How to Make Great Bread

The first stage is to prepare the yeast mixture which acts as the bread raising agent. These days it's a little harder to get hold of fresh yeast but you can get dried baking yeast which keeps for ages in the tin and works just as well.

You need a quarter pint of warm water (just slightly cooler than hand hot) which works out at about half a coffee mug full, and pour this into a pint jug or a bowl.

Add one teaspoon of sugar and stir it well so that the sugar dissolves.

Now add two and a half teaspoons of the dried yeast granules and mix well. Some people suggest using a whisk to make sure it mixes up properly but I've found that a spoon works fine. Experiment when you start making bread more frequently and decide which method works best for you.

The yeast mixture now needs to go somewhere warm so that it can rise. I've found that it works perfectly if I put it on the mantlepiece above the fire, but you might have a warm airing cupboard or a shelf above a radiator. In summer of course you can put it on a window sill in the sun but cover it with a cloth so that it doesn't get too hot.

After 15 minutes you'll see that the yeast has frothed up and has risen 2 to 3 centimetres up the side of the jug or the bowl. Perfect. If it's been in a slightly cooler area you may need to leave it for just a few more minutes. Now the yeast has risen well you're ready to go on to the next stage.

Put one pound of wholemeal flour into a large bowl, add a teaspoon of salt for taste (optional) and stir with a knife. I add a teacup of sunflower seeds too but this is optional, and you might like to do a plain loaf first of all.

Then add two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to the flour as well as the yeast mixture. Make sure to scrape all the yeast out from the jug or the bowl - you don't want to waste any raising power.

Mix the ingredients together with a knife so that they begin to combine. The dough will be dry and very crumbly so you want to add water to bind it and make it malleable enough to work on, so add some warm water to the jug or the bowl that held the yeast and just swish it around to get the last dregs. Add about half a teacup, or as needed, to the mixing bowl and bring the dough together with your hand. It may be quite sticky but the idea is to make a malleable mound of dough, not too dry and not too wet. Just add a little flour to make it less sticky.

The best way of describing the right texture is to imagine you're handling a very soft foam pillow. Add more water if it's still a little dry, so that when it's formed into a ball it's just smooth and soft with no dampness. If you've added a little too much water just scatter in a small handful more flour and work it in gently.

Once the dough is all combined and is the right texture, leave it to sit in the mixing bowl for 10 minutes to rest.

Kneading the dough properly is crucial to the quality of the finished loaf. It's the gluten in the flour which is activated to bind the ingredients together. Take the ball of dough out of the mixing bowl and put it on a lightly floured surface.

There is a video link below which gives a good demonstration of the kneading process, and in essence you're folding it over and over on itself, turning it round as you go, and stretching the dough to increase its pliability. Work the dough for a good ten minutes.

Now put about a teaspoon of olive oil in your hands and rub it all over the ball of dough, then put it back in the mixing bowl. Cover with a teatowel and then put it in a warm place for an hour for the dough to rise, or "prove".

After an hour you will find that the dough has doubled or tripled in size. Now take the dough out of the bowl and onto a floured surface, and start kneading it again. This is called "knocking back" as what you're doing is pushing out all the air and stretching the gluten again to increase its pliability and to improve the quality of the final loaf. This time knead for five minutes and then put it back in the bowl. Back it goes to that warm place for half an hour.

At the end of half an hour, knead it for a third time for five minutes. Some people just knead twice, but kneading the dough a third time adds lightness and crumbliness to the loaf and gives it a much nicer texture.

Now transfer the dough to a well greased loaf tin or a round baking dish, smooth some more olive oil onto the dough and take it back to that warm place again and let it rise for another half hour. Make sure it's covered otherwise the top begins to dry out despite the oil.

At the end of the final half hour the dough will have risen again to the top or just above the rim of the container. Put it straight into the oven on the middle shelf for 45 minutes at a high temperature - 220 degrees C.

When the loaf is cooked turn it out immediately of the tin or the bowl, and put it on a wire rack to cool. You can tap the bottom of the loaf with a knuckle and it should sound hollow. This particularl loaf in the images is about 8" across and 6" deep in the middle.

If you can bear to wait until the loaf has cooled down completely you're a better person than I am. There's nothing better than slicing off a chunk of freshly baked bread still hot from the oven, slathering on some butter and eating it as it is. Gorgeous.