The Bread Saga!

 

 

 

Why???

Why can't i do it???

Why is it that our ancestors who had little or no equipment, little scientific knowledge and pitiful resources could bake a loaf of bread and i cant?

After numerous attempts at kneading, proving, knocking back (see i know all the right terms) and proving again do i repeatedly fail at making a loaf of bread that doesnt resemble something a biblical martyr would have been bashed over the head with?

I have tried everything, even my beloved chickens who it has to be said will eat literally anything, have glared at my bare faced cheek at serving them something that can only be described as well......rock like.

Now while i could easily market my bread making attempts as garden ornaments this is not the kind of thing one serves ones children at tea time; maybe the tooth fairy could do with some over time?

It has to be said that i have been guilty of thinking to myself 'knead for 10 mins?? i am not Geoff Capes!' and possibly on occasion given up after 3 mins (this is a bingo wing rescue operation they seem to be dying out!) and my favourite phrase of 'Im sure it will be ok' enters my head. I put it in the oven and take up my position in front of my cooker and watch as the dough inevitably sinks...Can i pass this off as flatbread I wonder?

 

Now i have a reputation among my family and friends as a pretty accomplished cook, so you will understand how the fact that baking bread is something that i failed to grasp grated on me somewhat.

 

Fast forward to last week...

While in Sainsbury's doing my (I'd like to say weekly but in fact its more like tri-weekly) shop, i decided to peruse the book section. It was a toss up between Mary Berry's latest book or One by a lady i admire greatly because she has similar roots and similar interests to me, Stacie Stewart. I would love to be all gushy and say i snapped up Stacie Bakes because i simply had to have THAT book but the truth is it won the literary battle because it was cheaper (blush).

Anyway, I got the book home and sat down with a cup of coffee and thoroughly enjoyed perusing the recipes a few of which i have now baked and been successful with including the red velvet cake and the chocasheek biccies which are to die for...my waistline thanks you.

Right at the beginning of the book Stacie writes about bread baking and filled with dread at the prospect of yet another failed attempt at what will ultimately become chicken feed i decided to give it a shot. This morning i cleared everyone out of my kitchen and wearing a stern expression of sheer determination i began weighing the ingredients......I activated the yeast, mixed til i could feel the gluten making strands put it in a lightly oiled bowl, sighed at the prospect of another failure and took myself off to clean out the chicken shed.

40 mins later i walked back into my kitchen and to my delight IT ROSE!!!!! In fact i should have used a bigger bowl...

I knocked it back, kneaded again, formed it, put it on the baking tray, covered it with a clean tea towel and went off to do some more work.....

An hour later i couldnt believe my eyes, it had risen so much that it was in danger of needing a bigger baking tray!

I popped it in the oven, sprayed the inside of the oven with water and had to force myself to walk away, I am after all notorious for sitting on the floor in front of my oven watching my bakes with an eagle eye to make sure they are just right.

The end result? I have made bread!!!!!! Finally!!!! A loaf that is light, with a crisp crust and is simply perfect, my children tucked into it with butter while still warm and my husband thinks i am very silly for being so excited about this but frankly i dont care... Stacie Stewart is now on my very short but growing list of favourite people along with the likes of Kirstie Allsop and Nigella Lawson. Real women with silly habits and vices who love food and arent ashamed to sport a slightly more rotund behind in exchange for it.

 

I do declare my bread baking saga over... I shall never fail again! Woohoo!!!