Flour, water, salt and yeast; four simple ingredients that combine to make real bread. It has sustained civilisations around the world for millennia, and yet it took just over 50 years to transform from the humble, home-cooked loaf of yore to the mass‑produced, permanently soft, supermarket staple of today.
Preservatives, dough conditioners and artificial additives – some of which are not legally required to be included on the ingredients label if they can be classified by the manufacturer as processing aids – are common additions to the commercial loaf. If, like me, you would rather avoid these artificial additives, then you have two choices; buy your bread from a good baker, or save yourself a small fortune and bake your own.
For those of you fearful of gluten, because all your friends say you should be, bear in mind that only one in 100 people suffer from this lifelong autoimmune disease, according to Coeliac UK, so, unless you’ve been diagnosed as coeliac, the chances are you have been denying yourself one of life’s greatest and simplest pleasures for no good reason.
If you are new to bread baking and don’t want to take on anything too time-consuming, these three yeasted breads are a good place to start: a multigrain rye-style loaf, a spelt and poppy seed pitta, and, for the real coeliacs out there, a gluten-free sandwich loaf.
Black multigrain seed bread
This is a dense, rich and hearty loaf, similar to rye bread, but with a lot more going on. It’s packed full of grains and seeds. It is also very moist, so you don’t feel like you’re trying to force down a slice of cardboard for breakfast. It is delicious fresh or toasted with butter or avocado and cured meats. And I particularly love to slather it with coconut oil, tahini and jam – this may sound like an odd combination, but I urge you to try it.
Makes 1 loaf
100g rye grains
100g spelt or wheat grains
50g sunflower seeds
50g pumpkin seeds
50g linseeds
10g salt
280ml warm water
250g white spelt flour (or 125g each of wholegrain spelt and white spelt flours)
100g rye flour
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp extra virgin olive
Oil, or melted extra virgin coconut oil
150ml warm water
50g yoghurt (Greek, soy or coconut)
1 tsp fast-action yeast
2 tsp black and white sesame seeds
1 Lightly grease a 23cm x 13cm loaf tin and line with baking parchment. Make sure your loaf tin is at least this big, otherwise the dough may spill out while proving.
2 Put a saucepan of water on to boil. Add the rye and spelt or wheat grains, return to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30–40 minutes, until the grains are just cooked through, but are still chewy with a bit of a bite to them. Drain the water completely, then put the hot, dry grains in a large bowl together with all the seeds and salt. Cover with 280ml warm water and set aside for about 1 hour, or until the mixture is gelatinous.
3 Add the rest of the ingredients, apart from the sesame seeds, and thoroughly combine, mixing for a few minutes by hand (or you could use a stand mixer if you prefer). Transfer the mixture to the loaf tin and press it into the corners with a wet spoon, flattening the top. Scatter the sesame seeds over the top, then cover with clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm spot in your kitchen for around 1½–2 hours, or until the dough has noticeably risen above the edges of the loaf tin.
4 About 30 minutes before the dough has fully risen, preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5.
5 Discard the clingfilm and bake the dough for 1 hour. Remove from the tin, return to the oven and bake for a further 10–15 minutes to achieve a firm crust. Remove and leave to cool completely before slicing.
Spelt and poppy seed pitta
Perfect for lunchbox sandwiches and Middle Eastern mezze-style sharing platters. Making pitta bread is surprisingly straightforward. These are most delicious fresh from the oven, so the best thing to do is make the dough whenever you have time, then cover and refrigerate for up to a week. It bakes quickly. Alternatively, you can bake them all in advance and freeze them, then all you have to do is pop them in the toaster at the last moment.
Makes 10
1½ tsp fast action dried yeast
190ml warm water (not hot or boiling)
1 tsp honey or maple syrup
300g white spelt flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1½ tsp fine sea salt
1 In a large bowl, mix together the yeast, warm water and honey or maple syrup. Leave to one side for 10–15 minutes, or until frothy.
2 Add the flour, poppy seeds, olive oil and salt. Combine to form a rough dough. Knead for 8–10 minutes by hand, or until smooth and elastic. If you are using a stand mixer it will takes about half as long. Put the dough in a bowl, cover and leave to rise in a warm spot for 1½–2 hours, or until doubled in size. The dough can now be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 week, ready to make fresh pitta whenever you want.
3 When you are ready to cook, set the oven to its highest temperature, ideally 240C/475F/gas mark 9. Put a heavy-based baking tray or a pizza stone into the oven to preheat as well. Bear in mind that it is crucial to fully preheat the oven and baking tray/stone at the highest temperature, otherwise the pittas may not puff up properly.
4 Turn out the dough on to a lightly floured surface and divide it into 10 equal pieces. Roll each into a ball, dust a rolling pin with flour and roll each ball into a thin, 14–16cm wide round. Dust with a little flour as you go to ensure the pittas don’t stick.
5 To bake, put as many pittas as you can on to the baking tray or pizza stone and cook for 2–4 minutes until they have puffed up completely. Remove and cover with a clean tea towel while you cook the remaining dough. To freeze the pittas, leave them to cool completely, transfer them to a resealable freezer bag with a layer of baking parchment in between each one, and freeze until needed.
Gluten-free sandwich loaf
It is tremendously difficult to create a gluten-free bread that can compare to a sourdough. However, if you are looking for a good loaf for toasting and sandwiches, this is a really enjoyable alternative. Xanthan gum helps mimic the properties of gluten, binding the bread together and resulting in a moist and springy loaf to be proud of. The technique is completely different – the absence of gluten means that kneading is not needed. The consistency of the dough will seem very wet, but stick with it and you will be rewarded with a light loaf perfect for making sandwiches and toast.
Makes 1 loaf
365ml warm water
1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
14g active dried yeast
375g gluten-free flour mix
1½ tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1½ tsp fine sea salt
1½ tsp lemon juice
4 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs
1 Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6, and grease and line the base of a 21cm x 10cm loaf tin.
2 In a bowl, combine the warm water, honey or maple syrup and dried yeast. Leave to one side until frothy.
3 Sieve the gluten-free flour mix, xanthan gum, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl. Stir to combine.
4 Once the water and yeast mixture has frothed up a little, add the lemon juice, olive oil and eggs and whisk well. Pour all but 2 tbsp of this mixture into the flour and mix thoroughly until smooth. Sometimes the flour will hold moisture from the air and will therefore need a little less liquid than the recipe makes. So add the remaining 2 tbsp of liquid a little at a time until the mixture is wet and sticky, but not overly sloppy – it should hold its shape a little.
4 Using a spatula, scrape the mixture into the loaf tin and smooth out the surface with the back of a spoon dipped in water; don’t worry if it appears very wet. Set aside for 15 minutes in a warm spot.
5 Bake for 50 minutes, or until golden brown with a firm crust. Remove from the tin and cook on its side for a further 10 minutes. To test if it is cooked through, tap the base gently; it should sound hollow. If the bread looks like it is going to burn on the outside, cover it with foil and continue to bake until it is done.
6 Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely on a wire rack. Don’t attempt to slice the bread while it’s still warm, as is it will crumble.
