There is a gale outside. Rain is slapping the roof and whistling wind is seeping through my leaky, single-paned Victorian sills.
Apparently, Hurricane Igor is bearing down on Bermuda.
Yet, down in the kitchen, a preheating oven is helping a 7g packet of yeast work magic. That flour, water, sugar, fat, and yeast can create something so basic yet so intricate in structure is, to my mind, rather miraculous.
Baking bread was not a culinary exploit I entered into lightly...or wantonly, for that matter. I found a defeatist attitude was safest. That, combined with some research.
My quest for fool-proof, fail-proof tips brought me to Felicity Cloake's June article in The Guardian. The perennial questions are entertained--to knead or not? If so, how long? How long a proof? What about slamming, pummeling, and all other motions that get the anger out in the name of a light, billowy loaf?
I studiously followed Cloake's tips, spending as much on a small jar of vitamin C tablets as on the entirety of the other necessary ingredients. I crushed the requisite half-tablet with a mortar and pestle, fearing that my curry pastes were to be forever tainted by undertones of orange concentrate. Thankfully, no taste of Tango has come through--not in the curries, nor in the bread.
Apparently, Hurricane Igor is bearing down on Bermuda.
Yet, down in the kitchen, a preheating oven is helping a 7g packet of yeast work magic. That flour, water, sugar, fat, and yeast can create something so basic yet so intricate in structure is, to my mind, rather miraculous.
Baking bread was not a culinary exploit I entered into lightly...or wantonly, for that matter. I found a defeatist attitude was safest. That, combined with some research.
My quest for fool-proof, fail-proof tips brought me to Felicity Cloake's June article in The Guardian. The perennial questions are entertained--to knead or not? If so, how long? How long a proof? What about slamming, pummeling, and all other motions that get the anger out in the name of a light, billowy loaf?
I studiously followed Cloake's tips, spending as much on a small jar of vitamin C tablets as on the entirety of the other necessary ingredients. I crushed the requisite half-tablet with a mortar and pestle, fearing that my curry pastes were to be forever tainted by undertones of orange concentrate. Thankfully, no taste of Tango has come through--not in the curries, nor in the bread.
Repeat trials have yielded consistent, infinitely pleasing loaves of bread. There was a giddy sense of anticlimax that came over me as I stood in front of my first loaf of homemade bread, which was perfectly articulated by my housemate: 'Wow! Did you make that yourself? It looks just like you got it from Marks & Spencer!'
Therefore, with an ounce of new-found confidence and wholemeal at my back, I now come to white bread. For this recipe I used 650g of organic white bread flour and 50g of organic wholemeal, combined with a 7g sachet of yeast, 1 tsp salt, 2 Tbs olive oil, and 1 Tbs honey. 30 minutes at 210 C et voila.
Therefore, with an ounce of new-found confidence and wholemeal at my back, I now come to white bread. For this recipe I used 650g of organic white bread flour and 50g of organic wholemeal, combined with a 7g sachet of yeast, 1 tsp salt, 2 Tbs olive oil, and 1 Tbs honey. 30 minutes at 210 C et voila.
The result was an even crumb, springy texture, nice hollow sound, and a balanced sweetness--decidedly and deliciously un-M&S-like.
Cloake's article opens with a quote from Margaret Costa: 'Beware of making that first loaf'...
Cloake's article opens with a quote from Margaret Costa: 'Beware of making that first loaf'...
So true.
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