Bread Making

Written by Bugs

Tortilla Style Flatbreads

For me, the most worthwhile thing to make (cost, quality and time-wise) is wheat tortilla style flatbreads. These are the ones you pay £1+ for six pieces in the supermarket, packed with hydrogenated fats. This is one of the four-ingredient breads: 6oz plain flour, 7tbsp water, 1tsp salt, and 1tbsp olive oil. Mix and then knead for five minutes until it's soft and springy. Cover with a clean damp cloth to stop it drying out and leave it for half an hour (or more - you can make it the day before you want to eat it if you like and put it in the fridge). Divide in to six, roll each piece in to a ball, then flatten out and roll in to a circle about 6 inches wide. Heat a frying pan (with a little oil if you like) and when it's quite hot cook the flatbreads, about a minute each side until lightly coloured. They'll puff and bubble just like the ones in the shops. Once cooked you can eat them warm, grill them quickly before you eat them, or freeze for use later. They freeze so well I tend to make double every time so I can have some ready to use in minutes (they're so thin you can put them straight from the freezer in to a warm oven or under the grill).

Pizza Dough

Pizza dough is very worthwhile too. Again, you can make it in the bread machine but it's very easy by hand too. The recipe I have used to great success by hand is 14 oz flour, 8 fl oz tepid water, 1tsp salt, 2 tsps fast action yeast, and a dash of olive oil (1-2 tbsps). Mix, then knead for about five minutes and leave for half an hour. Knead for a minute or two more, and roll out the dough - as little as ½ centimetre thick, or more than a centimetre. Top with whatever you like and bake in a hot oven - there's no need to let the dough rise again unless it suits you.

Scones

Scones are fun, delicious, and not worth buying from anywhere I've found yet. One day you might, like my mother, be able to knock them up between seeing unexpected visitors pulling up outside your home and serving their tea! Sift 8 oz flour, 1 tbsp caster sugar together, rub in 3 oz butter. Mix one egg and 2 fl oz milk in a cup, tip most of it in to the flour mix, mix quickly and add a bit more milk if you have to, so that it sticks together in a dough which is soft but not sticky. Roll it out, not too thin (just under an inch). Cut with a two inch cutter, without twisting it. Squash the remaining dough back together, no need to reroll, and cut out the rest. This recipe makes about 8 normal scones. Brush the tops with the left over milk and eggs but try not to let it run down the side. They take about 8-10 mins to cook in a very hot oven and are best eaten warm but very agreeable toasted. Vary the recipe with glace cherries, or dried fruit, or leave out the sugar and add a pinch of salt, then put in herbs or dried mustard and grated cheese.