Baking Advent Calendar day 8

I had two bakes yesterday. The first was the mince pies that I shared for day 7, the second was some bread and that’s what we’re having for Baking Advent Calendar day 8. I know I’ve written before about how much I enjoy baking bread, but at fear of repeating myself I do think that there is something uniquely rewarding about it. Taking that very short list of key ingredients and producing something so fragrant and tasty is always a thrill. Another of the great thing about bread baking is that I can do it so often. If like me you have a relatively limited outlet for your baking there’s always the risk of being told that you are baking cakes and other sweet things too often. With bread it’s different though, people always want bread and if this house is anything to go I could very nearly bake a loaf a day.

The bread that I baked yesterday was made using Spelt flour. This ancient grain has had a revival in recent years with it’s dark nutty flavour making it ideal for bread. Most bread recipes for Spelt mix it with other flours but I’ve managed to find one where it is the single flour type. kate roman spelt bread This recipe is by a former Great British Bake Off contestant and has been my ‘go to’ for bread in recent months. If you’re tempted to have a go I have a couple of tips that I find work well.

• In step 3 Kate advises that you should knead the dough by hand for 10 minutes. If you have a food mixer with a dough hook I’d suggest that you use this at it’s lowest setting for 7 minutes. It seems to give the finished loaf a lighter texture.
• In step 4 Kate has a very wide 1 to 3 hours for the first rise of the dough. I find 1.5 hours is best.

If you want to get a really good finish on your homemade bread try using a whicker proving basket. It help to give the bread a regular shape and gives a wonderful ringed affect to the crust.