get bready for this...

A couple of weekends ago I dove in and made bread.  I haven't made bread since I was a kid and have been thinking about it for a while.  I have been hating supermarket bread more and more, and although I don't mind paying $$$ for good bread, good organic bread is hard to come by.  I found a recipe in an Australian women's weekly muffins, scones and bread book for a basic white loaf to try.  The recipe goes:

10g yeast (1 1/2 sachets)
1/2 cup warm water
2 teaspoons sugar
...whisk these together, cover, put in warm place for 10 mins until frothy
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon salt
30g butter - melted
1/2 cup milk - warmed
Mix everything together (including yeast mix)
Knead for 10 mins
Cover, put in warm place to rise for 1 hour
Knead till smooth
Make loaf shape
Rise for 20 mins in warm place (I did almost double this)
Cook at 200 degrees for 40 mins (I only needed 25 mins)

I wasn't expecting too much, but it was fantastic!  The first loaf got a bit burnt as it was a bit too high in the oven and it didn't take as long to cook as the recipe said.   I made a loaf for P's mum and dad when we went for dinner last week and wrapped it in a Japanese ajisai cloth :o)

I have since tried a loaf with 1 cup of wholemeal spelt flour in the mix (nice with a fine grain, but not such a strong crumb) and another with linseeds.  I'm making a plain loaf today, same as the recipe but with double the salt.  I was talking to an experienced bread maker, busyman, and he makes quite salty loaves, so thought I would give it a try.

This is today's loaf, risen for the second time and ready for baking - it's in the oven now!  I got a nice tip too from my dog food person today who told me about the fantastic wild yeast blog.  Lots of bread making adventures for me coming up!