4¼ cups wholemeal/wholegrain einkorn flour
400g/14oz/1⅔ cups water
5g/1 tsp fine/table salt
butter, for greasing
1. Rub the yeast into the flour, add the water and salt and mix thoroughly.
2. Cover the bowl and leave at room temperature for 10-15 hours, or overnight if that suits you.
3. Heat the oven to 240°C/220°C fan/475°F/gas 8-9. Grease a 1kg/2lb loaf tin and a sheet of kitchen foil which will be used to cover the bread as it bakes (or use a Pullman loaf tin, greasing the inside, including inside the lid).
4. With a wetted dough scraper, scoop the dough into the tin and cover with the foil, leaving enough space for the dough to rise in the oven. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
5. Bake the loaf for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and turn the oven down to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas 6. Continue to bake for a further 30 minutes.
Clare Marriage and her husband Michael converted the family’s Doves Farm to organic agriculture in 1978, establishing a business that continues to thrive. They remain active members of both the organic and Slow Food movements.
Ciabatta STEVE NATHAN
The name comes from the Italian word for slipper, perhaps because of the similarity in shape. Some might argue that many industrial versions of this bread also have the taste and texture of footwear! This recipe uses a very wet dough, which allows the gluten to stretch to its limits, creating a very open network of large holes in the crumb. Please don’t be scared of how wet it is, or be tempted to throw in extra flour.
MAKES: 2 large loaves
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 4-5 hours
BAKING TIME: 20-30 minutes
500g/1lb 2oz/3½ cups white bread flour
375g/13oz/1½ cups plus 1 tbsp water
8g/1½ tsp fine/table salt
10g/2 tsp fresh yeast, finely crumbled
1. Mix the flour and water together thoroughly in a large bowl. Cover and leave for 20-60 minutes, then tip the dough onto the work surface and sprinkle with the salt and yeast. Knead until it is smooth, shiny and starts to resist further kneading, then return the dough to the bowl, cover and leave at room temperature for 40 minutes.
2. Pat the dough out into a rectangle on the work surface, then fold the left-hand third of the dough over the middle third, and the right-hand third over the dough you’ve just folded. Return the dough to the bowl for 40 minutes, then turn it out again and give it a double fold: in from left and right, then fold the edge furthest from you over the middle, finally folding the edge nearest you over the “parcel” of dough. Return it to the bowl, seam-side down, and leave for another 40 minutes.
3. Place the dough on a well-floured work surface, seam-side down. Flour your hands and swiftly stretch the dough into a rectangle about 2cm/¾in thick. Cut this halfway along its length, to form 2 loaves and dust well with flour. Cover loosely and leave to rise at room temperature for 90 minutes until the dough feels light and puffy.
4. Heat the oven to 250°C/230°C fan/480°F/gas 9+, with a baking stone or baking sheet in place. Lift each ciabatta in turn, sliding your fingers under the short ends of the dough and bringing them slightly closer together as you do so, then carefully lower the dough onto the hot baking stone, giving it a slight stretch as you do to form the characteristic “dog-bone” shape. Bake for 20-30 minutes until the loaves are golden and crispy on the outside.
Steve Nathan is a self-taught baker, who says he has developed his skills over more than a decade of “elaborate and messy trial and error”. He teaches classes at Eastcourt Manor in Kent, which dates back to the early 14th century.
Baker’s Tip: If you have an industrial-strength food mixer with a dough hook, this is one to use it for.
Naan ANDREW SMITH
From the small ones used to mop up prawn/shrimp korma at The Bengal or Raj Duth in Lichfield to the family-size versions found in Birmingham’s Balti Triangle, I have only happy memories of pillowy naan breads. Without a tandoor oven to give your dough a short, sharp burst of heat on both sides, it’s hard to perfect. But then I thought some people reading this book might have pizza ovens, or simply fancy giving it a go.
MAKES: 2 naan
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: overnight plus 1½ hours
BAKING TIME: 1-2 minutes in a tandoor; 12-15 minutes in a domestic oven
500g/1lb 2oz/3½ cups white bread flour
200g/7oz/¾ cup plus 1 tbsp water, at 19°C/66°F
125g/4½oz/½ cup plain live yogurt
50g/1¾oz beaten egg (about 1 egg)
25g/1oz/⅓ cup milk powder
8g/1½ tsp fresh yeast
8g/1½ tsp fine/table salt
4g/¾ tsp vegetable oil
melted butter or ghee, for brushing
1. Mix all of the ingredients together thoroughly. Cover and leave to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.
2. Knead the dough until smooth and stretchy. Cover and leave to prove in the refrigerator overnight.
3. Divide the dough into 2 equal-size pieces and stretch them out to teardrop or circular shapes about 1cm/½in thick. Cover and leave to rise on a well-floured surface at room temperature for about 1 hour.
4. Heat your tandoor or pizza oven to 400-500°C/750-930°F, or crank your domestic oven up as high as it will go, with a baking stone in place. With your hand well protected from the heat, slap each piece of dough onto the inside wall of the tandoor (if you have one, you’ll know how to use it better and more safely than I can advise you), or use a well-floured peel to slide it onto the hot baking stone. Bake for about 90 seconds in a tandoor or pizza oven, or without steam for 12-15 minutes in a domestic oven.
5. Brush the top of each naan generously with melted butter and serve as soon as possible with your favourite curry or stew.
Andrew Smith was a founder member of the Red Herring Workers’ Co-operative in Newcastle upon Tyne; a bakery supervisor at The Village Bakery Melmerby; bakery lecturer at Leeds City College, Newcastle College and Gateshead College; and has assisted on Bread Matters’ courses. As founder of Bread and Roses in Alnwick, Northumberland, he continues to bake Real Bread professionally, as well as offer training and consultancy.
Simit CHRIS YOUNG
Having spent a week travelling by train from London to Istanbul, my wife, friends Em and Phil, and I somehow arrived on schedule, glimpsing the sunrise as we pulled into the station. Everyone else crashed out at the hotel while I dashed off with my camera. Within minutes, I was holding my breakfast, from the street cart of one of the city’s 1,400 registered simitçi. Simit are the definitive Turkish street food, traditionally eaten very fresh with a glass of black tea.
MAKES: 8-10
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: overnight plus 1½-2½ hours
BAKING TIME: 10-15 minutes
FOR THE DOUGH:
500g/1lb 2oz/3¾ cups plain/ all-purpose flour
310g/11oz/1¼ cups plus 1 tbsp water
5g/1 tsp fresh yeast
5g/1 tsp fine/table salt
FOR THE COATING:
60g/2¼oz/scant ¼ cup pekmez (grape molasses)
50g/1¾oz/3½ tbsp water
200g/7oz/scant 1½ cups sesame seeds
1. Mix the dough ingredients together thoroughly. Cover and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
2. Knead until smooth: as you are using a lower-protein flour, it won’t be as stretchy as bread dough. Cover and leave to prove at room temperature for 30 minutes, then transfer to the refrigerator and leave overnight to continue proving.
3. Mix the pekmez and water together in a bowl and put the sesame seeds on a plate. Press the dough out on a lightly floured work surface, to de-gas the dough (that is, to get rid of the largest bubbles), so the finished product has an even texture.
4. Divide the dough into 8-10 equal-size pieces, rolling each one into a strand about 70-80cm/28-32in long. You might need to do this in two stages with a 5-10-minute rest in between. Hold the 2 ends of a strand together in one hand, and the middle in your other hand, and twist the dough a couple of times, to entwine the strands fully.
5. Pinch the ends of the twisted dough together to make a ring, then roll the join back and forth on a work surface a few times to seal fully. Repeat with the remaining strands of dough.
6. Dunk each simit into the diluted pekmez, then drain and dip into the sesame seeds to coat fully. Lay them out on two or three baking sheets, cover and leave to prove at room temperature for 30-45 minutes.
7. Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas 7. Bake the simit for 10-15 minutes until reddish brown.
Baker’s Tip: Pekmez is a molasses-like syrup made by boiling down grape must. It can be bought from Turkish and Mediterranean shops and online.
Lahmacun DAVID JONES
Sometimes called Turkish or Armenian pizza, David says, “This works brilliantly in our wood-fired ovens, but will cook perfectly in a conventional one. It’s different every time we make it, depending on what’s available, so I like to think of this recipe as a wonderful inspiration, rather than something to be adhered to slavishly.” Though he notes that using lemon and parsley “really brings it to life, so don’t be tempted to skip that bit”.
MAKES: 4 lahmacun
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 5 hours
BAKING TIME: 5 minutes each
FOR THE DOUGH:
300g/10½oz/2 cups plus 2 tbsp white bread flour
100g/3½oz/¾ cup minus ½ tbsp wholemeal/wholewheat bread flour
8g/1½ tsp fresh yeast
5g/1 tsp fine/table salt
250g/9oz/1 cup plus 1 tbsp water
FOR THE TOPPING:
1 onion
1 carrot
1 large garlic clove
1 red pepper, deseeded
1 large tomato
1 handful of parsley leaves
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
1 tsp sumac
½ tsp dried chilli/red pepper flakes (optional)
250g/9oz/heaping 1 cup minced/ ground lamb
salt and freshly ground black pepper
TO SERVE:
1 chilli, finely sliced (optional)
1 red onion, finely sliced
1 lemon
plain yogurt
1 handful of parsley leaves, chopped
1. Put both types of flour in a bowl, crumble in the yeast and then add the salt and water. Mix thoroughly, then knead for 10-15 minutes to create a strong and springy dough. Cover the bowl and leave at room temperature. After 2 hours, punch the dough once or twice, then firmly knead and fold it in on itself, to de-gas it. Leave for another 2 hours.
2. Meanwhile, blitz the onion, carrot, garlic, red pepper, tomato and parsley by pulsing in a food processor until chopped finely but not pulped.
3. Drain the excess liquid from the vegetables, either by pressing them in a sieve/strainer, or by wrapping in a clean cloth and squeezing the moisture out, then mix them with the rest of the topping ingredients in a large bowl, washing your hands well after handling the raw meat. This can be done ahead of time and refrigerated until needed.
4. Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas 7, with baking stones or baking sheets in place. Divide the dough into 4 equal-size pieces, shape into balls, cover and leave to relax for 30 minutes.
5. Dust a rolling pin and the work surface with flour then roll the dough out into oval shapes about 2-3mm/up to ⅛in thick. Spoon the topping evenly over the 4 pieces of dough, spreading it out and pressing it in a little as you go, and folding the edges up and over slightly.
6. Using a floured peel, slide each lahmacun onto a baking stone and bake for about 5 minutes. You want them to cook thoroughly and the topping to take on a little colour, but without the bases crisping. Top each lahmacun with sliced chilli and onion, a good squeeze of lemon juice, a dollop of yogurt and a generous sprinkling of parsley. Serve immediately.
Bialys LIZ WEISBERG
These distant relatives of the bagel originated in Białystok, in an area of Russia that in 1918 became part of Poland. Historically, a high percentage of the city’s population were Jewish, who as emigrants took their bialys wherever they went. Liz says, “A bialy is definitely not a bagel and is not made with bagel dough, although some bakeries make them that way. It is not boiled and, at its most original, it is dark and blistered, rather than pale and soft.”
MAKES: 9 bialys
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 5-6 hours
BAKING TIME: 20 minutes
FOR THE DOUGH:
500g/1lb 2oz/3½ cups white bread flour
325g/11½oz/1⅓ cups water
8g/1½ tsp fresh yeast
8g/1½ tsp fine/table salt
FOR THE TOPPING:
1 onion, finely minced
20g/¾oz/¼ cup dried breadcrumbs
poppy seeds, for sprinkling
semolina, for dusting
1. Mix the dough ingredients together thoroughly, then knead to form a smooth dough. This is a very “tight” (dry or stiff ) dough, so you might find it easier to work in several short bursts, covering and leaving it to rest for about 10 minutes between each knead.
2. After kneading, cover the dough and leave to rise at room temperature for about 1½ hours, then give it a single fold, cover and leave for a further 2½ hours.
3. Divide the dough into 9 equal-size pieces, shape into balls and flatten to discs about 1cm/½in thick, resting the dough after shaping if it feels stiff. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.
4. Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas 7, with a baking stone in place if you are not using a baking sheet. Meanwhile, mix the onion with the breadcrumbs.
5. Place the bialys on a baking sheet or a semolina-dusted peel, and make a very deep dimple 2.5cm/1in wide in the middle of each one by pressing down very firmly with your thumb. Smear a scant teaspoon of the topping into each dimple, spray or brush the bialys with water and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Slide the bialys into the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Liz Weisberg was born in Boston, USA, and life took her toward Battersea in London. There she and her partner Rachel Duffield set up The Lighthouse Bakery in 2000. After seven years, they upped sticks to the rolling hills of the High Weald in East Sussex, relaunching the business as a small wholesale bakery and baking school. Offering expertise and experience, their intention is to inspire a new generation of bakers.
Lihapiirakka CHRIS YOUNG
There are several recipes in this book for which there is really no excuse. They are unhealthy and just plain wrong. This is one of them. I first stumbled across these meat doughnuts (the literal translation is “meat pie”) on a night out in Helsinki, Finland. By 3am, we were in need of refuelling, which came from a street-corner grilli van selling lihis, with added fried egg, frankfurter-style sausages, pickles, ketchup, mustard and (unusually) garlic sauce. Utter filth.
MAKES: 6 doughnuts
FROM MIXING TO COOKING: overnight plus 3½-4½ hours
COOKING TIME: 20-25 minutes
FOR THE DOUGH:
250g/9oz/1¾ cups plus 2 tbsp plain/ all-purpose flour
150g/5½oz/scant ⅔ cup water or milk
1 egg
10g/2 tbsp caster/superfine sugar
5g/1 tsp fresh yeast
4g/¾ tsp fine/table salt
30g/1oz/2 tbsp butter, softened
FOR THE FILLING:
½ onion, finely diced
vegetable oil for frying and deep frying
100g/3½oz/scant ½ cup minced/ ground beef
salt and freshly ground black pepper
50g/1¾oz/¼ cup long-grain white rice
a little water or milk
1. Beat the flour, water, egg, sugar and yeast together, ideally using a stand mixer with a dough hook, to make a smooth, stretchy dough. Add the salt and butter and knead until fully incorporated. Cover and leave in the refrigerator overnight.
2. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and leave to rise at room temperature for 2 hours. Meanwhile, fry the onion in a little oil until translucent, add the beef and salt and pepper to taste and remove from the heat.
3. Cook the rice, draining it if necessary, and cooling it quickly in a shallow layer on a large plate. When it is dry and fluffy, stir it into the onion and meat. Cool and refrigerate the filling until needed.
4. Divide the dough into 6 equal-size pieces, shape into balls, cover and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Dust the work surface and rolling pin with flour then roll out each dough ball into a circle about 15-18cm/ 6-7in in diameter and 1cm/½in thick.
5. Divide the filling evenly between the dough pieces, spreading it out but leaving a clean 1cm/½in border all the way round. Brush this clean edge with a little water or milk, fold the dough in half over the filling to make a semicircular shape and press down to seal. Cover and leave to rise for 1-2 hours.
6. In a deep, heavy pan, heat the vegetable oil to 180°C/350°F and fry 2 lihis at a time for 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove with a slotted metal spoon and leave to cool on a wire rack covered in paper towels while you fry the remaining “pies”. Serve while still warm.
Baker’s Tip: On second thoughts, leave this to the experts. Go to Helsinki and bag your lihis in their natural habitat of the bright orange Toripojat coffee tent in the city’s harbourside market.
Pulla CHRIS YOUNG
According to some reports, the Finns drink more coffee per person than any other nationality. Whether or not that’s true I’ve no idea, but my personal experience is that they guzzle kahvia as often as we Brits down tea. In someone’s home, a cup will usually be accompanied by a cake or pastry, and more often than not that will be pulla.
MAKES: 12 pulla
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: overnight plus 1½ hours
BAKING TIME: 10-15 minutes
15 green cardamom pods
5g/1 tsp fresh yeast
50g/1¾oz/3½ tbsp butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
500g/1lb 2oz/3¾ cups plain/ all-purpose flour
300g/10½oz/1¼ cups milk
1 egg, beaten
80g/2¾oz/scant ½ cup caster/ superfine sugar
5g/1 tsp fine/table salt
1 egg, beaten, for glazing
1. Crush the cardamom pods in a mortar and pestle, discard the husks and grind the seeds.
2. Rub the yeast and butter into the flour, then add the milk, egg, sugar, salt and cardamom seeds and mix thoroughly. Cover the dough and leave to rise slowly in the refrigerator overnight.
3. Grease a large baking sheet with butter. Divide the dough into 12 equal-size pieces, shape each piece into a ball and place on the baking sheet, 5cm/2in apart. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for about 1 hour.
4. Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas 6. Brush the top of each pulla with beaten egg and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden-brown.
Sippet: At Lent, the pulla is pimped to become laskiaispulla by slicing off the top, spreading with jam/conserve and whipped cream and putting the top back on. In other Nordic countries, a sweetened almond paste is used instead of jam/conserve.
Cinnamon and Hazelnut Knots CHRIS YOUNG
Back in early 2010, I spent two nights at Fifteen, the enterprise set up by Jamie Oliver to help train young people who have the passion to work in a high-end restaurant but who have struggled to hold down, or even find, a job. I was there to see what other bakeries could learn about taking on apprentices, and these buns are inspired by a loaf their baker Kenny Rankin showed me how to make, as well as by the spiced, enriched buns found across Scandinavia.
MAKES: 8 buns
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 4½-6½ hours
BAKING TIME: 15-20 minutes
FOR THE DOUGH:
250g/9oz/1¾ cups white bread flour
100g/3½oz/¾ cup plain/all-purpose flour
140g/5oz/generous ½ cup buttermilk
40g/1½oz/¼ cup caster/superfine sugar
30g/1oz/2 tbsp butter
10g/2 tsp fresh yeast
1 egg
5g/1 tsp fine/table salt
FOR THE FILLING:
100g/3½oz/1¾ cups fresh white breadcrumbs, very fine
100g/3½oz/heaping ½ cup caster/ superfine sugar
100g/3½oz/⅔ cup ground hazelnuts
4g/1½ tsp ground cinnamon
75g/2½oz/scant ½ cup water
icing/confectioners’ sugar, for glazing
1. Mix all of the dough ingredients together thoroughly, then knead until you have a smooth, silky, stretchy dough. Cover and leave at room temperature for 3-5 hours until well risen.
2. Meanwhile, mix the filling ingredients together, adding the water a little at a time until you have a spreadable paste (you may not need it all). Cover and leave in the refrigerator until needed. Line a baking sheet with non-stick baking parchment.
3. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface into a 40x20cm/16x8in rectangle, with the long edges to the sides and a short edge facing you. Spread the filling over the half of the dough nearest to you, then fold the remaining dough towards you to cover this.
4. Cut the dough lengthways into 8 strips, stretching them out to 25-30cm/10-12in long. Take a strip and, holding one end in each hand, twist it to create a rope effect (fig. 1). Holding one end firmly between thumb and forefinger, wrap the rest of the strip around twice (fig. 2), finishing by tucking the end of the strip into the middle of the spiral you have just created (fig. 3). Place on the lined baking sheet and repeat with the remaining strips of dough. Cover and leave to rise for 1 hour.
5. Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas 6. Bake the knots for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/ gas 4 and continue to bake for a further 5-10 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes, glazing the knots while still warm by brushing with water and dusting with icing/ confectioners’ sugar through a small sieve/strainer.
Rowies (Butteries) CHRIS YOUNG
Two names for basically the same thing: made with a laminated dough, these rolls could be considered the Scottish croissant. Using a technique akin to that for rough puff pastry leaves some fat in tiny pieces between the layers of dough, which bakes to a crisper finish, like the rowie of Aberdeen itself. Cutting the fat into the dough for an extra few minutes will give a softer result after baking: the butteries of the surrounding rural shires.
MAKES: 9-12 depending on size
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: overnight plus 3-4 hours
BAKING TIME: 15-20 minutes
350g/12oz/2½ cups white bread flour
250g/9oz/1 cup plus 1 tbsp water
5g/1 tsp fresh yeast
6g/1 tsp fine/table salt
60g/2¼oz/4 tbsp butter, at room temperature
100g/3½oz/½ cup minus 1 tbsp pork lard or beef dripping, at room temperature
1. Mix the flour, water, yeast and salt together thoroughly. Cover and leave to rest for 10 minutes then knead the dough until it is smooth and stretchy. Cover and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes, then leave in the refrigerator overnight.
2. The next day, beat the butter and lard together with a wooden spoon, balloon whisk or electric hand whisk until they are well whipped, pale and fluffy.
3. Dust the work surface and a rolling pin well with flour then roll the dough out into a rectangle about 1cm/½in thick. Spread it with about one-third of the whipped fat, then lift the dough by its left-hand edge, folding one-third of it over to cover the middle of the dough, then folding the right-hand side over this to leave a layered “parcel” one-third its previous width. Cover and leave in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
4. Roll the dough out into a rectangle again, spread it with half the remaining fat and repeat the folding-in. Cover and return to the refrigerator for another 30 minutes, then roll the dough out for a third time, spreading it with the remaining fat and folding-in as before. Cover and return to the refrigerator for a final 30 minutes of chilling.
5. Dust the work surface and rolling pin well with flour, then roll the dough out to a rectangle about 1cm/½in thick. Cut or tear the dough into small rectangles or rounds, 65-85g/2¼-3oz in weight, or roughly 5cm/2in square. Place on baking sheets, leaving space for them to rise - they won’t double in height, but will look noticeably larger. Cover and leave at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
6. Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas 7. Bake the rowies for 15-20 minutes until risen and pale golden.
Staffordshire Oatcakes CHRIS YOUNG
The oatcakes of Staff ordshire, Derbyshire and Cheshire are soft and almost like crêpes or pancakes. When I was young they rarely strayed to south Staff ordshire where my family lived, but my dad’s job used to take him to their native territory and he’d buy some. Now that I live in London, he still brings them to stock up my freezer when he visits. Here’s my recipe, which uses yeast rather than the baking powder typically used by commercial producers.
MAKES: about 5 23cm/9in oatcakes
FROM MIXING TO COOKING: 4-5 hours, or overnight plus 1 hour
COOKING TIME: 3-4 minutes each
150g/5½oz/1½ cups rolled oats or oatmeal
50g/1¾oz/heaping ⅓ cup wholemeal/ wholewheat flour
2g/½ tsp fresh yeast
300-350g/10½-12oz/1¼-1½ cups milk, water or mixture of the two
2g/½ tsp fine/table salt
a little butter or oil, for greasing
1. If using oats, put them into a food processor or upright blender and pulse them for 1-2 minutes until they take on a finer consistency. Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl, cover and leave in the refrigerator overnight. Ideally, take the batter out again 1 hour before you need it: you can get away with using it very cold, but as the bubbles won’t have got up to full force, the oatcake texture isn’t quite as good.
2. If you want to do everything on the same day, leave the batter at room temperature for about 4-5 hours until bubbly. It should be about the consistency of house paint, but add a little more milk or water if it has thickened too much.
3. Assuming you don’t have access to a baxton (a traditional oatcake griddle) lightly grease a flat, heavy frying pan, ideally about 25-30cm/10-12in in diameter, and place over a medium heat. Ladle in the batter and swirl around to form a pancake about 2-3mm/up to ⅛in thick.
4. Cook until the batter sets and bubbles burst through the surface like those in a crumpet or pikelet. Flip the oatcake over with a spatula or fish slice and cook for about another 2 minutes, checking to make sure it doesn’t burn. Transfer to a plate and repeat until you have used up all the remaining batter.
Now, take a bite and tell me you’re not a convert …
Baker’s Tip: If you don’t plan to eat all of the oatcakes within 24 hours (what’s wrong with you?) put them on a wire cooling rack covered with a clean cloth until they are cool, layer between sheets of baking parchment to prevent them from sticking, seal in a plastic bag and freeze.
Sam Cutter is the head baker at Two Magpies Bakery, which opened in Southwold, Suffolk, in April 2013. The open-plan Scandinavian-style bakery and café makes a range of Real Bread using traditional methods. Bakery owner Rebecca Bishop says, “Demand for our long-fermented sourdough bread has grown massively and our customers love to watch us mixing, scaling and shaping each day’s dough.”
Brioche Doughnuts with Passionfruit Cream SAM CUTTER
Deep-fried food isn’t the usual territory of the Real Bread Campaign and this, like other enriched doughs in this book, should be viewed as an occasional indulgence. Sam originally created this dough to make burger buns for the local pub. He says he “tried it as a doughnut at a later date and discovered that it worked very well!”
MAKES: 10 doughnuts
FROM MIXING TO COOKING: overnight plus 3½-4 hours
COOKING TIME: 10-12 minutes, plus 10 minutes for filling
FOR THE DOUGH:
6g/2 tsp osmotolerant dried yeast
70g/2½oz/¼ cup plus 2 tsp tepid water
280g/10oz/2 cups white bread flour
70g/2½oz beaten egg (about 1½ eggs)
45g/1½oz/3 tbsp butter, cut into cubes
5g/1 tsp fine/table salt
25g/1oz/scant 2 tbsp caster/superfine sugar
FOR THE FILLING:
125g/4½oz/½ cup passionfruit juice, fresh or frozen
125g/4½oz/scant ¾ cup caster/ superfine sugar
2 large eggs plus 40g/1¼oz beaten egg yolk (about 2 yolks)
pinch of salt
125g/4½oz/9 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
140g/5oz/⅔ cup double/heavy cream
vegetable oil, for deep-frying
granulated sugar, for dusting
1. Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the flour and egg and mix well, then knead the dough until smooth and stretchy. Work the butter and salt in until thoroughly combined and the dough is silky again, then add the sugar and knead for a few more minutes until the dough no longer feels sticky or gritty. Cover the dough and leave to rise slowly in the refrigerator for 12-14 hours (typically overnight).
2. Grease a piece of baking parchment. Divide the dough into 10 equal-size pieces, shape them into small balls and place them seam-side down on the baking parchment, 5cm/2in apart. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 3-3½ hours until doubled in size.
3. Place a heat-resistant bowl over a saucepan half-filled with boiling water, so the water is not touching the bowl and adjust the heat so that the water continues to barely simmer. Put all the filling ingredients except the butter and cream into the bowl and stir constantly until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove the bowl from the pan and stir in the butter until melted. Place this mixture in a clean container, cover the surface with clingfilm/plastic wrap to prevent a skin forming and leave to cool and set at room temperature, then whip it with the cream until thickened.
4. In a deep, heavy pan, heat the vegetable oil to 180-190°C/ 350-375°F. Lower several dough balls into the oil and fry for about 2 minutes on each side. Remove with a slotted metal spoon, drain off the excess oil, then roll them in the granulated sugar and leave to cool on a wire cooling rack while you fry the remaining balls of dough.
5. Push a small, serrated knife into the side of a doughnut and cut an upside-down “V” shape. Place the filling in a piping/pastry bag with a plain nozzle/tip, push it well into the cut and fill the doughnut until it starts to expand slightly. Repeat to fill the remaining doughnuts.
Baker’s Tip: Osmotolerant yeast is designed especially for sugary doughs. If you can’t find it, then use double the weight of fresh yeast.
Croissants MICKAEL JAHAN
A genuine, buttery, hand-laminated croissant is an increasingly rare pleasure, but not one beyond the enthusiastic home baker. August Zang’s Viennese bakery brought the crescent-shaped Austrian kipferl to Paris in the late 1830s, and while this is generally accepted as the ancestor of the croissant, the first written recipe to create this butter-laminated dough apparently dates to just the early 20th century. Make sure you use high fat content butter, ideally 84%.
MAKES: 12 croissants
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: overnight plus 4½-5 hours
BAKING TIME: 15-20 minutes
FOR THE DOUGH:
500g/1lb 2oz/3½ cups white bread flour
240g/8½oz/1 cup water, as cold as possible
9g/1½ tsp fine/table salt
15g/½oz/3 tbsp milk powder
20g/¾oz/4 tsp fresh yeast
60g/2oz/¼ cup caster/superfine sugar
FOR ROLLING OUT:
225g/8oz/1 cup butter, chilled
1 or 2 eggs, beaten, for glazing
1. Mix all the dough ingredients together very thoroughly (if you have a powerful stand mixer with a dough hook, start on slow, then speed up a little), until the dough is utterly smooth.
2. Shape the dough into a 25x12.5cm/10x5in rectangle on a floured work surface, then wrap it in clingfilm/plastic wrap. Roll the butter into a 12.5x12.5cm/5x5in square between two sheets of clingfilm/plastic wrap and refrigerate both the dough and the butter overnight.
3. Take the butter out of the refrigerator 1 hour before the dough, so it becomes pliable. Place the dough on a lightly-floured surface, then put the butter in the centre, sides lined up. Fold the uncovered dough at each end over the butter, so the edges meet but do not overlap.
4. Give the dough a quarter turn, then roll it out from the middle away and towards you, to seal the dough and butter together. When you have an elongated rectangle 5-7mm/¼in thick, fold the third furthest from you in to cover the middle portion, then the third nearest to you over that, to form an even, layered parcel. Cover the dough and chill it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Repeat the quarter turn, roll, fold and chill twice more, ending with 1 hour in the refrigerator.
5. Roll the dough out to a rectangle measuring 45x20cm/18x8in and about 3mm/⅛in thick. Slicing across the width of the rectangle, cut the dough into 12 elongated triangles, 7.5cm/3in at the base and 20cm/8in long. Cut a small nick in the middle of each base, then roll each croissant up from the base of the triangle towards the tip.
6. Place the croissants on baking sheets lined with non-stick baking parchment and brush with beaten egg. Prove for about 1¼ hours, ideally at around 28°C/82-83°F, or until well risen.
7. Heat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/375°F/gas 5. Brush the croissants with egg again and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool.
Mickael Jahan has been baking for over 25 years, starting in his home village of Vendee, France, when he was under 14 years old. In 1998 he landed in London and within three days found work at Sally Clarke’s Bakery, one of the UK pioneers of the current Real Bread movement. Since graduating from the Institute National De La Boulangerie Pâtisserie, he has worked in every type of bakery of every size in both the UK and France.
Katie Venner and Gordon Woodcock built a brick oven and a bakery shed behind their home in rural Somerset in 2009 and started baking sourdough and other long-ferment Real Bread for friends and neighbours. This became the Tracebridge Sourdough microbakery, selling at local farmers’ markets. They also run classes, pizza nights and welcome WOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) voluntary apprentices.
Appley Village Buns KATIE VENNER
These buns get their name not because they’re made with apples (they’re not: the filling is apricots) but because Katie first made them for the reopening of the local shop in her neighbouring Somerset village of Appley. They later inspired the Appley Bun Fun Run. If you wanted to make the buns more closely match their name, using chunks of peeled Bramley (cooking) apple instead of apricots might work rather well …
MAKES: 9 buns
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 6-8 hours, or overnight plus 2-3 hours
BAKING TIME: 20 minutes
FOR THE DOUGH:
125g/4½oz/½ cup milk, warm
12g/scant 2½ tsp fresh yeast
325g/11½oz/scant 2½ cups plain/ all-purpose flour
50g/1¾oz/¼ cup caster/superfine sugar
60g/2¼oz/4 tbsp butter, softened
2½g/½ tsp fine/table salt
1 egg, beaten
FOR THE CUSTARD:
50g/1¾oz/½ cup cornflour/cornstarch
4 egg yolks
100g/3½oz/½ cup caster/superfine sugar
500g/1lb 2oz/2 cups milk
12g/2½ tsp butter
2½g/½ tsp pure vanilla extract
FOR THE FILLING:
100g/3½oz/⅔ cup chopped dried apricots, soaked and drained
zest of ½ unwaxed organic orange
a pinch of grated nutmeg
50g/1¾oz/scant ⅔ cup flaked/slivered almonds
FOR THE ICING:
icing/confectioners’ sugar
juice of ½ orange
1. Mix the milk and yeast together, then add the flour, sugar, butter, salt and about half the beaten egg and knead until you have a smooth and stretchy dough. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 4-5 hours, or in the refrigerator overnight.
2. Shape the dough into a ball, cover and leave to rest while you make the custard. Whisk the cornflour/cornstarch, egg yolks and sugar together in a large bowl. Heat the milk to boiling point, then slowly pour it into the egg mixture, whisking continuously. Return the mixture to the pan and continue to whisk gently over a moderate heat until it thickens, being careful not to make it scramble. Remove from the heat, stir in the butter and vanilla, then leave to cool.
3. Lightly flour the work surface and a rolling pin, then roll the dough out into a rectangle about 50x30cm/20x12in. Spread with the cooled custard, right up to the edges, and then dot evenly with the apricots, orange zest and nutmeg.
4. Line a square baking tin with non-stick baking parchment. Roll the dough up lengthways like a Swiss/jelly roll, and cut it into 9 equal-size pieces. Arrange them together, cut side up, in the baking tin in rows of three. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for about 1 hour.
5. Heat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/375°F/gas 5. Brush the tops of the buns lightly with the remaining beaten egg left over from the dough. Sprinkle the almonds on top. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden, then leave to cool slightly on a wire cooling rack.
6. Mix some icing/confectioners’ sugar with just enough of the orange juice to make a thick ribbon of icing, then pipe it in a lattice pattern over the buns while they are still just warm.
Devon Tuffs EMMA PARKIN
As they are made with baking powder, scones fall outside the Real Bread Campaign’s area of interest, but here’s a delicious and equally traditional alternative from South West England, made with baker’s yeast. They are best served split, and spread with jam/conserve and clotted cream. The debate continues about the right way to do this, but Emma tells me that “east of the River Tamar, cream goes on first and jam on top!”
MAKES: 10-12 tuffs
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 4½-5 hours
BAKING TIME: 12-15 minutes
280g/10oz/1¼ cups minus 1 tbsp milk, plus extra for glazing
15g/1 tbsp caster/superfine sugar
5g/1 tsp fresh yeast
450g/1lb/3¼ cups white bread flour
5g/1 tsp fine/table salt
30g/1oz/2 tbsp lard (or butter), plus extra for greasing
1. Warm the milk but not so hot you can’t dip your finger in it. Cream together the sugar and yeast and mix with the milk.
2. Sift the flour and salt together, gently rub in the lard with your fingers or a fork to make fine crumbs, then add the yeast mixture. Knead for a minute or two until you have a consistent dough, but work it lightly to keep the finished tuffs quite “short” (even so, they won’t be quite as crumbly as modern scones made with baking powder, which have no proving time and so no time for the gluten to develop).
3. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 3 hours until about doubled in size. Give the dough a single fold, cover again and leave to relax for 10 minutes.
4. Divide the dough into 10-12 equal-size pieces and shape them into balls. Alternatively, roll the dough out to about 1.5cm/⅝in thick and cut into circles with a pastry/cookie cutter. Lightly grease two baking sheets with lard, place the dough pieces on them about 5cm/2in apart, cover and leave to prove for 1 hour.
5. Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas 7. Brush the top of each tuff with milk, then bake for about 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
Emma Parkin was born and bred in Exeter, Devon. Before founding Emma’s Bread in 2005, her jobs included graphic designer (in the days before computers) and Soil Association press officer. Her bakery is at the heart of the Real Food Store, Exeter city-centre’s community-owned local food shop. The bakery is clearly visible to customers, helping them understand the process, involvement of people and value of this daily essential.
Hot Cross Buns DUNCAN GLENDINNING
Spiced, fruited, enriched buns have a long history: as Elizabeth David noted, in 1592 the London Clerk of Markets restricted their sale to funerals, Christmas and Good Friday. The first reference to “hot cross buns” may be from as recently as 1733; today, industrial manufacturers in Britain mass produce what they call hot cross buns all year round. Duncan suggests serving them “toasted and smothered with butter, or simply enjoyed with a cup of tea”.
MAKES: 10 buns
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: 4-5 hours, or overnight plus 1-2 hours
BAKING TIME: 15-20 minutes
FOR THE DOUGH:
500g/1lb 2oz/3½ cups white bread flour
50g/1¾oz/¼ cup caster/superfine sugar
5g/1 tsp fine/table salt
2-3g/½-¾ tsp ground mixed spice/ pumpkin pie spice
75g/2½oz/5 tbsp butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
10g/2 tsp fresh yeast
90g/3¼oz/6 tbsp water
150g/5½oz/scant ⅔ cup milk
1 egg
175g/6oz/¾ cup fruit mincemeat or a mixture of dried fruits
FOR THE PASTE:
100g/3½oz/¾cup plain/all-purpose flour
30g/1oz/2 tbsp caster/superfine sugar
80g/2¾oz/⅓ cup milk
1 egg, beaten, for glazing
1. Mix the flour, sugar, salt and spice together in a bowl and rub the softened butter in with your fingertips.
2. Crumble the yeast into the water, mix until dissolved and pour this yeasty water along with the milk and egg into the flour. Mix together thoroughly, then knead to make a soft, supple dough. Don’t panic if it feels a little wetter and stickier than you’re used to, just stay with it and keep kneading until you get there.
3. Gently work the mincemeat or dried fruit into the dough until distributed evenly without breaking the fruit up too much, which would leave dirty-looking streaks in the buns. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 3 hours, or in the refrigerator overnight.
4. Grease a baking sheet with butter. Cut the dough into 10 equal-size pieces, shape into balls and place on the baking sheet, about 5cm/2in apart so they can rise and grow without touching. Cover and leave to rise for 1-1½ hours, or until doubled in size.
5. Heat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/375°F/gas 5. Mix together the paste ingredients and put into a piping/pastry bag. Brush the top of each bun with beaten egg and pipe a cross onto it. Bake the buns for 15-20 minutes until rich gold in colour.
Duncan Glendinning founded The Thoughtful Bread Company in 2008 and set up the bakery in a converted farm outbuilding the following year. The bakery and baking school later moved to the heart of Bath, where using ingredients they’ve grown themselves, foraged or bartered for with customers is not unknown. Duncan is one of the Real Bread Campaign’s official ambassadors.
Baker’s Tip: To add a wonderful shine and finger-licking stickiness, add a second glaze of icing/confectioners’ sugar mixed with a dribble of water while the buns are still warm.
Earl Grey Tea Loaf DAVID JONES
David says, “This loaf has always been a winner and gets great feedback. If I don’t make it our Bread of the Month two or three times a year, I start to get complaints.” He adds that “if the end of a loaf is around long enough to go stale, try it lightly fried in a little butter and served with fruit compote and yogurt for breakfast. Knockout!” Make sure that the Earl Grey you use to brew the tea for this recipe is a classic blend, with natural bergamot flavouring.
MAKES: 1 loaf
FROM MIXING TO OVEN: overnight plus 5 hours
BAKING TIME: 25-30 minutes
FOR THE SOAKER:
125g/4½oz/½ cup Earl Grey tea, freshly brewed, hot, black and strong
50g/1¾oz/⅓ cup raisins
50g/1¾oz/¼ cup sultanas/golden raisins
FOR THE DOUGH:
350g/12oz/2½ cups white bread flour
5g/1 tsp fresh yeast
6g/1 tsp fine/table salt
1 medium egg
zest of 1 unwaxed organic lemon
50g/1¾oz/3½ tbsp butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
100g/3½oz/½ cup minus 1 tbsp milk
75g/2½oz/5 tbsp water
2-3g/½-¾ tsp ground mixed spice/ pumpkin pie spice
1 egg, beaten, for glazing
juice of ½ a lemon
8g/1½ tsp caster/superfine sugar
1. Pour the freshly brewed Earl Grey tea over the dried fruit in a bowl, cover and leave to soak overnight.
2. Next day, mix the dough ingredients together thoroughly, then turn the dough out onto the work surface and knead for 10-15 minutes until smooth and stretchy. The dough will be very sticky at first but should be just about dry to the touch by the time you finish kneading. Resist the temptation to add any more flour.
3. Drain the fruit, discarding the excess liquid, and add to the dough. Continue to knead until the fruit is well distributed but avoid breaking it up too much. Cover the dough and leave to rise at room temperature for 3 hours.
4. Give the dough a single fold, cover and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, grease a 1kg/2lb loaf tin with butter, then shape the dough to fit and place in the tin. Cover and leave at room temperature for about 1 hour.
5. Heat the oven to 210°C/190°C fan/415°F/gas 6-7. Brush the top of the dough with beaten egg. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 190°C/170°C fan/375°F/gas 5 and continue to bake for a further 10-15 minutes. The bread is cooked when a skewer inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean and dry. Turn the loaf out of the tin and leave to cool on a wire cooling rack.
6. Warm the lemon juice and caster/superfine sugar in a saucepan until dissolved and brush this over the warm loaf.
Baker’s Tip: As an alternative to Earl Grey tea, you could try redbush (rooibos) or orange pekoe, each of which brings its own character.
David Jones and his wife Holly set up Manna from Devon Cooking School in 2006, running classes including baking Real Bread in a wood-fired oven. He also bakes for various food festivals and a monthly local bread delivery around the village.
