Category: Bread
Pita Bread

Pita Bread

By | | Comments 0 Comment

Pita bread is one of those incredible foods that is so versatile and will just work with everything. Whilst now I prefer my pita dipped in hummus, back in primary school I used to stuff them with Mini Cheddars to make an improvised crisp/cheese sandwich. My culinary experiments have moved on a lot since then, but I still have a fondness for these bread pockets and they pair super well with the other meze dishes in this banquet!

Recipe

Makes 4 Pitas

Time: 20 minutes, plus proving and baking time

Ingredients

  • 250g Strong white bread flour
  • 7g Instant yeast
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 160ml Water
  • 2 tsp Olive oil

Method

  1. Put the flour, yeast and salt into a bowl and stir to combine. Be careful not to put the salt directly on top of the yeast as this will kill it and prevent your dough from rising. Add the oil and then slowly add the water, mixing as you do, to get a smooth dough.
  2. Turn the dough out onto a worktop and knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth and stretchy. Place this dough into a clean bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to rise until doubled in size (about an hour).
  3. Pre-heat the oven to 200˚C and pop a baking tray in the oven to warm up.
  4. When the dough is ready turn it out onto your surface and knead for 20 seconds to knock out the air bubbles.
  5. Split the dough into 6 and roll each portion into a ball. Then lightly flour a surface and roll each ball out into a 5cm long oval.
  6. Take the tray out of the oven and lightly dust with flour. Put each pitta onto it and then bake for 5-10 minutes until they start to brown slightly.
  7. Serve with lots of hummus!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Cheesy Garlic Focaccia

Cheesy Garlic Focaccia

By | | Comments 0 Comment

I’ve always had this unhealthy obsession with garlic bread. When I was at Primary School, every year they’d have this hot-rods competition where you’d be given a block of wood and four wheels and you’d have to make them into something that could be raced down a ramp. One year I basically baked and varnished a loaf of garlic bread and stuck it on top of the wood. It was very weird, but hey, I did win the originality prize that year!

With my bread racing days behind me, now I just eat my garlic bread, and this is one of the best! Focaccia is a very soft Italian bread which is a perfect base for garlic bread as it’s soft and easy to share. The dough requires a lot of water to get this soft, open structure to it, so it can be petty hard to work with. Rather than kneading the dough on a work top I’ve found that kneading it in a bowl makes everything a lot easier, and also means that you don’t waste as much dough from it being suck on the table!

In most garlic breads the garlic isn’t actually in the bread, but is rather a garlic butter that’s sandwiched in between slices of the bread, or is spread on the top. In this one I’ve put a little garlic into the dough itself, but to give it more of a garlic hit I’ve also spread it with garlic butter when it’s warm out of the oven! You also don’t have to use cheese if you don’t want it, it’s completely personal preference, but I find that it gives the whole thing a delicious tang on the top!

Recipe

Makes 1 loaf

Time: 1 hour, plus proving time

Ingredients

  • 500g Strong white bread flour
  • 10g Salt
  • 14g Yeast
  • 2tbsp Olive oil
  • 1 tbsp Garlic paste
  • 400ml Warm (but not hot!) water
  • 1 Large egg, beaten
  • 50g Strong cheddar cheese, grated
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 50g Unsalted butter

Method

  1. Put the flour into a bowl. Then add the salt and yeast on opposite sides of the bowl, followed by the oil, garlic paste and the water. Mix everything together with your fingers until a dough starts to form. Then knead/stretch the dough in the bowl for 10 minutes until smooth and stretchy.
  2. Tip the dough into another, lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to rise for about an hour until doubled in size.
  3. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Punch the risen dough down in the bowl to knock it back. Then pour/tip the dough onto the lined tin and shape it into a rough rectangle. Oil a piece of cling film and then cover the loaf, oil side down, and leave to rise for another hour.
  4. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Use your fingers to punch holes into the loaf and then brush the bread with the beaten egg. Bake the loaf in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until a soft crust has formed.
  5. Take the bread out of the oven and then sprinkle with the grated cheese. Then pop the loaf back into the oven to bake for 5-10 minutes, until golden brown and baked through.
  6. To make the garlic butter crush or finely chop the garlic. Then add it to the butter and mix until the butter is soft and the garlic is mixed through.
  7. Whilst the bread is still warm, slice the loaf into strips and brush each strip on both sides with the butter. Enjoy!

 

Why not try…

If you love cheese, and really love cheesy garlic bread, you can take this to the next level by adding mozzarella. About 5 minutes before the bread’s done, when you put on the cheddar in step 5, slice the bread into strips almost all the way through, but leave a little space at the end so it’s still all joined together. Then slice the bread the other way so you get criss-cross squares of bread. Take a ball of mozzarella and tear it up, and then push the cheese into the gaps between the bread slices. Top with the cheddar and put back in the oven until melted!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Monkey Bread

Monkey Bread

By | | Comments 0 Comment

I think that bread is one of those things people rarely bake at home for two main reasons. 1) It takes ages to make and 2) the end result is often really disappointing, and so on the whole it normally would have been a lot quicker to just buy a loaf from the local shop. This bread will take a bit of time, as with most other breads it does need to prove and (obviously) bake. However, in my opinion this one’s way more fun to make than other breads as the dough is really nice to work with, it’s assembled as little tear-and-share style balls, and it’s all lathered in cinnamon and butter so it tastes insane!

The identifiable feature of monkey bread is the mosaic-like pattern of the finished loaf, made by rolling the dough into balls which are individually dipped in butter and then cinnamon sugar to make each piece of bread sumptuous and sticky. Then the whole thing is scattered with pecans to give a delicious crunchy nuttiness to the whole thing. The shaping also makes it a great loaf for sharing as you can pull bits off without the need for a knife! This is traditionally made in a Bundt tin (one with a hole in the middle – not sure why but meh), but as I didn’t have one I just popped them all into a 9 inch cake tin which seemed to do the job just as well.

Recipe

Serves 8-10

Time: 1 hour, plus proving and baking time

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 220ml Milk
  • 90g Unsalted butter
  • 550g Strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 10g Fast-action dried yeast
  • 5g Salt
  • 50g Caster sugar
  • 2 Large Eggs

To decorate

  • 125g Unsalted butter
  • 1 tbsp Ground cinnamon
  • 2 tsp Ground ginger
  • 230g Light brown sugar
  • 160g Pecans, chopped roughly
  • 1 Large egg, beaten

For the icing

  • 1 tbsp Milk
  • 100g Icing sugar

Method

  1. To start making the dough put the milk and butter into a saucepan and leave to simmer on a medium heat until the butter has melted.
  2. Next put the dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix together. Add the egg and the milk mix and stir to make a sticky dough.
  3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
  4. Tip the dough into a clean bowl and cover with clingfilm. Leave to rise in a warm space for 90 minutes, until doubled in size.
  5. Next melt the butter for the topping in a small pan and set to one side.
  6. In another bowl mix the spices, sugar and a little salt. Then add the chopped pecans and mix together.
  7. Take a Bundt or 9 inch cake tin and brush the inside with a little of the melted butter to grease. Then spoon a little of the pecan mix into the base of the tin.
  8. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-10 seconds to knock out the air. Then split and roll the dough into 50 small balls. Dip one of the balls in the butter and then roll in the spiced sugar. Chuck it into the tin and then repeat with the other dough balls until the base of the tin is filled. Scatter with the rest of the pecans and then continue with the rest of the dough. If you have any butter or sugar left over at the end pour it over the loaf.
  9. Cover the whole thing with cling film again and leave to rise at room temperature for 1 hour.
  10. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Take the beaten egg and brush it over the top of the loaf to glaze. Then bake the loaf in the oven for 35-40 minutes until risen and golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin.
  11. To make the icing put the icing sugar and milk into a small bowl and mix together to make a smooth paste.
  12. Turn the monkey bread out of the tin and drizzle with the icing. Serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Chocolate, Orange, and Chilli Bread

Chocolate, Orange, and Chilli Bread

By | | Comments 0 Comment

 I haven’t made bread in waaay too long so I thought that it was time I entered back into that world again – and since it’s chocolate month, it’s chocolate bread! Though rather than a ‘chocolate, orange and chilli bread’,  as I’ve called it, it’s probably better to think of this as an orange bread with chocolate chips and a gentle wave of chilli heat after it’s eaten. I love a bit of heat in the background of any bake, but I’m not a fan of blow-your-head-off heat, so the amount of paprika in this is just enough to prickle the tongue. But of course if you like your food really hot you can increase the quantity of paprika going in, put in 3 tsp for a moderate warmth, and 4 1/2 tsp for a strong heat!

By using really rich, dark chocolate it also means that the loaf, whilst sweet and enriched, feels as though it borders the line between sweet and savoury. This makes the whole thing really moreish, and with a bit of butter it goes down really well with a good cup of coffee.

Recipe

Makes 1

Time: 45 minutes, plus proving and baking time

Ingredients

  • 350ml Milk
  • 80g Sugar
  • 16g Yeast
  • 12g Salt
  • 700g Strong white bread flour
  • 1 ½ tsp Paprika
  • 2 Large eggs
  • 100g Butter
  • 3 Oranges, zest only
  • 200g Dark chocolate, chopped

Method

  1. Put the milk into a saucepan and bring to the boil.
  2. Meanwhile put the sugar, yeast, salt, flour, and paprika into a large bowl and mix together.
  3. Add one of the eggs, butter, zest and ¾ of milk to the dry ingredients. Mix everything together and then slowly add the rest of the milk until you get a sticky dough.
  4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add the chopped chocolate knead for another few minutes to incorporate it.
  5. Lightly oil a bowl and tip the dough into it. Cover with clingfilm and leave to rise for about 2 hours, until doubled in size.
  6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for a few seconds to get rid of the air bubbles. Then tuck the dough under itself to make a loaf-shape with a tight surface. Place onto a lined baking tray, cover loosely with clingfilm and leave to rise for another hour.
  7. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Take a sharp knife and score the top of the loaf with three confident slices. This will help shape the bread as it rises.
  8. Take the other egg, crack it into a bowl and beat it with a fork. Then take this beaten egg and brush the top of the loaf with it to glaze. Then put the bread into the oven to bake for about 40 minutes, until it sounds hollow when lightly tapped on the bottom. Serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Easter Simnel Bread

Easter Simnel Bread

By | | Comments 0 Comment

Simnel cake is to Easter what Christmas cake is to Christmas. Love it or hate it, it’s the embodiment of Easter in a bake. However, I have to admit I’ve never been much of a fan of fruit cake, and so I’ve decided to morph the flavours of simnel into a bread. It has all the classic almonds, spices and fruit found in a simnel cake, but it’s also light, soft and beautifully flavoured with a womph of rum. Easter in my family is a very social occasion and we tend to get the whole family together and have a nice meal. This bread is perfect for an event like this as the twirled fingers which make up the loaf can be torn off tear-and-share style, making it perfect for social occasions!

It may seem weird that there’s balls of marzipan on top of the loaf, but here’s a little simnel fact to get you in the Easter spirit. Traditionally simnel cake is topped with 11 balls of caramelised marzipan to represent the 12 disciples, minus Judas. I’ve honoured this tradition here, topping the loaf with marzipan to make it truly simnel and to give it a bit of a wow factor.

Recipe

Makes 1 loaf (serves about 13)

Time: 2 hours

Ingredients

  • 200g Raisins
  • Zest 1 Lemon
  • Zest 1 Orange
  • 2 tbsp Rum
  • 1 tbsp Orange juice
  • 520g Strong white bread flour
  • 12g Salt
  • 30g Caster sugar
  • 2 tsp Mixed spice
  • 3 tsp Ground cinnamon
  • 10g Fast-action dried yeast
  • 40g Butter
  • 50ml Milk
  • 2 Large eggs, beaten
  • 200g Marzipan

To Decorate:

  • 1 Egg, beaten
  • Apricot jam to glaze
  • 100g Icing sugar
  • 30g Flaked almonds

Method

  1. Put the raisins, lemon zest, orange zest, rum, and orange juice into a bowl. Mix together and then cover with clingfilm or a tea towel and leave to soak for at least an hour, or even better overnight.
  2. The next day start by putting the flour, salt, sugar, mixed spice and yeast into a bowl. Make sure the yeast and salt don’t come into direct contact as the salt will kill the yeast. Mix everything together with a wooden spoon.
  3. Next add the butter, milk, eggs and 135ml of water and mix together to form a soft dough.
  4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled or floured worktop and knead for about 10 minutes until the mixture is smooth and elastic.
  5. Form the dough into a ball and then tip into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with clingfilm and leave at room temperature to rise for about an hour, until doubled in size.
  6. When ready knock back the dough by kneading it for about 20 seconds on a lightly floured worktop. Then split the dough in half, wrap one of the halves in clingfilm and set it to one side.
  7. Take the other half and re-form it into a ball. Roll it out into a circle with a diameter of about 30cm – using a plate or large, round object as a guide can help with this. The dough will spring back and resist being stretched so just persevere until it stays in the shape you need it. Transfer this sheet of dough to a lined baking tray.
  8. Lightly dust your work top with icing sugar and roll out 50g of the marzipan to a circle with a diameter about 28cm, or generally a couple of cm less than your first bread circle. Place this marzipan disc on top of the disc of dough.
  9. Sprinkle over the raisins which have been soaking in the rum and zests to make an even layer.
  10. Roll out the second lump of dough into another circle with a diameter about 31cm wide. Brush the edge of the first circle with water and then lay the second dough circle on top of the first.
  11. Tuck the dough underneath itself around the edge to seal the two discs and make it into a neat circle. Next take a pair of kitchen scissors and cut 12, 10cm deep incisions into the circle to make a sun shape. Then take each strip and twist it twice clockwise to get a flower effect. Cover loosely with clingfilm and leave to rise for about an hour.
  12. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Brush the loaf with the beaten egg to glaze and then put in the oven to bake for about 45 minutes until risen and golden brown. If it starts to burn cover it with tin foil to stop it browning too much.
  13. Put the apricot jam into a pan and heat gently to loosen it up. When the loaf is brought out of the oven brush with the warmed apricot jam to glaze.
  14. Roll the rest of the marzipan into 11 smooth balls, and then lightly brush with a blowtorch (or put under the grill) to caramelise. When the loaf is cool place balls in a circle on the top. Mix the icing sugar with 2 tbsp of water to make a just-pourable water icing. Drizzle this icing over the loaf, then sprinkle with flaked almonds and serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x