Old-Fashioned Sandwich Loaf

• hidangan: 1 loaf

Bahan-bahan

500 grams strong white bread flour plus more for dusting

2½ teaspoons (7g) or 1 x 7g/¼oz sachet fast-action dried yeast

2 teaspoons (8g) caster sugar

2 teaspoons (12g) fine sea salt

125 millilitres spoilt milk (or sour cream) straight from the fridge

3 x 15ml tablespoons (45g) soft unsalted butter (omit if using sour cream, plus more for greasing tin)

vegetable oil for kneading

Arahan

You will need a 2lb/900g loaf tin — dimensions vary, but as a guide, mine has internal measurements of 24 x 12 x 8cm / 9.5 x 5 x 3in.

Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl.

Pour the spoilt milk (or sour cream) into a measuring jug, add 150ml/⅔ cup of cold water (which will take you to the 275ml / 1½ cups mark) then add 100ml/7 tablespoons boiling water (and I’m presuming you don’t need me to say that it should now read 375ml). Stir the soft butter into the jug; it won’t melt entirely, but that’s fine.

Pour the jug of wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients, stirring as you go, either with a wooden spoon, a Danish dough whisk or — and these are my tools of choice here — hands. Stir until all the flour — apart from a little that’s clinging to the sides of the bowl — is absorbed into the dough; if this takes a minute I’d be surprised. Form into a rough ball, cover the bowl with food wrap or a shower cap, and leave for 10 minutes.

Pour a little oil onto the kitchen counter and spread it with your hand to give a light sheen to an area big enough to knead on. Take the dough out of its bowl and duly knead it for 10 seconds. How you knead is very personal: we all have our different styles; I push the dough away with the heel of my hand and bring it back with my fingers. Form the dough back into a ball, return it to its bowl, cover it again, and leave for 10 minutes. Repeat this process twice, and after the third 10-second knead, form the dough into a ball again, put it back in the bowl, cover, and leave for an hour.

Line the bottom of a 2lb/900g loaf tin and very lightly grease the sides; I use an old butter wrapper for this. Take the plumptiously risen dough out of its bowl, and pat it out on your oiled surface so that you have a soft, puffy mattress about 2cm thick, with one edge about 4cm shorter than the length of your tin. Starting with this edge, and using both hands, tightly roll the dough into a scroll — or swiss roll, if that helps you visualise it better — and tenderly place it seam side down in your prepared tin; you may have to press the short sides gently to fit it in, as the scroll can get longer as you roll. Leave to rise for 1–1½ hours, until it’s peeking out just above the top of the tin. Turn the oven on when it looks like it’s nearly there.

So, heat the oven to 200℃/180℃ Fan/400°F. Dust the top of the dough with flour and bake for 45 minutes, by which time the bread will be risen, with a rounded and deep biscuity-gold top. Unless your oven is misfiring, it will definitely be done. Armed with oven gloves, quickly take the bread out of the tin, and place it on a wire rack to cool before slicing into it. To keep the loaf fresh for as long as possible, store in a bread bin. The next best method is to wrap it in a tea towel.