Effendi
LE
Sorry but the first three slices were nicked and eaten before I could get the iPhone to take the pic.
Recipe - variants of which are knocking around on't'web:
7 - 8g dried yeast
1 dessert spoon honey
500g plain white flour
1 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup malted milk powder (ovaltine)
teaspoon salt
1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons [dark] molasses
325 ml tepid water
Put about 25ml water into a small bowl, add honey, mix till honey dissolves, add yeast, stir in, not mix, and let rise.
Put all dry ingredients into a bowl and dry mix.
Make a hole in the dry mix and add half the yeast mix and half the water. Mix.
Make another hole, add the rest of the yeast mix and wash the yeast bowl dregs into the mix with the other half of the water. Mix a little then add the molasses. Keep mixing till it looks evenly distributed.
The mix will not have a dark Hovis like color, it will look a little sort of like a light coffee color.
Put the dough into a clean bowl to rise for around an hour, I cover with a damp tea towel and pIace in an oven which has been previously pre-heated to about 120 and switched off. Tip: Put butter onto a piece of kitchen towel and then very lightly smear a bowl to prevent the mix sticking - lightly smear, too much will result in the butter frying the dough later during baking.
After the hour the dough should have risen to about 2 times size. Drop it onto a floured surface, bang all the air out, then fold and knead for 5 minutes....not three, five ..... the more you work the dough the better result you get.
After five minutes form the dough into a loaf shape using both hands and tucking the edges under, turning the dough as you go for around 30 seconds - till it looks good, commonsense. When it is a nice loaf shape put it into a loaf tin which has had some butter [lightly] smeared around to prevent sticking.
I then put it into the oven which has again been pre-heated to 100 'ish and turned off - (edit: some ovens have a proofing setting, if yours has then use that). When the dough has proved - after about 35 minutes - I turn the oven on and set to baking temp of 380 and leave for 30 - 35 minutes. The gradual rise to baking temp will finish proving the dough and then it will bake nicely.
I've made about 6 of these now and they seem to work quite nicely - I know they taste nice as the kids scoff them as soon as they can.
Enjoy.
Notes:
1. Hovis was never a true brown loaf - it was colored, that is what the molasses does. I have read of people using cold tea, cocoa and other things to get the color.
2. The wheat goodness is added with the wheat bran - I can't get wheat germ or I would try that too.
3. The malted milk powder gives the malty part of a malted loaf.
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