I might not have cracked white bread, but I am now producing brown bread to a consistent and acceptable quality. Presently using essential white and Canadian very strong wholemeal, both from Waitrose. Oddly, the cheaper own brand white flour is giving better results than the dearer Allisons. Salt but no sugar. Rape seed oil rather than lard.
Yesterday's pair of loaves weighed in at around 2lbs 4oz each and measured just under 11 inches wide and 5 inches high. In the shape of a bun, albeit rather larger. Such a loaf lasts me two to three days, with BH preferring her ready made ready sliced.
I marked the occasion, also Good Friday, by making hot cross buns, a first for me and using a blend of recipes from Superwoman, Delia Smith and M&S. The instruction was to start the yeast (easy bake granules) using milk and sugar, but I used cold milk and the stuff failed to froth up in the expected way. The first rise, much longer than it said in the book, failed to do much, and the second rise, again much longer than it said in the book, did not do that much more. Given my state of belief, that is to say absent, I thought it proper not to mark my buns with a cross. Nor did I bother with the sugar glaze - not much caring for the extra sweetness - but I have to admit that it would have improved the appearance of the crust and would probably improved its texture.
The results, illustrated, were OK and were finished before close of day, but they should have been a lot bigger and a lot more fluffy. And they were a little more doughy than they should have been.
I shall try again, but without starting the yeast, rather just mixing it dry into the flour, as I do with bread. The concurrent bread rises were quite satisfactory so nothing wrong with the yeast; workman problem rather than tool problem.
Reference 1: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8152054/Bread-20110120.xls.
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