This is one of my all time favourite home made bread recipes. It is simple and quick to make in a few hours with minimal input from the cook. The loaf can be made and proved quickly in the evening and left in the fridge overnight to rise ready to be baked first thing in the morning.
Spelt bread dough comes together quickly and becomes pliable with the minimal kneading method described below. The end result has a nutty flavour and springy open texture.
I usually double the quantity and make two loaves so one can be stored in the freezer as a stand by.
Spelt is an ancient grain, has a nutty flavour and produces excellent bread. Records show it was cultivated in the Middle East 12 000 years ago but by Roman times spelt flour had become popular throughout Europe.
Makes 1 small loaf
15 minutes hands on time
Ingredients
- 300 g/11 oz wholegrain/white spelt flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp active dried yeast
- 200 g/7 fl oz warm water
- You will need a 450 g/1 lb (15cm/6 in by 10cm/4 in) loaf tin greased with vegetable oil.
Method
Place the flour, yeast and salt in a bowl and mix together. Gradually stir the water into the flour with a wooden spoon and then use your hands to bring the mixture together to form a ball of dough.
Cover the bowl with Clingfilm (or use an elasticated shower cap or a clean used plastic supermarket bag) and leave for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes the dough is ready to knead. Spelt flour is one of the easiest flours to knead as it develops its elasticity quickly.
Kneading the dough
Keep the dough in the bowl and pull a portion of the dough up from the side towards you and then press it back it to the middle of the dough. Spelt dough is quite stretchy so this should be easy for you to do. Turn the bowl slightly and repeat this process with another portion of dough. Repeat these movements about 8 times or until you have worked around all the dough. This should take about 10 seconds.
Cover the bowl again and let it rest for 10 minutes. Repeat this kneading and resting process twice.
Give the dough a final knead (you have kneaded it 4 times in all), cover and then leave to rise for one hour in a warm place or if you want to eat the bread the next morning leave the dough overnight in a cool (15° - 18°C /59°F - 64°F) place so that it doesn’t over prove. The dough should have doubled its volume by the morning.
When the dough has risen to twice its original volume - uncover the dough and while it is still in the bowl punch it with your fist to deflate the dough ball.
Lightly dust a work surface with spelt flour. Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on the floured work surface. Gently pull into an oval shape and fold both ends over into the middle. You will now have a rectangular shape. Pull and fold the top of the rectangle one third of the way towards the middle, move round 180° and keep folding until you have a shape the side of your loaf tin.
Place the dough inside the prepared loaf tin, cover with Clingfilm, or a plastic bag, and leave the dough in a warm place to rise to almost twice its original size (about 45 minutes).
About 15 minutes before the bread has finished rising, preheat the oven to 240°C (475°F), gas 9. Place a roasting tin at the bottom of the oven filled with a cup full of water. Then when the oven is up to temperature, remove the cover and place the loaf in the preheated oven and immediately lower the temperature to 220°C (425°F), Gas 7. Bake the loaf for about 35 minutes or until the surface is nicely browned. Turn the loaf out of the tin, tap on the base to check it sounds hollow and is cooked and place on a wire rack to cool.
