“I’m going to show you how to use flour, yeast, salt, olive oil and water and turn it into something truly magical,” says Paul Hollywood.
Hollywood is talking about a bloomer – a classic bread that is, he says “a perfect learner loaf”.
It’s the first he shares in his TV show, Paul Hollywood’s Bread. It’s also the foundation recipe in his of the same name.
“A bloomer is one of those original breads that I first learnt how to make when I was about 13 years old. Master the bloomer, and everything else will fall into place,” he says in the show of this "crusty loaf with a soft interior, airy and light but satisfyingly chewy".
A bloomer is a classic British bread, a long loaf with rounded ends and evenly spaced slashes. Some say the name refers to how the shaped dough ‘blooms’ in the oven, or that it is related to the voluminous “bloomers” women once wore for cycling. Respected English food writer Elizabeth David wrote in her classic book English Bread and Yeast Cookery that she thought – since so many other loaves are cooked the same way – that there might be other more likely explanations, including one with a surprising Australian connection.
"I want to show you that making bread is simple really," Hollywood says in the show, where he makes more than 30 types of bread. Source: Paul Hollywood's Bread
It could, she says, be to do with the use of the word bloom in the baking trade to refer to the lustre seen on a good, crusty loaf. Or perhaps, she says, it was because “good quality Australian flour was known as ‘bloomery’ and at one time it was understood that the bloomer loaf was of a special quality, made from high-grade flour.”
Make this loaf and you'll definitely be enjoying a bread that was long prized for its quality:
“A genuine bloomer is enriched with milk, sugar, lard or butter and should command a price in keeping with its food value,” writes Walter T. Banfield in the 1947 edition of Manna, a 500-plus page tome on British breadmaking – not all loaves, it seems, were genuine bloomers!
Hollywood’s loaf is enriched with olive oil: “It gives a bit of longevity to the loaf and keeps it nice and soft,” he says.
If you’ve never made bread before, Hollywood’s step-by-step guide to making this loaf is an excellent way to start.
- When adding dried yeast and salt to flour, he says to put the yeast on one side of the bowl and the salt on the other, on top of the flour. “You don’t want to put it in contact with the yeast,” he says. Too much salt in a dough, or direct contact between salt and yeast, can inhibit the yeast’s fermentation.
- You don’t need to use warm water for this recipe. “This is a big thing. Most people when they make bread actually use warm water. It’s a myth,” he says in the show. “Yeast is a microorganism, which grows when you add water. Using cold water means that the yeast grows slowly, and your bread will taste so much better.”
- When you’re adding water, you’re aiming for a soft, sticky, messy dough that just hangs together in the bowl – “A wetter dough is harder to handle at first, but produces better bread,” Hollywood says. “Bear in mind that the dough will become less sticky as you knead.”
- Use oil on your bench top, rather than flour, when you knead the dough. “I use oil rather than flour to stop the dough sticking to the surface as it keeps the dough soft and does not alter the balance of flour to water.” It also helps stop the dough sticking to your hands. As you knead, the dough will gradually become a soft, smooth ball. That could take 5-10 minutes, or a bit longer if you are new to kneading dough.
- “It’s vital to knead the dough vigorously to develop the gluten and give the dough stretchiness, and to knock back and shape the loaf well. All this strengthens the structure so the dough can rise upwards without a tin,” Hollywood explains. Don’t worry too much about how you work the dough; there are lots of ways to knead – you can stretch and fold, as Hollywood does, or work with a pushing and rolling motion. “The more you play with it, work it, stretch it, the better your dough will be,” he says.
- You leave the dough to rise twice – the first time, the ball of kneaded dough needs to double in size. It will probably take 1½ to 2 hours but can take up to 3 hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen. A slow rise develops a better flavour, so don’t put it in a warm spot, Hollywood says. “The ambient temperature in most kitchens is between 18°C and 24°C, which is perfectly adequate.”
- The risen dough is knocked back – a term that means deflating the dough – and then shaped. The shaped bloomer then gets left to rise again before baking. This rise takes about an hour but again, it will vary. If you very gently press the loaf with a finger, it should spring back very slowly.
- Slashing the loaf before you bake does give it a lovely look, but it’s practical too: “On baking the loaf expands, so the slashes open up. If you do not slash the top, as the bread continues to expand once the crust has formed, cracks will form around the bottom of the crust.”
- Just before you put the loaf in the oven, pour about 1 litre water into the roasting tray. This will create steam when the loaf is baking and give it a crisp crust and a slight sheen.
- To check if the loaf is baked, “hold the loaf in a tea towel and tap the bottom. If the loaf sounds hollow, then it is ready”.
Once you have mastered the techniques in a traditional loaf like this, you will have the confidence to tackle anything, Hollywood says. The world of bread awaits you!
Recipe and images from Paul Hollywood's Bread by Paul Hollywood , available in )
Source: Bloomsbury
