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no knead bread sliced and spread with jam
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No Knead Bread

Good things come to those who wait as far as this no-knead loaf is concerned. The bread is no-fuss to make and requires only a few short minutes of hands-on time. The long prove results in a flavoursome well-aerated loaf which is lovely served alongside a salad, as a traditional sandwich or simply toasted.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
proving1 day 12 hours
Total Time45 minutes
Course: Bread
Cuisine: British
Keyword: baking, no knead
Servings: 1 loaf
Author: Angela – Only Crumbs Remain

Ingredients

  • 300 g Strong White Bread Flour
  • 100 g Strong Wholemeal Bread Flour plus extra for dusting
  • 8 g Salt
  • teaspoon Easy Bake Yeast
  • 300 ml Lukewarm Water
  • Butter for greasing

Instructions

  • Mix the bread dough. Place the flours, salt and yeast in a good size bowl keeping the salt away from the yeast. Combine with your hand (or wooden spoon). Make a well in the flour. Pour in all of the water. With your hand mix the flour into the liquid aiming to make a dough. The dough will be fairly soft and sticky at this stage. Aim to ensure all of the flour has been incorporated.
  • Prove. Cover the bowl, either with cling film or a large plate. Place the covered bowl somewhere cool (though not in a draft), to allow the dough to prove slowly. Consider proving the dough in the fridge. Allow to prove for about 24 hours or until doubled in size (though the time will depend upon the room’s temperature).
  • Prepare to shape. Place a large baking tray or chopping / preparation board on the work surface. Lay the clean tea towel over it. Liberally dust the tea towel and top of the dough with flour. Without knocking back the dough, use a dough scraper or spatula to carefully scrape around the side of the bowl and tip the aerated dough onto the floured tea towel.
  • Shape the dough. Carefully lift the left hand side of the dough and gently lay it so that the raw edge is running down the centre of the dough. Repeat with the right hand side of the dough, again laying it so that the raw edge is running down the centre of the dough and butting up to the left side. Imagine the oblong length of dough in thirds, gently lift the furthest edge and position it so that the centre third is covered. Carefully lift the edge nearest to you and lay it over the top. The dough will now be a fairly neat square.
  • Prove again. Use the edges of the tea towel to gently but thoroughly cover the shaped dough. Set aside and allow to rest for a further 2 hours.
  • Pre-heat the oven. Preheat the oven to 220℃ (200℃ Fan)/425°F/gas mark 8.
  • Transfer to the cake tin. Completely grease the inside of the cake tin. Add a tablespoon of flour to the cake tin and rotate the tin around so that the greased sides and base are now fully coated in flour. Tip out any excess. Unwrap the rested dough and gently lift the dough into the cake tin. Alternatively, invert the cake tin over the dough ensuring that all of the dough is sat within the body of the tin. Lift the tray / board that the tea towel and bread dough is sat upon and in a swift motion flip it over so that the dough sits within the tin. If necessary gently shake the tin if it is slightly crinkled to one side. Cover the tin with a double strip of tin foil. (see notes below)
  • Bake. Place the bread in the centre of the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the tin foil from the tin. Rotate the tin and return the bread to the oven. Bake for a further 15 minutes. Carefully tip the bread out of the cake tin and tap the base of the bread. It should sound hollow. If not, place the bread directly onto the oven shelf and bake for a further 5 minutes, or until it sounds hollow.
  • Cool. Place on a cooling rack.
  • 10. Enjoy.

Notes

Specific Equipment:
1 x 20cm (8in) Round Cake Tin Tin Foil
1 x Clean Tea-Towel
Cook's Tips:
a) More flavour is created in the bread by slowly proving it.
b) The original recipe shows the bread baked in a Dutch oven, but I found using a quality cake tin covered with a double layer of tin foil worked as well. Feel free to try with a Dutch oven.
c) As the dough is so soft and delicate we found it easier to transfer the dough to the tin by inverting the cake tin over it although Jim (the bread baker in New York) successfully transferred the dough by lifting it.