Bloomer Loaf

Today, I am stuck on maths (Mean value theorm and it's applications).  I am also out of butter, due to recent croissant making escapades.  So, I decided to bake a bloomer loaf.   This is one of my favourite bread recipes, from Elizabeth David's Bread and Yeast Cookery - it is a straight dough (no starter, pre-ferment, sponge, biga, poolish or sourdough starters required), taking around 3 1/2 hours start to finish.  I have made this numerous times, of which the result has been consistently good.

"Bloomer 1"  recipe adapted from Bread and Yeast Cookery .  "Adapted" mainly because I'm not sure what a "81-85% wheatmeal flour" is, and even whether it is available these days.  Also, her original recipe is also very salty at around 40g salt per kilo of flour - around double what most bakers would consider putting in their bread. Hence, I have halved the amount of salt to result in a more palatable bread.    (To me, it seems that many slightly older recipes for bread include far more salt than would be considered tolerable these days - has salt become saltier over the years?)

My recipe for a Bloomer Loaf

600g Strong white bread flour  
12g salt
380 g water and milk combined (I usually use 3/4 milk and 1/4 boiling water from the kettle, since this heats up the cold milk to an adequate temperature).
7 g dried yeast (or 1 1/2 teaspoons). 
Beaten egg, for glazing


Combine the dried yeast with the warm water/milk combination and leave for 5-10 minutes until yeast is frothy.  In the meantime, combine flour and salt in a large bowl. 


Stir the frothed yeast (so that no "lumps" of yeast remain stuck in the container).  Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the liquid yeast/milk/water mixture.  Mix to form a dough, then knead until it feels silky - 5-10 minutes.  Leave to prove at room temperature for 2 hours, then gently de-gas the dough.  Leave to rise for another hour.  


Shape the dough into a loaf in the normal way (i.e shape into a rectangle on the work surface, then bring edges into the middle of the dough and seal.  Repeat a few times for a "tight" finish, then roll the dough over so that the seam is along the bottom.) 

1. Shape dough into a rectangle on your (oiled or floured) worksurface.

2. Bring first edge into the middle of the rectangle.

3. Bring 2nd edge into the middle of the rectangle, overlapping the first slightly. 

4. Use your thumb/fingers to press the edges firmly into the centre of the dough. 

 Repeat this process once more (flattern the dough into a rectangle and begin again). This helps ensure a tightly moulded loaf, which doesn't spread sideways/flattern too much as it as it rises.  After you have done this, "pinch" the edges together to create a really tight finish. 

5. Pinch together the final edges to create a tight finish.  (This is the "seam" which will run along the base of the loaf - gently roll the loaf over so that it is the right way up and place on a greased and floured baking tray).

Transfer to a prepared baking tray and leave to rise for 30-40 minutes, depending on temperature of the environment. (By now the dough should have risen noticeably, but should be just short of "fully proven".  It should still be handle-able).

Now, this stage may seem slightly fussy, but I have tried making the bread without this stage and the resulting rise is not as good :  Carefully tuck the long sides of the loaf under the dough.   (Essentially you will be left with a loaf which appears to have been rotated 90 degrees on the tray.  So if you are using a baking tray which is long but not very wide, try proving the dough on a silpat or greaseproof paper, so that you can easily rotate the dough to fit the tray again.) I think this step is designed to give the gluten strands a final "stretch" allowing the bread to rise more fully.  


Leave the dough to rise for a further ten minutes.  In the meantime, prepare the egg wash.

By now, the dough should be very nearly fully proved, but not quite.  You still want to be able to slash the top of the loaf without it collapsing on you.  So, slash the top of the dough into the pattern you desire.  I usually just go for 4-5 long cuts, about 2.5cm deep. ( However I'm only equipped with a slightly blunt knife and a pair of scissors, so this happens to be the best I can do.  I'm sure there are many more inventive patterns which could be made.)

Preheat oven to 220-230 degrees C, adding a tray of water to create steam if you wish.  (Definitely works if you do not add the water. At uni I omit the waters, since I doubt the uni ovens would survive a large tray of water used to create steam. Nor would the fire alarms.)  By the time your oven has pre-heated, the loaf should be fully proved (risen). It should appear slighlty "jiggly".

Egg wash the top of the loaf, put in the oven immediately and bake for 20-40 minutes.  (Timings seem to vary a lot.)  The loaf will undergo some "oven spring" (the additional rise which happens to dough as it is baked). Some people consider this to be a sign that the loaf is under-proved, and in some respects this is correct.   However this recipe always seems to undergo a lot of oven spring, regardless of how much time is spent proofing it (I did the experiments!)

In my opinion, this makes great bread for bacon sandwiches.