Recipe: Simple but delicious white bread

Once the preserve of the wealthy, white bread has seen it's popularity wax and wane over the years.  With the advent of mass production techniques in the 1950s and falling prices, it soon became the bread of choice for everyone.  However in recent years, as consumers have become more concerned about healthy eating, white bread has been abandoned by many in favour of a vast array of wholegrain breads.  Adding to this fall from grace is the unfortunate truth that mass produced white bread simply doesn't have the same depth of flavour as it's wholegrain competitors.

Personally I find all of this rather sad and feel that white bread still has much to offer. By using a good quality white flour and by either baking the bread yourself or buying from an artisan baker, it is possible to have delicious white bread that everyone will enjoy.

I have recently been experimenting with Italian type 00 white flour and have found that this whitest of white flours can be used to make the perfect white loaf.  This recipe is for a soft and fluffy white tin loaf that is perfect for sandwiches and toasting. To make life just that little bit easier, this recipe only involves 30 seconds of kneading.

Ingredients:

• 500g Italian 00 flour
• 325g Water at 20 degrees C
• 9g Finely ground sea salt
• 5g Instant dried yeast
• A little sunflower oil for oiling the work surface

You will also require a lightly oiled and flour dusted 2lb loaf tin

Put the flour, salt and yeast into a large mixing bowl and form a "well" in the middle. Pour the water into the well and mix with both hands until you have formed a rough ball of dough. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave for 15 minutes.

Lightly oil the work surface and your hands. Place the dough onto the work surface and gently need for 10 seconds.  Lightly oil the bowl and put the dough back into it, cover and leave for 10 minutes.

Repeat the kneading process twice more, leaving a 10 minute gap between kneads.  Cover and leave for 45 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Oil the work surface and gently "knock back" the dough, using the knuckles of both hands to expel the air trapped in the dough.  Shape the dough to fit your loaf tin, put it in the tin and then cover with a tea towel.  Leave in a warm place for approximately 90 minutes, or until doubled in size.  You will need to preheat your oven to 200 degrees C.

Gently slash the top of the loaf, lengthways, with a sharp knife and place in the preheated oven.  After 10 minutes lower the temperature to 170 degrees C and bake for a further 30 minutes.  As oven temperatures vary, have a look at the loaf half way through baking and reduce the temperature to 160 degrees C if the top is starting to look too dark.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes, resisting the temptation to slice it when still hot!