Well–and a little more than love like–a large nixing bowl, some bread flour, 350ml of warm water and jazz with a strong beat. [bread tins will be useful for cooking].
Bread has been made with the same steps for yonks but the ingredients can be different.
Into my bowl goes the flour. I have two sources–my breadflour comes from a store whose name begins with the twentieth letter of the alphabet [ I prefer not to give credit]. I use 9 oz of brown plus 90z of white. Add to this a healthy pinch of sea salt, 1 oz of butter [rubbed in] and a sachet of dried yeastl . All of this needs 350ml of warm water [better to have a wetish mix than a dry one] Start up ‘Mahagony Hall Stomp’ played by Louis Armstrong and the kneading rhythm will be perfect!
Now my secret weapon is a ‘power whisk’ with bread hooks. For ten minutes I mix at a medium speed. The dough is turned out on a floured board and awaits the joy of kneading. My joy comes from my jazz to which I co-ordinate my kneading actions for another 5 minutes. The more kneading the lighter the loaf.
My next secret is called ‘sun proven bread’ or ‘storage heater bread’ If the sun is hot [as it always is in Wales!], then I take the two tins of bread outside onto a table or in a glass protected porch the avoid the wind. Sometimes, I balance my tins on a storage heater [that is on, of course]. After one to one and a half hours I rush my eager loaves which might be overrunning the edges of the tins–I rush them to a pre heated oven where they luxuriate for nearly 30 minutes at mark 7. I feel much better now because I have shared my ‘secrets’.
However, there is an easier way but less enjoyable because my jazz plays flor a very short time. In this shop whose name begins with the 20th letter in the alphabet I can buy a small prepared packet of bread mix with the name or ‘Wrights’ on it. The results are equally good to those of the flour that was purchased from the shop–which one is obvious–except that Wrights offers various flavored mixes.
With both of these flours my last and most valued secret is….follow the receipt on the package and you can’t go wrong!!
My Life Unravelled 