And Give Us Our Daily Bread...

Bread has been my Everest for some time now. I've experimented with numerous recipes over the years and have had countless unsatisfactory loaves. About 5 years ago, when I managed to pin down an excellent pizza dough recipe (that I now use as a standard), I thought it could double as a bread recipe. And it did for a long time. But (and there's that ubiquitous but), it was never quite right. Never quite fluffy or light enough, and never strong enough to handle being sliced very thin. So naturally, more experimentation followed.

I now have a recipe that consistently produces beautifully light and fluffy loaves as well as rolls. The thing to keep in mind with bread (as with most dough recipes) is that the amounts of the ingredients vary each time you make it. Humidity, heat, consistency of the flour and the fat content of the milk all make a difference to the dough. Humid days require more flour, dry days require less (or more liquids). And my final tip: use bread flour. Regular plain or all purpose flour doesn't have enough gluten to hold the rise required for bread.

Ingredients:
4 cups bread flour
1 tbsp (roughly 16g) instant yeast
2 tsp sugar (caster/super fine)
2 tsp salt
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
30g/2tbsp butter
350 ml milk

Plus:
1 egg
2 tbsp milk or cream
whisk together for glazing bread

Method:
Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Heat milk and butter together in microwave for 2 minutes.

Place flour, yeast, sugar, salt and eggs in bowl of stand mixer with paddle attachment (or you can mix by hand, but this takes longer). Mix till combined.

Add milk and butter and mix until dough starts to come together and away from the sides of the bowl. Change attachments to the dough hook and mix for 2 − 3 minutes.

Turn dough out and form into a ball. Place upside down into a lightly greased/oiled bowl (I use olive oil) then turn the right way up so the dough is coated with a little oil on all sides. Cover bowl with plastic wrap (glad wrap/cling wrap) and leave in a warm place to rise for at least 1 hour (or until dough is doubled in size).

Turn dough out and knead lightly for a few minutes. This helps to redistribute the carbon dioxide released by the yeast and will give you a lighter and fluffier bread.

Lightly grease the pan you're using to bake the bread in (loaf tin for a loaf or tray for rolls), shape bread and place in pan. Cover lightly with cling wrap (I use the same one I used earlier, but turned the other way round so there's no condensation. The condensation built up on the cling wrap will affect your bread and lead to less rise. Leave in a warm place to rise again for at least 1 hour (or until doubled in size).

Again, remove the dough and punch down and knead. Reshape, place in tin and liberally brush on egg and milk/cream mixture. Sprinkle bread with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, or leave plain. Place in preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes. When properly cooked, the bread should make a hollow sound when tapped.

Turn oven off and remove bread. Take bread out of tin, wrap in clean tea towel (this will catch the moisture coming off the bread and avoid soggy bread).

If you're making rolls, you can stuff them with cheese, meat, veggies or whatever you like. This recipe has been the most consistently reliable I've come up with. But remember, amounts of flour and liquids will vary according to the ambient temperature and humidity.

Doughnuts and a Patch of Warmth

Fresh doughnuts: golden puffs of sweet doughy goodness

It's not yet winter but nobody bothered to let Mother Nature know. We're waking up to mornings of 1C or less. Since I'm no fan of bitter cold days, a little patch of warmth inside my marvellous kitchen is a joy devoutly to be wished. And nothing says warmth like baking.

When my eldest son complained of feeling hard done by because he missed out on eating the last of the store-bought doughnuts to his younger brother, I promised him I'd make some. I've made doughnuts before and it's something that fills me with both dread and joy. The dread comes from the anticipation of getting the mix right, of not knowing whether it will rise enough, or puff the way it should when fried.

And the joy? Well, there is nothing as sumptuous as the smell of a kitchen filled with the aroma of freshly cooking doughnuts. It's a unique smell. It's not the deep, earthy aroma of a bread dough, or the sweet vanilla, chocolate or flavour-of-your-choice aroma of a cake. It's not the half-way-inbetween sweet earthiness of brioche. It is an unmistakable, uplifting, heart-lightening, worry-dissipating aroma all of its own. It has the power to entrance and delight. The power to carry the soul to another plane.

And there's nothing quite so close to unadulterated bliss as the taste of that first hot doughnut, drained, and dusted in cinnamon sugar. Feeling the slight crunch as your teeth break the crust then sink slowly into the light, fluffy fried dough, the smell of cinnamon wafting up to your nose, sugar coating your lips and spreading gently across your tongue. The burst and pop of tastebuds all across your tongue, as the flavours combine and your salivary glands spring into action.

There are things to remember and rules to follow when making doughnuts. They require yeast so, like bread, they need to be double proven to really work well. It means spending a little more time, but it's definitely worth it. I can't emphasise enough how important it is to double prove the dough (for breads and for doughnuts). This batch are probably my best to date. They rose beautifully and the gluten in the flour stretched its cobwebby fingers across pockets of nothingness, giving the doughnuts an ethereal lightness. Like all baking and bread recipes, you need to stick to the recipe as much as humanly possible.

I like deviating wildly from recipes and seeing what happens. In the kitchen, I'm a veritable mad-scientist tossing together ingredients like volatile chemicals, playing fast and loose with timings and temperatures to see what emerges, but I've learned along the way that breads and baked desserts are not to be messed with. They are the starched, Victorian, stiff-lipped, highly rule-governed great aunts of the baking world. They work according to ratios, so don't fiddle with the quantities, temperatures or timings. This, of course, comes with its own caveat. You can always fiddle with the quantities of flour and milk. In fact, it's necessary to do so according to the ambient humidity. The more moisture in the air, the more flour you'll need. The hotter and drier the day, the more liquid you'll need. The cooler the weather... well, you get the idea. Use your best judgement to get a firm, pliable and soft dough that's easy to knead.

...and don't forget the "holes"!

Doughnuts
(makes 30 doughnuts plus 30 holes - depending on size of cookie cutter)
Ingredients:
110g butter, cubed
375g plain flour
5 egg yolks
1 1/2 - 2 tbsp caster sugar
20g yeast
3/4 cup warm milk

oil for deep frying
caster sugar and ground cinnamon for dredging

Method:
Place milk, sugar and yeast in a bowl and stir until dissolved. Whisk in egg yolks.

Add flour to bowl of food processor. With motor on low speed, slowly pour in egg mixture and knead for 5 minutes.

Increase speed to medium, then add butter in 3 batches and beat until dough comes together. Remove dough and knead on a clean, dry surface until dough becomes shiny and smooth.

Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap (Glad Wrap/Cling Wrap etc.) and stand in a draught-free, warm place for at least 1 hour or until mixture doubles in volume.

Knock down dough, then roll out on a work surface until 2 cm thick (don't roll it too thin or you'll get flat doughnuts!). Use a cookie or pastry cutter to cut out your doughnuts. Remember that doughnuts will expand in the second proving, so don't worry if they look a little small when you cut them out. Use a smaller cookie cutter (I used the large end of an icing/frosting nozzle) to cut out the "holes" in the middle of the doughnut. Place doughnuts and holes around 4cm apart (to allow for expansion) on lightly oiled baking sheets (or you can cover your baking sheets in parchment/baking paper). Cover the trays and stand in a draught-free place for 1hour or until risen [I cheated a little here. I turned on the oven to around 200C while I was kneading, rolling and cutting the dough, then turned it off. I placed the doughnuts on the baking sheets in the warm oven with the door ajar to rise. It's much quicker and you get an even proofing].

Heat oil in a deep-fryer or deep saucepan to 180C [if you don't have a thermometer, it should take 10 seconds for a cube of bread to spin and brown. The temperature is important] and cook doughnuts in batches until golden on both sides. Drain well on absorbent paper [this step is important. Don't be tempted to dredge the doughnuts while still covered in oil. It makes them sweat and become sticky, and they won't last as long].

Dredge with combined caster sugar and ground cinnamon. Serve while still warm or wait till they cool down (these don't keep well and are best eaten within a couple of days).

NOTE: If you want jam-filled doughnuts, don't cut out the "holes". Proceed with the recipe otherwise and once dredged, use a long, thin piping nozzle and icing bag filled with jelly or conserve (use something with no pieces of fruit, which will get stuck in the end of the nozzle) to pierce and fill the doughnuts.

Scrumptious Sweet Scrolls

Sweet scrolls make a perfect tea time treat!

I had made a Vegemite and cheese version of these delicious scrolls first and they had proved to be such a hit that I thought I'd try the sweet version. The basic dough recipe comes from an adaptation of the pizza dough recipe I use (which was from Larousse Gastronomique).

Ingredients

• 3 cups plain flour
• 2 1/2 tsps yeast
• 1 1/2 tbsps sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tbsps olive oil
• 300 - 350 ml warm water (I microwave for 1.5 - 2 mins)
• 3 cups mixed sultanas, raisins, cranberries (dried) and candied peel
• 2 tbsps brown sugar (Muscovado sugar adds a really rich flavour)
• Strawberry or apricot jam (for glazing)

Method

• Preheat oven to 200C.
• Place flour, yeast, sugar, salt and olive oil into food processor with dough hook and mix.
• Add warm water slowly while mixing (don't turn the machine off) till dough comes together and is smooth.
• Continue to mix for a minute or two longer (this means you won't have to knead it afterwards).
• Place the dough into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
• Leave in a warm spot for an hour or until at least doubled in size.
• While dough is rising, mix the brown (or Muscovado) sugar and fruit and allow to macerate.
• When dough has risen, divide in half and roll each half very thin into a rectangle - I find rolling between two sheets of baking paper works well.
• Sprinkle the fruit-sugar mix over the dough and roll the rectangle into a log from the long end. You should end up with a long log of dough.
• Seal the edge and cut into 4cm pieces.
• Arrange the pieces close together (not touching) on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
• Bake for 20 - 22 mins until scrolls are puffed and nicely browned.
• Remove from the oven. Heat the jam and brush onto the scrolls while warm (not hot - DON'T BOIL THE JAM).
• Allow the scrolls to cool thoroughly, store in an airtight container and enjoy!

Here's a tip about the bowl you place your dough in - if it's too wide, your dough won't rise nicely. Aim for a deep bowl instead, this will allow your dough to rise beautifully.

Bread Dough by Ratio

Freshly baked bread smells divine!

Baking bread has to be one of the most soothing activities I can think of. There's something magical about bringing the yeast to life and watching the dough grow. And nothing beats kneading dough for catharsis. If I'm feeling crabby at someone or frustrated at the world, bread dough can soothe me in a way that very little else can. And the smell of freshly baked bread.... Heaven!

There are some important facts to note about bread dough.

• If you have access to instant or live yeast, you are likely to have better dough than if you have only dried yeast.
• The more yeast you add, the faster the dough will rise, but that doesn't necessarily make for a better dough.
• Leavening a dough for longer can make for a more flavoursome dough... but it is possible to allow a dough too much rising time (thereby killing the yeast - remember yeast is alive).
• Sugar is important. This is what the yeast feeds on.
• You must knead the dough, allow it to rise, knead again and allow to rise before baking. The second kneading is very important. It helps to redistribute the yeast more evenly through the dough and makes for a more evenly risen bread.
• Baking the bread with a tray of water in the oven helps to achieve a moist, fluffy bread.

So here's the recipe that I'm using at the moment. It's a good simple recipe and is based on Michael Ruhlman's recipe in his Ratio book.

Ingredients (based on the ratio of flour : water = 5 : 3)

• 500g plain (baker's) flour
• 300 - 350g water (warm - I heat it up in the microwave for 1.5 mins)
• 10g salt
• 1 tsp yeast (instant)
• 50g butter (softened)
• enough sugar to start the yeast (1.5 - 2 tsps roughly)

Method

• Preheat oven to 200C.
• Measure the flour, salt, yeast, sugar and butter in the bowl of a food processor.
• Mix using a dough hook and add the warm water while mixing. Stop adding water as the dough comes together.
• Do not overmix in the food processor. Remove the dough and knead by hand.
• The dough is sufficiently kneaded when you can stretch a small piece of it into a translucent sheet without tearing it.
• Place in a lightly oiled/greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to rise.
• When doubled in size, remove from the bowl and knead again. The dough is ready when it is springy and hard to knead.
• Place in a lightly oiled/greased bowl, cover with fresh plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to rise again.
• When risen, the dough can be shaped (into a loaf tin, into a plait, into a round loaf - whatever shape you like).
• This is when you might add sea salt, sesame seeds or poppy seeds to the top, or brush with milk for a nice glaze.
• Place a tray of hot (or just boiled) water in the oven as a steam bath. Place the bread dough in the oven.
• Bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until browned and it emits a hollow sound when tapped.
• Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a board to cool completely.
• Cover in a clean tea towel and store in an airtight container.

Spring onion and sea salt encrusted bread

Remember this is a fresh bread and meant to be eaten within a day or two. It's so delicious, it doesn't usually last more than a day in our house anyway!

You can jazz it up in all sorts of ways. Add cheese, grated potato, sprinkle coarse (sea) salt on the top, brush with milk (makes a lovely glaze), sprinkle sesame or poppy seeds - whatever takes your fancy. You'll probably find that you experiment more once you've made this dough a few times.