Ingredients

Ingredients

One scant pint of water (depending on how much moisture the flour has in, you made need a little more or a little less)
760 g strong white bread flour.
One and a half teaspoons of dried yeast.
Two tablespoons of malt extract.
Two tablespoons of honey.
1 teaspoon of salt (you may prefer to add extra teaspoon but it is optional).
Half teaspoon vitamin C powder

Method

In the bowl of a K/A put 220g of strong white bread flour; add the half teaspoon of yeast, honey, malt extract and water. Mix with the paddle attatchment.

In the remaining 540 g flour mix 1 teaspoon of dried yeast and the half teaspoon of vitamin C powder. Sprinkle this over the sponge (like a blanket) and leave to rest for a minimum of two hours. Leaving it longer (up to 18 hours) can give it a significantly better flavour. On top of this blanket add your salt.

Mix contents until they come together and let stand for 20 minutes

With the dough hook mix for about six minutes until the bread dough looks smooth and elastic. This can be done by hand but takes significantly longer, a good way of getting rid of stress. Cover and leave until it has doubled in size. Remove and divide into two equal portions trying not to knock out too much of the air. Stretch into a rectangle and fold the sides (long sides) so they join in the centre, stretch the ends out slightly more and fold to the middle (it should now be roughly the size of the baking bread tin) . Tuck in the dough until it looks like a loaf of bread. Place in a container sprinkle more flour over the top and cover with a teacloth. Alow it to double in size once again.

Preheat the oven to as hot as it will go.

Place the two loaves of bread onto the middle shelf, set your timer for 20 minutes. When the 20 minutes is up, lower the temperature to 180° and cook for a further 18 minutes.

Remember that the spoon measures that you use should be as per a set of measuring spoons, as standard bought spoons can vary quite a bit.

David