Dean Frayne shares a favourite recipe ahead of the December break

As 2023 winds down, I would like to take a moment to wish you all a wonderful December break. Sharing food is one of the cornerstones of this time of year as we join with friends and family to observe holidays and customs, or simply enjoy each other’s company during a well-deserved rest. This season I’d like to share with you one of my own recipes with the hope that it nourishes and brings a little happiness.

No matter where you are or how you celebrate, I hope you can rest and recharge before January begins – especially after a year when difficult local and global events have shaken us all. Please be safe, share in joy and generosity wherever you find it, and let’s look forward to a new year together.

Every baker needs one bread dough to produce an excellent, reliable product quickly. This basic, versatile dough is just that. You can make wonderful bread, crusty rolls, pizza, sandwich loaves, flatbreads, pitas and much more with just this one dough. You can also substitute some of the white flour with whole wheat, rye, spelt, or oats, for example. You can enrich this dough, for example, by adding soaked dried fruit and spices (it makes an excellent raisin and cinnamon loaf). 1200g of dough makes two loaves. If you want more than two loaves, simply multiply the ingredients (for example, double each ingredient to double the amount of dough from 1200g to 2400g; for one loaf, halve the ingredients to make 600g of dough).

Equipment and baking options

• Mixing bowl, scale measuring grams, thermometer (but not essential), knife or dough scraper.
• If you are making a freestanding loaf, you will need a banneton or other well-floured bowl in which the final loaves will rise (x2 for two loaves).
• For baking a freestanding loaf in the oven, you can use a casserole dish or cast iron pot, both with lids. Or simply place the loaf/loaves on a baking stone/steel or baking sheet.
• Alternatively, you can use a loaf tin (x2 for two loaves) for both the final rise and the bake.

Ingredients

• White flour 700g
• Water 480g
• Yeast (instant) 8g
• Salt 12g
• Total Dough Weight 1200g

Directions

In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together, including the yeast. Add the water, which should be warm to the touch (this dough works best at 27°C – you can achieve this by adjusting the temperature of the water). Mix the ingredients with your hand until you have a shaggy, sticky dough. Cover the bowl (lid, plastic bag, etc.).

Leave the dough (covered) to rest for about 30 minutes. Wet your work surface generously with water and empty the dough gently onto this. With wet hands, stretch the dough out to a thickness of about 3cm. Fold the dough in three and return it to the bowl and cover it again. Let it rest for another 30 minutes. Stretch the dough again, fold it and then return it to the bowl for the final rise of 30 minutes. At this stage the dough should be well developed (stretchy, with bubbles of gas forming). If not, stretch and fold it once again, and leave for another 30 minutes.

How do you know if the gluten is well developed? With wet fingers, take a piece of the dough and stretch it out slowly, without breaking it. If you can form a semi-translucent window, the dough is well developed. If you do not have a ‘window’ (the dough breaks up), then give it another stretch and fold and leave it for another 30 minutes, and test it again. If your ambient air temperature is cool, the dough may take longer to develop (yeast activity is temperature sensitive).

Flour a surface and place your well-developed dough on it. You are ready for the next step: to divide (separate into pieces) and scale (weigh) the dough into two equal pieces. Resting the dough relaxes the gluten, so leave the two pieces of dough on the counter for a few minutes to make it easier to shape. Use this time to lightly flour the bannetons/bowls or your loaf tins. Now, shape each piece of dough into a ball with the seam underneath (you can see how to do this on YouTube – just google how to shape a loaf of bread). Place your shaped dough into the bannetons with the seam of the dough facing upwards, or the seam down if in tins. Leave for the final proof at 27°C and 80% humidity for 30-60mins in the bannetons (or bowls, or tins), until the loaves have risen appreciably. These are ideal conditions – if it is cooler, the dough will take longer to proof; if warmer, it will rise more quickly. If you poke the dough with your finger, the indentation should slowly fill, indicating it is ready to bake. Leave longer to proof if the dough springs back quickly.

Tip: Watch the dough, not the clock.

Heat your oven at 500°C (or as high as it will go) for about 30 minutes prior to baking.

There are a few options for baking your bread. You can use a cast iron or casserole dish with a lid. Preheat your dish for about 30 minutes at 500°C. Turn the loaf out of the banneton into the dish, score it, close the lid, and bake for 20 minutes. Take off the lid, turn down the oven to 450°C and bake for a further 10 minutes, or until burnished. Cool on a wire rack.

If you are baking bread on a baking tray, line the tray with the parchment paper. Turn the loaf out of the banneton onto the baking tray, score it and put it in the oven. Lower the temperature to 450°C and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until burnished. Cool on a wire rack.

You can also use a baking stone (or baking steel). Preheat the stone in the oven. Turn the loaf out of the banneton onto the hot stone, score it, and close the oven. Lower the temperature to 450°C and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until burnished. Cool on a wire rack.

Finally, if you choose to bake your loaf in a tin (makes great sandwich bread), simply load the tin(s) into the oven, lower the temperature to 450°C and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is burnished. Turn out of the tin to cool on a wire rack.

Remember that bread continues to cook once out of the oven. Let the bread rest for at least one hour before slicing.

To store your bread, keep it in a plastic bag on your counter once cooled and not in the fridge (bread stales rapidly in the fridge). If you do not plan to eat it within a few days, freeze the loaf for a future time.