There is little to beat the satisfaction of making your own bread when you create something scrumptious from a bowl full of unpromising ingredients.

Kneading dough is a fabulous stress-buster, and making your own bread is a genuinely pleasurable activity, with the bonus of truly wonderful smells and delicious edible results.

Therefore, in this month’s column, I have decided to share a family favourite of mine – a simple granary malted bread recipe to add an autumn harvest theme going into September.

Harvest time is also a very special time of year for me. It inspired my baking career when the local baker came to school (Grange County Primary in Riddlesden), baking bread in the classroom and showing us the wonderful wheatsheaf he made for our school harvest festival, which included harvest mice!

This got me very excited.

Wow, that’s it! I wanted to be a baker at the early age of five.

The old traditions and skills, dating back from pagan times, are now lost, with most churches and schools not seeing a wheatsheaf for a number of years.

It was traditionally celebrated for the gathering in of the wheat from the fields and the decorating our churches and schools with baskets of fruit and vegetables, praying and singing to rejoice.

It was traditional the village baker baked a wheatsheaf from the first batch of flour milled to thank God for a successful harvest, with the last strands of wheat made into corn dollies to be ploughed back into the first furrow of the new season.

Sadly, due mainly to our shopping habits nowadays being a one-shop weekly event for most people, our village baker has disappeared, along with the traditions, history and skills. Happy baking.

BAKER MIKE’S TOP TIPS FOR THAT PERFECT LOAF OF BREAD l Wholemeal or white flour will work as an alternative in my recipe if you don’t like seeded bread l Knead by hand – get to know your dough’s texture and feel l I always bake a well-darkened crust on my breads – it adds to the flavour l Try adding a bowl of boiling water to the oven just before the dough is fully proved up ready for baking for a great crust l If you feel the sides and bottom are slightly under-baked, return to the oven without the tin to crisp up

 

RECIPE

Harvest Country Grain
Ingredients
500g granary flour or any wholegrain seeded
10g salt
20g sugar or honey
30g butter or olive oil
25g fresh yeast or 10g dried 
320/340ml tepid water
Poppy and sesame seeds for the toppings 
Method
1. Place into a large mixing bowl the flour, salt and sugar
2. Rub in the butter or stir in the olive oil
3. Dissolve the yeast into the cool water, adding to the dry to form a soft dough
4. Knead on a well-floured surface for about ten minutes until smooth and elastic
5. Place back into your mixing bowl covering with a clean tea towel, until double or more in size
6. Once doubled in size, gently knock back, releasing the gas bubbles
7. Shape like a long torpedo, ensuring the seam is at the bottom of the dough
8. Place into a well-greased 2lb bread tin or bloomer shape
9. Prove somewhere warm for a second rise for about 30 minutes or almost double in size
10. Once proved, spray with water and sprinkle with seeds
11. Bake in a pre-heated hot oven, 220C for about 35-40 minutes, until golden brown and hollow when tapped
12. Transfer onto a cooling wire before serving slightly warm, with lots of butter and homemade jam, of course!