New Scottish Baking

1

Bread

Classic loaf

No-knead loaf

Sourdough loaf

Aga loaf

Morning rolls (baps)

Aberdeen rowies (butteries)

Seaweed soda bread

Artichoke heart and thyme bread

Focaccia

Naan bread

Cornbread

Tapenade parmesan breadsticks

Classic loaf, p. 21

Introduction

I was not brought up with home-made bread - no one I knew had freshly baked bread emerging from their ovens when they came home from school. Rather, it was scones, buns, shortbread or a slice of simple sultana cake from the tin.

I spent every summer and one whole year in France during my years studying at university and I never encountered home-made bread. That would have been unthinkable. Why bother, when you only had to pop along to the local boulangerie twice a day for the most delicious baguette?

I lived in northern Finland for a year after that and though I did not encounter home-made bread, for the first time I did see a lot of fresh yeast. Wonderfully squidgy and beery smelling, the yeast was sold in even the tiniest supermarkets, primarily to make pulla (cardamom buns) and enriched sweet bread dough, for wonderful Finnish fruit and berry cheesecakes and pies.

For three years in the early 1980s I lived in northern Germany, and it was then that I began to come across home-made bread more frequently. Sometimes it was flavoured with rye; almost always it was delicious.

Back in the UK, home-made bread was often heavy and dense, as most of us really didn't know what we were doing. But gradually home-made loaves became less worthy and thankfully lighter, more palatable, and indeed usually better than the supermarket equivalents.

Many years later came the pandemic lockdown, and with it sourdough. There had been a surge in artisan bakeries over the previous decade or so, which meant until then we didn't even have to bake our own sourdough bread, but with lockdown, things changed and loaves appeared all over social media!

I recommend trying a home-made loaf, if only to see how delicious it can be. The following breads are some of my favourites.

BREAD TIPS AND VARIATIONS

In order to achieve the perfect temperature for 'tepid' or 'hand-hot' liquid, mix one-third boiling liquid to two-thirds cold. Basically, it should feel pleasantly and comfortably warm, never hot.

Unbleached flour gives far more character to a loaf.

Ensure you have enough salt in your dough, otherwise it will be tasteless.

Fast-action or easy-blend dried yeasts are my preferred options, as they are always to hand. If you use fresh yeast, use 15g dissolved in some tepid liquid, with half a teaspoon of sugar, and leave to stand for 10-15 minutes. This mixture is added along with the tepid liquid in the recipe.

You can replace some of the tepid water with tepid milk; this gives your bread less of a chewy texture and more of a soft crumb.

The easiest way to incorporate liquids into dry ingredients is to make a 'well' in the centre of the dry ingredients and gradually pour in the liquids with one hand, while 'drawing in' the flour with a spoon held in the other.

The wetter the dough, the better the bread, so add enough to make a softish but not too sticky dough (if you add too much liquid, it will be impossible to knead).

Kneading by hand is my preferred method - it is also the best stress reliever! You can knead in a food mixer using a dough hook. Or try the no-knead recipe (p. 22).

To knead by hand, stretch the dough away from you with the heel of your hand, then turn the dough and repeat the movement. Ten minutes is usually enough for the texture to change and become smoother and more elastic.

When allowing bread to rise, we normally talk about a first and second rising. To check if you have kneaded the dough enough in the first stage, gently press it using your fingertip: if it springs back, it is ready. To check if it has risen enough during the second rising, again gently press in a fingertip - this time it should not spring back. Rather, it will leave an indentation, which means the gluten has stretched as much as possible and it's ready to bake.

The ideal temperature for bread dough to rise is 20-25°C (which is the temperature of most airing cupboards), but you can leave it for an hour or so longer just at room temperature. Never leave it somewhere hot, such as on top of a radiator, and ensure your bowl is tightly covered, so it is draught-free. I place bowls of dough on a wire rack above my heated kitchen floor.

Regular dough will take 1-2 hours to rise (my house is cold, so I allow 2) but enriched dough takes an hour or so longer. Slowly risen dough has a better taste and texture.

Leaving a dough to rise overnight in the fridge is perfect if you have guests the next day - you achieve the homely bread-baking aromas but you have done the hard work of measuring and kneading the day before! This method also ensures a truly flavoursome loaf after a slow-rising. Simply cover the bowl of kneaded dough and place it in the fridge for at least 12 hours. Next day remove to room temperature (the dough will be harder than usual), knock back and shape as usual, but give the second rising longer. I usually leave it for at least an hour.

To 'knock down' or 'knock back' means to punch a risen dough with your fist to deflate air bubbles: this takes place after the first rising.

Loaves can be glazed: brush with beaten egg, or beaten egg yolk or milk, before baking - or with olive oil, milk or melted butter immediately after baking. You can also simply dust with flour, fine oatmeal or fine polenta prior to baking.

To test whether bread is cooked, remove and turn upside down with oven gloves, then tap the loaf underneath: if it is ready, it will sound hollow, like a drum.

Classic loaf

This basic recipe can be modified, depending on taste. Try adding in a handful of sunflower or pumpkin seeds - or substituting a quarter of the white flour with a rye or granary variety. Though, I have to admit, I like it just as it is: simple and straightforward, delicious with butter and jam or honey, or with butter and cheese or ham. Butter, you will notice, is the key, always.

Makes 2 loaves

700g strong white flour

7g sachet fast-action dried yeast

2 tsp salt

450ml tepid water

Mix the flour and yeast in a bowl with the salt.

Make a well in the centre and slowly pour in enough water (about 450ml) to make a softish dough.

Using floured hands, bring the dough together and turn it out onto a floured board. Regularly sprinkling (lightly) with flour - I use a flour shaker - knead for 10 minutes until smooth: it should be soft and shiny-looking, but no longer sticky.

Place in an oiled bowl and cover with cling film, then leave somewhere vaguely warm for 1½-2 hours (I place mine on a wire rack over my heated kitchen floor: it takes 2 hours to increase its volume to almost double).

Lightly oil two baking sheets or two 500g loaf tins.

Punch down the dough with your fist and divide into two, then shape into two loaves, tucking ends underneath. Place on the baking sheets and cover loosely with oiled cling film, or place the dough, tucks underneath, into the two loaf tins.

Preheat the oven to 220°C.

Leave the dough to rise again, somewhere vaguely warm, for about 45 minutes - or until it does not spring back when gently pressed with your finger.

Using a sharp knife dipped into a flour bag (to prevent sticking), slash the top lightly to form slits, then dust with flour and bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until the base sounds hollow when tapped.

Remove to a wire rack and cool completely before slicing.

No-knead loaf

This astonishingly easy recipe gives such a good result - and with so little effort. Just mix, leave to rise, shape into the tin, leave to prove, then bake. It is utterly delicious.

It has, perhaps, a slightly closer crumb than the classic loaf, but it is by no means dense.

The essential ingredient here is time: once mixed, since you have not kneaded it to develop the gluten, you must allow the loaf a long, slow rise - at least 12 hours.

There are a couple of differences to note if this is the first time you are trying no-knead bread. The water, instead of being tepid, should be at room temperature. And when you leave the dough for the first rise, do not place it somewhere warm; it needs to be room temperature. Only for the second rise/prove, should it go somewhere vaguely warm.

Makes 1 loaf

500g strong white flour

1 tsp fast-action dried yeast

1½ tsp salt

350ml water

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and add 350ml of water at room temperature (mine is always freezing cold from the cold tap, so I add a few splashes of boiling water). Mix well with a spoon, then combine to a...