Flowerpot Bread

There are a million and one recipes for home bread making out there.

Here at Millbrooker Towers we use a bread maker almost every day; apart from the occasional specialist loaf that we can’t be bothered to make ourselves, we’ve not bought ready made bread for years. I can’t recommend getting a bread maker and getting into the habit of using it enough. It might not save any money (in fact, it probably won’t), but you’ll know exactly what’s in your loaf and it’ll be more-or-less preservation free.

I rather like this non-bread-maker recipe; it’s a bit of fun and makes a real treat at barbecues or dinner parties.

Note – a terracotta flower pot needs to be “seasoned” before using it as described below or it might crack or break during the baking process. Simply grease the flowerpot well and bake it empty in the oven once or twice and then keep the pots clean and dry for future use.

Once you’ve got the basic recipe – try experimenting by using seeds and herbs to give extra flavour to the bread.

What you’ll need:

175g strong white bread flour

225g wholemeal (or malted) flour

a teaspoon of salt

One and a half tbsp olive oil or 15g lard

2-3 tsp sugar

1 sachet of dried yeast

300ml water

What to do:

Mix the flours, salt and olive oil in a bowl (if using lard, rub it well in)

Add the sugar.

Add the yeast and water.

Mix (use your hands, it’s easier and so satisfying) well into a soft dough – it should reach the stage of not sticking to the sides of the bowl.

Lightly flour a chopping boards or smooth tabletop.

Plop the dough onto the flat surface and knead well until it’s nice and smooth (about 2 minutes).

Divide the dough in half and place into 2 well greased (use butter or lard) 12.5cm/5in flowerpots.

Put the pots inside an oiled carrier bag (dribble some olive oil into the bag and rub the sides together from the outside) and loosely tie the top of the bag.

Allow the dough to rise to about twice its original size (I usually put the pots at this “proving” stage on top of the combi-boiler because it’s warm and conveniently placed, but any warm spot will do).

This will take about half and hour in a good warm spot, up to an hour and a half elsewhere or 24 hours in the fridge.

Remove the bag and bake standing upright in the oven at Gas 8 / 230˚C on the middle shelf for 30-40 minutes.