What’s cooking today: Easy white loaf

Ingredients

500 g white bread flour

425 ml warm (not hot) water

10 g yeast

1 tsp salt

Method

Mix the yeast and water and allow to stand for 10 minutes.

Sift the flour and salt together, then mix in the yeast and water. This will produce a sticky dough which can be rolled into a ball, adding flour to your hands. Cover the mixture with a damp cloth and leave to rise for an hour in a warm place.

Remove the risen mixture from the bowl with a pastry spatula and place on a floured board. Flatten and knead for about 10 minutes, then form into a loaf and place in a standard bread tin, covered. Leave for about 40 minutes to rise again.

Bake at 240℃ for the first 20 minutes and turn down to 200℃ for the last 20 minutes. Remove from the oven when golden brown.

TGIFood tip: To create an attractive loaf, when the bread has been kneaded after rising the first time, flatten the dough on a floured bread board and cut into six strips. Roll each of the strips and place side by side in the bread tin. Proceed as above. This is the loaf as illustrated. It cuts perfectly into firm slices. DM/TGIFood

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