Plaited loaf Recipe
This is a recipe I came up with myself. I first made it a couple of weeks ago when I was making bread for lunch and thought,
“I’m going to try my own recipe!”
That was the first time I had ever made bread without following a recipe. My family was incredibly pleased with it. However, I was not very bright as I didn’t bother to write down my proportions! This caused a problem when I decided that I would l make my own recipe again and couldn’t remember my ingredient quantities. I decided to go with a rough estimate of what I did the first time and made notes of my measurements while making it. This time my family loved it and said that it was better than the first time I made it. Last week I made it again and did a photo shoot while I was making it so I could post the recipe on here. It looks similar to the Jewish bread loaf Cholla, but it is a savoury loaf and differs in terms of certain ingredients. It is great served with soup and makes brilliant toast. (My Dad loves it toasted!) It has a crisp crust and a buttery taste.
Ingredients
700g strong plain bread flour
14g salt
14g dried yeast
80g unsalted butter (very softened but not melted)
400-450ml water (It varies on certain recipes, but it is just a myth that you need warm water to make bread.)
1 egg for the glaze (optional)
Method
1. You can do the recipe by hand by putting the flour, salt and yeast into a large mixing bowl. Make sure that the salt and yeast are on different sides of the bowl. Add the butter and three quarters of the water and mix with the ingredients with a spoon. Gradually add the remaining water until you’ve picked up all the flour from the sides of the bowl and you have a soft but not sticky dough. Then tip the dough onto a worksurface lightly dusted with flour (not too much as the flour adds to the recipe). Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until the dough is stretchy and elastic.
Alternatively if you have a mixer put the flour into the bowl of the mixer fitted with a dough hook. Then add the salt on one side of the bowl and the yeast on the other side*. Add the softened butter to the bowl then gradually add three quarters of the water while mixing it on a low speed. Slowly add the remaining water (you may not need all of it or you may have to add a bit more) until it forms a dough. Continue using the mixer on a low speed for about 5-8 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
2.. When you have a smooth silky dough put it into a large lightly oiled bowl. Leave to prove for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
3. Line a baking tray with baking parchment or silicone paper.
4. Cut a large separate piece of baking parchment, put it on the worksurface and dust it lightly with flour. Tip the proved dough onto the parchment. Handle it gently rather than knocking it back. Weigh your dough and split it into three equal pieces (six if you are making two medium sized loaves).
5. Roll each piece of dough out into a sausage. Put three sausage pieces onto the baking tray and join the pieces together at one end by pinching them.
6. Start plaiting the dough by taking an outer piece on the left and placing it over the middle piece. Then take the outer piece on the right and lift it over to the middle. Repeat until you are nearly at the end, then join the pieces together at the end and tuck them in to make it neater. If you are doing two medium sized loaves repeat this stage again so you have two plaited loaves.
7. Leave to prove again for about an hour. Heat your oven to 220C. Beat the egg and brush over the top of the loaf.
8. Once the oven is hot bake in the oven for 25-30minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on its bottom. The loaf does colour quickly due to the egg glaze and may look done earlier than it actually is but do keep an eye on it.
9. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
10. Enjoy!
