If you’ve ever had commercially-produced bread in Britain (think “Mother’s Pride” type bread), there are two attributes which differentiate it from bread in the US or anywhere else in Europe:
- it’s more gooey in the center – when you press your finger into a fresh slice, it leaves an indentation
- the slices are far larger – perfect size for a bacon sandwich!
I’ve been trying to replicate this style of bread for a while, and the arrival of my new 1-1/2-Pound Loaf Pan
This bread is quite close – and far better for you than that supermarket stuff with all the preservatives and other stuff in it. Here goes:
Start off with 18oz organic white all purpose (plain) flour. Whisk in 1/2tbsp instant yeast and 1/2tbsp table salt and make an well in the center.
Put 8oz milk, 4oz filtered water and 2oz unsalted butter in a microwave-safe jug, and give it a blast in the microwave until it’s 130F. Took 90 seconds in mine. Pour the warm liquid into the well and using a spoon or (better) a bowl-scraper, mix everything together to form a wet dough. Be sure to get everything off the sides of the bowl.
Turn the dough out onto a clean counter and, using only as much additional flour as necessary to prevent sticking (say about 1/4 cup), knead for about 5 minutes.
Gather the dough together into a ball, cover (I use the unwashed bowl) and rest the dough on the counter for 7 minutes.
After it’s rested, you’ll feel that the dough has completely changed since you last touched it – it will be a lot smoother and far easier to handle. Knead for about another 5 minutes until the dough is very soft and smooth. Place back into the bowl, cover and let the dough rise until it’s about doubled. This will take about an hour in a fairly warm place (I use my microwave with the surface light on)
Turn out the dough and press down gently on it to remove the larger air bubbles and form into a loaf the same length as your loaf pan.
Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap and let the dough rise again until it’s just crested over the top of the pan – this will take about an hour and a half.
Pre-heat the oven to 360F, bake for 38 minutes. The loaf will be a lot paler than most and the interior temperature should be about 190F – which is ever-so-slightly undercooked. This is the trick to the texture of this bread.
Allow to cool completely on a rack before slicing. There’s no eating this bread warm – it will be far too mushy if you were to try!
