dippolicious: One of "top 50 things to do before you die" (allegedly)

I've had a packet of yeast in our cupboard for some time now so today, I make bread.

Bread is one of the oldest prepared foods around, it can be traced back to Neolithic times and is loved by pretty much everybody. In fact I can't think of another type of food that is so widely used, every nation has their own individual interpretation - pizza, bagels, brioche, baguettes, tortillas, chapatis, focaccia to name a few...and in some countries the word for "food" is bread!

Now I'm not sure whether I'd go as far as saying that making bread is one of the things you should definitely do before going to other side (I can think of a few more entertaining ways to pass a few hours) but it is damn rewarding and really easy to do.

Makes two white loafs:

1kg of flour
10g of yeast
15g of salt
600ml of warm water

That's it!

Start by mixing all your ingredients in a bowl (just make sure it is big enough). Try to use just one hand as you'll need the other one to hold the bowl steady. Mix well until you have, well, dough!

Once you have a nice ball of dough things get a bit more physical as this is the point when the kneading begins. Put your dough on a flat surface and whilst holding one end begin working it away from you before rolling it back up. See below.

Do this for around 10 minutes until you have a nice elastic feel and a more 'complete' look to your dough.

To get a nice round shape just round it gently with your hands and tuck the dough under itself until you have something that looks like the below, it's a lot easier than it sounds believe me.

Place your dough ball in a lightly greased bowl, cover well (I used a bin liner secured with an elastic band!) and leave in a warm place for an 1 hour and a 1/2 to prove. Now crack open the wine!

The dough should have by now almost doubled in size, tear it in half and flatten both parts down on a floured surface. Now grab an edge and fold it towards the middle as below.

Repeat until you've done this for all sides, your dough should now look like the image below.

Turn over and place under a a damp cloth for 45 minutes, this process will allow the dough to rise again.

Now lightly flour a baking tray (what else), make a few slashes on the surface of your dough like in image below and slide into a preheated oven (200 degrees), leave for roughly 40 mins.