SOFT-CRUST SANDWICH BREAD
THIS really is the best thing since sliced bread. This loaf has three secret ingredients: milk and butter give it a soft crumb, while golden syrup makes it less crumbly and easier to slice.
Makes 1 medium loaf
Kit you’ll need
900g (2lb) loaf tin (about 26 × 12.5 × 7.5cm)
For the bread
325ml (11fl oz) milk 25g (1oz) unsalted butter 1 tsp golden syrup 500g (1lb 2oz) strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting ½ tsp fine sea salt 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
To finish
Small knob of unsalted butter
1Pour
the milk into a small saucepan, add the butter and golden syrup and heat gently to melt the butter. Give it a stir, then take the pan off the heat and let it cool until the liquid feels just warm when you dip in your little finger.
2Put
the flour and sea salt into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a food-mixer and mix well with your hands or the dough hook attachment. Mix in the dried yeast then make a well in the centre.
3Pour
the lukewarm milk mixture into the well and mix everything together with your hand or the dough hook on the slowest speed to make a soft dough. If the dough feels stiff or dry or there are some stray dry crumbs at the bottom of the bowl, work in a little more lukewarm milk, a tbsp at a time. If the dough feels very sticky and clings to the sides of the bowl, work in a little more flour. Leave the soft dough in the bowl, uncovered, for 5 minutes so that the flour can fully hydrate, which will make it easier to work.
4Lightly
flour the worktop and your fingers, then tip out the dough and knead it well for 10 minutes, or for 5 minutes in a mixer with the dough hook on the slowest speed. The dough should feel slightly firmer, silky- smooth, very elastic and pliable. Put the dough back in the bowl, then cover the bowl tightly with clingfilm or a snap-on lid, or pop it into a large plastic bag and close tightly. Leave to rise on the worktop for about 1 hour at normal room temperature until it has doubled in size. Grease the inside and the rim of the tin with butter.
5Punch
down (knock back) the risen dough with your knuckles to deflate it, then tip it out onto the lightly floured worktop. Knead it a couple of times to even it out and shift any large air bubbles, then dust your fingers with flour and firmly press it out to a 26×30cm (10½x12in) rectangle of an even thickness. Roll up the dough fairly tightly from one short end — a bit like a Swiss roll — pinching the dough together as you go.
6 When it is all rolled up, pinch the seam firmly. Put the bread seamside down, tuck the ends under the roll and push the loaf into the tin.
7 Gently press your hand down flat on top of the dough to push it right into the corners of the tin and flatten it on the surface. This will give the baked loaf a neat, fairly brick-like shape ( or just slightly rounded) instead of the usual well-domed crust. Slip the tin into a large plastic bag, letting in some air so the plastic doesn’t stick to the dough, and close tightly. Leave the dough to prove and rise at normal room temperature for about 1 hour until doubled in size.
8 Towards the end of the proving time, preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan), 425°F, gas 7. Take the tin
out of the bag and bake it for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 180° C ( 160° C fan), 350°F, gas 4 and bake for 20 minutes until the loaf is a good golden brown. To test if the bread is done, turn it out and tap it on the base with your knuckles — if it sounds hollow it is ready, but if there’s a dull ‘thud’, put it back in the tin and pop it in the oven for another 5 minutes, then test again.
9 Turn out the cooked loaf onto a wire rack, then quickly rub a knob of unsalted butter over the top using an old butter wrapper or piece of kitchen paper. Leave the bread to cool until completely cold before storing. Eat within 5 days — after that it is best toasted.