Winner of the Guild of Food Writers'

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and a James Beard Foundation Book Award

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Richard Bertinet
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contents
Introduction
Bread tools
Ingredients
Bread talk
The dough

Chapter 1: White Dough

Fougasse
Puff Balls
Bread Shots
Layered Rolls
Lemon Rolls
Sesame & Aniseed Breadsticks
Olive, Herb & Pecorino Sticks
Spicy Moroccan Rolls
Baguettes (Variation: Epis)
Gruyère Cheese & Cumin Bread
Pain Façon Beaucaire
Saffron Rolls
Pain de Mie
Summer Pudding

Chapter 2: Olive Dough

Rock Salt & Rosemary Focaccia
(Variation: Pesto, Olive & Pepperdew Focaccia)
Tomato, Garlic & Basil Bread
Soup Bowl
Parmesan, Parma Ham & Pine Nut Slices
Flatbread
Pizza
Pancetta & Mixed Olive Bread
Ciabatta

Chapter 3: Brown Dough

Apricot & Oat Bread
Honey & Lavender Loaf
Cardamom & Prune Bread
Seaweed Bread
Sesame Plaits
Brown Rolls
Poppy Seed Stars
Multiseed Bread
Raisin, Hazelnut & Shallot Bread
Pecan & Cranberry Bread
100% Wholemeal Bread

Chapter 4: Rye Dough

Walnut Bread
Olive Bread
Rye, Caraway & Raisin Bread
Smoked Bacon & Red Onion Bread
Somerset Cider Bread
Aniseed & Guinness Bread
Pain de Campagne
Dark Rye Bread
Chapter 5: Sweet Dough
Orange & Mint Loaf
Marmalade Bread & Butter Pudding
Jack’s Chocolate Buns
Doughnuts
Apricot & Almond Tart
Bacon Slice
Fruited Tea Loaf
Pain Viennois
Scones

Additional recipes

Suppliers
Index
how to use this ebook
Select one of the chapters from the main contents list and you will
be taken to a list of all the recipes covered in that chapter.

Alternatively, jump to the index to browse recipes by ingredient.

Look out for linked text (which is in blue) throughout the ebook that
you can select to help you navigate between related recipes.

You can double tap images to increase their size. To return to the
original view, just tap the cross in the top left-hand corner of the
screen.
I have been a baker most of my life and crazy about bread since I
was a kid, but it wasn’t until I started teaching people how to bake
simple breads at home that I really appreciated what fun, and what
a sense of achievement almost everyone experiences when they
realise, for the first time, what can be done with some flour, yeast,
water and a little salt. Breadmaking doesn’t need to be daunting or
mysterious and you don’t have to be born a baker. Baking is for
everyone. The aim of this book is simply to get you hooked on
making bread. I’m not going to delve into the chemistry of
breadmaking, analyse the properties of different flours, list masses
of equipment or baffle you with complex techniques.
I look at it this way: do you need to know how a carburetor works
to learn how to drive a car? No. Well nor do you need to immerse
yourself in science to bake a wealth of wonderful breads. All the
breads in this book are ones that I bake at home for my family and
friends in my standard domestic oven, with my two young boys
distracting me as much as they can. I teach them to the people
who come to my bread classes, and I love the moment when the
baking is finished and we all sit down with the breads we have
made, some good cheese and ham and a glass of wine, and relax
and enjoy the sense of achievement. I find that people really hate to
break the spell – and nothing gives me more pleasure than to hear
from them that they have baked the breads again successfully at
home, and really enjoyed themselves in the process.
There is another reason for writing this book – the current climate
of concern about the quality and safety of the food we eat, and the
worry about additives, fat, sugar, salt and obesity. So much of what
we eat is produced on a massive scale, with such a long and
complicated chain of ingredients, suppliers and processes that
many people are turning to smaller, artisan producers and farmers
who can supply them with traceable food produced in simple,
traditional ways, which they feel that they can have faith in. And
what could be more trustworthy than your own bread, baked by
your own hands in your own kitchen, using the best quality
ingredients you can find? I will never forget the first time I visited a
big industrial bakery in Britain, watching the loaves being mixed in
minutes with the help of all kinds of ‘improvers’ and additives, and
churned out on a massive scale – it gave me the shock of my life. I
had never seen anything like it – it was so alien to everything I knew
about bread.
I first fell in love with bread when I was very small. My uncle had
a big bakery in Paris, my mother had at one time worked behind a
bakery counter, and I was fascinated by the boulangerie in my
home town in Brittany. When I was on holiday from school I used to
go down there and stand on tip-toes so I could peer over the
counter into the bakery itself. I could see the men working in their t-
shirts, covered in flour, taking the bread out of the enormous ovens.
The warm, yeasty smell was so seductive. When I was 12 or 13
years old I remember being asked in school, ‘What do you want to
do when you are older?’ and I replied that I wanted to be a baker. I
had a friend whose uncle had a bakery, and he told me that I could
come and work with them early one morning. I stayed with my
friend in the house above the bakery, but I couldn’t sleep for
excitement. By midnight I had crept down – I couldn’t keep away.
 Baking was in my blood and, as soon as I could, I did my pre-
apprenticeship, spending two weeks at school and two weeks and
every weekend in the bakery. French bakeries are hard-working
places but they have a magic too. There was a particular moment
that I still miss, at around four o’clock in the morning, when the
ovens were emptied, and there was no sound, except for the newly
baked bread ‘singing’. That’s what we used to call the crackling
sound that big loaves make when the crust breaks as it cools down
– listen for yourself: when you hear it sing, that’s when you know
you have a good crust. In France of course, most people never
bake their own bread because the tradition of buying it fresh, every
day, is so strong. There is a bread for every occasion: a ficelle for
breakfast, a baguette for lunch, a pain de mie for croque monsieur,
a bigger pain de campagne or sourdough to put on the table or to
keep and toast through the whole week. In France if there is no
bread on the table at a mealtime it is a major catastrophe.
 In Britain I knew there was a strong tradition of home
breadmaking, but when I arrived here in 1988 I was shocked to find
that very few people were bothering any more, not because there
was a fantastic bakery around every corner, but because the staple
diet was the sliced white loaf. There are over 200 varieties of bread
available in the UK these days and we buy the equivalent of 9
million large loaves every day, but around 80% of the bread we buy
is the sliced, wrapped sandwich loaf – and 75% of that bread is
white. Most of the commercially made bread is produced using
what is known as the Chorleywood Bread Process, invented in 1961
by the British Baking Industries Research Association at
Chorleywood. The process is all about producing a cheap loaf, and
it uses high–speed industrial mixers which produce the dough in
minutes. Because the flour isn’t necessarily the highest quality, and
because you need to add as much water as possible to make the
bread more commercially viable, pre-mixed ‘improvers’ and extra
ingredients are added, such as emulsifiers, preservatives, fats,
antifungal sprays and added enzymes, to make the dough softer,
‘improve’ the volume and prolong shelf life. As there is no real
tradition of buying bread daily in Britain, one of the first demands of
any mass produced bread is that it will be able to sit on the shelf for
up to a week without deteriorating – ‘fresh?’ – that’s not my
definition of fresh.
 Of course there is a place for commercial sliced bread – to take
as bait when you go fishing, or to make a bacon sandwich when
you’ve got a hangover! – but if you make your own bread, you
needn’t worry about these suspicious ingredients because you are
in control – and what do you need? Only flour, yeast, water and
salt. No improvers, no enzymes, no stabilisers, emulsifiers or
preservatives. And once you see the baking process in its natural,
pure form then you can start asking questions to the people who
make your bread commercially. Why do they need to add the
contents of a chemistry set to your loaf? Skilled bakers can make
bread on a large scale without bagfuls of additives, provided people
are willing to pay a bit more for their bread – but there lie the two
big issues: price and skill. Where have all the bakers gone?
Thankfully I think they are reappearing and, as they do, people
are beginning to realise that it is worth paying a little more for the
beautiful artisan breads they produce. At last there is a real surge
of interest and excitement about breadmaking in this country, which
is gathering pace. If I flash back to when I first arrived in Britain, I
was amazed to find that in restaurants they seemed to serve bread
almost as a canapé, before the meal, then it would be taken away,
as if it was something separate from the rest of the food. However,
over the last 10–15 years there has been a huge revolution in the
way we think about food. And while at first, bread was overlooked
in the new wave of excitement about restaurants and cooking,
gradually chefs have begun to wake up to the idea that, as soon as
someone sits down at the table, the arrival of a selection of breads
with different flavours, shapes and textures immediately creates a
welcoming and warm atmosphere and an expectation of more good
things to follow. And as Britain’s café culture continues to grow,
sweet doughs, from croissants to brioche, have come into their
own. Of course what happens in restaurants influences the way we
cook at home, and I quickly began to see that there was a real
desire to bake, which was only held back by the idea that the
process must be too complicated or time consuming; something to
do on a special occasion with the kids, maybe, but not on a regular
basis. That is when I began my breadmaking courses, teaching
baking to a cross-section of people, from absolute beginners to
those who had tried to make bread once, ended up with something
that resembled a brick, and were so disillusioned they never tried
again. I never dreamt that the classes would be so popular or so
rewarding. I never get tired of seeing people’s faces as their first
bread comes out of the oven; they can’t believe that they have
made it themselves, without buckets of sweat and frustration.
People often say that those who like to bake and those who like
to cook are made in different moulds. Well having worked both as a
baker and a chef, I have never thought of baking and cooking as
separate activities – to me baking bread is part of making a meal
(it’s also the best time to make dough, when the kitchen is warm
from cooking) and I can’t imagine dinner on the table without bread.
Personally, I would love to see more chefs having a go at making
their own bread. And every time I eat out, or talk to a chef about a
combination of ingredients, I find myself thinking, ‘I wonder what
would be a good bread to go with that?’ or, since bread is a natural
carrier of flavours, ‘How would those tastes work in a bread?’
 Once you get into the habit of baking regularly, you can always
have some bread part-baked in the freezer, ready to be finished off
in the oven. Imagine giving your friends freshly baked fougasses,
breadsticks or rolls when they come round to dinner; or the children
coming home from school and asking for a chunk of fresh bread.
Your bread.
bread tools

Hands – I always think it must be daunting to pick up a bread book

that lists pages of expensive ‘essential’ equipment. The truth is that
your hands are your most valuable tools – and really ‘feeling’ the
dough is what breadmaking is all about.

Baking stone – in a traditional baker’s oven, the bread is slid, using

a wooden peel (or paddle), onto the hot brick floor, so that it starts
to bake immediately underneath (it’s the same principle as getting a
grill-pan hot before you put on a steak). At the same time a steam
injection system provides humidity which helps the crust to form.
You can come close to creating a similar environment at home by
getting a baking stone ready in the oven, and sliding your bread
directly onto it. I have a piece of granite which stays in my oven all
the time (you don’t have to spend a lot of money – mine was an
offcut that I found in a reclamation yard, and it’s perfect). When I
switch on the oven in the morning the stone is already in there so
that by the time I come to bake it is thoroughly hot. Then, when I am
ready to go, I just slide the loaves onto it, using a wooden peel or
flat baking tray. You can also use a heavy baking tray, turned
upside down so that it is flat.

Weighing scales – baking relies on exact measurements, so I

weigh everything, including liquids, using digital scales, which is
more accurate than relying on a level in a measuring jug. In many of
the recipes which involve dividing the dough up into small rolls,
baguettes, etc., I suggest that you weigh each piece of dough, and
try to get them all equal – simply because, if you have lots of
different sizes, some will bake quicker than others.
A mixing bowl – big enough to hold a kilo of dough. I use a
stainless steel bowl.

Tea towels – you only need a handful, for covering dough, and
lining trays while it is resting. I use the same ones over and over
again. I keep them in a separate drawer and don’t wash them in
between breadmaking sessions – the last thing I want is tea towels
smelling of washing powder covering the dough. When you have
finished making your bread, you just need to shake or brush the tea
towels very well and let them dry. Over time the fabric becomes
impregnated with natural yeasts and flavours, and the tea towels
become an organic part of the whole breadmaking process.

Plastic scraper – this cheap little gadget is like an extension of my

hand. I use it all the time: the rounded end to mix the dough, to help
turn it out from the mixing bowl so that it comes out easily in one
piece, without stretching, and to scrape up and lift pieces of dough
from the work surface. The straight edge can be used for cutting
and dividing the dough. It’s also fantastic for scraping the ice from
your windscreen in winter! If you don’t have one you can always
use a large, flat wooden spoon, or even a plastic credit card you
received free in the post!
Razor blade – for slashing the tops of loaves and rolls to help
create more crusty edges. Of course you can use a sharp knife, but
the razor blade fitted into a handle, known as a lame, is the
traditional baker’s ‘pen’ which you use to put your ‘signature’ on
your bread, and it does the job swiftly and cleanly.

Wicker proving basket – not essential at all, just a traditional and

lovely thing designed to hold round loaves while they are proving.
The wicker makes an ideal container because it allows the air to
circulate around the dough and let it breathe – and you can clean
the basket and use it to serve the bread afterwards.
Wooden peel – this is really useful for transferring your proved
bread to your baking stone or tray in the oven. If you don’t have
one, you can use a flat-edged baking tray, or if you only have a tray
with a lip, turn it upside down.

Water spray – the kind you use for spraying houseplants is perfect
for misting the oven with water as you put in bread that needs to
develop a good crust and colour. This, combined with the baking
stone, really helps to recreate the atmosphere of a bakery.

Timer – don’t assume you will remember to take the bread out at
the right time! I have three timers all on the go, otherwise I know I
will get caught out when one of the kids distracts me or the phone
rings.

Soft brush – mine is like a little handbrush you might use for
sweeping. I keep it on my work bench for brushing off flour. Don’t
wash down your bench until the end of your breadmaking session.
Just scrape off any pieces of dough with your scraper, brush away
any unwanted flour, and then when you are completely finished,
you can wash down your surface thoroughly with soap and water.
ingredients
Flour – all I want to say about flour is: use proper, good-quality
strong bread flour, the best quality you can afford. One of the
questions I am always asked in my classes is where do I buy mine
from, as once people have made bread successfully I find that
when they get home they want to reproduce everything they have
done exactly, using identical ingredients. Well, I buy most of mine
from Shipton Mill in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, who offer an amazing
range of flours from all over the world, for use in every style of
baking. Many of the flours are organic, and all of them are stone-
ground and untreated. Alternatively, Leckford Estate Strong White
Four, or Canadian Strong White Flour, both from Waitrose, are very
good.

Yeast – I am tempted to say only use fresh yeast and avoid dried,
but it is worth having some dried yeast in the cupboard for that
moment when you have an overwhelming urge to bake and you find
you are out of fresh. One of the things that seems to amaze people
is how easy it is to use fresh yeast. I don’t believe in adding sugar
and warm water to yeast to ‘activate it’ before using it – inevitably I
find people add water that is way too hot, which will leave you with
a sticky mess, and anyway none of this is necessary. All you need
to do is rub the yeast into the flour using your fingers, just as if you
are making a crumble. If you do have to resort to dried yeast, treat
it in exactly the same way.

Water – I use tap water in all my recipes (at room temperature). If

you have a water filter even better. Frankly I don’t see any benefit in
using bottled water, which has probably been sitting inside glass for
a few years – I like to drink it, yes but, for breadmaking, I wouldn’t
bother.
Salt – use fine sea salt, preferably organic. I know there is a lot of
angst about the salt content in bread these days, yet the absurd
thing is that it is often the very people who are worrying who are
also giving their children bags of salt-laden crisps to eat. All I can
say is that I happily give my children fresh home-made bread to
eat, but they don’t have crisps or any other processed food full of
hidden salt. Salt in bread stabilises the fermentation and helps the
colour and flavour. In some parts of the world, like Tuscany, they
traditionally eat bread made with no salt, but to me it is like eating a
steak that hasn’t been seasoned properly. If you want to reduce the
level of salt, of course you can, but the results won’t be as good.
bread talk
Every baker has his own terms and expressions. These are mine:

Working the dough – the kneading technique that most people are
taught in Britain is quite different from the one we use in France,
which is all about getting air and life into the dough. So, instead of
using the word kneading (which sounds too harsh) I prefer to talk
about working the dough.

Resting – this is the time when the worked dough is left, usually for
about 1 hour, covered with a tea towel, in a warm, draught-free
place, during which time it will rise to around double its volume and
develop its structure, while the flavour matures. ‘Where is this
warm, draught-free place?’ ‘Warm’ is after all quite a loose term
which might suggest different things to different people. What I
mean by warm is the ambient temperature in my kitchen after I
have had the oven on since early morning (around 25–30°C). You
can use a microwave (turned off, of course), or a kitchen cupboard
– but I would avoid using an airing cupboard, as is often suggested,
as it will dry out the dough too much, likewise the top of your
cooker, which will also be too hot. If you do feel that your dough is
drying out as it rests, move it away from any obvious heat source
and spray some water onto the top of the tea towel that covers it.

Folding – usually in Britain I find people are taught to ‘knock back’

the dough to take the air out of it once it has rested. I hate that term
– it suggests you need to bash the dough to bits, but you should be
much more gentle with it. I just turn the dough upside down, then
fold the outside edges of dough in on themselves a few times,
pressing down each time, and turning the dough around to form it
into a ball. Folding and pressing down the dough is also the
moulding technique I use to mould the dough into different shapes.
Proving – this is the time when the dough is left again, after it has
been moulded, or shaped into loaves, rolls, etc. Again it will expand
to around just under double its volume – this will usually take around
1 hour. The reason I say ‘just under’ double is that, until you get a
feel for baking it isn’t always easy to guage that moment when the
volume of your dough has doubled, and you will get better results if
you slightly under-prove your bread, than if you over-prove it.

Baking – it may sound obvious, but bread is ‘baked’ not ‘cooked’. I

often hear people talking about ‘cooking’ bread, which to me is as
weird as hearing someone saying they’re going to ‘bake’ a piece of
beef.

Ferment – some bakers use the term ‘levain’, which means the
same thing – a piece of dough that has been left at least 4–6 hours
to ‘ferment’ and which adds character and flavour and lightens the
finished bread. A few of the breads use a ‘poolish’, which is just the
name for a particular style of ferment.

Colour Chart – when you start baking and read things like ‘bake
until golden brown’ it doesn’t necessarily mean that much – so I
thought I would help by giving you a colour chart, showing the
various shades the crust will go through as you continue to bake.

Note: Of course this only really applies to breads made with white,
olive or sweet dough as brown or rye bread will necessarily be
darker.
shop-bought loaf typically contains
wheatflour, water, yeast, wheat protein, salt, vinegar, dextrose,
soya flour, vegetable fat, emulsifier E472e (mono-and diacetyle
tartaric acid esters of mono-and diglycerides of fatty acids), flour
treatment agent E300 (absorbic acid), preservative calcium
propionate (to inhibit mould growth)
home-made loaf contains
flour, yeast, salt, water
the dough
Each chapter that follows begins with a slightly different dough
recipe and, from this ‘parent’ dough, you can bake a vast variety of
styles of bread really easily. Just to keep things interesting, I have
finished all but the Sweet Dough chapter with a slightly more
challenging bread for you to try once you begin to feel comfortable
with baking. Though the doughs vary the technique for making each
one is identical.

Heating the oven

Your very first job is to preheat your oven to its highest temperature
(250°C if possible – except for the Sweet Dough chapter, when the
oven should start off a bit lower at 220ºC) and put your baking
stone or heavy baking tray into the oven. Do this as early as you
can, so that not only the oven, but the whole kitchen warms up –
you’ll find the dough is more responsive in a warm atmosphere.
For the Aga: with our recent move to Bath I have lost the gas oven
in which all the bread for this book was baked and I have had to get
used to an Aga. I was initially apprehensive but soon discovered
some clear advantages: there is no need to preheat the oven and
the kitchen is always at the perfect temperature for baking. To start
with I put my baking stone directly onto the floor of the top oven,
put an oven thermometer in to give me an accurate temperature
reading and then adjust the control until I achieve a temperature of
about 250°C. For most of the small loaves this has worked very
well. When I tried larger loaves I found that they started to colour
too quickly so I solved the problem by opening the door, so it is
slightly ajar, to let some of the heat out, and then turning the loaf
around a couple of times so it is evenly baked. I will continue to
practice so I can include full Aga instructions in the next edition. I’m
sure that the more I bake the more I will learn to trust it.
Weighing ingredients
Weigh all the ingredients carefully – I even weigh my water, as it is
much more precise than trying to judge volume at eye level. You
can see for yourself by measuring 350ml of water, then weighing it.
Do it a few times and I bet that every time there will be a slight
variation in the weight. In most cooking this would be neither here
nor there, but in baking it is important to be accurate about your
quantities.

Freezing bread
All of the breads in this book can be frozen, except for the Puff Ball.
However, I would recommend you part-bake them first to retain
freshness. Make sure the bread is thoroughly cool before freezing,
wrap in greaseproof paper and seal in a plastic food bag. To use
the bread, put into a cold oven, turned to 200ºC – by the time the
oven reaches the temperature (about 12–15 minutes) the loaves
should be baked. If you are already using your oven or you have an
Aga then just reduce the baking time to about 8–10 minutes. (Keep
an eye on smaller breads that may take less time.) As an exception,
breads made from sweet dough should always be fully baked
before freezing. Defrost them fully at room temperature then reheat
in a low oven (180ºC) before serving.
make the dough
• Rub the yeast into the flour using your fingertips as if making a
crumble until it disappears into the flour. Add the salt and then the
water. Hold the bowl with one hand and mix the ingredients around
with the other (or use the rounded end of your scraper) for 2–3
minutes until the dough starts to form.
• With the help of your plastic scraper, Iift the dough onto your work
surface. Even though the dough will feel quite soft and moist (and
look like thick, sticky porridge) do not add any flour to the work
surface.
People are always amazed when I tell them that I work the dough
by hand without flouring the work surface. Sometimes when I am
giving breadmaking classes, to prove the point that you don’t need
any flour, I put some extra water into the dough, to make it really
sticky. No one believes that it will really come together without flour,
yet it does, simply by working it, stretching and folding, to trap the
air inside. Think about it: if you continue adding flour at this stage –
before you know it you can easily put another 100g into your dough,
which will firm it up and change its make-up – then you are far more
likely to end up with a ‘brick’. If you work the dough without flour it
allows you to keep the dough softer, so the finished bread is lighter,
more airy and exciting.
work the dough
• Begin to work the dough. The idea is to stretch it and get as much
air into it as possible. Forget the way you have probably been
taught to knead the dough, by pummelling it with the heel of your
hands and rotating it. The way to work it is to slide your fingers
underneath it like a pair of forks1, with your thumbs on top2, swing it
upwards and then slap it back down, away from you, onto your
work surface (it will almost be too sticky to lift at this point)3. Stretch
the front of the dough towards you, then lift it back over itself in an
arc (to trap the air)4, still stretching it forwards and sideways and
tucking it in around the edges. Keep repeating this sequence5. At
first this might seem to be too much to think about, but once you
get the hang of it, you will find that you can work the dough easily in
one quick, seamless movement6/7. The DVD will help with this.

• As you work the dough it will start to come together and feel alive
and elastic in your hands8. Keep on working it until it comes cleanly
away from the work surface9, begins to look silky and feels smooth,
firm-butwobbly and responsive – you’ll understand what I mean,
when you feel it for yourself. I promise you the fascination with
dough starts here! Once you get used to this technique, it should
only take around 5 minutes, as opposed to 10–15 minutes of
traditional kneading.

• Now you can flour your work surface lightly, place the dough on
top and form it into a ball by folding each edge in turn into the
centre10 of the dough and pressing down well with your thumb,
rotating the ball as you go11. Turn the whole ball over and stretch
and tuck the edges under12. You will come across this technique in
various stages throughout recipes – in each case follow this folding
method. If the recipe calls for you to make a ‘tight ball’, then fold in
a few more times into the centre.
If using a mixer with a dough hook
• Put the flour into your mixer bowl and rub in the yeast. Switch the
mixer onto the slowest speed, add the salt and then the water and
mix for 2 minutes, then turn up to the next slowest speed and mix
for a further 6-7 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and
elastic. Remove the dough from the bowl, transfer to a lightly
floured surface and mould into a ball.

resting the dough

• Whichever method you use, once the dough has been mixed or
worked lightly, flour the inside of your mixing bowl and put the ball
of dough into it. Cover with a tea towel and rest in a draught-free
place (see here). Leave the dough for around 1 hour, until it is
roughly double in volume – don’t worry if this happens a bit quicker
or takes a little longer, as the dough will react slightly differently
according to the temperature of your kitchen. (A few of the recipes
require you to rest the dough for a shorter or longer time anyway,
so check before you start.) Once the dough has nearly doubled in
volume, you are ready to carry on with whatever recipe you choose.
Note: In some of the recipes for flavoured bread you will need to
incorporate extra ingredients – fruit, nuts, spices, etc. – at the end
of working the dough by hand or mixing in a mixer, before resting,
so check with the recipe you want to make before starting to make
the dough. Having made your own wonderful, wholesome dough,
make sure that when you flavour it you do it justice, by adding really
good-quality ingredients.

keeping the dough going (making a

ferment)
If you keep back a 200g piece of dough when you make your first
batch of bread, you can leave it in the fridge, ‘refreshing it’ from
time to time, to develop its flavour. Then you can add it to your next
batch of dough to enhance it, keep back another 200g piece of that
dough, and so on… that way you add more flavour and character
to your dough and bread every time you bake. When you keep
back your dough, put it in a bowl in the fridge, covered with
clingfilm, leave it for 2 days, and add the same amount of water
(200g) and double its weight of flour (400g). Mix well until you have a
firm dough, then put it back in the fridge. If you aren’t going to be
baking for a while, refresh it every 7–10 days. To save your fridge
from being over-run by growing dough, keep back 200g (throw
away the rest) and again add the same amount of water and double
the weight of flour and mix it in. Some people say you should leave
the dough in ambient conditions, but if you keep it in the fridge you
can control the temperature much better. You are in charge, not the
dough. And as you become more confident and bake more
regularly, you can increase the amount of dough you refresh so you
can bake bigger batches of bread. Larger quantities of dough will
mature more slowly so you can leave more time between feeding. I
keep up to 2kg in my fridge, so if I go on holiday for two weeks I
don’t have to worry that it will have ‘died’ in the meantime – or take
it with me in my suitcase. Don’t laugh – I know people who have
done it. I imagine them checking into their hotel, ‘Yes there is me,
my wife, my kids…and my ferment!’
to roll into small balls
• After you have rested the dough, turn it out onto your surface.
Divide into three. Flatten the dough with the heel of your hand into a
rough oval shape. Fold one side of the flattened dough into the
middle and use the heel of your hand to press it down and seal,
then fold the other side into the middle and again press down firmly
to seal. Finally fold in half lengthways so you end up with a long
sausage shape and seal the long edge. By folding and pressing in
this way – a technique that is repeated for many of the breads that
are ‘moulded’ (shaped) – you give the dough extra strength and
‘backbone’. Turn over so it is seam-side-down.
• Cut the log of dough into equal pieces as required for each
recipe. To make these into small balls, you start off by using the
same technique as for forming the worked dough into a ball before
resting (see here), i.e. fold each edge in turn into the centre of the
dough and press down well with your thumb or fingers, rotating the
ball as you go. If the recipe calls for a ‘tight ball’ fold into the centre
a few more times. Turn the ball over and roll it in the palm of your
hand, smoothing and easing the edges underneath.
to shape into long rolls
• Form each piece into balls. Flatten each ball into a circle with your
fingers, then repeat the folding technique: fold one third into the
centre and press down and seal with the side of your thumb, or
heel of your hand, whichever feels more comfortable. Fold in the
opposite third and seal again. Fold the roll in half lengthwise and
seal the two sides together. Finally seal both ends. With the seam
underneath, roll the dough evenly with your hands, easing the ends
outwards, so that they become pointed.
to shape into loaves
• The technique is the same as for shaping rolls, except you will be
using one big ball of dough or two, according to the recipe. First
flatten the ball of dough a little with the heel of your hand. Fold one
edge into the centre and press down with the heel of your hand.
Fold the other edge over into the centre and press down again. Fold
over in half and then press down again firmly to seal the edges.
Turn over and place (seam-side-down) on a wooden peel or baking
tray or in a greased loaf tin according to the recipe.
small breads are more fun…
When you make bread for the first time, I always suggest that you
try some small breads first because if you make one big loaf and it
collapses, you may never give it a go again. Small breads are more
fun. So begin with the simplest dough of all, white dough, and I
would suggest trying the fougasse – one of the easiest breads to
make, and one of the biggest hits in my bread class.
What is white dough? Flour, water, salt and yeast; that’s all. This is
the simplest, most fundamental dough you can make. But from just
four basic elements, what possibilities, what endless variations,
what fun... I never stop being amazed at how much you can do with
four everyday ingredients. There is something so satisfying,
addictive even, about experimenting with white dough. Even my son
gets excited about making this bread with his dad.

10g Yeast (fresh if possible)

500g Strong bread flour
10g Salt
350g Water (or 350ml – you can use a measuring jug, but weighing
is more accurate – see here)

Remember to preheat the oven to 250ºC. Rub the yeast into the
flour using your fingertips as if making a crumble. Add the salt and
water. Hold the bowl with one hand and mix the ingredients around
with the other (or use the rounded end of your scraper) for 2–3
minutes until the dough starts to form. Make the dough according to
the method, but check your recipe to see if you need to add any
other ingredients at this stage. Here is a reminder of the four stages
of working the dough.
1. Slide your fingers underneath with your thumbs on top.
2. Swing the dough upwards then slap it down away from you.
3. Stretch the front of the dough towards you.
4. LIft it back over itself in an arc to trap in the air.
fougasse
When I teach people to make bread this is always one of the first
recipes I get them to try because fougasses are simple, and yet so
smart and impressive looking, with a texture that is crunchy on the
outside and soft inside. When they come out of the oven I see
everyone wearing what I call, ‘the fougasse grin’ that says, ‘Look
what I’ve made!’
In all cookery, what goes around comes around as fashions
constantly change. The contemporary-looking fougasses that you
see are in fact just a reincarnation of an idea that has been around
for a very long time. The original fougasse is a flatbread that
belongs to the same family as focaccia – the word comes from the
Latin word focus which means hearth – because the breads, which
were like pancakes, were cooked under the cinders in the hearth.
I like to use maize flour for dusting this bread as it gives the crust
a rich golden colour and creates the impression that the fougasse
has been baked in a wood-fired oven. You can make fougasses
with olive, rye or brown dough, too.

Quantity: Makes 6 fougasses

Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 1 hour
Baking: 10–12 minutes

1 Batch White dough rested for 1 hour

200g White or maize flour for dusting
To make

• Flour your work surface well. Use the rounded end of your
plastic scraper to release the dough from the bowl, so that
you can scoop it out easily in one piece and transfer it to the
work surface without stretching it. Be careful not to deflate
the dough when handling it but let it spread out to cover a
square of your work surface. Generously flour the top of the
dough.
• Using the flat edge of your scraper, cut the dough into two
rectangles, and then cut each piece again into three roughly
rectangular pieces. Again handle the dough as gently as you
can so that it stays as light and full of air as possible. Keep
the pieces well-floured.
• Take one of the pieces of dough and use the flat edge of
your scraper to make a large diagonal cut across the centre,
making sure that you don’t go right to the edges of the
dough, but cut all the way through the dough on to your
work surface. Then make three smaller diagonal cuts
fanning out on each side of the central one. Put your fingers
into the slits and gently open them out to form holes. Be
bold. In my classes, sometimes people try to make
complicated patterns with lots of little cuts but, of course
when the dough bakes, they will close up. It is better to
make fewer cuts and really open out the holes.

• Lift onto a lightly floured wooden peel or flat-edged baking

tray and from here slide onto the hot baking stone or
upturned tray in the preheated oven. Do this as quickly as
possible, to avoid letting heat out of the oven. Using a water
spray, mist the inside of the oven with water just before
closing the door. Turn the heat down to 230°C and bake for
10–12 minutes until golden brown.
Variations: After the dough has been worked by hand or mixed, just
before you leave it to rest, add some halved olives (buy good-quality
ones with the stone in, and take the stone out yourself), roasted
peppers, roasted onions, or just press some fresh rosemary or
thyme leaves into each fougasse before baking.

Part-baking for the freezer: If you want to freeze your fougasse, ¾-

bake them for 6–7 minutes, then remove them from the oven, cool,
wrap in freezer bags and freeze. To use, bake from frozen at 180–
200ºC for 12 minutes.
puff balls
These crispy thin balls of dough are a play on the classic idea of a
salad with croûtons – but this way the bread is actually encasing
the salad, which can be as simple as aromatic leaves and herbs, or
if you want to be smart you could add some shaved truffle. The
idea is to crack open the tops, like boiled eggs. The salad will spring
out from the inside – I promise you, it always gets a good reaction!
Remember that whatever you use as a filling shouldn’t have any
dressing, or the puff ball will become soggy. You can serve the
dressing separately, for everyone to add once the puff balls are
cracked open. This should give enough dough to make about 20
good-sized puff balls, but when you make them the first time,
expect to break a few. Hopefully, you will end up with at least 10
perfect ones – you can use the broken ones as ‘crisps’ with some
dipping sauces. With practice you can try shaping the dough into
pillows or squares, rather than balls, or even make bite-sized ones
for parties.

Quantity: 20 puff balls, or 10 puff balls and a bowlful of

‘bread crisps’
Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 25 minutes
Baking: 3–4 minutes

1 Batch White dough rested for 20 minutes

Plain white flour for dusting
Salad of your choice

To make
• Use the rounded end of your plastic scraper to scoop the
dough from the bowl and use the flat edge to divide it into
equal pieces (about 40g each).
• Round each piece of dough into a small ball, cover with a
tea towel and leave to rest for a further 5 minutes.
• Make sure there are no tiny pieces of dried dough on your
work surface or rolling pin, as any particles that get into the
dough will stop it from puffing up. Dust your work surface
with some flour – sieve it first, for the same reason.
• Roll out each piece of dough into a disc, turning it over a
few times, and flouring well as you go. Continue rolling until
the dough is really thin (1–2mm thick).
• You will need to bake the puff balls one or two at a time,
depending on the size of your oven, so slide the first one or
two onto a wooden peel or flat-edged baking tray, and use
this to transfer the dough onto the baking stone or upturned
tray in the preheated oven. Bake for about 3–4 minutes. The
puff balls should inflate very quickly and are ready when
they are completely puffed up, golden brown and sound
hollow if you tap them (very!) gently with your finger.
• Carefully remove each one from the oven and cool on a
wire rack. The puff balls are at their best about 3–4 hours
after baking, but can be kept for a couple of days in an
airtight tin. Don’t store in a plastic bag or they will soften.

To serve
At the last minute, brush a small circle of the base with water to
soften the crust, then carefully cut out this softened disc with a
sharp knife. Just before serving push a good quantity of salad
gently into each puff ball. Let everyone break the tops with a spoon
or fork, and the salad will spring out.

Note: You can roll and bake in a continual process, rolling out one
ball, putting it in the oven, then rolling out the next as the first one
bakes, and so on.
bread shots
These are tiny pieces of dough, which make unusual little canapés
to pass around with drinks. You simply roll out the pieces into little
balls – try to do it as tightly as possible – then press your finger, or
the end of a wooden spoon handle, into the centre to make a well,
so that you can put in a filling such as cheese, pesto or even a
walnut half or olive. When you leave the balls to prove, the dough
will rise up around the filling.

Quantity: About 30 bread shots

Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 1¼ hours
Proving: 45 minutes
Baking: 8–10 minutes

1 Batch White dough rested for 1 hour Flour for dusting

A little olive oil for greasing plus extra-virgin olive oil for finishing

A selection of 2 or more fillings:

• Pesto
• Tomato paste or mix some finely chopped herbs into some good-
quality tomato purée
• Olive paste
• Cheese: Choose a strong-flavoured mature hard cheese, cut into
1cm cubes
• Walnut halves
• Good-quality, whole, stoned olives

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your plastic scraper,
turn out the rested dough. With the flat edge, divide it first
into 5 x 170g pieces, roll each piece into a log, halve each
log, then cut each half into three, to make 30 pieces. Roll
each piece into a tight, smooth ball. Place the balls onto a
flat-edged baking tray, lightly greased with oil (make sure
there is space between them or they will touch as they rise),
and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Dip the handle of a wooden
spoon or your index finger into the flour and then push it
into the centre of the first ball. Put a little of your chosen
filling into the well you have made. Repeat with the
remaining balls. Leave the balls to prove for 45 minutes on a
baking tray, covered with a tea towel.
• Put the tray into the preheated oven and mist the inside
with a water spray. Turn down the heat to 220°C and bake
for 8–10 minutes until they are light golden brown. Remove
and allow to cool a little, so that they are just warm before
serving. Brush with a little olive oil to give a nice sheen and
an extra layer of flavour.
Part-baking in advance: Bake the shots for 4 minutes, leave to cool
and store in a plastic bag in the fridge. When you are ready to
serve, put them back in the oven (again at 220°C) for a few minutes
until they colour.
layered rolls
These are really striking but very simple to make because you don’t
have to do any ‘moulding’ or shaping of the dough. You just roll it
out, then cut it into discs with a cutter, and bake the discs one on
top of the other. Such a simple idea, which you could do alternating
two different types of dough: perhaps using some plain and some
flavoured with Morrocan spice or saffron.

Quantity: 10–12 rolls

Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 1 hour
Proving: 45 minutes
Baking: 10–12 minutes

1 Batch White dough rested for 1 hour

Flour for dusting

To make
• Flour your work surface evenly and with the help of the
rounded end of your scraper turn the dough out onto it.
Flatten the dough a little with your hands and then roll it out
to a thickness of about 5mm.
• Use the cutter to cut out rounds (or squares) and layer four
pieces (brushed with a little water) on top of each other to
make each roll.
• Place them on a flat-edged or upturned baking tray and
leave to prove for 45 minutes.
• Transfer to your baking stone/upturned tray in the
preheated oven. Mist the inside of the oven with a water
spray just before closing the door. Turn down the heat to
230°C and bake for 10–12 minutes until dark golden brown.
Cool on a wire rack.
lemon rolls
Lemon is a flavour that works particularly well with bread and,
because you use the zest, the delicate, fragrant taste really shines
through. I love these rolls in summer with a big bowl of salad, or
even filled with smoked salmon. Of course you can make very
simple rolls, without any lemon.

Quantity: 9–10 rolls

Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 65 minutes
Proving: 1 hour
Baking: 9–10 minutes

1 Batch White dough

Zest of 2 large lemons
Flour for dusting

To prepare
Add the zest of the lemons to the dough just before you finish
working by hand or mixing in a mixer, and ensure that it is evenly
distributed through the dough. Form the dough into a ball and place
it into a lightly floured bowl to rest for 1 hour.

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn the
rested dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Cut it
into 9–10 pieces and form into balls. Cover with a tea towel
and leave to rest for 5 minutes. Shape the balls into rolls.
Line a tray with a clean tea towel and lightly flour it. Lay the
rolls (seam-side-down) two abreast, parallel to the short
edge of the tea towel and then make a pleat in the fabric to
form a barrier between these rolls and the next two. Pleat
again and repeat until all the rolls are laid out on the tray.
Cover with another tea towel. Leave to prove for about 1
hour in a warm and draught-free place until the rolls have
nearly doubled in volume.
• Place the rolls on a wooden peel or flat baking tray. Score
the tops of the rolls with a razor blade or very sharp knife in
a leaf pattern, i.e. one slash down the centre and three small
ones fanning out on either side. Slide onto the baking
stone/upturned tray in the preheated oven, mist the inside
with a water spray and turn down the heat to 220°C. Bake
for 9–10 minutes until golden brown.
Part-baking for the freezer: Bake the rolls for 5–6 minutes at
220°C, and then cool completely before freezing. To serve,
bake from frozen at 210°C for 8–10 minutes until golden
brown.
sesame & aniseed breadsticks
I made these because I love sesame seeds and I love aniseed – it’s
as simple as that. Perhaps it is to do with memories of drinking
pastis in the sunshine, but I think these little sticks are great with an
aperitif. Because the recipe only uses a half quantity of white dough
I often make a full quantity and use the rest to make the variation
that follows, with olives, herbs and pecorino. These breadsticks are
a little chunkier than the Italian version (grissini), with slightly more of
a bready texture. I like them quite soft and chewy – but the longer
you bake them the crispier they will become.

Quantity: 10–12 breadsticks

Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 1 hour
Proving: 20 minutes
Baking: 8–10 minutes

½ Batch White dough rested for 1 hour

5 Star anise or 5g star anise powder
50g Sesame seeds
Plain white flour for dusting

To prepare
Grind the star anise using a pestle and mortar and pass the powder
through a fine sieve. Mix it with the sesame seeds on a tray.

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper turn the
dough out onto the lightly floured work surface and flatten it
with your hand into a rectangle about 15 x 30cm and about
1cm thick. Sprinkle some of the seed mixture on top and
press it gently into the dough. Fold one third of the square
into the centre, pressing down with your fingertips, sprinkle
on some more of the seed mixture and fold the opposite
third of the dough over on top, as if folding an A4 letter to
put into an envelope. Press down again. Sprinkle some
more of the seed mixture on top and press gently into the
dough. With the flat edge of your scraper cut the dough
widthways into 10–12 strips about 1cm wide. Twist each
strip, stretching it to the length of your baking tray and roll in
the remaining sesame seed mixture. Place the strips on the
tray leaving a gap between each one. Cover with a tea towel.
Prove for 20 minutes. Put into the preheated oven, mist the
inside with a water spray and bake them for 8–10 minutes
until golden brown.
olive, herb & pecorino sticks
I love the flavours of these breadsticks – very southern
Mediterranean. When we make them in the bread class people are
enchanted by them. They look really smart on the table at lunch, or
at a barbeque. I use purple Greek Kalamata olives, but you can
substitute something similar: just don’t buy cheap black shiny
olives, which are really green olives subjected to oxygen to turn
them black, and then coated with gum to keep them glossy. Buy
them whole and take out the stones yourself – that way you will
keep in all the flavour. Sometimes I make this with an herbes de
Provence mix that has lavender in it, which I think is beautiful – but I
know lavender is an acquired taste. If you like you can serve the
breadsticks with a little pot of good extra-virgin olive oil to dip them
into.

Quantity: 10–12 breadsticks

Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 1 hour
Proving: 30 minutes
Baking: 10–12 minutes

½ Batch White dough rested for 1 hour

100g Purple olives, such as Kalamata, stone in
50g Pecorino cheese (or Parmesan if you prefer), grated
5g Good herbes de Provence
Maize flour for dusting

To prepare
Stone the olives and cut each one roughly into three. Mix the olives,
cheese and herbs in a bowl.

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn the
dough out onto the work surface, lightly dusted with maize
flour. Using your hand, flatten out into a rectangle about
2cm thick. Sprinkle the cheese and olive mixture on top and
press it into the dough with your fingertips. Fold one third of
the dough into the centre and press down with your
fingertips. Then fold the opposite side over on top (as if you
were folding an A4 letter to put into an envelope). Press with
the palms of your hands to work the olives into the dough.
With the flat edge of your scraper cut the dough widthways
into 10–12 strips about 1cm wide. Flour your work surface
with maize flour. Twist each strip and roll them a little on the
work surface so they stretch to the length of your baking
tray (non-stick, or covered with greaseproof paper so that
the cheese in the dough doesn’t stick to the tray) and place
the strips on top, leaving a good gap between each one.
Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for 30 minutes.
Put into the preheated oven. Mist the inside with a water
spray, then bake them for 10–12 minutes until golden
brown. Use a spatula or palette knife to lift them from the
baking tray. Cool on a wire rack.
spicy moroccan rolls
One day I bought a packet of the traditional Moroccan spice mix,
Ras-el-Hanout, and tried adding some of it to my bread dough. The
flavours – which include the likes of cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric,
cardamom seeds, black pepper and cloves – came through really
well. When I think of Morocco, I think of those wonderful squashy
cushions that people sit on – so I decided to make these rolls in a
similar shape. If you are making a tagine, or any dish using
Moroccan spices, these would make a great accompaniment.

Quantity: 20 rolls
Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 45 minutes
Proving: 30–45 minutes
Baking: 10–12 minutes

1 Batch White dough

25g Moroccan spice blend (Ras-el-Hanout)
100g Sesame seeds
Flour for dusting

To prepare
Just before you have finished working the dough by hand, or at the
end of mixing in the mixer, add the spices and work/mix a little
more to make sure they are evenly distributed. Shape into a ball,
cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for 45 minutes.

To make
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and
flatten a little with the palm of your hand.
• Divide the dough into two and mould each piece into a log
shape (using the folding technique in here). Divide each log
into ten equal pieces – they will look a bit like overgrown
marshmallows. Brush one cut side of each piece with water
and then dip them into a bowl containing the sesame seeds.
• Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for 30–45
minutes or until the rolls have nearly doubled in size.
• Mist the inside of your preheated oven with a water spray
and slide the rolls onto your baking stone/upturned baking
tray. Bake them for 10–12 minutes until light golden brown.
Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
baguettes
In France the word baguette has a very strict meaning: a baguette
must weigh 320g and there must be seven cuts along the top, as
opposed to five on le pain. The point of the cuts is to let the crust
burst open so that it is good and crunchy. Every baker cuts the
dough in his own way – it is his signature, which everyone else in
the bakery recognises. But you don’t need to worry about rules.
Just try making some small baguettes first, and when you mould the
bread do it as tightly as you can; then, just before you put the
bread into the oven, spray it with water to create steam – these
details will help you to create the fantastic thick crust that a good
baguette should have. In France everyone likes their baguette
baked differently. Personally I like the crust to be dark golden
brown, not pale and insipid as you often see in this country (other
people prefer them well cooked – bien cuit). Resting the dough for a
minimum of 1 hour will give you the right light, airy texture inside,
with plenty of holes running through the bread.
Every time you make a baguette, keep back a piece and add it
to your next batch of dough; that way you will infuse more and more
flavour into it each time you bake.

Quantity: 4 large or 8 mini baguettes

Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 65 minutes
Proving: 45-60 minutes
Baking: 10–12 minutes

1 Batch White dough rested for 1 hour

Plain white flour for dusting

To prepare
Line a baking tray with a lightly floured tea towel.
To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn the
dough out onto a floured work surface. Using the sharp side
of your scraper cut the dough into four pieces (weighing
about 215g) if you are making full-sized baguettes or eight
(weighing about 110g each) for the mini baguettes. Roll
each piece into a ball and rest for a further 5 minutes.
• Lightly dust your work surface with flour. To mould the
baguettes, take the first ball, turn it rounded-side down and
then flatten it with the heel of your hand into a rough oval
shape. Fold one side of your flattened dough into the middle
and again use the heel of your hand, or thumb, to press it
down and seal. Bring the other side over to the middle and
again press down to seal. By folding and pressing in this
way, you give the dough some extra strength down the
spine of the baguette. Finally fold in half lengthways and seal
the edges so you end up with a long log shape. Roll each
baguette a little to shape and extend it to the length of your
tea towel-lined baking tray. Repeat with the other balls of
dough.
• Lay the baguettes on the tea towel on your baking tray,
making a pleat in the towel between each one (to stop them
touching as they rise). Cover with another tea towel and
leave to prove for 45-60 minutes, or until they have nearly
doubled in volume.
• Transfer the baguettes to a very lightly floured wooden
peel, flat-edged or upturned baking tray. Using a razor blade
or sharp knife make 5 or 6 diagonal cuts across the top of
the baguettes. Make the cuts swiftly and cleanly, taking care
not to drag the dough.
• The crust on your baguettes will be crunchier if you bake
them with a little steam, so mist the inside of the preheated
oven using a water spray just before putting them in. Slide
them onto your baking stone or tray in the oven. Spray again
with water just before closing the door and bake for 10–12
minutes until the crust is a nice golden brown. (Once you
have closed the door do not open it for the first 4-5 minutes
so that you maintain the heat needed to form the crust.)
Variation: Epis
You see these all the time in French bakeries. Because there is
more exposed surface area, they are even more crusty than the
traditional baguette, and great to put in the middle of the table,
letting people break off the ‘ears’.
Follow the method for baguettes up to the point of laying the
bread on a lightly floured flat baking tray. With a pair of scissors,
held at a 45° angle to the dough, start at one end of the baguette
and make snips (cutting three quarters of the way through the
dough) at intervals all the way down the centre. This will create ‘V’
shaped points of dough which you can push to alternate sides of the
bread, so that it looks like an ear of wheat. Bake, with steam (as
above), for 10–12 minutes.
gruyère cheese & cumin bread
Cumin is a favourite spice of mine – I think its warmth marries
brilliantly with Gruyère. I love to slice this bread and then use it
instead of the more traditional Pain de Mie to make croque
monsieurs.

Quantity: 3 loaves
Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 1½ hours
Proving: 1–1½ hours
Baking: 15–20 minutes

1 Batch White dough rested for 1 hour

2g Cumin seeds (just under ½ teaspoon)
2g Cumin powder (just under ½ teaspoon)
250g Gruyère cheese, coarsely grated
Flour for dusting
A little butter for greasing

To prepare
Grease 3 x 500g (20–22cm long) loaf tins with butter, and line them
with non-stick silicon paper.

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn the
dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and flatten it
with the base of your hands to about 1cm thick. Mix the
cumin seeds and powder together and sprinkle on top of the
dough. Sprinkle on the cheese and work this, and the
cumin, into the dough by pressing firmly with your fingers.
Fold a third of the dough into the centre, and then fold the
other third over the top, to ensure that the cheese is evenly
distributed through the dough. Then form the dough into a
ball and rest for a further 30 minutes.
• Divide the dough into three, mould each piece lightly into a
loaf shape and put one into each prepared tin. With a razor
blade or sharp knife cut the top of each loaf diagonally four
or five times. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for
1–1½ hours until the loaves have nearly doubled in volume.
The exact time taken will depend on the temperature of your
proving place.
• Put the tins into the preheated oven, mist the inside with a
water spray and turn down the heat to 210°C. Bake for 15–
20 minutes until golden brown on top. Remove the loaves
from the tins. Check that the base is also golden brown – if
not, return to the oven without the tin for a few minutes.
Cool on a wire rack.
pain façon beaucaire
The true Pain Beaucaire originates on the Côte d’Azur, and uses a
special local wheat. This version uses white dough, but with the
same folding technique, which looks really smart. I’ve found that
once people get the hang of how easy it is to do, without having to
mould the bread, they make it time and time again. Later on, when
you feel confident to make pain de campagne you can use the
same folding technique with that dough.

Quantity: 8 small rolls

Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 1 hour
Proving: 30 minutes
Baking: 10–12 minutes

1 Batch White dough rested for 1 hour

Maize or wholemeal flour for dusting
White flour for dusting

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn out
the dough and flatten it out with your hands into a rectangle.
Brush with a little water and sprinkle on some maize or
wholemeal flour. Fold over the dough lengthways, stopping
3cm before the edge. Brush this edge with water, fold it
back over the dough and seal.
• Lay a tea towel on your work surface and sprinkle liberally
with white flour. Place the dough, seam-sidedown, on the
tea towel and flour the exposed surface. Cover with another
tea towel and leave to prove for 30 minutes somewhere
warm and draught-free or until it has nearly doubled in size.
• With a sharp serrated knife, cut the dough widthways into
3cm slices. Place the pieces on a baking tray on their side,
open out gently (so they look a bit like ring doughnuts but
with a smaller and thinner hole), and bake in the preheated
oven for 10–12 minutes or until golden brown.
saffron rolls
Saffron (the dried stigma of a particular type of crocus) is another of
those luxurious, glamorous ingredients that if you use with too heavy
a hand can taste overpowering (and look too yellow) but, used in
bread as a background flavour, it gives a lovely warm and delicate
note. I love this bread with seafood chowder, or a fish stew like
bouillabaisse – or you can use it to make crab or prawn mayonnaise
sandwiches. Try to use saffron strands, rather than powder, as they
give a smarter appearance to the bread, and a richer flavour.

Quantity: 9 or 10 rolls
Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 1 hour
Proving: 45 minutes
Baking: 12 minutes

1 Batch White dough

Pinch of Saffron strands (If you can’t get strands powdered saffron
will do)
A few Cumin seeds
White flour for dusting

To prepare
When making the dough, dilute a few strands of saffron, or powder,
in the water before mixing, then carry on as usual, resting for 1
hour.
Line a tray with a tea towel and dust with flour.
To make

• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn out
the dough, and with your hand, flatten it into a rectangle.
Fold one third of the dough into the centre and press down
with your fingertips; fold the opposite side over on top (as if
you were folding an A4 letter to put into an envelope). With
the flat edge of your scraper cut it into 9 or 10 pieces
(weighing about 90–100g each) and mould each one into a
ball. Flour the top of each ball and then place a floured
rolling pin across the centre and press down firmly. The
dough will rise up either side of the indent you have made,
leaving you with a roll that resembles a coffee bean.
• Lay the rolls two abreast on the lined baking tray, making a
pleat between each pair of rolls, cover with another tea
towel and leave to prove for 45 minutes.
• Sprinkle a few cumin seeds on top of each roll, then slide
onto your baking stone/upturned tray in the preheated oven.
Mist the inside with a water spray and turn down the heat to
220°C. Bake them for 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
pain de mie / everyday loaves
This is as close as you get to a sliced loaf in France; however, the
dough is enriched with milk and butter. This is one of the few
breads in France that is baked in a tin. ‘Mie’ means crumb,
because this bread is all about the crumb rather than the crust
(‘croûte’). It is traditionally used for canapés and small toasts,
where you don’t want a crusty edge. So if you have a tin with a lid,
bake it in that, or put a tray on top for most of the baking time, to
prevent a proper crust from forming. This is also the typical bread
to use for a croque monsieur (you could also use the Gruyère and
Cumin bread, or Pain Viennois), the snack that all French kids grow
up with: 2 slices spread with a little béchamel, sandwiched with a
layer of ham, then topped with a thick layer of béchamel and some
grated Gruyère cheese and put into a preheated oven at 200ºC for
about 12 minutes until the cheese melts and turns golden – brilliant!
I also use Pain de Mie to make summer pudding – one of my
favourite British desserts; I love it so much that Jo and I even
served it at our wedding.

Quantity: 2 loaves
Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 1 hour
Proving: 1 hour
Baking: 25–30 minutes

10g Unsalted butter

20g Fresh yeast
500g Strong white flour
10g Salt
50g Full fat milk (50ml)
300g Water (300ml)
A little butter for greasing
To prepare
Grease 2 x 500g (20–22cm long) loaf tins with a little butter.

Preheat the oven to 250ºC. Make the dough according to the

method, adding the butter with the yeast (rubbing them both in
together) and the milk with the water, and rest for 1 hour.
To make
• With the help of the rounded edge of your scraper, turn
out the dough onto a floured surface, and divide the dough
into two equal pieces. Mould each piece very tightly into a
loaf shape.
• Once the loaves are in their tins leave to prove in a warm
draught-free place for 1 hour. Keep a close eye on the
loaves while they are proving and when the dough is level
with the top of the tin, cover with a lid or heavy tray weighed
down so the dough can’t rise any further.
• Put the tins into the preheated oven. Turn down the heat
to 220°C and bake the loaves for 20–25 minutes, covered,
and then a further 4–5 minutes uncovered, until light golden
brown. Remove the loaves from the tins and cool.
summer pudding (serves 4-6)
Cut 6–8 slices of stale pain de mie – about 1½cm thick – and trim
off the crusts. Keep back a couple of slices (for the lid) and use the
rest to line the base and sides of a pudding basin – make sure the
basin is completely covered (trim the bread to shape if necessary
so that it fits closely together).

Remove the stalks and/or stones from 600g mixed soft fruits
(include as many different fruits as you are able to get hold of, from
strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants
and sweet black cherries, but avoid adding too many blackcurrants
as they can overpower the other fruits).

Put the fruit in a wide, heavy-bottomed pan, add 100g caster sugar,
bring to the boil over a low heat and cook for a couple of minutes
until the sugar has dissolved and the fruit has just started to soften
and release its juice. Remove from the heat. Set aside 3 or 4
tablespoons of the juice, then spoon the fruit and the rest of the
juice into the prepared bowl and cover with the remaining slices of
bread. Place a plate, the same size as the rim of the bowl, on top of
the pudding and weight it down (a tin or jar will do). Place the bowl,
with the weight on top, in the fridge and leave to chill for at least 6
hours but preferably overnight.

To serve, remove the weight and the plate and slide a palette knife
round the inside of the bowl to release the pudding. Cover the bowl
with a serving plate and invert the bowl to turn the pudding out onto
the plate. Add 2 tablespoons crème de cassis to the reserved
juices then carefully pour them over the pudding so that all of the
bread is soaked through and coloured.
This takes the basic White Dough on a stage further, adding olive oil
which gives a lovely softness to the dough, making it very resilient,
and resulting in bread with a fantastic texture and flavour, which
also freezes well. There is also a recipe for ciabatta that uses
avocado oil, to make a wonderfully tasty variation.
I like to use a light fruity olive oil, not a peppery intense one – and
I also like to use a little semolina in the dough, to add character to
the bread. The dough will feel slightly wetter than the white dough
we made in the previous chapter, but once you have mastered the
technique of working it, it will come together beautifully.

500g Strong bread flour

20g Coarse semolina
15g Yeast (fresh if possible)
10g Salt
50g Good-quality extra-virgin olive oil
320g Water (320ml – but weighing is more accurate)

Preheat the oven to 250ºC. Mix the bread flour and semolina
together and rub in the yeast, using your fingertips as if making a
crumble. Add the salt, olive oil and water, then continue, according
to the method, but check your recipe to see if you need to add any
other ingredients at this stage.
rock salt & rosemary focaccia
This is such an easy, popular bread to make and makes a generous
slab that everyone can share. Just as every French baker has his
own way of making a baguette, I’m sure every Italian baker lends
his own individual style to focaccia. I’m not pretending that this is an
authentic Italian recipe – just my way of making a fantastic Italian
style of bread.

Quantity: 1 large slab

Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 2¼ hours
Proving: 45 minutes
Baking: 25–30 minutes

1 Batch Olive dough rested for 1 hour

4 tablespoons Olive oil plus a little extra
A few sprigs of Fresh rosemary
Good-quality rock salt

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn the
dough out onto an oiled tray. Drizzle the oil over the dough,
then, using your fingers, push and prod the dough so that it
spreads from the centre towards the edges of the tray – but
try not to stretch or pull it. Cover with a tea towel and leave
to rest somewhere warm and draught-free for 45 minutes.
• Prod the dough again, dimpling it with your fingertips, and
rest for a further 30 minutes.
• Take the leaves off the sprigs of rosemary and push them
evenly into the dough. Sprinkle on the rock salt and
immediately put into the preheated oven. Turn down the
heat to 220°C and bake it for 25–30 minutes, until it is light
golden brown. Remove from the oven and slide onto a wire
rack to cool. Brush with a little more olive oil while it’s still
hot.
Variation: Pesto, Olive & Pepperdew
Pepperdew are little sweet yet piquant, and quite mild, peppers that
come in a jar – you should be able to find them in most
supermarkets. If you prefer something hotter, use red chillies.
Follow the recipe, but instead of topping with rock salt and
rosemary, halve 20 cherry tomatoes, drain a jar of Pepperdew, and
tear the peppers into pieces with your fingers. Remove the stones
from a handful of Kalamata olives. Spread 4 tablespoons fresh pesto
onto the rested dough and work it evenly into the dough with your
fingertips. Sprinkle the peppers on top, then the tomatoes and
finally the olives. Push all of these ingredients gently into the dough.
Leave to prove for 45 minutes and bake and finish with oil as above.
tomato, garlic & basil bread
Three beautiful flavours that work even better together and make a
lovely moist bread that looks brilliantly colourful, is a lot more
interesting than garlic bread and more tasty than tomato bread
(much of which is made commercially with pre-mixed flavouring that
reminds me of cheap tomato soup). When you dust the bread in
maize flour it gives the finished loaf a rich colour.

Quantity: 3 loaves
Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 1 hour
Proving: 30 minutes
Baking: 20–25 minutes

1 Batch Olive dough rested for 1 hour

100g Oven-dried tomatoes
20 cloves Roasted garlic
Large bunch of fresh basil – leaves only
A little extra-virgin olive oil to finish
Flour for dusting (either white or maize flour)

To make
• Flour your work surface generously with white or maize
flour. With the help of the rounded end of your scraper turn
the rested dough out onto the work surface so that the
sticky underside is uppermost. Sprinkle a little flour onto the
dough and then, using your fingertips, spread it out gently
into a rectangle about 35 x 25cm, prodding it gently, so you
dimple it with your fingertips.
• Brush the excess flour from the top of the dough. Spread
the tomatoes evenly over it and push them gently into it
using your fingertips. Do the same with the garlic and then
the basil leaves.
• Fold the right-hand third of the rectangle into the centre.
Repeat with the left-hand third so that you end up with a
smaller rectangle. Press the dough gently with your
fingertips to work the additional ingredients better into the
dough and tuck under the edges neatly all the way round.
• Cut the dough crossways into three equal pieces. Tuck the
dough under one of the cut sides of the middle piece. Lightly
oil a baking tray. Place the three pieces on it, cut-side up (so
that you can see the tomato, garlic and basil). Cover with a
tea towel and leave to prove somewhere warm and draught-
free for 30 minutes.
• Put into the preheated oven, turn the heat down to 220°C
and bake for 20–25 minutes until golden brown. Remove
and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Brush with a little extra-
virgin olive oil while still warm.
Part-baking for the freezer: If you want to freeze these loaves bake
them for 15 minutes and then leave to cool for at least 1 hour. Wrap
them well in freezer bags. To use, put them in a preheated oven at
180°C and bake for 12–15 minutes from frozen, or for 8–10 minutes
if defrosted.

oven-dried tomatoes
Preheat the oven to 100°C. You need 1 punnet (250g) cherry
tomatoes or 6–8 larger tomatoes. If you are using cherry tomatoes,
halve them; if they are larger, quarter them and lay them on a
baking tray, skin-sidedown. Season with sea salt and freshly ground
black pepper and sprinkle on a teaspoon of caster sugar and a
couple of pinches of good-quality dried herbes de Provence (or a
little fresh thyme and rosemary). Put in the preheated oven for 2
hours until dried but soft. After drying, the tomatoes should weigh
about 100g and will be sufficient for the recipe for Tomato, Garlic &
Basil Bread.
Note: The tomatoes can be packed into a clean, sterile jar and
covered with olive oil. You can store them like this for several
weeks. You can also blitz them in a food processor to make a really
tasty tomato sauce for the pizza, or a tomato paste for the bread
shots.

roasted garlic
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Put an ovenproof pan on the hob and
add 5 tablespoons olive oil, 25g butter and a teaspoon of caster
sugar. When the butter has melted, add 20 peeled garlic cloves
and toss them in the mixture, then transfer to the oven and cook for
20–25 minutes until the garlic has caramelised and is soft enough to
offer no resistance to the point of a sharp knife. Remove the pan
from the oven and let the garlic cool in its cooking juices. Once cool,
lift the garlic from the juices and drain on a few sheets of kitchen
paper.

fresh pesto
An Italian would probably throw up his hands in horror, but I like to
add a little squeeze of lemon into my pesto. Put 100g pine nuts into
a food processor with 3 garlic cloves and 100g grated Parmesan
and blitz for a few seconds. Add 3–4 bunches of basil (enough to fill
the bowl of the food processor loosely) and blitz again until it has all
been chopped. Add the juice of half a lemon and 60g/4
tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and blitz once more. Taste and
season if necessary with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
If the pesto is too thick add a little extra olive oil.
Note: The pesto can be kept in the fridge for a few days or in the
freezer for several weeks.
soup bowl
I first thought of this after ordering an Indian takeaway. The food
was tasty, but it looked so boring in its little plastic trays. I thought
how much more fun it would be to serve it in bowls made from
bread, which you could flavour with a little chilli or spice and then
eat, as the sauces softened the bread. From the idea of a curry
bowl it was only a short step to thinking about also using the bread
containers as soup bowls – a nice play on soup with bread or
croûtons.

Quantity: 8 bowls
Preparation: 30 minutes
Resting: 40 minutes
Baking: 20–25 minutes

1 Batch Olive dough rested for 30 minutes

A little olive oil for greasing
White flour for dusting

To prepare
Lightly oil the outside of 8 earthenware bowls, about 12cm diameter
(I use a set of soup or breakfast bowls).

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn the
dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it
into 100g pieces. Again lightly flour your work surface.
Taking one piece at a time, roll out the dough into circles.
Shake off any excess flour and shape over the upturned
bowls. Press gently to ensure there are no air bubbles
between the dough and the bowl. Rest for 10 minutes.
• Put (bowls upturned) into the preheated oven and turn
down the heat to 200°C and bake for 20–25 minutes until
golden brown. (You will probably need to bake in 2 batches.)
Remove them from the oven and leave to cool for a few
minutes. Using a fine-bladed knife, gently loosen the bread
from the bowls and ease off. Cool on a wire rack.
For the freezer: The bowls freeze well for a few weeks. Stack them
with a sheet of greaseproof paper between each one. Defrost for
about 1 hour before warming them in the oven for 3 minutes at
180°C.
parmesan, parma ham & pine nut
slices
These are a little like savoury pain aux raisins. You can even slice
them in half if you like and fill them with rocket and slivers of
Parmesan. I also like to make really small ones to serve with
aperitifs – if you want to do this, cut the dough in half before you
start, and when you roll it up, do so quite tightly to keep them small
and neat (the larger ones can be a little looser).

Quantity: 12 slices
Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 1 hour
Proving: 45 minutes
Baking: 12–15 minutes

1 Batch Olive dough rested for 1 hour

100g Parmesan cheese
100g Pine nuts
2 tablespoons Extra-virgin olive oil, plus a little extra for finishing
12 Slices of Parma ham
Maize flour for dusting

To prepare
Grate the Parmesan.
Scatter the pine nuts on a baking tray and toast under the grill or in
a hot oven, turning from time to time until they are toasted. Leave to
cool.

To make
• Sprinkle your work surface with maize flour. With the help
of the rounded end of your plastic scraper, turn out the
dough and with your fingers spread it out into a rough
rectangle, dimpling it as you go, and brush with olive oil.
• Mix the nuts and grated cheese together and sprinkle half
evenly over the dough. Lay the parma ham on top. Brush a
little more oil over the ham then spread the remaining
cheese and nuts on top.
• Roll the dough up like a roulade and seal the seam by
pushing down on it with your fingers. Using a sharp serrated
knife, cut the dough into 2cm slices and place them on their
sides on a lightly greased baking tray.
• Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for 45 minutes or
until the slices have nearly doubled in volume.
• Put them in the preheated oven, turn down the heat to
240°C and bake for 12–15 minutes until golden brown.
Remove and cool on a wire rack. Brush with a little more oil
while still warm.
flatbread
This is very thin bread that you can use as a wrap or a pizza base.
You can even bake it for a slightly longer time until it has completely
dried then break it up and serve with dips as a low-fat alternative to
crisps. You can also flavour the dough if you like – perhaps with
some Thai spices or, alternatively, add a topping of fines herbes,
rock salt, black pepper and (fresh or dried) chillies before baking.

Quantity: 4 flatbreads
Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 55–60 minutes
Baking: 8–10 minutes

1 Batch Olive dough rested for 30 minutes

Maize flour for dusting
A little olive oil

To prepare
Lightly brush 4 non-stick 20 x 30cm trays with oil.

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn out
the dough and divide it into four equal pieces. Place a piece
of dough onto a tray and, using your fingertips, push it out
until it fills the tray. If the dough is very sticky, use a little
maize flour to help you to do this. Don’t worry if it doesn’t
quite fill the tray; there is no need to force it – it will expand
during resting and you will be able to spread it out to fill the
tray then. Repeat with the other three pieces of dough.
• Cover with a tea towel and rest for 15–20 minutes. Prod
again with your fingertips to spread the dough out to fill the
tray. Rest for a final 10 minutes before baking.
• To use as a wrap, put in the preheated oven, turn the heat
down to 220°C and bake for 8–10 minutes until very lightly
coloured (the colour of part-baked dough). Don’t bake any
longer, as the bread needs to be soft enough to roll. Serve
filled with fresh vine tomatoes, salad, parma ham – the
choices are endless.
To break up the bread into pieces to serve with a dip, bake for 15–
18 minutes until crisp.
pizza
I don’t use any semolina in this dough as I want it to be very smooth
and elastic. The topping I have suggested is for a traditional
margherita, but of course you can use any topping you like.

Quantity: 3 pizzas
Preparation: 15 minutes
Resting: 70 minutes or overnight in the fridge
Baking: 10–12 minutes

Pizza base:
15g Fresh yeast
500g Strong white Italian flour
10g Salt
50g Olive oil (50ml)
320g Water (320ml)
Plain white flour for dusting

Topping for each pizza:

¾ tablespoon Blitzed oven-dried tomatoes
100g Buffalo mozzarella
Fresh basil leaves

To prepare
Preheat your oven to 250ºC. Rub the yeast into the flour, using your
fingertips as if making a crumble. Add the salt, olive oil and water,
then continue according to the method. Leave the dough to rest for
1 hour or, to achieve a better crust and taste, rest it overnight in the
fridge. By doing this, you will enable the dough to rise very slowly
and it will develop a little acidity that will improve its flavour and give
a texture that is crispy on the outside and slightly chewy inside.
To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn out
the dough, divide into three and shape into balls, and rest
for a further 10 minutes. Lightly flour your work surface and
place the balls of dough onto the flour. You need to make
sure that the flour is evenly distributed so that your pizzas
will not stick.
• Take one of the balls and place the heel of your hand in
the centre of it and push it away from you so that it stretches
the dough out. Turn the dough slightly and repeat. Keep
stretching the dough until you have a roughly circular pizza
shape of about 20–22cm in diameter. The edge should be
slightly thicker than the dough in the middle. Repeat with the
other two balls.
• Lift the pizza bases onto a floured baking tray and spread
the tomato sauce evenly over them. Sprinkle with chunks of
mozzarella and shredded basil leaves.
• Slide the pizzas onto the preheated baking tray or stone in
the oven, turn the heat down to 240°C and bake for 10–12
minutes until the edges become golden brown and crispy.
pancetta & mixed olive bread
The combination of these really earthy flavours is beautiful and just
melts into the bread – which makes fantastic sandwiches.

Quantity: 3 loaves
Preparation: 1 hour
Resting: 1½ hours
Proving: 1 hour
Baking: 30–35 minutes

1 Batch Olive dough

200g Mixed (green and purple) olives, stone in
Bunch of Sage, stalks removed
1 tablespoon Oil for frying
200g Diced pancetta or lardons

To prepare
Stone the olives and roughly chop the sage. Heat the olive oil in a
frying pan. When it’s hot add the pancetta and stir. When the
pancetta is starting to crisp, add the olives, stir and cook over a
medium heat for about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and add
the sage. Stir well and spoon the mixture, including the cooking
juices, into a bowl to cool.
During the last stage of working the dough by hand or mixing in a
mixer, add the pancetta mixture, together with its cooking juices,
and continue working/mixing the dough until the mixture is spread
evenly through the dough. Lightly dust the inside of a clean bowl
with flour and place the dough in it. Cover with a tea towel and rest
for 1 hour in a draught-free place.

To make
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and
form into a ball. Return to the bowl, cover and rest for a
further 30 minutes.
• Flour the work surface again and turn the dough out onto
it. Divide it into three equal pieces of about 440g each. Fold
one side into the middle and again use the heel of your
hand, or thumb, to press it down and seal. Bring the other
side over to the middle and again press down to seal. Finally
fold in half lengthways and seal the edges so you end up
with a long log shape with rounded ends.
• Place the loaves on a baking tray and flour the tops with
white or maize flour. With a razor blade or sharp knife, make
six or seven diagonal cuts about 1cm deep across the top of
each loaf. Cover the loaves with a tea towel and leave to
prove for about 1 hour or until they have nearly doubled in
volume.
• Open the preheated oven and mist with a water spray.
Place the loaves in the oven, turn down the heat to 230°C,
and bake for 30–35 minutes until they are a golden brown
colour. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
ciabatta
The famous Italian ‘slipper’ bread needs a ferment or ‘biga’, as it is
known in Italy, which helps to create a wonderful open structure
and lightness. This is made simply with flour, water and yeast,
which you need to make up and leave for 24 hours before using. I
always prefer to work any dough by hand, rather than mix it in a
mixer with a dough hook, but this is a bread that really benefits from
working by hand, to get as much air into it as possible. It starts off
very soft and sticky, but as you work it it will become more and
more elastic and come away from your fingers.
I make this with avocado oil, rather than olive oil. It is a bit more
expensive, but worth trying as it makes beautiful bread and gives
the dough a lovely, delicate avocado-green tinge.

Quantity: 4 loaves
Preparation: 15 minutes
Resting: 17–24 hours for the ferment 1½ hours for the
dough
Proving: 30–45 minutes
Baking: 18–20 minutes

For the ferment:

350g Flour
180g Water (180ml)
½ level teaspoon Fresh yeast

For the dough:

450g Strong white or Italian bread flour
10g Yeast
340g Water (340ml)
50g Olive or avocado oil (50ml)
15g Salt
A little olive or avocado oil for oiling
Flour for dusting

To prepare (24 hours in advance)

Mix the ingredients for the ferment together in a mixer or by hand
for about 5 minutes until you have a rough dough. Place in a bowl,
cover loosely with clingfilm and then a tea towel and leave it to rest
in a draught-free place for 17–24 hours.

To make
• Remember to put your oven on at least 1 hour before you
start making the dough to warm up the kitchen as well as
the oven.
• Preferably make the dough by hand. Put the flour in a
mixing bowl and rub in the yeast. Scoop the ferment into the
bowl, then add the water, oil and salt, mixing well until all
combined (use one hand to mix and hold the bowl with the
other). Once the dough is no longer sticking to the bowl,
transfer it to your work surface with the help of the rounded
end of your scraper, and work it following the method in
here. (If you prefer to use a mixer, combine the ingredients
as above, mixing for a further 4–5 minutes on the second
speed until the dough is light, supple and elastic.) Remove
the dough from the bowl, transfer to a lightly oiled surface
and mould into a ball.
• Lightly oil a bowl with either avocado or olive oil, place the
dough in it and leave to rest for 1½ hours, covered with a
tea towel, until it has risen and feels bubbly and light.
• Flour your work surface generously with white or maize
flour and, with the help of the rounded end of your scraper,
turn the dough out in one piece. Flour the top. Press the
dough lightly and gently, dimpling it slightly with your
fingers. Divide the dough into four roughly equal strips, and
fold into three. Do this by folding one side of your flattened
dough into the middle and use the heel of your hand to
press it down and seal. Bring the other side over to the
middle and again press down to seal. Finally fold in half
lengthways and seal the edges so you end up with a long
shape.
• Place the pieces of dough onto well-floured tea towels.
Cover with another tea towel and leave to prove for 30–45
minutes.
• Flour a baking tray or wooden peel, pick up one ciabatta at
a time, turn it over, stretch it lengthways a little at the same
time, and lay on the peel or tray. (This stretch is what gives
the bread its characteristic ‘slipper’ shape.) Spray the inside
of your oven with a water spray and then quickly slide the
ciabatta onto the baking stone or tray. Turn down the heat
to 220°C and bake for 18–20 minutes until light golden
brown.
Part-baking for the freezer: The bread can be part-baked for 15
minutes and then cooled, wrapped well in freezer bags, and frozen.
To use them, bake from frozen for 12 minutes at 200°C.

Variation: Olive Ciabatta

Add 200g purple Kalamata or green, pitted and quartered olives
during the last few minutes of working the dough.
Many of the breads in this chapter have an autumnal, even
Christmasy feel, because there is something earthy about brown
bread which lends itself to fruit and spice and feels warming and
cheering on a cold winter’s day. Mostly I use a combination of white
flour and wholemeal, which gives a lighter loaf than pure wholemeal
and, though I have included one for 100% wholemeal, it is still
lighter than most because it uses a ferment. Although the way of
working the brown dough is the same as for the previous two
chapters, don’t worry if the dough seems slightly heavier.

300g Strong wholemeal flour

200g Strong white flour
10g Yeast (fresh if possible)
10g Salt
350g Water (350ml – but weighing is more accurate)

Preheat your oven to 250ºC. Mix the two flours together and rub in
the yeast, using your fingertips as if making a crumble. Add the salt
and water, then continue according to the method, but check your
recipe to see if you need to add any other ingredients at this stage.
apricot & oat bread
I like this bread for breakfast – it’s a little bit like muesli in bread
form – but it’s equally good toasted with cheese. The apricots (I use
organic ones, with no artificial preservatives) give it a slight
sweetness and the oats a little crunchiness.

Quantity: 4 small or 2 large loaves

Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 70 minutes
Proving: 1 hour
Baking: 15 minutes baking for the small or 25 minutes for
the large

1 Batch Brown dough

200g Dried apricots (preferably organic), roughly chopped
80g Oats (for coating)

To prepare
Make the dough as explained in here but add the apricots at the
end of working it by hand or mixing in a mixer and continue
working/mixing until the apricots are distributed evenly. Form the
dough into a ball, place in a lightly floured bowl, cover with a tea
towel and rest for 1 hour.

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn the
dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it
into two or four pieces depending on the size of loaf
required. Shape into balls again, cover with a tea towel, and
leave to rest for 10 minutes.
• Mould each ball into a loaf. Place the oats on a plate.
Brush the tops and sides of each loaf with a little water then
roll in the oats until they are coated generously. Place the
loaves on a baking tray lined with a lightly floured tea towel,
pleated in between the loaves so they don’t touch as they
rise.
• With a razor blade or sharp knife make a few diagonal cuts
along the top of each loaf with a depth of at least 5mm, then
leave to prove for 1 hour or until the loaves have nearly
doubled in volume.
• Open the preheated oven and mist the inside with a water
spray, then quickly slide the loaves onto the baking stone or
tray and close the door. Turn down the heat to 220°C and
bake for 15 minutes for the small loaves or about 25 minutes
for the large ones. Once baked the loaves should sound
hollow when tapped on the base with your finger. Cool on a
wire rack.
honey & lavender loaf
Just a teaspoon of lavender gives the most extraordinary flavour,
but I know not everyone likes it. If you don’t, then forget this recipe!
Personally I think this loaf is just beautiful toasted with soft goat’s
cheese. We love lavender so much we grow it in the garden, pick it
at the end of the summer and then spend a somewhat tedious, if
fragrant, evening taking off the heads and spreading them out to
dry on baking trays. Once they are dry we put them into a plastic
container which will keep us in lavender until it is in season again. If
you have some lavender honey, you could use that as well –
otherwise use another good-quality honey, preferably organic.

Quantity: 1 large loaf

Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 1½ hours
Proving: 1–1½ hours
Baking: 30–40 minutes

1 Batch Brown dough

1 Heaped teaspoon Lavender flowers (fresh/dried)
30g Good-quality runny honey (or lavender honey)

To prepare
Make the dough following the method in here but add the lavender
at the same time as the flour, and the honey along with the salt.
Shape the dough into a ball, place in a lightly floured bowl, cover
with a tea towel and leave to rest for 45 minutes.

To make
• With the help of your plastic scraper, turn the dough out
onto your work surface, then reshape it into a ball, put back
into the bowl, cover, and rest for a further 45 minutes.
• Turn the dough out onto the work surface and press it
down gently. Shape it into a square by drawing the four
‘corners’ into the centre. Flour the top of the loaf. Line a
baking tray with a tea towel and place the loaf on it, folded-
side down. Cover with another tea towel and leave to prove
for 1–1½ hours until it has nearly doubled in volume.
• Place the loaf (folded-side-down) on a wooden peel or
upturned baking tray and mark a double cross shape on the
top of the loaf with a razor blade or sharp knife. Mist the
inside of the preheated oven with a water spray and quickly
slide the loaf onto the baking stone or tray and close the
door. Turn down the heat to 220°C and bake for 10 minutes,
then turn down again to 200°C and bake for a further 20–30
minutes. Once baked the loaf should sound hollow if tapped
on the base with your finger. You will need to keep testing it,
as with a large loaf such as this it’s difficult to be absolutely
accurate about timing.
cardamom & prune bread
I first tried using cardamom in a Danish-style pastry. I knew it was a
spice that worked well with fruit, so I added some prunes, but I felt
there was something missing. So, I cast my mind back to my days
in Brittany, when we used to make Far Breton, a batter cake with
prunes and good dark rum. When I tried adding the rum, the
flavours really brought the bread alive, transforming it into
something warm and earthy and Christmasy, almost like a
traditional English afternoon tea bread or malt loaf, gorgeous
toasted with butter.

Quantity: 2 loaves
Preparation: 30 minutes
Resting: 1¾ hours
Proving: 1 hour
Baking: 25–30 minutes

1 Batch Brown dough

100g Stoned prunes
4 tablespoons Rum
¼ teaspoon Freshly ground cardamom

To prepare
Soak the prunes in the rum for at least 1 hour, or overnight if
possible.
Make the dough following the method in here, but increase the
quantity of yeast to 15g to counteract the heaviness of the fruit. Add
the cardamom at the same time as the flour and the prunes shortly
before the end of working by hand or mixing in a mixer. Continue
working/mixing until everything is evenly distributed. Shape the
dough into a ball, place in a bowl, cover with a tea towel and rest
for 1 hour.
To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn out
the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and reshape
into a ball, put back in the bowl, cover with a tea towel and
rest for a further 45 minutes.
• Again using the rounded end of your scraper, turn out the
dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide in half.
Mould each half into a loaf. Place on a lightly floured tea
towel on a shallow-edged or upturned baking tray. Flour the
top of the loaves and then, with a razor blade or sharp knife,
make four diagonal cuts (to a depth of 5mm) fanning out on
either side of the loaf. Cover with a tea towel and leave to
prove for 1 hour until they have nearly doubled in volume.
• Open the preheated oven and mist with a water spray.
Slide the loaves onto the baking stone or tray and quickly
close the door. Turn down the heat to 220°C and bake for
25–30 minutes. The loaves will sound hollow when tapped
on the base when they are done. Remove from the oven and
cool on a wire rack.
Top to bottom: cardamom & prune bread; apricot & oat bread;
raisin, hazelnut & shallot bread; pecan & cranberry bread; seaweed
bread
seaweed bread
If you ask people to identify the flavour of this bread, I doubt if they
would be able to recognise it as seaweed – but everyone I have
made this for has loved it. I used to do something similar in Brittany
using local seaweed but here I find Japanese wakame works really
well. Because of its affinity with the sea, it is fantastic with seafood,
especially fresh oysters. This recipe uses equal measures of strong
white and wholemeal flour.

Quantity: 1 loaf
Preparation: 30 minutes
Resting: 1¾ hours
Proving: 1 hour
Baking: 45 minutes

250g Strong white flour

250g Wholemeal flour
10g Yeast (fresh if possible)
10g Salt
340g Water (340ml)
10g Dehydrated wakame seaweed (this should give you about 50g
rehydrated seaweed)

To prepare
Soak the seaweed in water, according to the instructions on the
pack, until soft. Preheat the oven to 250ºC. Mix the two flours and
rub in the yeast, add the salt and then the water and make the
dough following the method in here. Add the seaweed at the end of
working by hand or mixing in the mixer and continue working/mixing
until it is evenly distributed through the dough. Shape the dough into
a ball, place it in a lightly floured bowl, cover with a tea towel and
rest for 1 hour.
To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn the
dough out of the bowl and reshape into a ball, place it back
in the bowl, cover with a tea towel and rest for a further 45
minutes.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and
mould it into a loaf shape. Leave to prove for 1 hour on a
well-floured tea towel, seam-side-up.
• Turn the loaf over and place on a wooden peel or flat-
edged baking tray. With a razor or sharp knife make three
cuts on either side fanning out from the middle, along the
top of the bread. Mist the inside of your preheated oven with
a water spray and then slide the loaf onto the hot stone or
upturned tray. Bake for about 45 minutes until well-
coloured. The loaf should sound hollow when tapped on the
base with your finger. Remove from the oven and cool on a
wire rack.
sesame plaits
These are tiny plaited rolls which are good fun to make.

Quantity: 12 plaits
Preparation: 45 minutes
Resting: 65 minutes
Proving: 45 minutes
Baking: 12–15 minutes

1 Batch Brown dough rested for 1 hour

50g Sesame seeds

To make
• Turn the rested dough out with the help of the rounded
end of your scraper. With the flat edge, divide it into 12
equal pieces and roll them into balls. Cover with a tea towel
and rest for 5 minutes.
• Lightly flour your work surface. Take one of the balls and
flatten it to form a disc. Fold in two of the sides, to the
centre, to form a rough rectangle, then turn it over so the
folds are underneath. Using a sharp-bladed knife, make two
parallel cuts straight through the dough starting just short of
one end and going all the way down to the other, so that you
end up with three strands joined together at one end by a
strip of dough.
• Plait the strands by passing each one of the outer strands
over the middle one in turn. Repeat until you reach the ends
and seal by rolling each end of the plait until pointed. Repeat
with the other eleven balls.
• Put the sesame seeds on a plate. Brush the tops of the
rolls with a little water and dip (tops only) into the seeds.
Place on a baking tray, cover with a tea towel, and leave to
prove in a warm, draught-free place for 45 minutes or until
they have nearly doubled in volume.
• Put into the preheated oven. Using a water spray, mist the
inside of the oven just before you close the door. Turn down
the heat to 220°C and bake for 12–15 minutes.
brown rolls
These are the wholemeal equivalent of the Lemon Rolls in chapter
1, but shaped more simply.

Quantity: 12 rolls
Preparation: 30 minutes
Resting: 65 minutes
Proving: 45 minutes
Baking: 10 minutes

1 Batch Brown dough rested for 1 hour

To make
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface with
the help of the rounded end of your scraper. Divide it into
twelve equal pieces and mould each one into a ball. Place
them on a baking tray, cover with a tea towel and leave to
rest on your work surface for 5 minutes.
• After resting, shape into balls again, roll a little into an oval
shape, and place on a second baking tray, again leaving
enough space for the rolls to rise without touching. Cover
with a tea towel.
• Leave the rolls in a draught-free place to prove for 45
minutes until they have nearly doubled in volume.
• Using a razor blade or sharp knife, make one long cut
lengthways, from one tip to the other. Open the preheated
oven and mist with a water spray. Quickly put the rolls in the
oven, turn down the heat to 230°C and bake for 10 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack.
poppy seed stars
These look really pretty on a bread board alongside other shapes or
styles of rolls and breadsticks.

Quantity: 12 stars
Preparation: 45 minutes
Resting: 65 minutes
Proving: 45 minutes
Baking: 10–12 minutes

1 Batch Brown dough rested for 1 hour

50g Poppy seeds

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn out
the dough. With the flat edge divide it into 12 pieces (about
70g each) and roll them into balls, cover with a tea towel and
rest for 5 minutes.
• Scatter the poppy seeds on a plate and fill a shallow bowl
with water. Flatten one of the rolls with the palm of your
hand, dip the top into the water, then immediately into the
seeds and press them in with your hand. Place on your
lightly floured work surface, seed-side-up, and flatten a little
with your hand. Using the short end of a clean credit card
make a diagonal cut across the centre of the dough – the
cut shouldn’t reach the edges of the roll but should go all
the way through it to the work surface. Then make two other
diagonal cuts that intersect the first one equally, so that the
three cuts form a star shape. Carefully push the roll from
underneath with your fingertips, and turn it inside out, so
that the points of the star push upwards and outwards,
resulting in the points being on the outside. Place the stars
on a baking tray, seed-side-up, cover with a tea towel and
leave to prove for about 45 minutes until the stars have
nearly doubled in volume.
• Put them in the preheated oven, mist the inside with a
water spray, and bake them for 10–12 minutes. Remove
from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
multiseed brown bread
This is a very earthy, crunchy but simple bread, for which I use a
multigrain flour.

Quantity: 2 loaves
Preparation: 15 minutes
Resting: 70 minutes
Proving: 1 hour
Baking: 15–20 minutes

200g Strong wholemeal flour

175g Strong white flour
125g Multigrain flour, plus some more for topping
10g Yeast
10g Salt
340g Water (340ml)
A little butter for greasing

To prepare
Grease 2 x 500g (20–22cm long) tins with a little butter. Preheat the
oven to 250ºC. Mix the three flours together and rub in the yeast,
using your fingertips as if making a crumble. Add the salt and
water, then continue according to the method. Mould the dough into
a ball, place in a lightly floured bowl, cover with a tea towel and
leave to rest for 1 hour.

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn the
dough out onto your work surface and divide it into two
equal pieces. Form each into a ball, cover with a tea towel
and rest for a further 10 minutes.
• Mould each ball into a loaf but, before putting the loaves
into the tins, brush the tops with a little water and roll in
some more multigrain flour. Cover with another tea towel
and leave to prove for about 1 hour or until the loaves have
nearly doubled in volume.
• Open the preheated oven and mist the inside with a water
spray. Quickly place the tins on the baking stone or tray in
the oven and close the door. Bake the loaves for 15–20
minutes. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
raisin, hazelnut & shallot bread
This is lovely toasted with some cheese and a spoonful of home-
made chutney or ham and some good mustard. The idea is based
on a confit of shallots I used to make to serve with duck, a long time
ago – and the sweetness along with the nuts make a special
combination.

Quantity: 2 loaves
Preparation: 45 minutes
Resting: 1½ hours
Proving: 1–1¼ hours
Baking: 30 minutes

1 Batch Brown dough

1 teaspoon Good-quality runny honey (preferably organic)
A little Oil
A knob of Butter
80g Shallots, sliced
80g Hazelnuts, crushed
80g Raisins

To make
• Heat a frying pan on the hob until it is really hot. Add the
oil and knob of butter. Put in the shallots and stir from time
to time until they are soft and brown. Add the crushed
hazelnuts, stir and cook over a medium heat for 1 minute,
then add the raisins, stir again and cook for a further 30
seconds. Remove from the heat and transfer to a flat plate
or tray to cool.
• Make the dough following the method in here, adding the
honey along with the salt and water. Towards the end of
working by hand or mixing in a mixer, add the shallots
mixture and continue working/mixing until it is evenly
distributed. Form the dough into a ball, put it into a lightly
floured bowl, cover with a tea towel and rest for 45 minutes.
Turn the dough out onto your work surface and reshape it
into a ball, put it back into the bowl, cover and rest for a
further 45 minutes.
• Lightly flour your work surface. Divide the dough into two
equal pieces and mould each one into a loaf. Lightly flour a
tea towel with wholemeal flour and lay it on a tray. Lift the
centre of the tea towel gently to form a ridge and place one
loaf (smooth-side-down) on each side of the ridge. Cover
with another tea towel and leave to prove for 1-1¼ hours or
until the loaves have nearly doubled in volume.
• Turn the loaves over and place on a peel or flat-edged
baking tray. With a razor blade or sharp knife, make one
long cut the length of the top of each bread, to a depth of
about 5mm. Mist the inside of your oven with a water spray
and then slide the loaves onto the baking stone or tray. Bake
them for about 30 minutes until well coloured. The loaves
should sound hollow when tapped on the base with your
finger. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
pecan & cranberry bread
I was thinking about Christmas and cranberries when I first made
this, and because there happened to be some pecan nuts around I
added those too. All the flavours just seemed to work really happily
with the wholemeal flour, and I discovered that the bread goes
brilliantly with Stilton.

Quantity: 1 large or 2 small loaves

Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 65 minutes
Proving: 1 hour
Baking: 20 minutes baking for small loaves or 40 minutes
for a large loaf

1 Batch Brown dough

100g Shelled pecan nuts
100g Dried cranberries
Zest of 1 Large orange

To prepare
Crush the pecan nuts – I do this with the end of a rolling pin or you
could use a pestle and mortar.
Mix the pecans, cranberries and orange zest.
Make the brown dough following the method in here, but add the
pecan and cranberry mix towards the end of working by hand or
mixing in the mixer, and ensure that they are evenly distributed.
Form the dough into a ball and place in a lightly floured bowl
covered with a tea towel to rest for 1 hour.

To make
• Turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface and
divide in half if you want to make two smaller loaves. Form
into a ball or balls and leave to rest for a further 5 minutes.
• Mould again into a tight ball (or two) and place, smooth-
side-down, in a floured wicker proving basket (if you have
one) or a bowl lined with a well floured tea towel. Cover with
another tea towel and leave to prove for about 1 hour until
the dough has nearly doubled in volume.
• Turn the dough out of the bowl or basket and place on a
peel or flat-edged baking tray. Cut a cross into the top of the
loaf (loaves) with a razor blade or sharp knife. Open the
preheated oven and mist the inside with a water spray.
Quickly slide the loaf (or loaves) onto the baking stone or
tray and close the door. Bake small loaves at 220°C for the
first 5 minutes then turn the oven down to 200°C for the
remaining 15 minutes. For a large loaf, bake for 5 minutes at
220°C, then a further 30-35 minutes at 200°C. Remove from
the oven and cool on a wire rack.
100% wholemeal bread
This is heavier, but not as heavy as many breads made only with
wholemeal flour, because it is made with a ‘poolish’, a style of
ferment which was introduced into France by Polish bakers and
which packs the bread with flavour and character, and helps lighten
it.

Quantity: 2 loaves
Preparation: 15 minutes
Resting: 3–5 hours for the poolish 30 minutes for the bread
Proving: 1 hour
Baking: 30–35 minutes

For the poolish ferment:

5g Yeast (fresh if possible)
250g Tepid water (250ml)
250g Wholemeal flour
250g Wholemeal flour
5g Yeast (fresh if possible)
10g Salt
80g Water (80ml)
A little butter for greasing

To prepare
Butter 2 x 500g (20–22cm long) loaf tins.
To make the poolish, whisk the yeast into the water until it has
completely dissolved, then add the flour and whisk to obtain a
batter. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for at least 3 hours,
but no longer than 5, by which time it should have around doubled
in volume – it is ready when it has formed into a dome and then
slightly flattened out – at this point you need to use it quickly,
because if you leave it any longer, it will start to collapse. Add the
rest of the ingredients to the poolish, mix well using your scraper,
and work by hand following the method in here, until the dough is
supple and no longer sticks to your hand or the work surface.
Shape the dough into a ball and put into a lightly floured bowl,
covered with a tea towel, to rest for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to
250ºC.

To make
• With the help of the rounded edge of your scraper, turn
the dough out onto your work surface and divide it into two.
Form each into a ball again, cover with a tea towel and rest
for a further 15 minutes.
• Mould the two pieces of dough into tight loaves and place
in the greased tins. Cover with a tea towel and leave to
prove for about 1 hour until they have nearly doubled in
volume.
• Dust the tops of the loaves with a little wholemeal flour.
Put them into the preheated oven. With a water spray mist
the inside of the oven just before you close the door. Bake
them for 30–35 minutes until they sound hollow when you
tap the base with your finger. Remove from the oven and
cool on a wire rack.
Most people associate rye bread with dark, heavy Scandinavian
and Germanic-style breads such as pumpernickel. However, when
you blend strong white flour with the rye flour, it lifts and lightens the
texture, giving a really tasty, rustic bread that offers a wonderful
base for ingredients like olives, fruit, nuts and spices. If you like your
rye bread darker still, then just increase the ratio of rye flour to
white, or if you prefer it lighter, you can increase the percentage of
white flour.

400g Strong white flour

100g Dark rye flour
10g Yeast (fresh if possible)
10g Salt
350g Water (350ml – but weighing is more accurate)

Preheat the oven to 250ºC. Mix the two flours together and rub in
the yeast, using your fingertips as if making a crumble. Add the salt
and water, then continue according to the method, but check your
recipe to see if you need to add any other ingredients at this stage.
walnut bread
I sometimes make this with a combination of walnuts and dates
(while prunes have a natural affinity with wholemeal bread, dates
are perfect with rye – raisins are good, too). If you are going to use
fruit, reduce the quantity of walnuts to 150g, and add 125g
chopped dates or raisins.

Quantity: 2 rings
Preparation: 30 minutes
Resting: 65 minutes
Proving: 1 hour
Baking: 20 minutes

1 Batch Rye dough

200g Shelled walnuts, crushed using a rolling pin or pestle and
mortar (when broken unevenly they release their oil into the dough
more easily)
Flour for dusting

To make
• Make the dough following the method in here, adding the
walnuts at the end of working by hand or mixing in the mixer
and continue working/mixing until they are evenly
distributed. Shape the dough into a ball, put it into a lightly
floured bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for 1
hour. With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn
out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide
into two. Shape each piece into a ball, cover with a tea towel
and rest for a further 5 minutes, then remould the dough
into a tight ball. Press the end of your rolling pin into the
centre of each ball until you reach the work surface and
make a hole. Flour your hands and then open up the hole to
form a ring – the hole should be at least the size of a fist to
prevent it from closing up as the dough rises. Lightly flour a
tea towel and place the bread rings on top. Cover with
another tea towel and leave to prove for about 1 hour until
the rings have nearly doubled in volume. Transfer to a peel
or flat-edged baking tray and, with a razor or sharp knife,
make three cuts at equal points around the ring. Open the
preheated oven and mist with a water spray. Quickly slide
the rings onto the baking stone, turn down the heat to
220°C, and bake for 5 minutes, then turn down to 200°C
and bake for a further 15 minutes. Remove and cool on a
wire rack.
olive bread
This bread is inspired by the beautiful little pain de campagne-style
loaves you find, filled with dark olive paste, in the markets of
Provence – stunning.

Quantity: 3 loaves
Preparation: 40 minutes
Resting: 1 hour
Proving: 1 hour
Baking: 18–20 minutes

1 Batch Rye dough rested for 1 hour

100g Olive paste
Flour for dusting

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn the
dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it
into three pieces. Take the pieces one at a time, and flatten
them with the palm of your hand into a rough rectangular
shape. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the paste over the
dough. Then fold and form into loaves.
• Place the loaves (seam-side-down) onto a lightly floured
tea towel, flour the top of the loaves and pull the tea towel
into low ridges in between the loaves so that they do not end
up touching as they rise. Cover with a second tea towel and
leave to prove for 1 hour or until the loaves have nearly
doubled in volume.
• Transfer the loaves to a peel or flat-edged baking tray and
make a single cut down the middle of each loaf with a razor
blade or sharp knife. Open the preheated oven and mist the
inside with a water spray, then quickly slide the loaves onto
the preheated baking stone or tray and close the door. Bake
them for 18–20 minutes. The loaves should sound hollow
when tapped on the base with your finger. Cool on a wire
rack.

olive paste
Drain and remove the stone from 180g Picholine (Provençal) olives
(or similar). Put into a food processor with 2 teaspoons herbes de
Provence and 20g extra-virgin olive oil and blitz until you have a
coarse paste. You can store this in an airtight container in the fridge
for a few days. Alternatively you can freeze the paste for several
weeks, defrost it at room temperature and add a few drops of
lemon juice to refresh it when you need it. This will make 200g.
rye, caraway & raisin bread
Rye and caraway are a classic combination, and the raisins just
add a sweetness which works really well with cheese, especially
blue cheese. Caraway is a favourite of mine – I love the aroma of
the seeds when the bread is baking – but you can reduce the
quantity if you are less partial to it.

Quantity: 2 loaves
Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 70 minutes
Proving: 1 hour
Baking: 30 minutes

1 Batch Rye dough

250g Raisins or sultanas
1 teaspoon Caraway seeds
Flour for dusting

To prepare
Mix the fruit and caraway seeds together.
Make the dough following the method in here, adding the fruit and
caraway shortly before the end of working by hand or mixing in the
mixer. Continue working/mixing until they are evenly distributed.
Shape the dough into a ball, place in a bowl, cover with a tea towel
and rest for 1 hour.

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of the scraper, turn out
the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide into
two. Mould each into a ball, cover with a tea towel and leave
on the work surface to rest for 10 minutes.
• Mould each ball into a tight loaf shape of about 20cm
length. Lightly flour a tea towel and place the loaves onto it,
seam-side-up, making a pleat in the tea towel in between
each one, so that they do not touch as they rise. Cover with
another tea towel and leave to prove for 1 hour until they
have nearly doubled in volume.
• Turn the loaves over and transfer to a peel or flat-edged
baking tray and cut a leaf pattern (one cut down the centre,
with four cuts fanning out on each side) in the top with a
razor or sharp knife. Mist the inside of the preheated oven
with a water spray. Slide the loaves onto the baking stone or
tray and quickly close the door. Turn the heat down to
220°C and bake for 30 minutes. The loaves sound hollow
when tapped on the base. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
smoked bacon & red onion bread
Smoked bacon and red onion are a great combination, which make
a beautiful loaf to slice for sandwiches, or to serve with something
like a chicken liver salad. Make sure you use good bacon,
preferably dry-cured in the traditional fashion. The balsamic vinegar
is only a dash to deglaze the pan, so it doesn’t need to be the best
quality – or you could use a tablespoon of red wine or red wine
vinegar instead.

Quantity: 4 small loaves

Preparation: 30 minutes
Resting: 70 minutes
Proving: 1¼ hours
Baking: 20 minutes

1 Batch Rye dough

1 tablespoon Olive oil
8 Thick slices Smoked, dry, cured bacon, snipped into strips
1 Large Red onion, finely sliced
1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
Flour for dusting

To make
• Preheat the oven to 250ºC. Heat the oil in a frying pan and
fry the bacon over a medium heat for a couple of minutes
until it starts to brown and crisp, then add the onion and
cook for another couple of minutes. Deglaze the pan by
pouring in the vinegar and stirring well over the heat for a
further minute or so, scraping all the bits of bacon from the
bottom. Transfer the bacon, onion and juices into a dish to
cool.
• Make the dough according to the method, adding the
bacon mixture towards the end of working by hand or
mixing in a mixer and continue to work/mix until it is evenly
distributed. Form the dough into a ball, put into a lightly
floured bowl, cover with a tea towel and rest for 1 hour.
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn the
dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it
into four roughly equal pieces. Mould each into a ball, cover
with a tea towel and leave on the work surface to rest for a
further 10 minutes. Reshape each of the pieces into a tight
ball again. Lightly flour a tea towel (or two) and place the
balls, smooth-side-up, on top. Cover with another tea towel
(or towels) and leave to prove for about 1¼ hours until they
have nearly doubled in volume.
• Transfer to a peel or flat-edged baking tray. Make a
circular cut on the top of each loaf with a razor or sharp
knife. Mist your preheated oven with a water spray, quickly
slide the loaves onto the baking stone/tray and bake at
220°C for 5 minutes, turn down the heat to 190°C and bake
for a further 15 minutes. The loaf should sound hollow if
tapped on the base with your finger. Cool on a wire rack.
somerset cider bread
This was a bread I made to celebrate our move to Bath to set up
my cookery school – using Burrow Hill Cider from Julian Temperley
at the Somerset Cider Brandy Co. instead of the Breton cider I
used to use for a similar bread in France. Adding cider, or ale, is a
very traditional thing to do, and it lends the bread a real ‘country,’
rustic note, while the flavour is deepened by the addition of some
fermented rye dough. This is a bread that is fabulous with some
cured ham or a proper, traditional Cheddar. In this bread, I suggest
you make a larger quantity of dough, as I feel the ferment works
better with more bulk.

Quantity: 4 loaves
Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 4–6 hours for the ferment 1½ hours for the dough
Proving: 1¼–1½ hours
Baking: 45 minutes

For the ferment:

½ Batch Rye dough left to ferment for 4–6 hours
10g Yeast (fresh if possible)
750g Strong white flour
250g Dark rye flour
20g Salt
450g Good-quality dry cider
150g Water (150ml)
Flour for dusting

To make
• Use your scraper to scoop the ferment from its container
into your bowl, all in one piece, and add the rest of your
ingredients (adding the cider with the water) and follow the
method in here. Shape the dough into a ball, put it into a
lightly floured bowl, cover with a tea towel and rest for 45
minutes.
• With the help of the rounded end of your plastic scraper,
turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and
reshape into a ball, place it back into the bowl, cover with a
tea towel and leave to rest for 45 minutes.
• Using the scraper, turn the dough out onto your lightly
floured work surface and divide it into four equal pieces.
Lightly flour a couple of tea towels. Mould the balls of dough
into loaves and place two on top of each tea towel, making a
fold in the fabric between them to stop them touching when
they rise. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for 1¼–
1½ hours, or until they have nearly doubled in volume.
• Turn the loaves over, place on a peel or flat-edged baking
tray and make one cut lengthways along the top of the
loaves with a razor blade or sharp knife. Mist the inside of
your preheated oven with a water spray and then slide the
loaves onto the baking stone or tray. Bake for 10 minutes,
then turn down the heat to 200°C, and bake for about 35
minutes until well coloured. The loaves should sound hollow
when tapped on the base with your finger. Remove and cool
on a wire rack.
aniseed & guinness bread
I love aniseed – particularly in pastis, and since I’m told that ‘Black
Velvet’ can be made either with Champagne or pastis and Guinness
(for which I have also developed a taste since coming to Britain),
this seemed to me to be the perfect combination of flavours. I think
it is brilliant served, Irish style, with seafood, especially oysters, and
a drop more Guinness – cold, and in a glass, this time.

Quantity: 3 loaves
Preparation: 30 minutes
Resting: 3 hours 35 minutes
Proving: 1½ hours
Baking: 30 minutes

25g Yeast (fresh if possible)

700g Guinness, at room temperature (700ml) 250g Dark rye flour
750g Strong white flour
20g Salt
1 tablespoon Pastis
Flour for dusting

To make
• Whisk the yeast into the Guinness in a large mixing bowl
until it has completely dissolved, then add the rye flour and
400g of the white flour and whisk to obtain a thick batter.
Cover with a tea towel and rest for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 250ºC. Add the rest of the ingredients
to the batter, mix well and make the dough following the
method in here, until the dough is supple, elastic and no
longer sticks to your hands. Shape into a ball and put into a
lightly floured bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rest
for 45 minutes.
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn the
dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and reshape
into a ball, place back in the bowl, cover with the tea towel
and leave to rest for a further 45 minutes. With the help of
the scraper, again turn the dough out and divide it into three
equal pieces. Shape each into a ball again, and leave on the
work surface, covered with a tea towel, to rest for a further 5
minutes. Lay a couple of tea towels on a baking tray and
lightly flour them. Mould the balls into loaves and place them
on the tea towels, leaving a good space in between them.
Cover with another tea towel and leave to prove for 1½
hours, or until they have nearly doubled in volume.
• Place the loaves on a peel or flat-edged baking tray, and
make two diagonal cuts on the tops with a razor blade or
sharp knife. Mist the inside of your preheated oven with a
water spray and slide the loaves onto the baking stone/tray.
Bake them for 5 minutes, reduce the heat to 220°C and
bake for a further 25 minutes until they are a rich dark
colour. They should sound hollow when tapped on the base.
Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
pain de campagne
Think of pain de campagne as sourdough’s little brother. Sourdough
is enjoying a huge renaissance in popularity; however, making it in
the traditional fashion is a serious breadmaking event: a long
process in which a ferment is made without commercial yeast. The
idea is that it attracts the natural, wild yeasts that are in the air all
around us, allowing the dough to ferment very slowly, giving the
bread its characteristicly robust flavour. In France the classic pain
de campagne is used in a similar way to sourdough. You buy it to
keep for a few days, as its flavour matures – and it lends itself
beautifully to toasting and rubbing bruschettastyle with garlic and/or
tomatoes, then adding a topping of your choice.

Quantity: 2 loaves
Preparation: 30 minutes
Resting: 4–6 hours for the ferment 2½ hours for the bread
Proving: 1¼ hours
Baking: 30–35 minutes

For the ferment:

½ batch rye dough left in a bowl (covered with clingfilm) to ferment
for 4–6 hours, or overnight in the fridge and then brought back to
room temperature
500g Strong white bread flour
100g Dark rye flour
5g Yeast (fresh if possible) 15g Salt
400g Water (400ml)
Flour for dusting

To make
• Use your scraper to scoop the ferment from its container
into your bowl, all in one piece, and add the rest of your
ingredients. Make the dough following the method in here
and work it until you have a smooth dough which should be
soft, supple and elastic, and shouldn’t feel sticky. Form it
into a ball and place in a lightly floured bowl, covered with a
tea towel, to rest for 1 hour.
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn the
dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape it
into a ball again, put back in the bowl, cover and leave to
rest for a 1 hour.
• Repeat the above step, but rest for 30 minutes. Using the
rounded end of the scraper again, turn the dough onto a
well-floured work surface and divide it into two pieces of
about 600g each. Shape each into a ball. Lightly flour two
wicker proving baskets or line bowls with tea towels, well
dusted with flour, and put a ball of dough into each one,
seam-side-down. Cover with another tea towel and leave to
prove for about 1¼ hours, or until they have nearly doubled
in volume.
• Place the loaves on a peel or flat-edged baking tray, seam-
side down, and cut a circle in the top of each loaf with a
razor blade or sharp knife. Mist the inside of the preheated
oven with a water spray. Quickly slide the loaves onto the
baking stone or tray and bake for 5 minutes. Turn down the
heat to 220°C and bake for a further 25–30 minutes until
they are dark brown. The loaves should sound hollow if
tapped on the base with your finger. Remove from the oven
and cool on a wire rack.
dark rye bread
This, again, is a slightly more complex loaf, boosted with extra
flavour from the ‘poolish’. While all bread should be allowed to cool
before eating, dark rye bread, such as this one, can be especially
indigestible if you eat it while still warm – so try to be patient and let
it cool down properly for several hours, before cutting into it.

Quantity: 2 loaves
Preparation: 30 minutes
Resting: 3–5 hours for the poolish 95 minutes for the dough
Proving: 1 hour
Baking: 45–50 minutes

For the poolish ferment:

6g Yeast (fresh if possible)
275g Tepid water (275ml)
250g Dark rye flour
200g Dark rye flour
210g Strong white flour
15g Salt
115g Tepid water (115ml)
Flour for dusting

To prepare
To make the poolish, whisk the yeast into the water until completely
dissolved, then add the flour and whisk to obtain a thick batter.
Cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for at least 3 but no more
than 5 hours. The poolish is ready to use when it forms a dome and
then begins to flatten slightly. Once it reaches this point use it
quickly, as if you leave it any longer, it will start to collapse. Add the
poolish to the rest of the ingredients and work/mix following the
method in here. Shape the dough into a ball and place in to a lightly
floured bowl, covered with a tea towel, to rest for 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 250ºC.

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn the
dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and reshape it
into a ball, place back in the bowl, cover with a tea towel and
rest for a further 45 minutes.
• Again using your scraper, turn the dough out onto your
lightly floured work surface and divide the dough into two
equal pieces. Shape each into a ball and leave on the work
surface, covered with a tea towel, to rest for a further 5
minutes. Line two proving baskets or bowls with well-floured
tea towels. Mould the loaves into tight balls and place them,
seam-side-down, on the tea towels. Cover with more tea
towels and leave to prove for 1 hour or until they have nearly
doubled in volume.
• Place the loaves on the peel or flat-edged baking tray,
seam-side-down. Make four cuts in the top of each loaf, in
each direction, to form a criss-cross pattern. Open the
preheated oven and mist with a water spray, then quickly
slide the loaves onto the baking stone or tray. Bake them for
5 minutes then turn down the heat to 200°C for a further
40–45 minutes. When the loaves are done they will look
quite dark and sound hollow if tapped on the base with your
finger. Remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
This dough is a cross between brioche and white bread and
belongs to the family of ‘milk doughs’. I love it because it isn’t too
sweet, yet it’s sweet enough to carry the likes of chocolate and,
although it is enriched with milk and butter, it isn’t so rich that you
couldn’t use it, in its basic form, to make a brilliant tuna sandwich,
croque monsieur or serve it lightly toasted with foie gras.

For the recipes in this chapter, preheat the oven to 220°C

instead of 250°C.

250g Full-fat milk (250ml – weighing is more accurate)

15g Yeast (fresh if possible)
500g Strong bread flour
60g Unsalted butter at room temperature
40g Caster sugar
10g Salt
2 Large eggs

To make the dough

• Pour the milk into a pan and warm gently until it is about
body temperature – it should feel neither warm nor cold
when you dip your finger into it. (You can use a microwave
to do this if you prefer – about 1½ minutes at full power.)
• To mix by hand, rub the yeast into the flour using your
fingertips as if making a crumble. Rub in the butter, then add
the sugar and salt, then the eggs and milk. Continue
according to the method, but check your recipe to see if you
need to add any other ingredients at this stage.
orange & mint loaf
I first made this when experimenting with a Marmalade Bread and
Butter Pudding made with brioche and a dash of Grand Marnier.
Instead of using brioche as a base, I wanted to try a more unusual
bread that would really carry the flavour of the liqueur. From the
starting point of orange, I tried infusing the dough with mint. The
flavour was fantastic, and the bread kept well for several days, so I
tried toasting it and serving it with a pot of fresh minted butter – and
it was even better. I’ve also toasted it at breakfast time with
scrambled eggs and crispy bacon. I love bread and butter pudding
– such an English thing! However we do have something similar in
France, which we used to do in the bakery to use up all the
leftovers at the end of the day: croissants, pain au chocolat, you
name it, everything would go into a big mixer with sultanas, crème
anglaise and some alcohol, until it became a thick paste, which we
would bake for about 2 hours, cut up into portions and then dust
with sugar. It tasted fantastic.

Quantity: 2 large loaves

Preparation: 20 minutes
Infusing: 1 hour (for the milk)
Resting: 1 hour
Proving: 1½ hours
Baking: 22–32 minutes

1 Batch Sweet dough

1 bunch of fresh mint
Zest of 2 Large oranges
1 tablespoon Cointreau
1 Egg beaten with a pinch of salt for an egg wash
Flour for dusting
A little butter for greasing

To prepare
Infuse the milk for the sweet dough with a bunch of mint by
warming it through over a low heat, then take the pan off the heat
and leave it for 1 hour before straining.
MIx the orange zest with the Cointreau. Lightly grease a baking tray
with butter.
Make the sweet dough in the usual way (see here) but using the
mint-infused milk. At the end of working the dough by hand/mixing
in a mixer add the orange zest and incorporate it well. Form it into a
ball, lightly flour the bowl, and rest the dough for 1 hour.

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, gently
turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured work surface
and divide it into two equal portions. Mould each piece into
a loaf shape and place on the lightly greased baking tray.
Brush the top of each loaf with a little egg wash. Let the egg
wash dry for a moment, then cover the loaves with a tea
towel and leave to prove for 1½ hours, or until the dough
has nearly doubled in volume and is springy when prodded
with your finger. Brush again with a little egg wash. Using a
pair of scissors held at 45° to the surface, make cuts along
the length of each loaf. Put into the preheated oven, turn
down the heat and bake at 210°C for the first 2 minutes,
then turn down to 200°C for a further 20–30 minutes until
the loaf is dark golden brown. Serve, toasted if you like, with
mint butter.
For the freezer: The loaf can happily be frozen, wrapped in freezer
bags, and kept for 2–3 months.
mint butter
Put half a packet of butter and a bunch of mint (leaves only) into a
food processor and blitz until combined. Chill in a bowl in the fridge
until required.

marmalade bread & butter pudding (6–8

people)
You can use the Orange and Mint Loaf for this – or alternatively buy
some brioche. Whatever you choose, you will need two loaves.

Preheat the oven to 210°C and soak 200g sultanas in 4 tablespoons

of Grand Marnier, while you make the crème anglaise. Do this by
bringing 1 litre of full-fat milk to the boil in a heavy–bottomed pan
along with a vanilla pod (split lengthways and with the seeds
scraped into the pan). In a bowl whisk 10 egg yolks and 150g caster
sugar until they are a pale straw colour and take on a mousse-like
appearance.

To make the crème anglaise: Pour the milk into the egg mixture,
whisking well as you do so. Return the mixture to the pan over a
medium heat. Using a wooden spoon stir continuously in a figure of
8 until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. (To test, lift
the spoon out of the crème and draw a line down the back of the
spoon. If the line stays clean it is cooked.) Strain immediately into a
clean bowl and continue stirring for 1 minute.

Slice the orange and mint loaf or brioche – the slices need to be
about 1cm thick. Spread with marmalade then cut in half diagonally
to form triangles. Strain the sultanas, but don’t throw away the
Grand Marnier. Overlap the triangles (points up) in an ovenproof
dish, making sure there are no gaps between the slices. Scatter
over the sultanas, pour the crème anglaise over the top, slowly,
allowing time for the bread to absorb the liquid (there will probably
be a good amount left, which you can keep back and serve with the
pudding). Put in the preheated oven and cook for 20–30 minutes
until golden brown on top.

To serve, warm the Grand Marnier in a small saucepan. Remove

from the heat and light with a match. Pour over the pudding and
then sprinkle with a little sifted icing sugar. Serve with crème
fraîche, vanilla ice cream or any remaining crème anglaise.
jack’s chocolate buns
My son Jack loves pain aux raisins – and chocolate – so he
badgered me to make him something that was a cross between the
two. You should have seen Jack’s face, lit up and covered in
chocolate, when he bit into the first one I made. They are pretty
gooey, so he is on rations: only one, for a treat!

Quantity: 24 buns
Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 45 minutes
Proving: 1½–1¾ hours
Baking: 12–15 minutes

1 Batch Sweet dough

25g Good-quality cocoa powder
200g Chocolate chips, milk or plain, or a mixture of both, as you
prefer
2 Eggs beaten with a pinch of salt for an egg wash
Crème Patissière
15g cocoa powder

To prepare
Make the sweet dough following the method in here, but add the
cocoa powder at the same time as the milk and egg at the end of
working by hand or mixing in the mixer. Cover with a clean tea towel
and leave to rest for 45 minutes in a draught-free place.
Make the crème patissière following the recipe, but add 15g cocoa
powder to the milk. Pour into a dish to cool.

To make
• Using the rounded end of your scraper, transfer the dough
to a lightly floured work surface and, with a rolling pin,
gently flatten it into a rough rectangle. Spread the chocolate
crème patissière evenly over the dough and then sprinkle on
the chocolate chips. Starting with one of the longer edges,
roll the dough up until it resembles a Swiss roll. Using a
sharp knife, cut the roll into 2cm slices and place them on
their sides on a baking tray. Glaze with a little egg wash and
leave to prove for 1¼–1¾ hours until the buns have roughly
doubled in size.
• Glaze again and put into the preheated oven, turning the
heat down to 180°C. Bake for 12–15 minutes. As the
chocolate dough is quite dark it can be difficult to tell when
the buns are properly baked, and you need to take care not
to underbake them – the best way to tell when they are
ready is to lift one gently with a spatula, and check that it is
firm underneath.
For the freezer: If you don’t want to bake the buns all in one go, you
can freeze some. When they are cut, just before proving, put them
on a small tray in the freezer, and when they are hard put them into
a freezer bag. To use them, take them out, leave them to prove
overnight and bake in the same way.
doughnuts
These doughnuts come with a warning – don’t even think of making
them when you are on your own, as you may well end up eating the
lot in one go – though if you have immense willpower they will keep
for a couple of days in the fridge as long as they haven’t been
dusted with sugar first. If I make a tray of them, they miraculously
disappear, though mysteriously everyone says, ‘Nothing to do with
me!’
Doughnuts (‘beignets’ in France) are of course a great classic,
but I hate greasy ones, and I don’t like ones with icing on them. I
am locked into the memories of the beignets my grandmother used
to make as a treat. I can still see the huge pan, with the risen dough
bulging over the top (I would always be told off for prodding it) and I
remember the wonderful smell and the anticipation as the first ones
were fried, and then dusted in sugar or served with some jam or
apple purée – which is still the only way I like to eat them.

Quantity: 30 doughnuts
Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 1 hour
Proving: 45 minutes
Frying: 15 minutes

1 Batch Sweet dough rested for 1 hour

500ml Good-quality groundnut oil for frying plus a little extra caster
sugar for coating the doughnuts
To fill the doughnuts (optional) either apple compote, raspberry
jam or
crème patissière
Flour for dusting
Oil for greasing
To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn out
the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and form it
into pieces (see here) weighing about 30g each. Roll into
tight balls. Lightly oil a baking tray and lightly dust it with
flour. Arrange the doughnuts on top (seam-side-down),
leaving sufficient space between them so that they will not
touch as they rise. Cover the tray with a tea towel and leave
to prove until the doughnuts have nearly doubled in size –
about 45 minutes.
• Pour the oil into a 20cm saucepan (any bigger and the oil
won’t be deep enough) and place over a medium heat.
When the oil is hot (allow about 15 minutes to reach the
right heat – 180°C), use a fish slice to lift the first doughnut
and flip it over carefully into the oil. The doughnut should
start sizzling straight away. Add more doughnuts until you
fill the pan (I fry a maximum of 5 at a time). Fry for about 30–
45 seconds until the doughnuts start to colour and then turn
over and fry the other side for the same amount of time. Use
the fish slice to remove the doughnuts from the pan and
drain on several sheets of kitchen towel. Leave to cool.
• For plain doughnuts, simply roll them in caster sugar
before serving. For filled doughnuts, spoon the filling of your
choice into a piping bag with a small nozzle and fill by
inserting the nozzle into the doughnut at one side. How
much filling you pipe in is up to you!
apricot & almond tart
You might wonder why I have included a tart in this book, but this is
based on the sweet dough topped with mirabelles or gooseberries
that my grandmother used to make. She would assemble the tart,
then leave it for a while, so that the dough rose up around the fruit
and then, when she baked it, the juice would ooze out and into the
dough. We would sprinkle sugar over the top before eating it, and it
was just gorgeous. This is a slightly more elaborate version, with
crème d’amande. I promise you, if you make up a big batch of
sweet dough one day and use some for this tart and the rest to
make doughnuts, you will be very, very popular!

Quantity: 2 tarts
Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 95 minutes
Proving: 45 minutes
Baking: 20–25 minutes

1 Batch Sweet dough rested for 1 hour

300g Crème d’amande
12–15 Fresh ripe apricots, or plums if you prefer
1 Egg beaten with a pinch of salt for an egg wash
Flour for dusting
A little icing sugar or apricot jam, to serve

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn out
the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, divide it in half
and shape each piece into a ball. Place in a floured bowl,
cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for 20 minutes.
• Grease 2 baking trays or line with greaseproof paper. Roll
out each piece of dough to a circle of about 25–30cm
diameter, place on the trays and leave to rest for a further 15
minutes.
• Quarter the apricots or plums. Spread the crème
d’amande over the tart bases starting from the middle and
stopping about 2.5cm from the edge. Arrange the fruit
quarters on top, skin-side down, packing them together as
neatly as you can. Leave the tarts to prove for 45 minutes
(when the edges will have risen to about double their original
height).
• Brush egg wash evenly over the edges of the tart. Turn
down the preheated oven to 200ºC, and bake until the tips
of the apricots or plums have browned (if the top colours too
fast, turn down to 190ºC) and the base is golden brown –
about 20–25 minutes. Remove from the tray and cool on a
wire rack. To serve, sprinkle a little icing sugar over the tart
or glaze with clear apricot jam, heated in a pan until it melts.
Variation: Apple tart. Mix the almond cream with some apple
compote and a drop of Calvados, and use peeled, sliced Cox’s
apples instead of apricots.
bacon slice
You know when you have that craving for bacon that nothing else
will satisfy? Well, being French, when I was an apprentice in the
bakery my cravings would be for a croque monsieur, made with
lardons (our equivalent of bacon) and béchamel. We used to make
an imitation by folding some bacon and béchamel into a piece of
sweet dough and letting it prove, then baking it – wonderful!

Quantity: 6 slices
Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 1 hour
Proving: 45 minutes
Baking: 15 minutes

½ Batch Sweet dough rested for 1 hour

200g Béchamel sauce (200ml)
1 Packet Good-quality, preferably dry-cured, organic bacon
1 Medium egg beaten with a pinch of salt for an egg wash
100g Grated Gruyère or Emmenthal

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn out
the dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a
ball. Roll the dough out to a thickness of about 5mm then
cut it into 6 x 12cm squares. Spoon a tablespoon of
béchamel in the centre of a square and then fold two
opposite corners to meet in the middle. Place a slice of
bacon on top and then lift the whole slice onto a baking tray.
Repeat with the other slices. Cover with greaseproof paper
and then a tea towel and leave to prove for 45 minutes.
• Glaze the exposed dough with the egg wash. Sprinkle
some of the cheese on top. Turn the preheated oven down
to 200°C and bake them for about 15 minutes until they are
a deep golden colour. Eat while they are still warm.

béchamel sauce
Melt 25g unsalted butter over a medium heat in a heavy-bottomed
pan. When it has all melted and is bubbling gently, add 20g plain
flour and whisk briskly off the heat until all of the butter has been
absorbed and you have a putty-like paste that comes cleanly away
from the pan. Add 150g (150ml) full-fat milk, a little at a time,
whisking continuously to ensure that no lumps form. Once all the
milk has been added and you have a smooth sauce, cook over a
low to medium heat until it starts to bubble. Cook for 1 more minute.
Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and a little
ground nutmeg to taste. Leave to cool. This makes 200g (200ml).
For a richer sauce you can add 25g–40g grated cheese (Cheddar
or Gruyère work well) to the sauce while it is over the heat – make
sure it melts completely.
fruited tea loaf
Traditional ‘tea bread’ can sometimes be overly rich and heavy, but
this one is nice and light – fantastic toasted, with fruit compote and
fresh cream.

Quantity: 3 loaves
Preparation: 30 minutes
Resting: 65 minutes
Proving: 1½ hours
Baking: 25–30 minutes

1 Batch Sweet dough

150g Glacé cherries, quartered
50g Mixed peel or the grated zest of 2 large lemons and 2 large
oranges
2 Large tablespoons Rum
125g Flaked almonds, plus some extra for topping
150g Sultanas
1 Medium egg beaten with a pinch of salt for an egg wash

To prepare
Grease 3 x 500g (20–22cm long) tins with butter.
Soak the cherries and peel or zest in the rum overnight.
Sprinkle the almonds on a baking tray and toast under the grill or in
the hot oven, turning from time to time until they are golden brown.
Leave to cool.
Mix all the fruit with the nuts and add the mixture to the dough
towards the end of working by hand or mixing in the mixer, making
sure it is evenly distributed. Shape the dough into a rough ball and
place in a lightly floured bowl. Leave to rest for 1 hour.

To make
• With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn the
dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it
into three equal pieces. Mould each into a rough ball and
leave to rest for a further 5 minutes.
• Mould each ball into a loaf and place them in the tins.
Brush the tops with the egg wash. Cover the tins with a tea
towel and leave to prove for 1½ hours or until the dough has
nearly doubled in volume.
• Brush again with egg wash and, with a razor blade or
sharp knife, make one cut along the top. Sprinkle over some
extra almonds. Bake in the preheated oven for 25–30
minutes until the crust is dark golden brown. Remove from
the tins and check that the sides and underneath are
golden. If not, put them back in for a few minutes (out of the
tins). Leave to cool on a wire rack.
pain viennois
This dough is the bread you see in parts of France as an alternative
to brioche. It’s a recipe I teach regularly in my bread classes, and
everyone finds it very simple to make. As kids we used to eat small
baguettes made with this dough for breakfast, or at tea-time –
which we called ‘le quatre-heure’. When we came home from
school we would have them halved, with a bar of Poulain chocolate
inside – these were the bars that every child ate, with the picture of
a pony on the wrapper. You can also bake this in a tin and slice it
for croque monsieur.

Quantity: 5 baguettes or 15 rolls

Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 1 hour
Proving: 1 hour
Baking: 8–12 minutes

1 Batch Sweet dough rested for 1 hour

1 Medium egg beaten with a pinch of salt for an egg wash
Flour for dusting

To make
With the help of the rounded end of your scraper, turn the dough
out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into 5 pieces for
baguettes or 15 pieces for rolls.

For the baguettes

• Flatten the pieces of dough with your hands into rough
rectangles. Fold and roll according to the method here.
Place the baguettes on a tray with space between each, give
them two coats of the egg wash, and then make a series of
small deep cuts diagonally along the tops with a razor blade
or sharp knife.
• Leave to prove for 1 hour then bake for 10–12 minutes in
the preheated oven until the baguettes are dark golden
brown.

For the rolls

• Form the pieces of dough into rolls.
• Place the rolls on a baking tray or trays, with space
between each one.
• Glaze each roll with the egg wash, then with a knife or pair
of scissors make a cross in the tops, about 5mm deep.
• Leave to prove for 1 hour, then bake in the preheated oven
for 8–10 minutes until the rolls are dark golden brown.
scones
Everyone always asks me if I have a good recipe for scones. Well, I
do – ever since I first tried them when I came to Britain, they have
been my favourite British speciality. We are still talking about
dough, and this one has cream in it, which is a bit of a play on the
tradition of cream scones. I also like to make my scones square,
rather than round.

Quantity: 12–15 scones

Preparation: 20 minutes
Resting: 15 minutes
Baking: 20 minutes

150g Salted butter

600g Plain flour
150g Caster sugar
40g Baking powder
280g Sultanas
190g Double cream
190g Milk (190ml)
2 Eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt for an egg wash

To prepare
Preheat the oven to 220ºC.

To make
• Rub the butter into the flour in a mixing bowl. Add the
sugar and baking powder. Add the sultanas and mix until
they are evenly distributed.
• Add the cream and milk and mix with your scraper until all
the ingredients are bound together. Lightly dust your work
surface with flour and turn the dough out onto it. Press
down, then fold it in half, then press down again, fold again
the opposite way, and then repeat, until you have a rough
square. Flour the top and bottom of the dough, cover with a
tea towel and rest in a cool place for 15 minutes.
• Lightly flour the work surface and then roll the dough out
to a thickness of 2½–3cm. Brush off any excess flour. With a
sharp knife, cut out the scones into squares (about 6 x 6cm).
• Lay on a baking tray, making sure that the scones are not
too close together. Roll out any scraps of dough and cut
some more scones until you have used all of the dough.
• Glaze the scones with the egg wash. Wait for 2 minutes,
then glaze again. Turn down the heat in the preheated oven
to 200°C and bake the scones for around 20 minutes until
they are well risen, and the top and underside is golden
brown.
additional recipes

apple compote
Peel, core and quarter 2 large cooking apples. Melt a large knob of
butter in a pan and add 1 teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of
cinnamon. Add the apples and toss until well coated with butter.
Cook for 1 minute or so, then reduce the heat, add a tablespoon of
Calvados or brandy (if you like) and stir well. Cover the pan and
leave over a low heat for 10–15 minutes, or until the apples are soft.
Remove from the heat and cool for a few minutes, then, using a
hand blender, blitz until smooth and leave to cool completely.

crème patissière
In a bowl whisk together 6 egg yolks, 70g caster sugar and 50g
sifted flour. Put another 70g sugar into a saucepan with 500g
(500ml) full-fat milk and a vanilla pod (split lengthways and seeds
scraped in). Place over a low heat. Leave until the first bubble
appears, then remove from the heat. Whisk ⅓ of the milk into the
egg mixture, then add the remaining ⅔ of the milk and stir again.
Pour back into the pan and put back on the heat. Bring to the boil
and simmer for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly to ensure
that the cream does not burn on the bottom of the pan. Pour into a
dish to cool. Sprinkle a little icing sugar or flakes of butter on top to
prevent a skin forming.

crème d’amande
Beat 125g butter (at room temperature) and 125g caster sugar by
hand, or mix in a food processor with a paddle, until pale and fluffy.
Add 125g ground almonds and mix again. Add 25g plain flour and
continue to mix, finally adding 2 eggs, one at a time, along with 2
large tablespoons of rum (if you like), mixing well between each
addition, until the mixture is light in consistency. Use immediately or
store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
suppliers
BACON
Duchy Originals www.duchyoriginals.com
Available from most supermarkets

BAKING EQUIPMENT
The Bertinet Kitchen www.thebertinetkitchen.com

CIDER
Burrow Hill Cider www.ciderbrandy.co.uk
01460 240782

FLOUR
Shipton Mill
www.shiptonmill.com or by mail order from Flour Direct on 01666
505050 or
Leckford Strong White organic flour and Canadian
Bread Flour both available from Waitrose

HERBS AND SPICES

Seasoned Pioneers www.seasonedpioneers.co.uk
Available from most supermarkets

OILS
Any good extra-virgin olive oil will do but I particularly
like Belazu www.belazu.com
Available from most supermarkets
The avocado oil I use is made by Olivado Gourmet
Foods www.olivado.com
and again is available from most supermarkets.

FRESH YEAST
Some bakeries and supermarket in-store bakeries will sell you some
but you will need to ask. Some delis and healthfood stores will also
stock it. It is available UK wide by mail order in 500g blocks or in
packs of 8 x 42g mini-blocks from us at The Bertinet Kitchen
www.thebertinetkitchen.com.
index
Additives
Almonds
apricot & almond tart, 1, 2
crème d’amande, 1, 2
Aniseed
aniseed & guinness bread, 1, 2
sesame & aniseed breadsticks
Apples
apple compote
apple tart
Apricots
apricot & almond tart, 1, 2
apricot & oat bread, 1, 2
Avocado oil, 1, 2, 3

Bacon
bacon slice, 1, 2
pancetta & mixed olive bread, 1, 2, 3
smoked bacon & red onion bread, 1, 2
Baguettes
epis, 1, 2
keeping back dough
making, 1, 2
meaning
Baking
Baking stone
Béchamel sauce, 1, 2
Biga
Bread & butter pudding, marmalade
Bread shots, 1, 2
Breadsticks
 olive, herb & pecorino
sesame & aniseed
Brown dough
apricot & oat bread
brown rolls
cardamom & prune bread
honey & lavender loaf
making
multiseed bread
pecan & cranberry bread
poppy seed stars
raisin, hazelnut & shallot bread
seaweed bread
sesame plaits
types of bread, 1, 2
100% wholemeal bread
Brown rolls, 1, 2
Brush
Buns
Jack’s chocolate buns, 1, 2

Canadian strong white flour

Caraway
rye, caraway & raisin bread, 1, 2
Cardamom & prune bread, 1, 2
Cheese
bread shots
gruyère cheese & cumin bread, 1, 2
olive, herb & pecorino breadsticks
parmesan, parma ham & pine nut slices, 1, 2, 3
pizza, 1, 2
Chocolate
Jack’s chocolate buns, 1, 2
pain viennois, 1, 2
Chorleywood Bread Process
Ciabatta, 1, 2
 olive
Cider
somerset cider bread, 1, 2
Colour chart
Cranberries
pecan & cranberry bread, 1, 2
Crème d’amande, 1, 2
Crème patissière
Cumin
gruyère cheese & cumin bread, 1, 2
saffron rolls

Dark rye bread 1, 2

Dough
brown
keeping back, 1, 2
kneading, 1, 2
loaves, shaping into
making, technique for
olive
parent
resting, 1, 2
rolls, shaping into
rye
small balls, rolling into, 1, 2
sweet
white
working, 1, 2
Dough hook, using
Doughnuts, 1, 2

Epis, 1, 2
Equipment, 1, 2
Everyday loaves

Ferment, 1, 2
Flatbread, 1, 2
Flour
Focaccia
pesto, olive & pepperdew focaccia
rock salt & rosemary focaccia, 1, 2
Folding
Fougasse, 1, 2
Fruit
fruited tea loaf, 1, 2
summer pudding
Fruited tea loaf, 1, 2

Garlic
roasted
tomato, garlic & basil bread, 1, 2, 3
Gruyère cheese & cumin bread, 1, 2
Guinness
aniseed & guinness bread, 1, 2

Ham
parmesan, parma ham & pine nut slices, 1, 2, 3
Hazelnuts
raisin, hazelnut & shallot bread, 1, 2
Herbs
gruyère cheese & cumin bread
olive, herb & pecorino breadsticks
orange & mint loaf, 1, 2
pesto bread shots
pesto, olive & pepperdew focaccia
rock salt & rosemary focaccia, 1, 2
tomato, garlic & basil bread, 1, 2, 3
Home-made loaf, ingredients of
Honey & lavender loaf, 1, 2

Ingredients
Jack’s chocolate buns, 1, 2

Kneading, 1, 2

Lavender
honey & lavender loaf, 1, 2
Layered rolls, 1, 2
Leckford Estate
Lemon rolls, 1, 2
Loaves
shaping dough into

Marmalade bread & butter pudding

Mint
mint butter
orange & mint loaf, 1, 2
Mixing bowl
Multiseed bread, 1, 2

Nuts
apricot & almond tart, 1, 2
crème d’amande, 1, 2
parmesan, parma ham & pine nut slices, 1, 2, 3
pecan & cranberry bread, 1, 2
raisin, hazelnut & shallot bread, 1, 2
walnut bread shots

Oats
apricot & oat bread, 1, 2
Olive bread, 1, 2
Olive dough
ciabatta
flatbread
making
pancetta & mixed olive bread, 1, 2
parmesan, parma ham & pine nut slices, 1, 2
 pizza, 1, 2
rock salt & rosemary focaccia, 1, 2
soup bowl
tomato, garlic & basil bread, 1, 2, 3
types of bread, 1, 2
Olives
bread shots
ciabatta
olive, herb & pecorino breadsticks
olive paste, 1, 2
pancetta & mixed olive bread, 1, 2, 3
pesto, olive & pepperdew focaccia
Onions
raisin, hazelnut & shallot bread, 1, 2
smoked bacon & red onion bread, 1, 2
Oranges
orange & mint loaf, 1, 2
pecan & cranberry bread
Oven, heating up

Pain de campagne, 1, 2
Pain de mie, 1, 2
Pain façon beaucaire, 1, 2
Pain viennois, 1, 2
Pancetta & mixed olive bread, 1, 2, 3
Parmesan, parma ham & pine nut slices, 1, 2, 3
Pecan & cranberry bread, 1, 2
Peppers
pesto, olive & pepperdew focaccia
Pesto
bread shots
pesto, olive & pepperdew focaccia
Pine nuts
parmesan, parma ham & pine nut slices, 1, 2, 3
Pizza, 1, 2
Plastic scraper
Poolish
100% wholemeal bread
dark rye bread
Poppy seed stars, 1, 2
Proving
Prunes
cardamom & prune bread, 1, 2
Puff balls, 1, 2
Pumpernickel
Raisins
raisin, hazelnut & shallot bread, 1, 2
rye, caraway & raisin bread, 1, 2
Razor blade
Resting dough, 1, 2
Rock salt & rosemary focaccia, 1, 2
Rolls
brown, 1, 2
layered, 1, 2
lemon, 1, 2
saffron, 1, 2
shaping dough into
spicy moroccan, 1, 2
sweet
Rye, caraway & raisin bread, 1, 2
Rye dough
aniseed & guinness bread
dark rye bread
making
olive bread
pain de campagne
rye, caraway & raisin bread
smoked bacon & red onion bread
somerset cider bread
types of bread, 1, 2
walnut bread
Saffron rolls, 1, 2
Salt
Scones, 1, 2
Seaweed bread, 1, 2
Sesame seeds
sesame & aniseed breadsticks
sesame plaits, 1, 2
Shallots
raisin, hazelnut & shallot bread, 1, 2
Shipton Mill, 1, 2
Shop-bought loaf, ingredients of
Sliced white bread
Small breads
Smoked bacon & red onion bread, 1, 2
Somerset cider bread, 1, 2
Soup bowl, 1, 2
Sourdough bread
Spicy moroccan rolls, 1, 2
Summer pudding
Sweet dough
apricot & almond tart
bacon slice
doughnuts
fruited tea loaf
Jack’s chocolate buns
making
orange & mint loaf
pain viennois
scones
types of bread, 1, 2
Sweet rolls
Tarts
apricot & almond tart, 1, 2
Tea towels, 1, 2
Timer
Tomatoes
 bread shots
oven-dried
pizza, 1, 2
tomato, garlic & basil bread, 1, 2, 3
tomato paste

Walnuts
bread shots
walnut bread, 1, 2
Water
Water spray
Weighing ingredients
Weighing scales
Wheatsheaf
White dough
baguettes
bread shots
epis
everyday loaves, 1, 2
fougasse
gruyère cheese & cumin bread
ingredients
layered rolls
lemon rolls
making
olive, herb & pecorino breadsticks
pain de mie
pain façon beaucaire
puff balls
saffron rolls
sesame & aniseed breadsticks
spicy moroccan rolls
types of bread, 1, 2
wheatsheaf
Wholemeal bread, 100% 1, 2
Wooden peel
Work surface, 1, 2
Working dough, 1, 2

Yeast
rubbing in
For Jo, Jack and Tom
With all my love
Acknowledgements

To Sheila Keating, without whom I would not have got over the first
hurdle, let alone past the finishing post; Kyle Cathie and her team
for believing in this book; Jean Cazals for the amazing pictures and
to Susanna Cook and the team at Allies for putting the jigsaw
together.

To Tim White and John Warwick for making me a movie star (!); Sue
Rowlands for props and croissants, Daniel Hopwood
(www.danielhopwood.com), Model Catering
(www.modelcatering.com), and Bill Amberg (www.billamberg.com)
for letting us borrow their beautiful things and Amanda at Flirty (020
8960 9191) for trees and flowers.

To John Lister and Clive Mellums at Shipton Mill

(enquiries@shiptonmill.com) for their advice and wonderful flour;
Dan Lepard (www.danlepard.com) for his support and friendship;
and AJ Tee at the French Croissant Company for his continued
understanding.

To Alison, Sophie and Dan for looking absolutely fabulous and for
getting out of bed for nothing; Joe, Alice, Eddie, Charlie and my
boys for being our (guinea) pigs; and to Jane, Karl and Jackie for
accommodating the overflow so graciously.

To Christine for her fabulous summer pudding recipe and

marmalade and, together with Penny and Vicky, for proving my
point that baking is fun; and to Kerry and Anna for being great
friends and making the world around me run so smoothly while this
book has been in the making.

Finally, to The Boss, for being there.

Richard is teaching and cooking at The Bertinet Kitchen in Bath.
www.thebertinetkitchen.com
This paperback edition first printed in Great Britain in 2007 by
Kyle Books
an imprint of Kyle Cathie Ltd.
192–198 Vauxhall Bridge Road
London, SW1V 1DX
general.enquiries@kylebooks.com
www.kylebooks.co.uk

First published in hardback in 2005 by Kyle Cathie Ltd.

ISBN: 978 1 85626 762 5

Richard Bertinet is hereby identified as the author of this work in

accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs & Patents
Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this

publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph
of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted, save
with written permission or in accordance with the provision of the
Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who does any
unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil damages.

Text copyright © 2005 by Richard Bertinet

Photographs copyright © 2005 by Jean Cazals
Text layouts copyright © 2005 by Kyle Books

Copy editor: Sophie Allen

Design: Susanna Cook and Anju Katharia at Allies
Indexer: Alex Corrin
Production: Sha Huxtable & Alice Holloway