Lesson 1: Bread – How to make White Bread

It was a few days ago when we ran out of white bread and didn’t have anything to eat for our breakfast. FYI, we love bread for our breakfast as it fast and healthy (actually, bread is our snack that we will eat whenever we are hungry. We don’t eat junk food!). Anyway, the ‘don’t have bread’ moment has made me think,

‘Why don’t I make my own bread?’.

Then I start to search for the bread recipe as my guideline. Why do I need the recipe? Well to be honest, I never bake any bread before. I love bread but never learn how to make it. Hmm.. I should learn how to make bread earlier I guess.

After a few searches on Google, I found a few bread recipes which I think is easy for a beginner like me. I pick Jamie’s recipe, figure out the available ingredients in stock and start to dive into my home kitchen. So here it goes:

• 500g plain flour (i don’t have bread flour)
• 300ml warm water
• 1 sachet (11g) dry yeast
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tbsp salt

First, throw the flour into a plastic basin and make a small well at the center of the flour. Half of the water is added together with salt, sugar and yeast. Then, use a fork to stir them gently.

Then, start to bring in the flour into the well. After it starts to form a dough, the remaining water is poured into the mixture. Keep stirring and mix all the leftover flour together. Throw the fork away and start kneading with your hand. Remember to dust your hand first or the dough will stick. You would not like that!

Rest it for a few hours to make it doubled its size. Make sure to cover the basin with plastic wrap. Don’t put it in a refrigerator because yeast don’t like cool place.

After a few hours, knead the dough again. Punch it until the air comes out for a few minutes. After you are happy playing with it, throw it into the basin again and let it rise for the second time.

Ok now, time to bake some bread! Preheat your oven. My first attempt was at 220 deg C. Throw the dough into a baking tin and bake it for 30 minutes.

After the ‘ting!’ sound heard, here’s the result:

So how was my bread?

• hard as rock
• not pretty (never say horrible to your food!)
• crunchy
• tasteless

My first White Bread – Possible solution:

1. Use a bit more water
2. Second prove should be done in the baking tin. this will preserve the dough’s shape.
3. Tune down the heat. 220 deg C is too much. Maybe?
4. A bit more salt.

I’ve made my second and third bread. They look nicer than this one. So don’t forget to check it out soon!

Related posts:

1. Update on White Bread Recipe