By Roger Hale
This recipe was culled from a newspaper article about a 15-year old by the name of Kitty, who took to baking as mental therapy. I love baking and generally feel uplifted when a bake turns out well; this one is positively joyful.
You will need:
- A heavy, lidded pot – like my Le Creuset
- 500 gr. Strong white bread flour,
- 320 ml. Lukewarm water
- A dessert spoonful of Marmite
- 8gr. Salt
- 2 gr. dried yeast or some sourdough starter (or both)
- A sheet of baking parchment
The night before you want to bake, dissolve the Marmite in the warm water in a large mixing bowl, add the flour, salt and yeast and mix together to form a shaggy dough; no need to knead. Cover and leave overnight at room temperature.
In the morning pre-heat the oven AND the pot to 240ºC, scoop out the dough onto a well-floured sheet of baking parchment, large enough to line the pot, form the dough into a ball, slash the top with a razor blade or similar and pop it into the HOT pot. Place the pot with the lid on in the centre of the oven, turn temperature down to 200ºC and bake for 30 minutes with the lid on then 15 with it off.
I find the result irresistible. If we are having soup for lunch, there won’t be much of Kitty’s Marmite loaf left afterwards.
RH
April 2020
