Happy Easter, everyone! How was your Easter? Mine was pretty fun, although I didn't really take part in many Easter activities such as painting eggs, eating chocolate bunnies or whatsoever. Instead, I made bread, again.:)
As I mentioned before, I have had a sudden interest in baking bread. I mean, the colourful world of sugary sweet treats is fun and all, but bread-making isn't all that boring either. In fact, it is pretty diverse. There are so many different breads to make, from all sorts of cultures and cuisines. There's Italian breads like ciabatta, French brioches, Jewish flatbread and the list could go on and on.
This wholemeal bread has a similar taste to the amish bread I made a while back. But I'd prefer this recipe. It is more balanced in terms of the nutty flavour the wholemeal brings to it. I don't think I'm gonna be buying wholemeal bread from the stores already.
50/50 recipe, adapted from Simply Good Bread by Peter Sidwell
Ingredients:
250g plain wholemeal flour
250g strong white bread flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp fast action/easy-blend yeast (instant yeast)
1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
350ml water
25g butter/ 25ml oil ( I used olive oil)
Method:
1. Weigh out the wholemeal flour. Sift in bread flour.
2. Add in salt, followed by yeast and sugar.
3. Add in water and oil/butter.
4. Mix together with your hands it forms a smooth dough. When it comes away from the dough and onto your hand easily, transfer it to a lightly floured work surface.
5. Continue to knead until smooth.
6. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a clean, damp cloth and leave to prove in a warm place for 30-40 minutes.
7. Return dough to the work surface and shape your desired loaf.
8. Place the bread in a baking tray or non-stick loaf tin and leave it somewhere to prove and double in size again.
9.Preheat the oven to 200C and bake the bread for 30 minutes or until it has turned golden on top.
