Multigrain Bread

It's pretty simple. What is one thing no one hates the smell of? Baking bread. It smells of comfort. It also smells of really, really good bread.

I decided to spend a day baking bread not just because it will make the house smell fantastic or because, well, I like bread. Actually I wanted to bake something for our friend's who had a baby the other day. With an infant AND a toddler, sometimes the last thing you want to think about is running to the shop for bread. Add a jar of homemade jam to the bag and they're all set.

I actually doubled the recipe so we can keep a loaf, and as you can see from below, it made more than just a loaf!

1 tbsp active dried yeast

2 0z lukewarm water

70g rolled oats

16oz (450ml) milk

2 tsp salt

2oz oil

55g brown sugar

2 tbsp honey

2 eggs, lightly beaten

30g wheat germ

3oz spelt flour

3oz rye flour

350g wholemeal flour

420-490g strong white flour

Combine the yeast and water, stire and leave for 15 minutes until dissolved and frothy

Put the oats in a large bowl. Scald the milk and pour over the oats. Stir in the salt, oil, sugar and honey. Leave until lukewarm

Stir in the yeast mixture, eggs, wheat germ, spelt, rye and wholemeal flours. Gradually begin to add the white flour until it's a rough dough.

Pour onto a floured surface and knead about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Add more flour if sticky. Put in oiled bowl, cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise until doubled. Mine took about 2 hours.

Grease your bread tins (about 2). If making rolls, grease a roasting tin. If making plait, grease a baking sheet. Punch down the dough and knead briefly. Form into desired shape.

If loafs, one option is to divide the dough into quarters. Roll each quarter into a 3cm thick cylinder. Twist together two cylinders. Put the twists into the tins (will make 2 twists, i.e. 2 loaves).

If plaited loaf, divide dough into two first. The divide each half into 3. Roll into long logs and plait together. This will give you two plates (note, if making plates, the bottoms are more prone to burning. Adjust baking time accordingly.)

If making rolls, the entire recipe will make about 20 larger rolls so make sure you have enough roasting tins (or make half rolls and half loafs or plaits). Roll out to long log and cut even pieces. Roll into balls and place into roasting tin. Make sure they aren't touching as they will rise again.

Cover lightly with cling film and leave to rise until doubled again, about an hour.

Preheat to gas mark 5. Bake 40-50 minutes or until golden crust. When you knock the bottom of the bread, it should sound hollow when done. Leave to cool.

Crescent Rolls

I love bread. The thought of being on a low-carb diet scares the buhjesus out of me. What would I eat? More importantly, what would I bake? So I won't go low-carb. Instead, I'm just trying to learn to love my flabby middle. As that's never going to happen though, I guess I'll just stick to trying to run off what I eat.

I've been working on a birthday cake all week and it's finally finished (those of you who follow me on Twitter [thanks LuShu!] will have seen a picture of it). Every time I turn around in the kitchen I was staring at more sugar or more butter so I thought I'd bake something with neither (though actually that's a lie). 

My favorite part of dinner used to be bread rolls. Maybe tha

t was just part of being a kid and not having defined enough taste buds for anything other than sugar, refined flour and more sugar. In fact, for a long time my little sister would eat nothing but bread and butter. Either way I looked forward to the garlic bread with pasta or the buns with burgers or the crescent rolls with just about anything else. And it turns out, making you're own crescent rolls is really easy! It's a simple milk bread recipe which is incredibly adaptable; I took half the dough and made cloverleaf rolls as well. Loafs, plaits and buns are other options as well.

4 cups (1lb) flour

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups (12 oz) milk

2 tsps sugar

1 tsp dried yeast

60gr butter

1 egg

soft butter

Sift flour and salt into a warmed bowl. I usually turn the oven on gas mark 1 and place it in there. Warm half the milk to luke warm with the sugar. Pour yeast over milk and sugar mix. Stir until dissolved. Pour mix into a well in the flour. Sprinkle a little flour over and allow to sponge. Leave until middle looks spongy with lots of bubbles. 

Warm the rest of the milk with the butter and pour into sponge. Mix to a soft dough. Place on floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Return dough to lightly greased bowl and allow to rise in warm place until doubled. 

Punch down with your fists and knead lightly. Roll into circle 1/4 in thick and spread with soft butter. Cut into 8 wedges and roll up each wedge from outer wide edge. Shape into crescent, place on baking sheet and allow to prove until doubled in size. Brush with beaten egg glaze and bake 10-15 minutes at 230C/450F/gas 8. 

Old Fashioned Cornbread

The house is permeated with the smell of onions and garlic right now. M is stewing a big pot of his wonderful chilli for lunches this week. My mouth is already watering. So I thought I'd whip up a batch of cornbread, the perfect accompaniment to a bowl of chilli. Cornbread is really simple and easy to make and goes well with a wide array of dishes, or a stand-alone for breakfast or a snack. Best served warm with a smear of butter melting into it or spread with jam for breakfast.

1cup/225gr flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1cup/225gr cornmeal (polenta works as well)
1cup/225ml milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup/60ml honey
1/4 cup/60gr butter, melted

Preheat oven 425/220/gas 7

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into bowl. Stir in cornmeal. Combine eggs, milk, honey and butter in seperate bowl/jug. Pour into dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.

Pour into greased pan. I used 9"x13" but a square pan, sandwich tin or muffin pan work just as well. Bake about 20 minutes or until golden and a skewer comes out clean.
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