Tag Archives: baking

Guest post from Jen at Blue Kitchen Bakes.

Many people seem absolutely terrified of the thought of baking their own bread, “I couldn’t possibly do that, it’s far too complicated”, or “But bread makers are so expensive so what’s the point?”

Two years ago, I felt the same way. The idea of baking my own bread came about during a chat with a friend who said his housemate had started baking his own bread and it cost about 20p a loaf. I was intrigued by this idea, especially as money was a little tight at the time (the joys of being an eternal student).

Shortly after this bread conversation I found book all about bread for only £5 in my local WH Smith’s. After a quick perusal in the shop I bought it and resolved to make a basic loaf, by hand. After having watched some bread being made during the first season of The Great British Bake Off I realised that I had two functional hands, so I might as well use them.

Bread, glorious bread

My first attempt was a cottage loaf. The dough rose nicely and I thought I had made it into the right shape. Sadly, after the second rise it had spread and looked messy and rather flat but I baked it anyway. The resulting loaf was OK, slightly under baked, but I just ate round those bits.

My second attempt was a loaf in a loaf tin. This turned out much better, so I progressed into making bread rolls. I was still using the same basic recipe for white bread and after a couple of weeks I started adding in wholemeal flour and suddenly I was completely converted to homemade bread.

My favourite standby bread recipe uses equal amounts of white and wholemeal flour. More recently I’ve been enjoying baking breads with different flavours using vegetables, herbs, spices and dried fruit, although not all together! I now bake bread twice a week — a sweet loaf with dried fruit for breakfast and a plain or savoury loaf flavoured with herbs or spices for lunches. I usually try and bake both on the same day so I only have to have the oven once — economising on fuel is always a good thing!

Nothing like kneading a good bread dough

A few tips based on things I’ve learned over the past couple of years of baking bread:

• The amount of water in a recipe should be used as a guideline. If the dough looks dry add more water a splash at a time until the dough feels pliable but not excessively sticky. Different flours absorb different amounts of water — wholemeal is particularly thirsty, and flour can even vary between packets from the same brand.
• Treat proving times as a guideline, as these will depend on the temperature of your kitchen and if there are any extra ingredients in the dough. Enriched doughs i.e. those containing milk, butter and eggs always take longer to rise. My first ever batch of hot cross buns this year took 3 hours! The type of water you have can also make a difference. I recently found out after moving from a soft water region to a hard water region that dough takes longer to rise if hard water is used. Always allow the dough to double in bulk before the next stage otherwise you’ll end up with something horrible that you don’t want to eat.
• If you really want homemade bread but are short on time, make soda bread. There’s no kneading or yeast involved and it can be baked, sliced and on your plate within 45 minutes.
• Remember that yeast is a living organism so give it the love and respect it needs. If your yeast needs to be reactivated (some dry types do) make sure you follow the instructions carefully or it just won’t work. Don’t kill your yeast by using boiling water — water should be at body temperature so when you stick your finger in the jug it shouldn’t feel hot or cold.
• Above all, baking bread should be fun and not a chore. Kneading dough is an excellent way to work out some frustration if someone’s annoyed you — just imagine it’s their face you’re mushing up as you knead and you’ll get a good upper body work out at the same time!

Love, Jen

Jen blogs at Blue Kitchen Bakes, where she shares a whole host of utterly delicious recipes — including bread recipes if you’re now feeling inspired! She also tweets funny, lovely and delicious things at @BlueKitchenBake.