Short Time White Bread

Category: Cakes and Bakes

The short-time method of bread making enables a loaf of bread to be made in approximately 1¾ hour. The addition of a small amount of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) eliminates the need for the first rising of the dough. Ascorbic acid / vitamin c (make sure they are not flavoured) tablets are obtainable from the chemist in 25 mg, 50 mg and 100 mg sizes. The ascorbic acid is dissolved in the warm yeast liquid.

Ingredients

15g dried yeast 350 ml hand hot water 25 mg tablet ascorbic acid, crushed 600g/1½ lbs strong plain flour 15g/½ oz salt 15 ml/1 tsp sugar 15g/½ oz white cooking fat

Method

Combine the yeast and water and set aside until frothy- add crushed ascorbic acid tablet. Rub the lard into the flour, salt and sugar. Mix together the yeast liquid and additional ingredients until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl clean. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic about 10 minutes. Put into loaf tin or shape into 12 rolls and place on an oiled baking sheet, cover with lightly oiled cling film and leave to rise till doubled in size. Loaves will take 40 - 50 minutes to rise. Rolls will take 25 -30 minutes to rise. Remove cling film, brush with milk or dust with flour. Bake in a hot oven 230C/ gas 8. Loaves will take 30-35 minutes, but rolls only take 15-20 minutes until the bread is golden brown and sound hollow when loaf is tapped on the base. Cook's Note Not suitable for baking in a bread machine as it only needs to rise once. To make an enriched version use this recipe- for 1 small loaf. Blend 15g dried yeast in 200ml warm milk set aside until frothy and then add a crushed 25mg tablet of ascorbic acid into the liquid. 400g/1lb strong plain flour 1 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 50g butter or margarine 1 egg beaten Rub the butter into the flour, salt and sugar. Mix the dry ingredients with the yeast liquid and egg until the dough leaves the bowl clean. Knead until smooth, about 10 minutes. Shape as required, cover with lightly oiled cling film and rise until almost double in size. Brush with egg wash and bake at 190C/gas 5 until golden brown and the loaf is hollow sounding when tapped . Loaves will take 40 - 45 minutes, rolls will take 20 minutes. PER SERVING 187 Kcal, fat 1.7g, saturated fat 0.8g, salt 1.3g, carbohydrate 39g, sugar 2g, fibre 1.6g