This very fine ‘tear and
share’ bread will only take 25 minutes of your ‘active’ time to make.
The rest of the time you can be emailing, dancing and watching TV. I
really love the flavours and the textures of the bread with its crispy
crunch outside and the soft and chewy inside.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 550g/1lb 4oz strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- 100g/3½oz wholemeal bread flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 7g sachet of fast action dried yeast
- 2 squidges of honey
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 50g/1¾oz poppy seeds
- sunflower oil (or spray oil)
Preparation method
-
Put the flours, salt and yeast into a large bowl,
mix a bit and then make a hole in the middle. Squidge in the honey and
add in 350ml/12oz of warm water (from the tap). Then mix everything
together until combined. Then, I like to get my hands in (I find it very
therapeutic!) and squidge it all together, gathering up all those dry
bits from the bottom of the bowl.
-
Then tip the dough onto a floured surface and knead
it for 10 minutes (or five minutes if kneading in a food mixer fitted
with a dough hook). To test and see if it has been kneaded enough, form
the dough into a ball with a nice taut top. Dip your finger in the flour
and then prod the side of the dough making an indent. The indent should
spring back all the way and almost disappear if it is ready.
-
Put some more flour on the surface and then, using a
rolling pin, roll the dough out into about a 40x24cm/15x9in rectangle.
If it is too springy to roll then cover it with a tea towel and leave
for five minutes or so. That way the stretchy gluten strands in the
bread can relax a bit which will make it easier to roll out.
-
Using a pastry brush, brush the top of the dough
with the sesame oil going right up to the edges and then sprinkle the
poppy seeds evenly all over. Then cut the dough into six 4cm/1½in wide
strips down the length.
-
Keeping the strips lined up together, twist each
one up like a twisted breadstick or cheese straw. Once they are all
twisted, stack them into a bundle and pick them all up in one go. Then
twist them together so you have a long thick twisted rope made up of the
individual strands of bread. Try to twist it evenly so the rope is an
even thickness throughout.
-
Then curve the bread into a ‘wreath’ shape and
squish the ends together, sealing them with a bit of water. It does not
have to be perfect, just as long as they are joined up. When I make this
bread there are usually lots of poppy seeds left on the surface, so I
scoop those up and then scatter them over the bread, especially the bit
where the join is, to cover it up a bit.
-
Place the wreath on a baking sheet. Oil some cling
film (I find the spray oil is best for this) and use it to cover the
dough, oiled side down, so it is airtight but with enough room for the
dough to rise a little.
-
I usually put the oven to preheat to 200C/400F/Gas 6
now and place the dough on a chair near it, so it’s nice and warm.
Leave to prove for about 30 minutes. To test if it is ready for the oven
(because the bread will not have doubled in size but probably grown by
about half again), dust your finger with some flour and then make an
indent in the side of the bread. The indent should spring back about
half way. If the indent just stays there and does not really move very
much, then it needs more time.
-
When ready, place in the oven to bake for 35 minutes.
-
The loaf is cooked when it sounds hollow when tapped underneath. If not, then give it another five minutes or so in the oven.
-
Once ready remove from the oven and serve. I love
the crispy crunch bits on the outside and the soft pillowy inside
slathered in lots of butter.
