Baked this myself. I prepare the dough and lay it to rest in the fridge overnight. Raising it slowly helps it ferment and soften. Indeed when it's baked it comes out very soft and light. You serve this with butter/marmalade. Yummy....
Looks real good. If it's as easy as it sounds, leaving dough in ref overnight, then i'm trying that, gracie! Do share the recipe=)
G
Gracie_14
2 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp water
1 sachet ( 1 Tbsp) dried yeast
2 eggs, lightly beaten
120-175 g/4-6 oz plain flour
¼ tsp salt
Grated rind of 1 lemon
90 g/ 3 oz unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, softened
1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 Tbsp water, to glaze
Method:
Put 1 tablespoon of the sugar in a small saucepan with the water and heat over low heat until very warm, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Sprinkle over the yeast and allow to stand until yeast is frothy, about 5-10 minutes. (Now guys, be careful you do not over heat your sugar water or it might kill the yeast cells...i did that one time when making this recipe and the dough did not raise at all...you have no idea how devastating that is, lol). After, stir to dissolve, then beat in the eggs.
Mix the flour, salt, grated lemon rind and remaining sugar in a separate bowl. If you have a baking machine you could just pour the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients in a bowl that has the dough hook beating the egg mixture as you pour in the dry ingredients. This is what I did.
A dough will form and the you scrape it out. This is the annoying part. Personally, I prefer the dough to come out perfect and smooth...but not for this recipe...it’s very stick and you have to add more flour as you knead it. It has to be very well kneaded if you’re willing to get your hands very sticky....but don’t expect a totally smooth non-sticky dough. It depends. Anyway, the next part if fun for me!
Sprinkle over the softened butter pieces and pulse in the butter until just blended about 12 minutes. So basically, you use the tips of your finger as you blend in the butter so nice and smoothly
Scrape the dough into a large, greased bowl, turning to grease the top. Now this is when you have the option to cover with cling film and pop it in the fridge. There you can leave it to grow overnight. If not, leave it to prove in a warm place for about 1 ½ hours.
Butter a 22 x 13-cm/9 x 5-in loaf tin. It doesn’t matter I you have the exact measurement...just have a lengthy loaf tin, will ya? Punch down the dough and turn on a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 2 to 3 times. Divide the dough into 8 or 9 pieces, and shape into balls. Arrange the balls into the tin, pushing them together to fit. So, don’t mind them getting squished. Cover and leave to prove in a warm place until just doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.
Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees C/400 F/ Gas 6. Brush the top of the risen loaf with the egg glaze and bake until well risen and deep-golden brown, about 30 mins. Transfer onto a wire rack and unmould immediately, top-side up to cool. Serve warm with butter and jam!
