There are two kinds of cooks – those who embrace technological advances and those who prefer doing everything by hand. This is purely a choice. If you have the time and strength to whisk, beat and knead bread by hand then great. The traditional processes can be very satisfying. However, not everyone can or will want to spend the time. It’s perfectly acceptable to use electronic kitchen gadgets.
Personally, I’ve arthritic fingers and suffer tendon damage in my elbows, making it very difficult to manage without my good old electric mixer, bread maker and slow cooker. For those of us working full time with a family and busy home life, it’s great to be able to chuck in a load of laundry in the washing machine, the dish-washer taking on the drudgery out of scrubbing the pots, and bunging something in the slow cooker ready for later. In fact, it’s hard to beat coming home on a dark, cold winter’s evening to the welcoming smell of a rich beef casserole as you open the front door. Add to this the yummy smell of freshly-baked bread and it’s heavenly.
My bread maker is very well used. At least once a week I make my standard loaf; so much better (and cheaper) than shop-bought. And, less time-consuming than walking up to the shop. It only takes a few moments to measure everything into the bowl and turn it on. You can then get on with anything else you want to do, whether that be housework, hobbies, or just dossing with a coffee in front of the telly.
One day, I ran out of bread flour. So I decided to chuck in my standard plain flour and give it a go. If it went wrong, so be it. But, rather than go wrong, it was great! This loaf is actually much lighter than a traditional recipe – and doesn’t leave you with that heavy, full, bloaty feeling. It’s now my go-to version.
The recipe:
2 lb plain flour (900 g/4 cups)
2-3 tablespoons dried skimmed milk powder
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons dried yeast
375 ml tepid water (1½ cups)
Adjust the proportion of the milk powder, sugar and salt to suit your own taste. A little sugar won’t make the bread sweet, but the yeast needs it.
For basic bread, I recommend a tasteless vegetable oil. But, if you want a Mediterranean version try olive oil and add rosemary and dried tomatoes after your initial proving.
I hope you enjoy giving this a go. If you want to share your results, feel free to upload a photo in the comments.
Maggie x