Herb Fougasse

A beautifully formed Provençal bread can be made plain with a topping of poppy and sesame seeds, or with a rosemary onion topping. Its a light and versatile bread that's a great accompaniment to soups or to mop up a gravy and its a fairly flat bread so can easily be stored away. The bread has a very light crust and can be cut into a number of other patterns. I used dry rosemary, chopped tomatoes and stewed onions to top, and kneaded some of the onion into the dough.

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour (I used 2 cups of white flour with 1 cup of wholewheat flour)
• 1 tbsp dry yeast
• 1 cup water, warm
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp olive oil, and a little more for brushing
• 1 tbsp dry rosemary
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 medium tomato, chopped into large, rough chunks

Method

1. Dissolve the yeast and sugar into the warm water, and leave aside to activate.
2. Add the activated yeast to the flour, mix in the salt and 2 tbsp of olive oil and make a soft dough.
3. Leave the dough aside in a warm place to rise and double in size. It should take an hour or so.
4. Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the onions, stew them until they start to brown around the edges. Add the rosemary and take it off the heat.
5. Add half the onion-rosemary mixture to the dough and knead it into the dough. Add a sprinkling of flour if it seems a little too wet.
6. Roll the dough out into a thick rectangle, and take a knife or dough cutter and make a single incision down the middle of the rectangle. Leave at least an inch from the incision to the short edge of the rectangle. Make three more incisions on each side of the middle one, equally spaced, and an inch from both the long edge and the middle incision.
7. Pick the dough up and lightly set it down, to open up the incisions. Brush the top lightly with olive oil and add the remaining onion-rosemary mix and the tomatoes to the top. Leave aside in a warm place to proof, for at least an hour.
8. Once risen, place in a pre-heated oven at 240 degrees C/gas mark 8 for 15 minutes.
9. After 15 minutes, lower the heat to 180-190 degrees C/gas mark 6 and let it cook for another 15 minutes, for it to develop a light brown crust.
10. Let it cool before slicing. Serve it with a sweet relish or with garlic-parsely butter, to cut through the bitter onion and rosemary. 

Hefekranz

Hefekranz is a wondefully light and sweet german bread that's often made on festive holidays, like easter or christmas. The bread is made with a simple wheat dough and the sweetness comes from the raisins and dried cherries and that are embedded into the dough. It has a very light crust and can be braided or made into a wreath, and with strong black coffee and an egg, makes for a great breakfast.

Ingredients

• 3 cups white bread flour
• 1 cup milk, warm
• 4 tsp sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp salt, and a pinch to sprinkle over
• 1 tbsp dry yeast
• 10-15 raisins

Method

1. Mix the milk, yeast and 2 tsp sugar together and leave aside to turn frothy.
2. Add the frothy mixture to the flour, and add the remaining sugar, raisins and the eggs, with the tsp of salt. Keep a little of the egg aside for an eggy-wash.
3. Make a soft dough and leave aside in a warm place for an hour to proof.
4. Once the dough doubles in size, split into 3 equal parts, and roll out into three equally long ropes and braid them together. If you want to shape it into a wreath, gently turn the braid and attach the ends together.
5. Leave aside for a further 1 hour to proof, and double in size. 
6. Pre-heat an oven to 160 degrees C/gas mark 5-6.
7. Once the dough has doubled, brush the top with the beaten egg left aside and sprinkle a pinch of salt over. Push any stray raisins back into the bread and place it in the pre-heated oven. 
8. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the bread has a light golden crust and is cooked through. 
9. Let it cool, and then slice or tear into chunks to serve. This can be served up as it is, with a soft-boiled egg and coffee, or with a sugar frosting made with powdered sugar, butter and vanilla for a little extra-sweetness.

Pain d'epi

I love the smell of fresh bread and the warmth of a loaf fresh out of the oven. I initially thought of making a baguette and sticking some emu mince in it, but remembered seeing this wheat stalk shaped bread being made on the Hairy Bikers. With the dough having risen, it was just a matter of hitting it with a pair of scissors and shaping the loaf to resemble a wheat stalk.

Add a touch of butter and watch it disappear.



Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup luke warm water
• 1 tbsp yeast
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt

Method

1. Dissolve the yeast in the luke warm water and set it aside to activate and turn frothy.
2. Mix the flour, sugar salt and yeast mixture and make a soft elastic dough.
3. Knead the dough by pressing down and stretching it with the base of the palm to get the gluten out for at least 10 minutes and leave covered in a warm place to rise.
4. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and roll into a thick rectangle.
5. Roll the longer sides inwards and roll the dough to produce a baguette and place, seam side down, on a floured baking tray.
6. Use a scissor to cut into the dough at an angle of 45 degrees and through half its thickness. Turn the cut portion one way and continue down the length of the dough, turning each cut in the alternate direction as the previous one.
7. Now that the wheat stalk is ready, let it rest covered for at least 1 hour.
8. Pre-heat the oven to 190-200 degrees centigrade. Once heated, pour 1/2 a cup of water into the oven and stand back to let the steam escape.
9. Add the baking tray to the oven to cook for 20 minutes.
10. Halfway through the cooking time, pour another 1/2 cup of water below the baking tray and stand back from the steam. Close the oven door and let the bread cook.
11. After 20 minutes, the bread should have a golden brown crust. Take it out of the oven and serve buttered.