No bones about it, this recipe is for a bread maker. It will produce a 1kg loaf.

Ingredients

• 370ml water
• 4 tbsp skimmed milk powder
• 4 tbsp sunflower oil
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp ground salt
• 580g strong white bread flour
• 1 and 1/4 tsp fast acting yeast

Conditions

Having made my fair share of duff loaves I’ve found the following conditions are necessary:

• A warm room for proofing
• Warm water (making sure it’s not hot enough to kill the yeast) – run your finger under the tap, if it feels hot it’s too hot, if it feels cold, well then it’s cold (yes I know, baking is a science, except when it isn’t).
• Humidity. My rooms usually fluctuate between 50% and 60% humidity. When baking bread in the winter I make sure it coincides with a washing cycle (dryer on or drying clothes on the radiator).
• Making sure the yeast doesn’t touch another ingredient until it goes in the mixer on top of the flour.

Method

• Add the ingredients to the mixer in the order they are listed above.
• Choose program and press start.
• Once baking is finished, transfer to a cooling rack and wrap in a tea-towel.