Tag bread-making by davetcc

Modern easy bake Focaccia with herbs and olives

By davetcc - beginner - Hands on 60 mins, total 3 h 0 mins

This crunchy crust focaccia is one of my go to dishes for parties of all sizes, and it usually exceptionally well received. Personally, I add some italian herbs to the flour mix which gives a wonderful depth to the finished product. Focaccia and Ciabatta bread both use a lot more water than typical recipes, with a traditional Ciabatta coming in...

Bread maker Malted flour loaf

By davetcc - beginner - Hands on 15 mins, total 3 h 30 mins

Malted flour has its own character and works well in the bread-maker, even on the regular setting. There's a lot of different malted flours, but only Hovis flour can be called Granary as they own the trademark for it. I've tried many different types of malted flour and found that there is a lot of variation between them. What you may...

Bread maker Olive and Italian herb loaf

By davetcc - beginner - Hands on 15 mins, total 3 h 30 mins

Personally, I really like Focaccia bread, and I wondered if I could make something reasonably close in the bread maker. It won't be flat like the Focaccia is, but it could share some features of the bread. For this recipe I used a mix of OO flour and strong white bread flour, but I think you could use either just as...

Bread maker everything rye/spelt/wholemeal loaf

By davetcc - beginner - Hands on 15 mins, total 3 h 30 mins

I was coming toward the end of a few bags of flour, so it seemed like a good time to try a bread-maker recipe based on all the flours I had left. It came out much better than I expected, so I would go so far that I would try making it again. Although this sounds quite exotic, it can be...

Bread maker 50% wholemeal loaf

By davetcc - beginner - Hands on 15 mins, total 3 h 30 mins

This hearty 50% wholemeal bread tastes fantastic and can be made on the regular setting in the bread-maker. Using a good strong white flour it will raise well producing a nice and light loaf. Wholemeal flour still contains more of the bran/outer shell, and as a result it has a lot less gluten than white flour. Given this, the bread-maker has...

Bread maker seeded wholemeal loaf

By davetcc - beginner - Hands on 15 mins, total 3 h 30 mins

When you want a wholemeal loaf without much effort, then this easy recipe that can be made in the bread maker is a good option. This recipe produces a tasty loaf that rises well, and just requires a bread-maker that has a wholemeal setting (most do). Remember, you don't need a particularly fancy bread-maker to get good results. I have an...

Bread maker 50% rye loaf

By davetcc - beginner - Hands on 15 mins, total 3 h 30 mins

I really like the taste of bread made with rye flour, but in the bread-maker options to use it are a bit more limited, in fact the best we can do is about 50% rye flour to 50% plain white bread flour. This recipe really delivers and upon tasting, everyone agreed this was possibly one the best loaves in the bread-maker...

Book review: River Cottage, bread

For me this book was that pivotal book that I needed (and why it's the first I added here), after reading the River Cottage book on bread came the moment that I truly got a handle on baking. I'd read a few books before, but none of them really put all the pieces together for me. I read it a few...

Book review: Neil Buttery, Knead to know

While browsing around Waterstones bookshop I came across this book with a catchy title. It goes through the history of baking, along with a little of the science as to why various aspects of baking work the way that they do. I found it a very interesting read. It covers some of the earliest baking products such as pancakes, and other...

Bread maker pumpernickel lite loaf

By davetcc - beginner - Hands on 20 mins, total 3 h 20 mins

Sometimes you just want a loaf that can be made entirely in the bread maker from start to finish. This is a loaf that I've been making in the bread-maker for many a year now and it is a real treat. It is not a "real" pumpernickel, but I call it a "pumpernickel lite". You'll find that it has a real...

Crunchy malted brown buns

By davetcc - beginner - Hands on 60 mins, total 4 h 0 mins

There's nothing better for a meal starter than those small freshly made buns that good restaurants provide. They have a nice crunch when opened up, and a soft interior that's light and easy to eat (with or without butter). I've been trying now for quite some time to get better at making this kind of bread. ...

A few notes for those getting started breadmaking

By davetcc

Even though bread often has just a handful of ingredients, it is actually quite difficult to get good results. As with most people starting out bread making, my first loaves were heavy and borderline inedible, even when following instructions quite closely. That led me to to read a few books on baking, then I understood a few things: ...

Tools needed for bread making

By davetcc

Bread making is one of the few hobbies that has a very low barrier to entry, just a regular household oven, and some kind of baking tray are needed. Most households will already have enough to get started. However, although you could make bread without most of the tools below these are the items that I use often. ...