Plaited Wholemeal Bread

February 10, 2013 by soberandhungry 2 Comments

Homemade bread … fresh, yummy, healthy! Free from the preservatives that you may find in some pre-packaged loaves and makes your house smell like a bakery – you are on to a winner. It is actually really easy to make bread – you just need the right ingredients, some manpower and time! For a dinner party we like to show off a bit with a Plaited Loaf that looks really special and more importantly, tastes superb!

Ingredients

• 550g Organic wholemeal bread flour, plus a little extra for kneading
• 2 level teaspoons salt
• 1 level teaspoon sugar
• 1 sachet easy bake yeast (7g)
• 400 ml hand-hot water (100ml boiling, 300ml cold)
• 15ml Olive Oil

 Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to its lowest setting, measure out the flour and place it on an ovenproof plate and warm for 10 mins (Delia’s trick)
2. Turn the oven off and tip the warm flour into a large mixing bowl, with the salt, sugar and easy-blend yeast and mix together. Make a well in the centre and pour in the water. Mix with a wooden spoon to form a dough. Finish off by mixing with your hands until you have a smooth dough that leaves the bowl clean.
3. Sprinkle the work surface with flour and tip out the dough. Knead for 10 minutes. I use less flour than other recipes – as I knead I work with the texture of the dough, adding more flour as required until the dough has a smooth texture.
4. Put it back into the mixing bowl, cover with olive-oiled-cling-film and find a warm place to leave the dough for 1hr.
5. When the dough has risen, place it on a clean work surface and with floured hands, knead for around 5 minutes to ‘knock it back’ – the dough will become smooth and elastic.
6. Roll into one long sausage, visualise the middle of the roll and with a knife cut half of the brad into three long strands.  Plait the three dough ‘sausages’ together and fold over the top of the other half to create a whole loaf with a plait on the top.
7. Preheat the oven to 220C.
8. Cover the loaf and return to a warm place for 30 minutes until it has risen to about one-and-a-half times its size.
9. Bake the loaf in the oven for 10 minutes at 220C.
10. Reduce the heat to 190C and bake for a further 30 minutes.
11. The loaf is cooked when it is risen and golden and sounds hollow when tapped underneath.