The joy of bread

Recently I've had my eyes opened to just how tasteless most of the bread we eat in the UK is.  A craft bakery bread is a truly fantastic thing.

Ok, I didn't want to stop there (although there are some fantastic craft bakeries out there worth giving a go), I thought I'd give bread making a go again.  I used to make my own bread but haven't much in recent years, especially with the birth of my son but there is something therapeutic about it.

I tried making bread using a 'sponge method'.  This is where you start the bread the night before and it's one step towards sourdough without creating a starter which needs more attention than your child.  Sounds like more work, but actually it's not.  I used the River Cottage Bread Book as a guide (so can't really reproduce the recipe here as I made no changes).

I think you'll agree if you check out my picture, the results are impressive.



I'm going to keep at it and start using craft techniques to perfect the flavour but the texture was amazing. I may put my breadmaker back in the cupboard...

Next time you buy a loaf of bread, take a slice and smell it, look a the texture, notice the flavour.  If it's absent, perhaps you need to try different bread!  Bread should be more than just tasteless polystyrene 'filler' and it's not expensive to buy decent bread or make it yourself.  Even if it's only one loaf a week, it's worth having one loaf a week of something decent.

Pants.  It's raining and the washing's on the line.