Baking Challenge 2013: Bake #1 White cob loaf

I made my first bread! I chose the white cob loaf from Paul Hollywood’s How To Bake…

First things first- I need to really set a lot of calm time for baking bread. It takes bloody ages and there’s a lot of time waiting around for the dough to essentially grow. I actually popped out after the first stage to return some clothes and carried on once I got back (and then used the carrier bag to prove the dough after that, but that’s beside the point.)

 

You can see above the evolution of a loaf… I found the instructions very easy and I quite enjoyed the messiness of the project. From left to right, the dough in its infancy, the dough after it’s been left to rise, the dough after proving, the dough after cooking and me making a start on eating it!

It does look more burnt than it actually was; I got caught up in something elsewhere and, although I’d set the oven at the right temperature and kept the bread in for the right amount of time, it seemed to be well-done! HOWEVER, it tastes AMAZING and the crust was amazing (this was achieved by adding hot water to a heated roasting tin at the bottom of the oven, although I added this and caused the smoke alarm to go off. It’s nice to know it’s working, though…)

I think that the bread is a testament to the clear instructions of the recipe- I had no problem understanding what I needed to do and there was no mistaking what was expected of me (some recipes can be utterly weird, quite frankly.) I’ve also decided that I am going to revisit this recipe later in the year, when I’ve got a bit better and I know my oven better.

Have you started your baking yet? My next recipe, in two weeks, will be peanut butter cookies from the Be-Ro book- what’s your next recipe?