Bread Baking Take 2

Another hot morning gave me the energy to make my own bread. This time I used spelt flour, admittedly healthier than plain flour, though the bread is rather on a heavy side and doesn't rise a lot. It came out lovely - really crispy crust, and very interesting taste. I'm still astounded by how easy it is to make your own bread - and all the stuff about bread makers is rubbish. You need flour, yeast and water, plus an ordinary oven to bake it in, that's really it!

The ingredients I used for this bread:

0.5 kilo spelt flour
1 teaspoon of dried yeast
a pinch of salt
a pinch of sugar
a few table spoons of lukewarm milk
water

Everything starts with the yeast - pour it into milk (important - milk cannot be either hot or cold, or the yeast won't work). Stir the yeast until it dilutes, add sugar and leave in a warm place to activate. The mixture is ready to use when it gets frothy. Pour it into a large bowl with flour and knead, adding water as needed. The dough needs to be soft and flexible. Once you've got the right consistency, shape the loaf and bake in a hot oven (about 190-200C) for about 40 minutes.
The plait shape of bread, you can see in the pictures - courtesy of my husband :)

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