The Joy of Tasty Food: Cottage Loaf

This is a recipe for a classic english loaf, the cottage loaf. It's a fairly easy recipe, and can make a delicious and light loaf. The placement of the top part of the dough is very important, as it can fall off, but proper placement will prevent that.

300g white plain flour
150g white bread flour
2 tsp salt
25g fresh yeast
200ml warm water
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten

Step 1
Sift the flours and salt into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Crumble in the yeast and add the water, stir with finger or two to disolve the yeast, then add the oil and mix. When the dough leaves the side of the bowl turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface and knnead for about 10 minutes, adding more flour if needed. The dough should end up firm.

Step 2
Leave the dough to rise i a bowl covered with oiled clingfilm in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in size. turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knock back. Form the dough into two balls, one of a third of the dough and the other of two-thirds of the dough. Leave to rest with oiled cling film over the top.

Step 3
Place the larger ball on a floured baking sheet and gently flatten the top, flatten the bottom of the smaller ball, and moisten with a little water before placeing the small ball on the large ball in the centre. Carefully press a hole through the centre of the top ball to the centre of the bottom, using three fingers in a cone shape.

Step 4
Brush the loaf with the beaten egg , then cover with oiled clingfilm and a bowl inverted over the loaf, and leave to rest for 40 minutes in a warm place, menwhile heat the oven to 200°C. When proved brush the loaf with egg again then, using a pair of scissors, snip small cuts in the top and bottom loaf at 5cm intervals to help the expansion during cooking.

Step 5
Bake the loaf under an overturned saucepan or metal bowl large enough to cover the loaf with room for growth during cooking. Bake for 20 minutes like this before removing the cover, and bake for a further 15-20 minutes to make the crust brown and crisp. Cool the loaf on a wire rack.