I make this bread every three days or so. I’ve updated the recipe to reflect how I make it now.
It’s a snap to make, you just need to be around after the first prove and also when it’s time to bake.
I love seedy bread, but the Grumpy One doesn’t, so I sometimes make a “Hidden Oat and Seed Blend” which is undetectable in the final loaf!
The real secret to the incredible rise is spraying the top of the loaf with water when you place it in the oven and spraying water all around the hot oven. In the first few minutes of baking, the dough rises as the gases expand. In order to allow this rise to take place, the top of the dough needs to be moist, not dry. Steaming is only effective in the first 5 to 10 minutes of baking. I know I’m opening the oven and letting some of the heat escape, but I’ve found this to be a better method than water in a dish or ice cubes in a tray.
Photos below show bread in a smaller loaf tin as I made rolls with remaining dough.
Here’s what it looks like after the first prove, tipped onto the mat and pressed out into a rectangle.
And then when it’s rolled up and ready to go into the tin.
Risen in the tin
Baked in tin
- 320g water
- 2 tsp yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 500g bakers flour
- 2 tsp bread improver
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp olive oil (12g)
- Oil spray
- Water spray
- 4 Tbsp sunflower seeds
- 4 Tbsp pepitas
- 4 Tbsp hemp seeds (or use sesame seeds)
- 4 Tbsp rolled oats (optional)
- 1 Tbsp chia seeds
- Mill 10 secs/speed 9 if you'd like the seeds to be hidden. I now just add them whole.
- Place water, sugar and yeast into Thermomix bowl with MC on and mix for 3 mins/37/speed 2.
- Add flour, seed mix, if using, bread improver, salt and oil and set 7 mins/knead.
- Spray large bowl with oil spray.
- Tip out dough into bowl - wiggle the knob underneath the bowl. Use a dough scraper to remove remaining dough from bowl. Whizz on speed 10 for a second to remove from blades.
- If you have a TM6, do the PreClean, Dough.
- Roll dough into a ball and roll around on the mat to cover with the oil.
- Leave to rise until doubled in a warm place for around an hour.
- If you have a TM6, place dough in the Varoma dish and choose Fermentation mode. Place 500g water in the Thermomix bowl and set to 1 hour/60/Fermentation mode.
- Once proved, lightly flour bench and turn dough out.
- Shape into a rectangle the size of the bread tin. I use a 30cm Jumbo tin.
- Roll up and place into the tin, seam down.
- Cover with oiled plastic wrap and place in a warm spot for the second proof. It should rise above the top of the tin. Around an hour and a half or so...
- Halfway through proving, preheat oven to 200C.
- When placing into oven, spray top with water and spray around oven to create steam. I often have a tray on the base of the oven and I pour in boiling water.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Internal temperature should be about 90 to 95C.
- Remove from tin and allow to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing
Watch my tutorial here:
Enjoy!
