Cheddar and Apple Bread

I love cheese. Like, REALLY love cheese. So much in fact that I specifically don’t buy it because after any sort of consumption of alcohol, a daily occurrence at university, I love nothing more than a beautiful toastie with lashings of HP. Sadly, this is not so good for the old arteries. When I saw the recipe for this cheddar and apple bread in Paul Hollywood’s new book I just knew it had to be done. I think it’s fair to say that my family share my love of cheese because the whole loaf was scoffed in record time. This would be a gorgeous loaf for a picnic or if you’re simply in need of some thoroughly British comfort food.

Ingredients

500g strong white bread flour

10g salt

10g instant yeast

300ml cool water

Olive oil

150g cheddar

2 dessert apples, sliced into small chunks

Measure out the flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the salt to one side and the yeast to the other (otherwise the salt kills the yeast).

Add about half the cool water and swirl the ingredients around with your fingers in what I call ‘The-Giant-Spider’ sort of shape. Add little splashes of water, mixing all the time until all the dry ingredients are combined. You might not need all the water so stop adding when the dough is soft. Sadly I don’t have octopus arms so I couldn’t take a photo of this stage without permanently damaging my dad’s scary expensive camera. The thing with bread making though is the more you do it, the more you know what you’re doing, so everyone should bake it all the time and before we know it we’ll all be bread goddesses/gods!

Splash a bit of olive oil onto your work surface and knead the dough for a good ten minutes. It should feel really soft and silky. Pop it into a bowl with lightly oiled sides (this is a great tip because the dough pops back out so easily after rising) and cover with a tea towel. Leave it to rise until at least doubled in size- around 1-2 hours.

Line a baking tray with parchment. When the dough has risen tip it out onto a lightly floured work surface and squish it down into a large rectangle, around 3cm thick.

Layer the cheddar and apple on one side of the dough, leaving a margin around the edges. Fold the dough in half and seal the edges. Pop it onto your prepared tray and cover the whole thing with a big plastic bag. Leave it to prove for about another hour until it’s doubled in size.

Heat the oven to 220⁰C. Dust some flour on the loaf and prod your fingers in to make deep imprints all over the top. (Sorry I don’t have a picture for this bit, I left my mum to it while I went swimming and forgot to ask her for photo evidence!)

Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is a lovely golden brown. It’s absolutely delicious eaten warm so I ate some almost straight away with a bowl of soup. There is something so cathartic about making and eating your own bread. It tastes better than anything you can buy in the shops and is much cheaper than a therapist!