A bread to brighten your day

I don’t think there’s ever been a time when the urge to shut myself away in the kitchen and bake has been stronger. The world feels as if it’s going to hell in a handbasket, the UK is reduced to changing Prime Minister every few weeks, even the Great British Bake Off is proving to be a disappointment. The current series is full of the most uninspiring challenges they’ve ever had.

If you feel remotely the same, or just enjoy a good bake, I’m hoping the bread recipe below will brighten your day. I made it for the first time this week, but I think it will become a regular in this house.

I know I’ve written before about the thrill bread baking gives me. Taking so few ingredients and turning them into something so good. The ingredient list may be a bit longer this time, and the method a little different, but the wonderful flavours in the finished bread make it all worthwhile. Every bit as good as the flavour is the amazing aroma of hot cheese and rosemary that will fill your kitchen when you take the finished loaf out of the oven.

Ingredients

• 350g potatoes, peeled and cut into approximately 2cm cubes
• 50g butter. I used unsalted
• 350 strong white bread flour. I used flour with seeds in, to add a bit more texture to the bread. If you don’t have this, just add a few extra seeds of your choice.
• 7g dried fast-action yeast
• 5g salt
• 10g rosemary leaves, finely chopped
• 100g cheese, grated. I used a strong cheddar, but any hard cheese would work.

Method

• Boil the potatoes for 15 minutes until soft. Drain and mash using the butter. Put the mash into a large bowl and leave until it has cooled enough to handle.
• When cooled, add the flour, yeast, salt, rosemary and cheese. Use your hands to bring everything together as much as you can, then add 50ml of water and continue to mix. The dough will seem quite dry and rough at this stage.
• Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for about five minutes, until the texture becomes smoother. Put the dough in a clean bowl, cover it with a tea towel and leave it to prove for an hour.
• After the hour tip the dough onto the worktop and knead briefly to knock out any air. Then form it into a tight ball and place it on a piece of baking parchment, cover it with the bowl, and leave it to prove for about another 20 minutes.
• During this period heat your oven to 220c, 200fan, gas mark 7,
• This loaf bakes best in a large oven-proof casserole dish with a lid. If you have one of these, put it in the oven to warm up for the 20 minutes.
• Carefully remove the hot casserole from the oven, remove the lid and drop the dough, still on the parchment paper, inside.
• Bake the bread for 20 minutes with the casserole lid on, then remove the lid and bake for a further 15 minutes.
• The finished bread should be golden on top and sound hollow when the base is tapped.