Plaited White Loaf Recipe for Real Bread Week 2018

Now in its 10th year, Real Bread Week runs from 24 February to 4 March 2018 and is the international celebration of supporting your local, independent Real Bread bakery and baking your own bread.

One of the two main aims of Real Bread Week has always been to encourage more people to bake additive-free loaves at home and here at Comark Instruments, our amateur bakers have joined in with a plaited white loaf.

There can’t be a much better smell than that of freshly baked bread.

Baking bread at home is easy if you are patient.  It requires ten minutes or so to mix and knead the dough then an hour or two between stages to prove the bread and allow it to rise.

Why not follow these instructions and make a loaf of your own?

Recipe for plaited white loaf

  • 1kg Strong White Flour
  • 4 teaspoons Caster Sugar
  • 4 teaspoons Powdered Yeast
  • 3 teaspoons Salt
  • 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 640ml Warm Water

Makes 1 very large loaf or 2 smaller loaves

  1. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Add the olive oil, then pour in the warm water.
  3. Mix by hand in the bowl until the dough holds together, then turn out onto a floured surface. Knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
  4. Put dough into a clean bowl and cover with a clean cloth. Leave in a warm place until the dough is well risen and doubled in size.
  5. Lightly knead the dough again to knock the air out. Divide into two if making smaller loaves.
  6. Take the dough for a loaf and cut into three equal pieces. Roll these out into long sausage shaped lengths.  Secure the three pieces at one end, then plait to the other end.  Pinch off both ends for a neat finish.
  7. Place plaited loaf on a baking sheet, covered with a clean cloth, and allow to rise again. It should be doubled in size and the dough should spring back with prodded with a finger.

The bread can be glazed with beaten egg and sprinkled with seeds or left plain. Bake in an oven at 220°C/400°F for 30 minutes, longer for a large loaf.  You can test that the loaf is cooked through by tapping underneath.  If it sounds hollow then it is cooked.

You can check the accuracy of your oven temperature with one of our dial thermometers.