Home baked walnut bread and homemade curried celery soup
More making and baking last weekend, as we used the bread-making machine for the first time. Over the last couple of years there’s been a tradition of collecting a freshly made loaf whenever we’ve visited mum, and I’ve always been interested in making my own. On Saturday afternoon that thought became a reality and it was astonishingly simple.
All we needed was a group of ingredients, and three hours for the machine to do its thing.
Of course, all bread-making machines differ, and there are a huge number on the market. The Bifinett KH1171 made by Kompernass (no, I hadn’t heard of them either, but the machines do retail at only £25 from German supermarket chain Lidl) we used is at the bottom end, but that doesn’t mean the loaf we made with it was at the value end of the bread scale.
Here’s what we used to make a 750g (26oz) walnut loaf:
300ml of water
2 tbsp of sunflower oil
1 tbsp of salt
2 tbsp of skimmed milk powder
1 tsp of granulated sugar
540g (19oz) of granary flour (suitable for bread makers)
3 tbsp of chopped walnuts
¾ packet (1.5 tsp) of dried yeast
2 tbsp of Horlicks (optional)
The water went into the baking pan first, with the sunflower oil, salt, sugar, skimmed milk, and flour added next (always make sure the flour is last), and then the walnuts were sprinkled onto the mixture, and a ‘pocket’ for the yeast made on the very top. Then it was literally a case of setting the weight and browning level. A time delay can then be set (if you wanted a fresh loaf to be baked in time for when you get up in the morning for example), and that’s it.
I told you it was easy.
Much whirring, kneading, and baking later, a not too misshapen loaf was tipped out for cooling, and once the kneading paddles had been removed, placed into an airtight freezer bag to store. It made the perfect accompaniment to our homemade curried celery soup that we made the same day, to use up some leftovers from the fridge.
This particular loaf goes particularly well with cheese, especially if raisins are added to the mix, making it even sweeter. The recipe booklet included with the machine reads like a breadie’s dream, with carrot, honey, paprika, potato, sunflower, sourdough, and even chocolate varieties all capable of being made. The more traditional multigrain, white, and wholemeal loaves can also be baked, and there’s quite a sizable gluten-free section. Apparently, even jam can be created in it.
Although I think we’ll be sticking to making jam the traditional way for the time being, there’s no doubt we’ll rise to the occasion and use the machine again.