Getting started

The recipes here take you from starting off using a bread machine and then on through recipes where the dough is kneaded by hand or with a stand mixer. For many of the recipes, the bread machine can still be used just for mixing the dough. So for each recipe there is a choice of how to make the dough depending of your experience and preference. In the very few recipes for which there is a specific method then this is made clear in the recipe.

The recipes include English, French, Italian bread and beyond and also using a variety of cooking methods, especially for the flat breads.

Your first basic ingredients

Your first shopping list to bake bread would include

  • Strong White Flour (Bread Flour)
  • Active Dried yeast (sachets)
  • Fine Sea salt

After your first loaf you may want to add

  • Strong wholemeal flour
  • Olive Oil

Making Dough

By hand

  1. Weigh the flour into the bowl
  2. Put the yeast on one side. Put salt, sugar separately on the opposite side. Add oil in the centre
  3. Add the liquid all at once, mixing all together with one hand whilst turning the bowl around with the other. Combine the flour thoroughly and once you have a ball of dough, transfer the dough to the work surface and continue kneading for about 10 minutes.
  4. More details on the specifics of the kneading process in video very soon

Stand Mixer

  1. Fit the dough hook
  2. Weigh the flour into the bowl
  3. Put the yeast on one side. Put salt, sugar seperately on the opposite side. Add oil in the centre
  4. Add the liquid all at once.
  5. Switch on the mixer on a slow speed
  6. After 1 minute, turn up to a medium speed.

Bread Machine

You can make the dough in a bread machine without baking it. Shaping by hand and transfer to the oven.

  1. Put the kneading arm in place in the bread pan.
  2. Always use warm water. It should be lukewarm not hot.
  3. Add the other wet ingredients such as oil, lemon, milk, yoghut etc
  4. Using a serving spoon, sprinkle the flour over the water in the bread pan. Start gently and you will see the flour sitting on top of the water. As you continue you will see that you have a definite layer of flour sitting on top the water.
  5. Using the spoon make a slight dip in the flour in the centre and a small dip in the flour at 2 opposite corners.
  6. Put the yeast in the centre, put the salt in one corner and the sugar in the opposite corner
  7. Use the Dough setting

Yeast

Fast Action Dried Yeast

This is the easiest to use and in UK and France is the most commonly available. You can use it in assembling the ingredients for your dough with out any additional preparation to activate it. In UK packets are 7g and in France 5g. It produces a faster rising dough than natural yeast and is ideal for bread machines but can just as easily be used with your stand mixer or making bread by hand.

Instant Yeast

Although the name Instant Yeast would suggest that it is “instant”, this does have to prepared by activating the yeast first. I always use a small amount of sugar but that is not essential. Pour 50ml of lukewarm water in a small bowl, Stir in a level teaspoon of unrefined sugar and stir to dissolve. Add 7g of Instant yeast and gently stir. Leave for several minutes and you will see the active yeast appearing on the surface of the water.

Deduct the water and sugar used when measuring out the quantities for the remainder of ingredients in your recipe

Fresh Yeast

Fresh Yeast is available in blocks from fridge section of the grocer/supermarket. It is not sold by many stores. In France, you can ask for it at the boulangerie.

Use double the weight of Fresh Yeast for the amount specified in the recipe so typically in these recipes it would be 14g of fresh yeast instead of 7g dried yeast. As with Instant Yeast, I always use a small amount of sugar. Pour 75ml of lukewarm water in a small bowl, Stir in a level teaspoon of unrefined sugar and stir to dissolve. Add the yeast and gently stir. Leave for several minutes and you will see the activated yeast appearing on the surface of the water.

 

 
 

Sourdough Starter

Sourdough is naturally made yeast. It can be made using various types of flour. I keep 2 batches of sourdough: one with wholemeal rye flour the other with strong white flour.  The recipes here use both rye sourdough starter and white flour sourdough starter.

Sourdough bread is traditionally made by hand with no kneading required and there are also methods using a stand mixer. There are also recipes here that use up the discarded sourdough starter.

Making Sourdough
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